Why should fluxgate current sensors be more accurate than Hall current sensors?

Fluxgate current sensors and Hall current sensors are common current measurement sensors that measure current signals through different principles. There are several main reasons why fluxgate current sensors are generally more accurate than Hall current sensors:

1. the principle is different

Fluxgate current sensor is the use of Ampere law and the remanence effect for current measurement, the principle is to detect changes in the strength of the magnetic field around the conductor to indirectly infer the size of the current. Hall current sensor is to use the Hall effect to measure the current signal, the principle is to apply a magnetic field, so that the conductor occurs lateral potential difference, so as to achieve current measurement. As the fluxgate current sensor is through the measurement of changes in magnetic field strength to measure the current, without direct contact with the conductor, so it can reduce the measurement error due to contact resistance, temperature changes and other factors, thus improving the accuracy of the measurement.

2. the measurement range is wider

The measurement range of fluxgate current sensors is relatively wider, and can cover a wide range of current measurements from microamps to several thousand amps. This is because the fluxgate current sensor uses the design of the iron core, the iron core can increase the magnetic induction strength, improve the sensitivity of the sensor. Hall current sensors, on the other hand, are limited by the material, its measurement range is relatively narrow, generally can only be measured below a few hundred amps.

3.less interference

Fluxgate current sensor in the measurement of current by the interference is relatively small. Because the fluxgate current sensor to obtain the current signal is achieved by detecting changes in the magnetic field strength around the conductor, and the magnetic field on the surface of the conductor changes are mainly affected by the current, other external factors have less impact on it. The Hall current sensor is subject to relatively more interference, because the Hall current sensor is through the application of a magnetic field to make the conductor to produce lateral potential difference for current measurement, at this time may be affected by the influence of the external magnetic field, thus affecting the measurement accuracy.

4.better temperature stability

Fluxgate current sensors can be designed to take into account the effect of temperature on the measurement, thus improving the stability of the measurement. Magnetic fluxgate current sensors generally use the method of temperature compensation, through the measurement and compensation of temperature, you can eliminate the effect of temperature on the measurement accuracy. The temperature stability of Hall current sensor is relatively poor, because the Hall current sensor measures the current by the transverse potential difference occurring in the conductor, and the resistance coefficient of the conductor is greatly affected by the temperature, so the change of temperature will have a greater impact on the measurement accuracy.

In general, the fluxgate current sensor has relatively high accuracy, which is mainly because it adopts the principle of magnetic field changes to measure current, avoiding direct contact with the conductor, reducing the impact of measurement error; at the same time, it has a wider measurement range, less interference, and better temperature stability. These features make the fluxgate current sensor widely used in power systems, industrial automation and other fields.