I'm designing an amplifier to read currents using a CT from 10 mA to 30A with a STM32 with no FPU. I have the following data:

CT turns ratio = 1000:1
Burden resistor = 10 ohms
ADC reference = 3.3 V
DC shift = 1.65V (2048 adc count)
Amplifier gain from 10 mA to 10A = 8
Amplifier gain from >10A to 30A = 2

Let's say I want to read 10 mA:

Secondary current = 10 mA/1000 = 10 uA
Vburden = 10 uA * 10 = 100 uV
Vpeak = 100uV * 1.41 = 141.42 uV
Vadc_in (amplified) = Vpeak * 8 = 141.42 uV * 8 = 1.13 mV
Vshifted = 1.13 mV + 1.65V = 1.65113V
Adc_count = (Vshifted*4095)/3.3 = 2048.90 = 2049
I can also say:

Vadc_in(pk-kp) = 1.13 mV * 2 = 2.26 mV (peak to peak)
Adc_span = (2.26 mV * 4095)/3.3 = 2.8 ~ 3
So if I have 3 counts for a 10 mA primary current,

1 count = 3.33 mA
OR 3.33 mA/ADC count

Now, let's say I want to read 15 mA

Secondary current = 15 mA/1000 = 15 uA
Vburden = 15 uA * 10 = 150 uV
Vpeak = 150uV * 1.41 = 211.5 uV
Vadc_in (amplified) = Vpeak * 8 = 211.5 uV * 8 = 1.692 mV
Vshifted = 1.692 mV + 1.65V = 1.651692V
Adc_count = (Vshifted*4095)/3.3 = 2049.6
Doing the same calculation for 10 A, I get 2.78V peak at the ADC input, and 2749 count.

Is this approach right? I don't need to do RMS, that's why I think I can get away with just finding the peaks. Also, look at the case of 10 mA and 15 mA, the ADC count is almost identical, i.e., 2049. If I do the DC shift subtraction by software, that is, 2049-2048 = 1. There would be a lack of precision I think. I would get the same values for 10 mA and 15 mA. Please, correct me where I'm wrong.

 

That is a long winded way of calculating resolution.
If your fullscale current is 30000 mA,
resolution using a 12-bit ADC is 30000/4096 = 7 mA
Hence 10mA and 15mA will be converted to 1 and 2 in the best of circumstances with zero noise.

 

That is a long winded way of calculating resolution.
If your fullscale current is 30000 mA,
resolution using a 12-bit ADC is 30000/4096 = 7 mA
Hence 10mA and 15mA will be converted to 1 and 2 in the best of circumstances with zero noise.

That's assuming I get 0.8mV per 7mA in the burden resistor, and unity gain amplifier. I think that doesn't match with my 10 ohms burden.

 

That's assuming I get 0.8mV per 7mA in the burden resistor, and unity gain amplifier. I think that doesn't match with my 10 ohms burden.

So what is your question?

 

So what is your question?

Basically how I could increase the number of count difference between measurements. My range of currents is 5 mA to 30A, so I think I can use different gains for different ranges of currents to improve resolution. My problem is that with a gain of 8 for 10 mA through 10 A, there's a difference of one count between 10mA and 15 mA.

 

You need more bits in the ADC. For example 14 to 16 bits instead of 12 bits.
Or you can switch to different ranges with different gains.