Unit 2

Generation of High AC and DC

voltage

Prepared by
J Veerendra Kumar
Assistant professor
Dept of EEE , RU
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 Syllabus…
Unit II : Generation of High Voltages and High Currents
HVAC- Cascade connection and working of transformers units connected in
cascade. Resonant circuits- principle of operation and advantages. Tesla coil.
HVDC-Voltage doubler circuit, Cockcroft- Walton type high voltage DC set.
Calculation of high voltage regulation, ripple and optimum number of stages for
minimum voltage drop. Impulse Voltages & Currents- Impulse voltage
generator, Marx Impulse circuit, Triggering methods of impulse generator.
Generation of switching impulse voltages. Generation of high impulse current.

OBJECTIVE:
1. To describe the principles behind generating high DC, AC and impulse
voltages.
2. To develop equivalent circuit models of the different high voltage generators.

OUTCOME:
Enable the students to
• Understand the principles of the generation and measurement of high voltage
AC, DC, Impulse voltages and Currents.
Introduction
• Importance of High voltage DC & AC: High
voltage dc require for industry, medical
sciences, HVDC transmission etc
• Applications of high voltage DC: Electrostatic
precipitator (EPS) in thermal power plant for
the ash handling unit, electrostatic paint,
cement industry etc.
• Applications of high voltage AC: Power
transmission.

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 Generation of HV AC Voltage
• When test voltage requirements are less than about 300
kV, a single transformer can be used for test purposes.
• For higher voltage requirements, a single unit
construction becomes difficult and costly due to
insulation problems.
• Transportation and arranging of large
transformers become difficult.
• These drawbacks are overcome by series connection or
cascading of the several identical units of transformers,
wherein the high voltage windings of all the units
effectively come in series.
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 Generation of HV AC Voltage
• Generation of HVAC Voltage is done by
1. Cascading Transformer
2. Resonant Transformer(RT) or Circuit
3. Tesla Coil (High Frequency RT).

1. CASCADING TRANSFORMER :

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 Schematic diagram of Cascade
transformer for HV AC Generation
Schematic diagram

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 Schematic diagram of Cascade
transformer for HV AC Generation
Schematic diagram

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 Cascade Transformer
• The first transformer is at the ground potential along with its
tank.
• The second transformer is kept on insulators and maintained
at a potential of V2, the output voltage of the first unit above
the ground.
• The high voltage winding of the first unit is connected to
the tank of the second unit.
• The low voltage winding of second unit is supplied from the
excitation winding of the first transformer, which is in series
with the high voltage winding of the first transformer at its high
voltage end.
• The rating of the excitation winding is almost identical to
that of the primary or the low voltage winding.

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 Schematic diagram of Cascade
transformer for HV AC Generation
Schematic diagram

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 Isolating Cascade Transformer

•The rating of the primary or

the low voltage winding is usually 230 or 400 V
for small units up to 100 kVA
For
•larger outputs the
rating of the low
voltage winding
may be 3.3kV, 6.6
kV or 11 kV.
 Cascade Transformer

• Supply to the units can be obtained from a

motor-generator set or through an induction
regulator for variation of the output voltage.
• Isolating transformers IS1,IS2 and IS3 & are 1:1
ratio transformers
• They are insulated to their respective tank
potentials and are meant for supplying the
excitation for the second and the third stages at
their tank potentials
• Power supply to the isolating transformers is also fed
from the same AC input.
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 Cascade Transformer
Advantages of cascade connection
• Natural cooling is sufficient
• Transformers are light and compact
• Ease of transportation & assembly
• Construction is similar to the isolating
transformer & cascaded unit
•Either star or delta connection are possible
Draw backs
• More space requirement and expensive
• Difficult to repair
• Limiting Reactors are required in the input stage to
limit high SC currents / Excessive load currents 12
 Resonant Circuit
• The resonance principle of a series tuned L-C
circuit can be made use of to obtain a higher
voltage with a given transformer.

Dept.of EEE, SDMIT, Ujire, Karnataka 33

Resonant Circuit
Basic principle of Resonant circuit

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Resonant Circuit
Basic principle of Resonant circuit

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 Resonant Transformers
• Resonant transformer is one of the best choice for
high voltage generation which operates on
resonance phenomenon (XL = Xc).
• In resonance condition, the current through test
object is very large and that is limited only by the
resistance of the circuit.
• The waveform of the voltage across the test object
will be purely sinusoidal

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 Resonant Transformers
Applications of Resonant Transformer:
• This principle is utilized in testing at very high
voltages and on occasions requiring large
current outputs such as cable testing ,
dielectric loss measurements, partial
discharge measurements, etc.

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 Resonant Transformers
Series Resonant Transformers

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 Resonant Transformers
Series Resonant transformer
• The equivalent circuit of HV testing circuit consists
of a)leakage reactance of the winding,
b)winding resistance,
c)magnetizing reactance,
d)shunt capacitance across the output
• It is possible to have a series resonance at
power frequency Ꞷ, if
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Resonant Transformers
Series Resonant transformer
• During the resonance condition current in the
test object is very large and is limited only by
the resistance of the circuit.
• The magnitude of the voltage across the
capacitance C of the test object will be

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Resonant Transformers
Series Resonant transformer
• Q factor of the circuit and gives the magnitude
of the voltage multiplication across the test
object under resonance conditions.
• The input voltage required for excitation is
reduced by a factor 1/Q, and the output kVA
required is also reduced by a factor 1/Q.
• The secondary power factor of the circuit is
unity.
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Resonant Transformers
Series Resonant transformer

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Resonant Transformers
Series Resonant transformer
• A voltage regulator of either the auto-transformer type or
the induction regulator type is connected to the supply
mains.
• The secondary winding of the exciter transformer is
connected across the H.V reactor, L, and the capacitive load
C.
• The inductance of the reactor L is varied by varying its air
gap and operating range is set in the ratio 10 : 1.
• Capacitance C comprises of the capacitance of the test
object, capacitance of the measuring voltage divider,
capacitance of the high voltage bushing etc.
• The Q-factor obtained in these circuits will be typically of
the order of 50.
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Advantages of series resonant circuit
• It gives an output of pure sine wave.
• Power requirements are less (5 to 10% of total
kVA required).
• No high-power arcing and heavy current surges
occur if the test object fails, as resonance ceases
at the failure of the test object.
• Cascading is also possible for very high voltages.
• simple and compact test arrangement.
• No repeated flashovers occur in case of partial
failures of the test object and insulation recovery.

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Disadvantages of series resonant
circuit
• Requirements of additional variable chokes
capable of withstanding the full test voltage
and the full current rating.

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Parallel Resonant Transformer
• In the parallel resonant mode the high voltage reactor
is connected as an auto-transformer and the circuit is
connected as a parallel resonant circuit.
• The advantage of the parallel resonant circuit is that
more stable output voltage can be obtained along with
a high rate of rise of test voltage.
• Independent of the degree of tuning and the Q-factor.
• Single unit resonant test systems are built for output
voltages up to 500 kV, while cascaded units for outputs
up to 3000 kV, 50/60 Hz are available.

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Parallel Resonant Transformer

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 Advantages of Resonant
Transformer
1. It gives an output of Pure sinewave.
2. Power Requirement are less (5% to 10% of total KVA required)
3. No high power arcing and heavy current surges occur if the test
object fails, as resonance ceases at the failure of Test object.
4. Cascading is also possible for very high voltages.
5. Simple and compact test arrangement.
6. No repeated flasovers occur in the case of partial failure (Source
take min Q cycles to charge the test equipment to the full voltage)

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 Dis-Advantages of Resonant
Transformer
1. It require additional variable chokes capable of withstanding the
full test voltage and full current rating in Series Resonant circuit or
Transformer.

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30
 Tesla coil
• Tesla coil is an electrical resonant transformer circuit
designed by inventor Nikola Tesla.
• It is Used to generate or produce High Voltage, Low Current &
High frequency AC Electricity.
• Used for High voltage High frequency transformers.
• Used for testing Electrical Apparatus for switching surges.
• The commonly used high frequency resonant transformer is the
Tesla coil.
• Tesla coil is a doubly tuned resonant circuit.
• The primary voltage rating is 10 kV and the secondary can be
rated to as high as 500 to 1000 kV.
• Output frequency range: 50kHz to 1 MHz.
• Damped oscillations can be obtained by using Tesla Coil.
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Tesla coil

Applications:
X-ray generation, experiment in electrical
Lighting etc

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Circuit for Tesla Coil arrangement

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Construction of Tesla coil
• The primary is fed from an AC supply through the
condenser C1.
• A spark gap G connected across the primary is
triggered at the desired voltage V, which induces
high self excitation in the secondary.
• Spark gap G act as a switch of the circuit.
• The primary and the secondary windings (L1 and
L2) are wound on an insulated former with no
core (air-cored) and are immersed in oil.
• The windings are tuned to a frequency of 10 to
100 kHz by means of the condensers C1 and C2.
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Tesla coil- Circuit Analysis
• The output voltage V is a function of the
parameters LI, L2, C1, C2 and the mutual
inductance M.
• Usually, the winding resistances will be small
and contribute only for damping of the
oscillations.

Output Voltage

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Tesla coil- Circuit Analysis
Output Voltage

Where
K = coefficient of coupling
between the windings L1 and L2

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Tesla coil- Circuit Analysis
• The peak amplitude of the secondary voltage
V2 can be expressed as

Where ,

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Tesla coil- Circuit Analysis
• A more simplified analysis for the Tesla coil
may be presented by considering that the
energy stored in the primary circuit in the
capacitance C1 is transferred to C2 via the
magnetic coupling.
• If W1 is the energy stored in C1 and W2 is the
energy transferred to C2 and if the efficiency
of the transformer is η, then

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Advantages of Tesla coil
• The absence of iron core in transformers and
hence saving in cost and size.
• pure sine wave output ( Less wave form
distortion).
• Slow build-up of voltage over a few cycles and
hence no damage due to switching surges.
• Uniform distribution of voltage across the
winding coils due to subdivision of coil stack
into a number of units.
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40
Generation of High DC voltages

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Generation of High voltage DC voltage

1. Rectifier circuits
2. cockroft- Walton type high voltage
DC set

4
2
Generation of High voltage DC voltage

• 1. Rectifier circuits for producing high DC

voltages from AC sources.
(a) Half wave rectifiers.
(b) Full wave rectifiers.
(c) Voltage doubler type rectifiers.

4
3
Generation of High voltage DC voltage

Sinusoidal Input voltage

Half wave rectifier

Full wave rectifier

Vmean 6
Generation of High voltage DC voltage

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Cockroft- Walton type high voltage
DC set
• Cascaded voltage multiplier circuits (Voltage Doubler
circuit) for higher voltages are cumbersome(difficult) and
require too many supply and isolating transformers.
• It is possible to generate very high DC voltages from
single supply transformers by extending the simple
voltage doubler circuits.
• This is simple and compact when the load current
requirement is less than one milli ampere, such as for
cathode ray tubes, etc.
• Valve type pulse generators may be used instead of
conventional AC supply.
• The circuit becomes compact.
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Cockroft- Walton type high voltage
D1, D3, D2n-1 conduct:
DC set positive half
Cycle.
D2, D4, D2n conduct:
Negative half cycle.

•DI, D2, C1, C2, and the

transformer T are
identical as in the
voltage doubler circuit.
•The condenser
C4 is charged to 4Vmax
and C2n to 2nVmax above
the earth potential.
•But the
volt across any
individual condenser or
rectifier is only 2Vmax.

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Cockroft- Walton type high voltage
DC set
• A DC power supply of about 500V applied to the pulse
generator, is sufficient to generate a high voltage DC of
50 to 100 kV with suitable number of stages.
• DI, D2, C1, C2, and the transformer T are identical as in
the voltage doubler circuit.
• The condenser C4 is charged to 4Vmax and C2n to
2nVmax above the earth potential.
• But the volt across any individual condenser or rectifier
is only 2Vmax.
• D1, D3, D2n-1 conduct: Positive half Cycle.
• D2, D4, D2n conduct: Negative half cycle.
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Cockroft- Walton type high voltage
DC set
Calculation of output voltage
• The pulses generated in the anode circuit of the
valve P are rectified and t he voltage is cascaded
to give an output of across the load RL.

Output =

• A trigger voltage pulse of triangular waveform

(ramp) is given to make the valve switched on
and off.

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 Ripple content & Voltage drop in
cockroft- Walton type dc set
Calculation of ripple voltage

In general the expression for ripple voltage is given by

n stages the total ripple will be

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Calculation of % ripples

Where 2nVmax is the output voltage.

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Calculation of voltage regulation

Voltage regulation =

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 Optimum number of stages for
minimum voltage drop
• In addition to the ripple δV, there is a voltage
drop Δv which is the difference between the
theoretical no load and the on load voltage.
• optimum number of stages for the minimum
voltage drop may be expressed as

Eg Thus, for a multiplier or a cascaded circuit

with
f= 50 Hz, C = 0.1 micro Farad, Vmax = 100 kV
where I is the load current. and I=5 mA, the number of stages = 10.

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Current and voltage waveforms of
cock croft- Walton type high voltage
DC set

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 Formula on Voltage Multiplier
Circuits
1.

2.

Voltage regulation =

3.

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Problem from-cockroft- Walton type
high voltage
DC set

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 Problem from-cock croft- Walton type
high voltage
DC set

7/21/2017 Dept.of EEE, SDMIT, Ujire, Karnataka

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Problem from-cock croft- Walton type
high voltage
DC set

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Generation of High Impulse
Voltages
 GENERATIONOFHIGH IMPULSE VOLTAGES

• Methods which can be used to generate high impulse

voltage (Lightning Impulse Voltage) are:
– Single-stage generator circuits
– Multistage impulse generators - Marx Circuit
 Standard Impulse Waveshapes
• Transient overvoltages are due to:
– Lightning – of very short duration
– Switching surges – of longer duration
• They can cause steep build-up of voltages on
transmission lines and other electricalappliances
• Lightning overvoltage waveform can be represented as
double exponential
• The waveform has a fast rising edge and a longer tail,
which is described through the peak value (magnitude),
(rise time or front time) and duration (or tail or fall
time), asshown in Figure below.
Standard Impulse Waveshapes
Standard Impulse Waveshapes

Impulse waveform
Standard Impulse Waveshapes
Standard Impulse Waveshapes
Impulse Voltage Equation
SINGLE-STAGEGENERATORCIRCUITS
 SINGLE-STAGE IMPULSEGENERATOR
CIRCUITS
• Two basic circuits for single-stage impulse generator are shown in
Fig. (a) and (b).
• The capacitor C1 is charged slowly from a dc source until the spark
gap G breakdown and discharges upon C2, the load capacitor over
the resistors R1 and R2.
• This spark gap acts as a voltage-limiting and voltage sensitive
switch.
• An economic limit of the charging voltage U 0 is about 200 to 250
kV. Too large diameter of the identical spheres would otherwise be
required to achieve weakly nonuniform field between the spheres for
longer gap distances.
• The resistors R1, R2 and the capacitance C2 form the wave-shaping
network. R1 primarily controls the wave front time T1. R2 over
which the capacitor discharges, essentially controls the wavetail
time T2.
 SINGLE-STAGEGENERATORCIRCUITS
• The capacitance C2 represents the load, i.e. the object under test as
well as all other capacitive elements which are in parallel to the test
object (measuring devices; additional load i.e., capacitor to avoid
large variations of T1 / T2, if the test objects are changed).
• No inductances are assumed so far, and are neglected in the first
fundamental analysis, necessary to understand multi-stage
generators.
• This approximation is in general permissible, as the inductance of all
elements has to be kept as low as possible.
• From the output voltage efficiency point of view, the circuit shown
in Fig 20.1(b) is more efficient compared to the circuit in (a). It is
because the resistances R1 and R2 do not form a voltage dividing
system in (b). It is this more efficient circuit which has found wider
application.
SINGLE-STAGEGENERATOR VOLTAGE
SINGLE-STAGEGENERATOR DRAWBACKS
SINGLE-STAGEGENERATORPERFORMANCE
PERAMETERS
 MULTISTAGEIMPULSEGENERATORS- MARX
CIRCUIT
• In the above discussion, the generator capacitance C1 is to be first
charged and then discharged into the wave shapingcircuits.
– A single capacitor C1 may be used for voltages up to 200kV.
– Beyond this voltage, a single capacitor and its charging unit may be too
costly, and the size becomes very large.
• Hence, for producing very high voltages, a bank of capacitors arecharged
in parallel and then discharged inseries.
– Such circuit is called as multistage impulse generator or Marx
generator
• The schematic diagram of Marx circuit and its modificationare shown in
Fig. 6.17a and b respectively.
MULTISTAGEIMPULSE GENERATORS-
MARXCIRCUIT
MULTISTAGEIMPULSE GENERATORS-
MARXCIRCUIT
 MULTISTAGEIMPULSE GENERATORS-
MARXCIRCUIT
• The schematic diagram of Marx circuit and its modification are
shown in Figs. 6.17a and 6.17b, respectively.
• Usually the charging resistance Rs is chosen to limit the
charging current to about 50 to 100 mA, and
• The generator capacitance C is chosen such that the product CRs is
about 10 s to 1 min.
• The gap spacing is chosen such that the breakdown voltage of
the gap G is greater than the charging voltage V. Thus, all the
capacitances are charged to the voltage V in about 1 minute
 MULTISTAGEIMPULSE GENERATORS-
MARXCIRCUIT
Operation:

When the impulse generator is to be discharged, the gaps G

are made to spark over simultaneously by some external
means(Triggering system - Trigetron). Thus, all the
capacitors C get connected in Series and discharge into the
load capacitance or the test object.
MULTISTAGEIMPULSE GENERATORS-
MARXCIRCUIT
TriggeringUnit(Trigatron)
 TriggeringUnit(Trigatron)
• Figure shows a trigatron gap which is used as the first gap of the
impulse generator and consists essentially of a three-electrode gap.
• The high voltage electrode is a sphere and the earthed electrode may
be a sphere, a semi-sphere or any other configuration which gives
homogeneous electric field.
• A small hole is drilled into the earthed electrode into which a metal rod
projects.
• The annular gap between the rod and the surrounding hemisphere is
about 1 mm.
• A glass tube is fitted over the rod electrode and is surrounded by a
metal foil which is connected to the earthed hemisphere.
• The metal rod or trigger electrode forms the third electrode, being
essentially at the same potential as the drilled electrode, as it is
connected to it through a high resistance, so that the control or tripping
pulse can be applied between these two electrodes.
 TriggeringUnit(Trigatron)
• When a tripping pulse is applied to the rod, the field is distorted in the
main gap and the latter breaks down at a voltage appreciably lower
than that required to cause its breakdown in the absence of the
tripping pulse.
• The function of the glass tube is to promote corona discharge round
the rod as this causes photoionisation in the annular gap and the main
gap and consequently facilitates their rapid breakdown.
• For single stage or multi-stage impulse generators the trigatron gaps
have been found quite satisfactory and these require a tripping
voltage of about 5 kV of either polarity.
• The tripping circuits used today are commercially available and
provide in general two or three tripping pulses of lower amplitudes.
 Triggering Circuit
• Fig. 3.12 shows a typical tripping circuit. The capacitor C1 is
charged through a high resistance R1.
• As the remotely controlled switch S is closed, a pulse is applied to
the sweep circuit of the oscillograph through the capacitor C3.
• At the same time the capacitor C2 is charged up and a triggering
pulse is applied to the trigger electrode of the trigatron.
• The requisite delay in triggering the generator can be provided by
suitably adjusting the values of R2 and C2.
• The residual charge on C2 can be discharged through a high
resistance R3. These days lasers are also used for tripping the spark
gap.
GENERATION OF HIGH IMPULSE
CURRENTS
GENERATION OF HIGH IMPULSE CURRENTS
 Circuit for Producing Impulse Current
Waves
• The waveshapes used in testing surge
diverters are the 4/10 and 8/20 μs waveforms.
– The tolerances allowed are ± 10% only.
Circuit for Producing Impulse Current Waves

Basic circuit of an impulse current generator

 Circuit for Producing Impulse Current
• A bank of capacitors connected in parallel are
charged to a specified value and are discharged
through a series R-L circuit.
• C represents a bank of capacitors connected in
parallel which are charged from a d.c. source to a
voltage up to 200 kV.
• R represents the dynamic resistance of the test
object and the resistance ofthe circuit and the shunt
L is an air cored high current inductor.
 Generation of High Impulse Currents
• For producing large values of impulse
currents, a number of capacitors arecharged
in parallel and discharged in parallel into the
circuit
• The arrangement of capacitors is shownin
Fig:
Generation of High Impulse Currents

Figure shown arrangement of capacitors for high

impulse current generation
CircuitProducing Impulse current Wave
CircuitProducing Impulse current Wave
Generation of Rectangular Impulse
CurrentsWave
Essential Parts of Impuse Current
Generator
64