BREAKDOWN CHARACTERISTICS

OF AIR GAPS

Name : A.P.G Kalum chandra

Course : IESL
Group :G2
Field : Electrical
Instructed by : Mr. C.S Kodikara
Date of performance: 28/01/2012
AIM:
1.To study the Ferranti HVAC generators

2.To determine the breakdown characteristics of sphere-sphere, plate-plate & rod-rod gaps under AC
high voltages

APPARATUS:
1.2MΩ Resistor

2.Foster & Ferranti HV generators

3. Sphere-sphere, plate-plate , rod-rod gaps

PROCEDURE:
 Studied about the control panel & the methods of operation of the high voltage generators.
 Adjusted the gap setting of the plate –plate gap from 0 .5cm to 4.5cm in steps of 0.5cm & obtained
the breakdown voltage for positive d.c high voltages.
 Repeated the experiment for negative d.c & a.c high voltages.
 Followed the same procedure for plate-plate & sphere-sphere gaps.
 Noted down the atmospheric pressure & temperature.

Correction For temperature & pressure

The readings obtained must be corrected for standard temperature & pressure.

V- Breakdown voltage at a pressure P & temperature T

Vn-Breakdown voltage at s.t.p

V =δVn

δ –gas density correction factor

𝑃 (273+20)
δ= 𝑋
760 (273+𝑡)

P is in mm Hg And t in deg.centigrate
SPECIMAN CALCULATION :
𝟕𝟓𝟎 𝟐𝟕𝟑+𝟐𝟎
δ= 𝟕𝟔𝟎 (𝟐𝟕𝟑+𝟑𝟎)

= 0.9543

For the Rod at 0.5 Gap spacing:

Breakdown Voltage at pressure 750 Hgmm and Temperature 30 0C at Primary voltage 20 V

100×103
V= 0.9543x 20x( )
230

=8.298 kV

TABULATION:
Gap Spacing Primary Breakdown voltage (v) Secondary Breakdown voltage (kV)
(cm) Rod Plate Sphere Rod Plate Sphere
0.50 20 11 19 7.7 6.2 10.8
1.00 24 20 46 11.4 7.4 19.5
1.50 26 39 58 16.4 16.3 26.4
2.00 31 55 76 17.5 19.5 35.3
2.50 34 72 90 19.2 26.2 45.3
3.00 42 80 102 20.7 36.2 52.8
3.50 53 94 124 20.0 42.1 61.1
4.00 59 105 138 32.2 48.2 68.3
4.50 63 115 158 34.1 49.3 76.9
 Breakdown voltage Vs Gap distance for Rod, Plate and Sphere

kV
70.000

60.000

50.000

40.000

Rod

30.000 Plate
Sphere

20.000

10.000

0.000
cm
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00
DISCUSSION :
1.HV Lab Arrangement.
Ferranti A. C. Equipment

Isolator Closed Interlocks complete Contactor Closed

L. V. L. V. Peak
Volts AMPS RMS kV
H V On H V Off
kV
Isolator
High Low
Lover volts Rise Volts

The lab is located in two floors. The control panel and protection equipment are located in the
upstairs. The high voltage test equipment are located at the down floor. This arrangement is made in order
to give adequate air gap space between livestock and high voltage source during the tests.

The high voltage area is covered by a metal net which is grounded in order to stop HV sparks
discharging outside and to avoid entrance during the test period. The door of entrance door is protected
with a protective plug which is a relay connected to the HV equipment with a relay normally open. The
HV equipment can only be started by closing this plug which mean closing the entrance door.

2.Safety precautions

 All the HV generators are protected with safety relays in order to give the maximum protection. It
automatically disconnect immediately after a HV discharge during an experiment. Also the plug
connected to the entrance door to the test arena is connected to a safety relay which will open
circuit the HV power supply when the door is open.
 The earthing rod is always kept across the entrance door. After entering the arena, the test
equipment is earthed using this earthing rod to neutralize the stray static charges which may cause
static electric shock if not neutralized.
 The test arena is covered with an earthed metal net in order to avoid discharges outside the test
arena. This earthed metal net produces an shield which blocks out external static and non-static
electric fields.
 The control room is situated in upstairs in order to provide adequate air gap between test area and
the control room. This is essential to provide protection from electric discharges causing damage
to the control area.
3. HV AC generation.

Arrangement of transformers in Ferranti test circuit.

The Ferranti test circuit arrangement is using two 230V/100kV voltage transformers in series
mode. By using these two transformers a total HV of 200kV is achieved. Isolation transformer is used to
isolate the HV side from the primary side. By isolating HV side, an electric shock is only occurs if both
phase and neutral ends of the HV side are touched. No electric shock due to earth leakage is avoided.

4. Need of 2MΩ resistor.

The voltages related with the gaseous breakdown are very large, typically about 30kV/cm stress.
Since the uniform increase in voltage used in the test, it is more probable to occur avalanche breakdown
which develops over relatively long periods of time. It is typically more than 1us. The discharge current at
the breakdown is suddenly increased due to avalanche effect. This current should be controlled for the
safety of the equipment. Hence the 2MΩ resistor is used in order to limit the current at the breakdown.
5. Factors that affect the breakdown voltage of air for a given pair of electrodes.

i. Electrode separation.

For the gaps less than 1mm the breakdown voltage is nearly proportional to the length of the air gap.
The break down stress is high about 1MV/cm. For the gaps greater than 1mm it is the breakdown voltage
is approximately proportional to the square root of the gap length and the breakdown stress relatively low
about 10kV/cm. Generally it can be expressed as,

𝑉 = 𝑘𝑑 𝑥

Where x=1 for d<1mm

x=0.5 for d>1mm

d- air gap length

V- breakdown voltage

k-constant.

ii. Electrode conditioning

At the beginning of a new electrode flash over, the breakdown voltages are relatively low and increase
gradually. Then they attain a constant value of breakdown voltage. This is known as conditioning of
the electrode. This is shown in the following graph.
 This occurs because the irregularities and impurities of the electrode reduces with the flash overs. The
starting breakdown voltage can be about half of the conditioned breakdown voltage.

iii. Material and Surface finish.

The smoother electrode surface finish results in high breakdown voltages and rough surface finish
results in low breakdown voltages. The material of the electrode also directly affects the
breakdown voltage.

iv. Surface contamination

The surface contamination of electrode can reduce the breakdown voltage about 50%.

v. Area and configuration of electrodes.

The increase in the area of the electrode slightly reduces the breakdown voltage. Up to 1 mm gap,
the more convex electrodes have higher breakdown voltage than the more nearly plane electrodes even
though at the same voltage they carried a higher electric field at the surface.

vi. Temperature

Cooling the electrodes increases the breakdown voltage. But for iron and nickel electrode the
breakdown voltage remains constant for about 500oC.

vii. Pressure.

For small air gaps the reduction in pressure increases the breakdown voltage. Below a certain pressure
There is no change in breakdown voltage. For large air gaps about 200mm below certain pressure
limit, the breakdown voltage starts to decrease again.

6. Sphere gap method of measuring high voltages.

Ionization of gas molecules and the gas density affects the breakdown strength of the gas. The
breakdown voltage also varies with the gap spacing. Because of the high consistency of breakdown
voltage for uniform air gap, the sphere gap can be used as a measuring device. Very accurate charts
have prepared based on the experiments for different diameters and distances of air gap.

Two metal spheres separated by a gas gap is used as a measuring device. Voltage difference
between two spheres is increased until a spark passes among the spheres. This device can be used to
measure the peak value of a voltage wave and for checking and calibrating of voltmeters.
The accuracy of the of the reading varies with the ratio between d and D as follows.

Hence to obtain more accurate results gap distance lower than 0.75D are used.