Design and implementation of multi-stage impulse voltage generator

By

Faris Qart & Mohammad Sawalha & Omar Abd-Alkhaleq

Supervised by

Prof. Saleh Istihkam

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

in

ELECTRICAL POWER ENGINEERING

at

PRINCESS SUMAYA UNIVERSITY FOR TECHNOLOGY

Amman, Jordan

May 2017
 This is to certify that I have examined

This copy of an engineering documentation by

Faris Qart & Mohammad Sawalha & Omar Abd-Alkhaleq.

And have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respect,

And that any and all revisions required by the final Examining Committee have been
made

Prof. Saleh Istehkam

I
Acknowledgments
Many helped us in our graduation project in both sensible and incorporeal aspects. And for us, all
must be thanked.

Firstly, we would like to thank Prof. Saleh Istihkam for supervising our project, and for his
continuous support and help, by giving us all the valuable information we needed to complete our
task in the right form. Moreover, for his cheerful kind words which helped us to go throughout the
project.

Thanks are extended to the heads of the engineering department, for providing us the workplace
needed to do such work and for providing some necessary and essential equipment for our project.

In addition, we would like to thank our families and friends who stood with us in this time of our
educational journey.

II
Abstract
A multi-stage impulse voltage generator consists of ten stages; each stage is formed using six
capacitors in series to handle a 10KV charging slowly in parallel through charging resistors then
discharge quickly in series through spark gaps to give a final output of 100KV.

An input of 10KV will be applied to the circuit using a 220/10kV transformer and a full wave
rectifier. A triggering circuit is used to control the sparking in the first spark gap. The output
voltage will be controlled to give less than 1/50µ sec wave using a wave shaping resistors, and will
be measured using a voltage division circuit and an oscilloscope.

III
Table of Contents
1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Background:................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Objectives: ................................................................................................................................... 1
1.3 Design requirements: .................................................................................................................. 1
1.4 Realistic Constrains: .................................................................................................................... 2
1.4.1 Economical Constrains: ....................................................................................................... 2
1.4.2 Safety and Ethical constrains: ............................................................................................. 2
1.5 Design Achieved .......................................................................................................................... 2
1.5.1 Prototype number one: ....................................................................................................... 3
1.5.2 Prototype number two: ....................................................................................................... 4
1.6 Division of Labor .......................................................................................................................... 6
2 Literature Review ....................................................................................................................................... 8
3 Marx Generator Design ......................................................................................................................... 13
3.1 Requirements ............................................................................................................................ 13
3.2 Analysis of Requirements and Constraints................................................................................ 13
3.2.1 Analysis of requirements:.................................................................................................. 13
3.2.2 Analysis of constrains: ....................................................................................................... 14
3.3 Different Designs Approaches/choices ..................................................................................... 15
3.3.1 Main circuit design: ........................................................................................................... 15
3.3.2 Protection Circuit design: .................................................................................................. 17
3.3.3 Triggering system: ............................................................................................................. 19
3.3.4 Spark gaps design: ............................................................................................................. 21
3.4 Developed Design:..................................................................................................................... 22
3.4.1 Prototype number one: ..................................................................................................... 22
3.4.2 Prototype number two: ..................................................................................................... 31
3.5 Did the Design Meet Requirements and Constraints ................................................................ 33
4 Results.......................................................................................................................................................... 34
4.1 Prototype Setup ........................................................................................................................ 34
4.2 Experiment/Simulation Setup ................................................................................................... 34
4.2.1 Simulation setup................................................................................................................ 34
4.2.2 Hardware setup ................................................................................................................. 34

IV
 4.3 Experiment/Simulation results discussion ................................................................................ 34
4.3.1 Simulation results discussion ............................................................................................ 34
4.3.2 Experiment Results Discussion............................................................................................... 37
4.4 Validation of requirements/constraints .................................................................................... 38
5 Conclusion and Future Work .............................................................................................................. 40
5.1 Conclusion: ................................................................................................................................ 40
5.2 Future work: .............................................................................................................................. 40

V
List of Figures
Fig. 2.1 Schematic design of the 8 stage generator [2]. .............................................................................. 8
Fig. 2.2 the front time of 1.2/50 μs wave form [2]...................................................................................... 9
Fig. 2.3 the tail time of 1.2/50 μs wave form [2]......................................................................................... 9
Fig. 2.4 the front time of 250/2500 μs wave form [2]. ............................................................................. 10
Fig. 2.5 the tail time of 250/2500 μs wave form [2].................................................................................. 10
Fig. 3.1 First design of Marx generator [7]. ............................................................................................... 16
Fig. 3.2 A second design for Marx generator [6]. ...................................................................................... 16
Fig. 3.3 Goodlet Modification on Marx Circuit.[6] .................................................................................... 17
Fig. 3.4 Differential relay design. ............................................................................................................... 18
Fig. 3.5 Two voltage one current relays protection circuit.[8] .................................................................. 19
Fig. 3.6 Three electrodes circuit [7]. .......................................................................................................... 20
Fig. 3.7 Triggering system using Flyback transformer[9]. ......................................................................... 21
Fig. 3.8 Adjustable spark gaps design [9]. ................................................................................................. 22
Fig. 3.9 Marx generator main circuit. ........................................................................................................ 23
Fig. 3.10 The step-up transformer............................................................................................................. 23
Fig. 3.11 The step-up transformer with the rectifier circuit. .................................................................... 24
Fig. 3.12 Charging capacitor ...................................................................................................................... 25
Fig. 3.13 The spark gaps used in the design. ............................................................................................. 26
Fig. 3.14 wave shaping circuit. .................................................................................................................. 28
Fig. 3.15 Three poles over voltage relay protection circuit. ...................................................................... 30
Fig. 3.16 The triggering circuit. .................................................................................................................. 30
Fig. 3.17 charging capacitors of prototype two ........................................................................................ 32
Fig. 4.1 Simulated Marx generator while discharging ............................................................................... 35
Fig. 4.2 The output current while discharging........................................................................................... 36
Fig. 4.3 The output voltage wave .............................................................................................................. 37
Fig. 4.4 The output impulse wave ............................................................................................................. 38

VI
 List of Tables

List of Tables
Table 1.1 Division of labor ........................................................................................................................... 7
Table 2.1 the effect of changing T1 and T2 on the values of R1 and R2 [2]. ............................................. 11
Table 2.2 the effect of increasing the value of R1 on T1/T2 [3]. ............................................................... 11
Table 2.3 the efficiency of the generator from calculation, simulation and experimentation [3]. .......... 12
Table 3.1 The rating of the step-up transformer used. ............................................................................. 24
Table 3.2 The average ratings of the high voltage capacitors................................................................... 25
Table 3.3 Spacing of the spark gaps. ......................................................................................................... 27
Table 3.4 Nominal ratings of 1N4007 diode.............................................................................................. 31
Table 4.1 Validation of requirements........................................................................................................ 38
Table 4.2 Validation of the constraints ..................................................................................................... 39

vii
 INTRODUCTION

1 Introduction
The nature cannot be controlled, lightning impulses are part of the natural system and it can
damage the components of the electrical systems, but those components can be designed in a way
to have protection to face the lightings.

To produce and simulate similar lightings, Erwin Marx designed a high voltage impulse generator in
1924 to provide high voltage impulses. Some applications on Marx generator nowadays is to
stimulate the effect of lightning on power line gear and aviation equipment. In addition, it is used to
generate x-rays in Z machines. [1]

1.1 Background:

The needs to provide a high impulse voltage from a low DC voltage led Marx to approach a design
of impulse generator that charges capacitors in parallel then discharge them it in terms of
microseconds in series through a spark gap with the tested load (single stage generator).

Later, greater high voltages were needed, so many modifications on Marx generator have been
done. These improvements focused on dividing the charging capacitance, spark gap and the
charging resistance into stages designed in a way to work as a voltage multiplier, thus minimizing
the input voltage needed and keeping the output voltage needed for testing unchanged. Moreover,
minimizing the cost of the large capacitance and resistance that were used in the single stage design.

1.2 Objectives:

The goal of the design is to produce an output voltage in the shape of impulse voltage with a peak
voltage of 100 kV and to control the wave shape to be around 1/50µ sec.

1.3 Design requirements:

- 10 KV DC input. This 10 KV is the output of a step up transformer rectified using a full wave
rectifier.

- 10 stages, each stage consists of charging capacitors and resistors, and a spark gap.

1
 INTRODUCTION

- 100 KV impulse output voltage. This voltage is then tested to meet the requirements using an
oscilloscope.

- Non inductive resistors to with stand the high voltages. These resistors are used to charge up the
charging capacitors.

- Wave shaping resistors and capacitors. These are used to shape up the output impulse voltage
which is measured at the load.

- Triggering system. This system stimulates the sparking of the first spark gap, therefore
stimulating the whole discharging process.

1.4 Realistic Constrains:

There are many constrains for this project which summarized in the main two constrains as the
follow.

1.4.1 Economical Constrains:

- To make use of the components in the collage stores.

- Not to exceed the budget witch is 300JD.

1.4.2 Safety and Ethical constrains:

- Dealing with high voltages can be very dangerous so it is needed to be done according to safety
procedure.

- This document should not exceed a 15% similarity on Turn it in software.

1.5 Design Achieved

Two designs has been achieved due to some failures in the first prototype, both designs achieved
will be explained in this section.

2
 INTRODUCTION

1.5.1 Prototype number one:

- The main structure:

The base is designed to hold up the components vertically, Plexiglas board with dimensions
of 1 meter height, 52 cm width and 6mm thickness is used to form the base, and pieces of
wood are used to support and reinforce the Plexiglas structure and glass boards are used to
cover the components for safety purposes.

- Protection circuit:

Consists of 3 poles relay, 4.1 KΩ current limiting resistor (by trial and error), 2 lamps (trip
and on) and a switch (on and off). The relay will trip at 220 V.

- The input:

The input voltage is 10 KV DC. A 220/10K step up transformer is used, the output of the
transformer is the input of a full wave rectifier which rectifies the AC signal to give the 10
KV DC voltage.

- Rectifier:

Consisting of four diodes and a 1 MΩ current limiting resistor, each diode can handle 12
KV.

- Triggering system:

Consisting of an ignition coil, discharging capacitor and resistor, push button and a 12V
battery.

- Charging capacitors:

Each stage consists of six microwave ovens capacitors, the rating of each capacitor is 2.1
kV, and therefore the stage rating is 12.6 kV.

3
 INTRODUCTION

- Spark gaps:

Spherical rods, 2cm diameter, carried on wood.

- Wave shaping resistors:

The wave shaping resistors are used to shape the final output wave to give a front time less
than 1µ second and the tail time to be less than 50µ second.

- Discharging capacitor:

The discharging capacitor is a capacitor bank consist of 55 high voltage ceramic capacitor
each one can handle a 2 kV, to give a total handle of 110 kV.

- Measurements circuit:

A combination of a series resistors with total resistance of 1GΩ, divided into 999.6MΩ and
400KΩ to take the oscilloscope readings from the 400KΩ resistance.

1.5.2 Prototype number two:

- The main structure:

Same as the first prototype but with different dimensions for the Plexiglas, the height of the
Plexiglas is 50 cm, 20cm width and 4 mm thickness.

No glass was used to cover the structure, also it was implemented on prototype number
one wooden base.

- Protection circuit:

No relay was used in the second prototype, only a mechanical switch with a 1A current
circuit breaker in series before the step up transformer.

4
 INTRODUCTION

- The input:

The input voltage is 10 KV DC. A 240V/15kV step up transformer is used, the output of
the transformer is the input of a full wave rectifier which rectifies the AC signal to give the
10 kV DC voltage.

- Rectifier:

Consisting of 48 diodes each 12 diodes form one branch of the rectifier, each diode can
handle 1 kV.

- Triggering system:

Same triggering system of prototype number one.

- Charging capacitors:

Each stage consists of 8 ceramic capacitors, the rating of each capacitor is 2 kV, and
therefore the stage rating is 16 kV.

- Spark gaps

Spherical rods, 2cm diameter, carried on piece of wood.

- Wave shaping resistors:

Same circuit combination of prototype number one but with different values caused by the
changing in the charging capacitor values.

- Discharging capacitor:

The discharging capacitor is a capacitor bank consist of 14 high voltage ceramic capacitor
each one can handle an 8 kV, to give a total handle of 122 kV.

5
 INTRODUCTION

- Measurements circuit:

Same measurements circuit of prototype number one.

1.6 Division of Labor

Table 1.1 will show the contribution of each member of the group in this project and it will be the
end of chapter one.

In chapter two, many papers relative to the Marx generator will be reviewed and discussed, chapter
three will discuss the design achieved, the requirements, constrains and some different ways to
design the generator.

The results and the output wave will be shown in chapter four. Any future work in beside of the
conclusion will be written in chapter five.

6
 INTRODUCTION

Table 1.1 Division of labor

Faris Mohammed Omar

Searching an X X
collecting the
components
Building the main X X
structure
Soldering and X X
implement the
components to
main structure
Protection and X X
Triggering circuits
Measurements X X
circuit
Calibration of spark X X
gaps
Documentation X X X

7
 LITERATURE REVIEW

2 Literature Review
In general, there are several approaches to design a Marx generator. Designs generally vary from
each other according to the requirements needed, and because of the choice of the designer in
some aspects regarding the general structure of the generator. Several papers regarding Marx
generator were read, and each paper used a different method in designing, implementing and
evaluating this type of generator.

Marx generator operates by charging number of capacitors in parallel and discharging them in
series. It works as a voltage multiplier so to get an output voltage to be a multiple of the input
voltage value depending on the number of stages. T1 is the time when the impulse voltage reaches
the peak value and T2 is the time when the impulse voltage decays to 50% of the peak value [first
paper].

In [first paper] a comparison was made between two different waveforms (1.2/50 μs and 250/2500
μs) for an 8 stage Marx generator. Theoretical calculations were made, the results of simulation
(using SIMPLORER software) were compared to the practical results.

The following is the circuit model of the 8 stage Marx generator using SIMPLORER software:

Fig. 2.1 Schematic design of the 8 stage generator [2].

8
 LITERATURE REVIEW

The following figures will show the effect of different wave forms on the graphs of front and tail
time (SIMPLORER software simulation):

Fig. 2.2 the front time of 1.2/50 μs wave form [2].

Fig. 2.3 the tail time of 1.2/50 μs wave form [2].

9
 LITERATURE REVIEW

Fig. 2.4 the front time of 250/2500 μs wave form [2].

Fig. 2.5 the tail time of 250/2500 μs wave form [2].

In this paper’s experiment, it is obvious that increasing T1 and T2 will increase the value of R1 and
R2. The following table clearly shows the effect:

10
 LITERATURE REVIEW

Table 2.1 the effect of changing T1 and T2 on the values of R1 and R2 [2].

The spark gap spacing depend on the level of temperature and humidity at the time of the
experiment, for a given known voltage level. [2].

In [second paper] the value of the resistors R1 and R2 in each case (1.2/50) μs (which is the
lighting impulse waveform) and 250/2500 μs (which is the switching impulse waveform)) were
calculated theoretically (for a 10 KV single stage Marx generator) depending on the values of the
capacitors available and on the waveform value.

After this step, the simulation was carried out depending on the values calculated and given (values
of R given and C calculated). The simulation gave a value of (1.7/50.3) μs for the lightning impulse
waveform and 265.8/2646 μs and for the switching impulse waveform. It is important to note that
the values used for the simulation were slightly different than the calculated theoretical ones.

Paper [second paper] says that each component in the circuit has some residual inductance. For
that reason, the simulation is carried on another time with adding 1 μH inductance.

In paper [second paper] the effect of varying the value of R1 on the value of T1/T2 was studied
both practically and using simulation. It was obvious that when the value of R1 increased the value
T1/T2 in μs. The following table will show the effect:

Table 2.2 the effect of increasing the value of R1 on T1/T2 [3].

11
 LITERATURE REVIEW

Moreover, the efficiency of the generator was studied. The results are shown in the following table:

Table 2.3 the efficiency of the generator from calculation, simulation and experimentation [3].

Paper [third paper] implemented a 10 stage, 200 KV Marx generator. The circuit was simulated
using PSPICE and its results were compared to the practical ones.

After comparing the results, it was found that there was a difference in the tail time due to the stray
inductance and capacitance and because of the flashover inside the charging resistors.

In [4] an 8 stage Marx generator was designed for the usage in gas lasers. The results showed that
the discharge output pulse width and rise time was effected by the spark gap design. Moreover, the
spark gaps effected the impedance and inductance of the generator as they add imaginary stray
capacitance which increase the whole inductance of the system.

To lower the inductance and to get a fast rise time pulse, it is important to use low inductance
capacitors and silicon carbide type resistors.

12
 DESIGN

3 Marx Generator Design

In this chapter, the details of the requirements, constrains and the design done will be discussed in
detail. Moreover, other ways to design the Marx generator will be discussed, and why the current
design is chosen among all the designs.

3.1 Requirements

Marx generator works as a voltage multiplier for the input voltage by the number of stages, a 10
stages Marx generator each to be charged by 10 kV gives a final output of 100 kV. To handle the
high voltages, the charging resistors (which are the resistors that connect the stages together)
should be non-inductive resistors. To control the final output wave shape, a wave shaping resistors
and capacitors are required. In addition, to control the first spark gap (and therefore all the spark
gaps) a triggering system is required.

3.2 Analysis of Requirements and Constraints

3.2.1 Analysis of requirements:

It is required to design and implement a 10 stage Marx generator. The input to the first stage must
be 10 KV DC, which will be multiplied by the number of stages to give a final output at the last
stage’s spark gap to be 100 KV impulse voltage. The DC input to the first stage comes from a 220
V AC (from mains) entering a step-up transformer followed by a rectifier to produce a 10 KV DC.
Each stage consists of charging capacitors and resistors, and a spark gap which works as a switch.

It is required to use non-inductive resistors, the reason behind this is that all the inductive
resistances have some internal inductance which effect negatively by introducing oscillations and
other disturbances at high frequencies and surges (which have steep fronts).

Wave shaping resistors and capacitors are needed to alter the wave shape of the impulse output
(1/50 μs).

13
 DESIGN

Moreover, a triggering circuit is needed to control the sparking in the first spark gap, therefore; the
sparking of all the gaps and all the discharging operation process.

3.2.2 Analysis of constrains:

- Economical constrains:

The aim was to use as many components as possible from the college store. The problem
was that the store does not have any high voltage components, therefore buying the
components was the only option, and a lot of time was spent on finding the right
components with the best price to stay within the limited budget.

The second economic problem was the high voltage ratings of the components. Most of
the required capacitors are found with low voltage ratings (2kV), so in order to increase the
capacitors voltage ratings a capacitor bank was needed, and that increased the prototype
cost.

On the other hand, not any material was suitable to withstand high voltage ratings, for that
reason, Plexiglas was chosen due to its highly isolation properties, but this improved
isolation increased the cost.

- Safety constrains:

High voltages could be very dangerous and sometimes could be lethal, so when dealing with
high voltage or current ratings some precautions should be taken into consideration.

All of the operations and testing are done under the supervision of the project supervisor,
moreover, no one is allowed to be around the generator when it has been energized except
the supervisor and the group members.

Many safety issues have been worked with, the most important ones are as follows:

- Warning signs to indicate that there is a high voltage device and to keep a safe
distance from it.
- To do all the work while standing on a rubber mat for isolation purposes.

14
 DESIGN

- Using a discharge stick to discharge the capacitors after each operation of the
generator.
- Make joint soldering in bulb shape, to avoid corona losses and therefore
surrounding air ionization.

- Ethical constrains:

Marx generator is an old approach in terms of voltage multiplication, and many researchers
and students worked with it. Several references implemented, discussed and evaluated this
generator. Many of these references are available to everybody. For this document, the
percentage of copy from those references shall not exceeded 15%. In the document, citing
the references of information took from books, papers, websites, etc. must be done.

3.3 Different Designs Approaches/choices

The main circuit components of a Marx generator are mainly the same, but the choice of the
components ratings and connections varies from one design to another according to the listed
requirements.

3.3.1 Main circuit design:

Many approaches have been done throughout the years on Marx generator, all of them included the
charging capacitors, resistors and spark gaps but the difference between them is how to connect
them together.

First approach was done by Erwin Marx, the capacitors were connected in parallel by the charging
resistors between the positive and the negative terminals of the DC source, and the spark gaps were
connected in diagonal between the positive of the capacitor and the negative of the next capacitor
as shown in fig. 3.1.[7]

15
 DESIGN

Fig. 3.1 First design of Marx generator [7].

Another design has been made to save the area of wave shaping resistors by dividing them partially
inside the main circuit and another part outside the main circuit. By this solution, the wave shaping
resistor is no more designed to withstand the full ratings of the output voltage. The two terminals
of the spark gap will be connected one to the positive polarity of the capacitor as before and the
other in the middle of the wave shaping resistor inside the generator as shown in fig. 3.2.[6]

Fig. 3.2 A second design for Marx generator [6].

16
 DESIGN

A modification on Marx generator was made by B.L. Goodlet to earth the test object while
charging. Moreover, the spark gaps are connected in parallel with the DC source instead of the
capacitors while the capacitors are connected diagonally between the spark gap and the next one.
This is shown in fig. 3.3[6]

Fig. 3.3 Goodlet Modification on Marx Circuit.[6]

3.3.2 Protection Circuit design:

Many designs are available for the protection circuit, in fact, anyone who understands the way
relays work can develop an approach to protect the system from over voltages and currents; the
circuit design depends on the type of the relay.

One of the best ways to protect a transformer is using the differential relay, the concept of
differential relay is that if the phase difference between the input and the output current of the
transformer exceeded the setup value, there will be a current in the coil, therefor the rely will trip.

The schematic of the differential relay is shown in fig.3.4.

17
 DESIGN

Fig. 3.4 Differential relay design.

Another design which depends on two over voltage relays and one over current relay was
developed, three poles over voltage relay is connected to the live line of the transformer, to the
lamp and to the trip lamp with its coil connected to live line through mechanical switch and to the
neutral from the other side.

The second relay is connected to the first relay, to the live line and to the neutral line with its coil
connected to the current relay, therefore; if the current goes beyond the desired value the current
relay will trip which will result in relay number two to also trip, and therefore relay number one
tripping.

This design is accurate but complex and is relatively a costly design. The design will be shown in
fig. 3.5. [8]

18
 DESIGN

Fig. 3.5 Two voltage one current relays protection circuit.[8]

3.3.3 Triggering system:

One of the needs for our design is to control the triggering pulse in the spark gaps, and to achieve
this a triggering system is required.

Many approaches can be used to do the triggering mechanism, the simplest one is to install the first
spark gap on a movable frame, then start to decrease the distance between the two electrodes of the

19
 DESIGN

first spark gap until reaches the break down, This method is not accurate and not fully
controlled.[7]

To have a fully controlled triggering system a third electrode is added to be fired from a controlled
source. The purpose of this electrode is to deliver the pulse from the triggering circuit shown in
fig.3.6, which will initiate the breakdown of the first spark gaps.

The advantage of this design is that another purpose can be achieved other than triggering which is
that the time delay taken by the circuit ensures that the oscilloscope is ready before the start of
discharging in the main circuit. Fig 3.6 will show the exact schematic of three-electrode circuit.

The disadvantage of the three-electrode method is that the third electrode will take space and also
increasing the number of parts used, therefore increasing the cost.

Fig. 3.6 Three electrodes circuit [7].

Another approach to use as triggering circuit is the Fly back transformer. The Fly back
transformers could be found in old televisions and they can deliver an output pulse above 15
kV but the problem in these transformers is that it is not safe at all to deal with them without
an additional circuit to control them.

20
 DESIGN

In fig 3.7 a scheme for an efficient driver circuit is shown, the circuit takes an input from the
mains of 220 V (or 110 V).

The problem with this design is that several components are used and this will increase the
cost, moreover, the output pulse is reduced to less than 700 volts and this value may not initiate
the break down in the first spark gap.

Fig. 3.7 Triggering system using Flyback transformer[9].

3.3.4 Spark gaps design:

The spark gap could be either a spherical or a hemispherical electrode to reduce the corona
effect, in other words anything that distribute the electrons in a formal way could be used as
a spark gap.

The cheapest and easiest approach among all the approaches, but the least efficient one are
to bend 1mm copper wire in the shape of a ring. The drawback of this design is that the
copper wire is elastic and could be out of adjustment for any simple vibration.

21
 DESIGN

Another design consists of spherical screw domed nuts installed on M6 screws and covered
by a cable duct, this approach allows the user to adjust the spacing between the two
electrodes by adjusting the screw as shown in fig. 3.8.

Fig. 3.8 Adjustable spark gaps design [9].

3.4 Developed Design:

In this section, the developed design will be discussed and every single detail will be justified,
starting from the main structure and ending up with the output pulse through the oscilloscope.

Sometimes failure could happen in some issues in the design chosen and implemented. This will
cause the designer to change the design to achieve the requirements needed. The first prototype
done and implemented failed to deliver the outcomes that were expected. The second prototype
showed the needed outcomes. Both designs will be analyzed in details in this section.

3.4.1 Prototype number one:

- Generator circuit:

The main generator circuit consists of 10 stages charging in parallel through charging resistors from
a 10 kV DC source, then discharge in series through the spark gaps into the wave shaping resistors
and capacitors as in fig. 3.9.

22
 DESIGN

Fig. 3.9 Marx generator main circuit.

- The input:

The mains of 220 V is taken as input to the variable AC source which ranges from 0 to 260 Volts
and maximum current of 5 Amperes. The variable source is needed for safety reasons because if the
components were loaded by their full rating voltage a fault may occur.

The output of the variable source is taken into the protection circuit that will be discussed later in
this section.

A step-up transformer shown in fig. 3.10 with ratings shown in table 3.1 is used to step up the
input voltage from 220 V to 10 kV and then a full wave rectifier will rectify the AC signal.

Fig. 3.10 The step-up transformer.

23
 DESIGN

Table 3.1 The rating of the step-up transformer used.

Rated input voltage 220 Volts

Rated output voltage 10,000 Volts

Maximum output current 23 mille Amperes

Rated power 250 VA

N2/N1 10,000/220

A rectifier consists of four diodes each rated by 12 kV and a 1MΩ current limiting resistor to give
the required input to the first stage which is 10 kV DC, the transformer and rectifier schematic
diagram is shown in fig. 3.11.

Fig. 3.11 The step-up transformer with the rectifier circuit.

- The charging capacitors :

The charging capacitors has been extracted from microwave ovens, these capacitors main
advantage is their high capacitance values and the ability to handle high voltages at the same
time.

Microwave ovens capacitors comes in different capacitance values but all in the range of 1µ
Farad ±5%, the selection of the capacitors was due to their availability in the market and
low cost.

24
 DESIGN

Each capacitor can handle 2.1 kV, so each stage should contain minimum 5 capacitors (to
give the 10KV needed per stage), the choice was to insert 6 capacitors in each stage for
safety reasons, therefore; each stage is going to handle 12.6 kV of charging voltage.

Each stage is considered a capacitor bank, each bank consists of 6 capacitors to give a total
capacitance of 174nF and a voltage rating of 12 kV.

The total Marx capacitance will be given by the following equation 3.1.

𝐶𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒
𝐶1 = ……………………………………………………………. (3.1)
10

Therefore 𝐶1 = 17.4𝑛𝐹.

The average ratings for the high voltage capacitors in fig. 3.12 is showed in table 3.2.

Fig. 3.12 Charging capacitor

Table 3.2 The average ratings of the high voltage capacitors.

Capacitance per each capacitor 0.95µF ~ 1.05µF
Capacitance of the capacitor bank 174nF
Rated voltage 2100 Volts
Frequency 50 ~ 60 Hz

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 DESIGN

Internal resistance 10MΩ

Operating temperature -10˚ ~ +85˚ C
Polarity Non-polarized

- Charging resistors:

The charging resistors needed to be non-inductive, the choice was on 1MΩ 3W carbon film
resistors. The purpose of these resistors is to limit the current for safety reasons, usually the
desired current value is between 50 mA and 100 mA.

- Spark gaps:

As mentioned before, the spark gaps need to be in hemispherical or spherical shape, the
choice was to use two metal spherical screw nuts with diameter of 2 cm (to represent the
spark gaps). The nuts are mounted on a piece of wood with a screw to control and adjust
the distance between them. This is shown in fig 3.13.

Fig. 3.13 The spark gaps used in the design.

The spacing between the spark gaps are taken from Table 3.3. The diameter, spacing and
the breakdown values are highlighted. The table values are for charging voltages above 10
kV either AC, DC, negative standard impulse waves or long tail impulse waves.

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 DESIGN

Table 3.3 Spacing of the spark gaps.

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 DESIGN

- Wave shaping circuit:

The wave shaping circuit consists of two resistors R1 and R2 and the load capacitance C2
as shown in fig.3.14. R1 control the front time of the wave and R2 controls the tail time.

C1 and C2 contributes to the process of wave shaping, but those capacitors are hard to
change their values and can be considered as fixed values, but in the case of resistors they
can be changed easily either by replacing them totally or by adding a potentiometer.

Fig. 3.14 wave shaping circuit.

The time front (T1) is given by equation 3.2, and the tail time (T2) is given by equation 3.3.

𝐶 𝐶
𝑇1 = 3𝑅1 𝐶 1+𝐶2 ……………………………………………………………. (3.2)
1 2

𝑇2 = 0.7(𝑅1 + 𝑅2 )(𝐶1 + 𝐶2 ) …………………………………………….. (3.3)

The front wave shaping resistor R1 is calculated to be 900Ω and the tail wave shaping
resistor R2 is 3kΩ.

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 DESIGN

The maximum output current will be equal to 23mA by simulation, R1 should handle
around 1 W and R2 should handle less than 2 W, therefore; R1 is installed using two half
watts 1.8kΩ resistors in parallel, where R2 is formed from five half watt 15kΩ resistors.

The capacitor C2 was selected due to availability in the market, a capacitor bank consisting
of 55 capacitors (each 22nF, 2 kV ceramic type) was made to handle voltages up to 110 kV.

Based on the wave shaping circuit’s component values, the front time and tail time will be
as next:

 𝑇1 ≈ 1µ 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑
 𝑇2 ≈ 50µ 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠

- Protection circuit:

To keep a low-cost design, a protection circuit was designed using only one three pole over voltage,
two lamps, one fuse and a combination of current limiting resistors as shown in fig. 3.14.

The current limiting resistors are connected between the live line and the relay coil to limit the
current and therefore; limit the magnetic field of the relay coil, and keep the relay rated tripping
values.

The live line is connected to the first pole (which is normally in closed state) and with the other side
connected to the fuse, then the transformer. The second pole is treated as a normally closed state,
and it also connects the live line with the on lamp.

Finally, the trip lamp is connected to the live line on the third pole with normally open state.

If the relay is in block mode, the power will reach the transformer and the on lamp will be glowing,
if over voltage occurs the relay trips and the first two poles will open and the third pole will close
which will lead to trip lamp to be on.

29
 DESIGN

Fig. 3.15 Three poles over voltage relay protection circuit.

- The triggering system:

As discussed before there are many ways to design the triggering circuits, the aim was to choose an
efficient system with relatively low cost to keep the low-cost profile for this project. The cheapest
design is shown in fig. 3.15 which consists of ignition coil, 12V battery, and push button.

Fig. 3.16 The triggering circuit.

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 DESIGN

3.4.2 Prototype number two:

Due to the failure in the first design, a second design was developed in order to get outcomes
according to the requirements. Some of the first design was kept unchanged at all. Details will be
discussed in the following section about all the changes done to the first design to achieve the
second design. Anything that is not changed will not be mentioned in the following second design
details.

- The input:

The rectifier circuit is kept the same, but the diodes were changed. The diodes is chosen to be a
combination of 12 diodes in series for the single branch in the rectifier of type 1N4007 having
ratings of 1 KV, 1A for each diode. The following table will show the data sheet of this type of
diode.

Table 3.4 Nominal ratings of 1N4007 diode.

Model 1N4007

Manufacturer MIC

Max DC voltage 1000 V

Max average current 1A

Forward voltage 1.1V @ 1A

Operating temperature -55˚C~150˚C

The transformer that was used in prototype number one was of ignition type, this type caused a
problem when operated as the current in the primary winding was stopped quickly to give the rapid
increase in the voltage value of the primary winding.

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 DESIGN

- The charging capacitors:

In the second prototype each stage consists of 8 ceramic capacitors connected in series as shown in
fig. 3.17. Each capacitor has a capacitance of 22 nF and a voltage rating 2 KV. The equivalent
capacitance of each stage is 2.75 nF giving a total capacitance C1 of the 10 stages of 0.275 nF
according to equation (3.1).

Fig. 3.17 charging capacitors of prototype two

The reason behind changing the capacitors in the second design is that the capacitors in the first
prototype are not able to produce voltage pulses.

- Spark gaps:

The spark gaps (of the first prototype) were used in the second design but all are held on the same
wood board. The spacing between the spark gaps was also adjustable as in the first design, also the
spacing was adjust according to table 3.3.

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 DESIGN

- Wave shaping resistors and capacitors:

The value of the discharging capacitors changed from the first prototype, were each capacitor
of the second design has a capacitance value of 180 pF. This gives a value of C2 of 12.857 pF.

According to the new Marx capacitance C1 and C2 values and keeping the wave shape (1/50
μs) fixed (according to the design requirements) new values for R1 and R2 were calculated
according to equations (3.2) and (3.3). R1 equaled 28 KΩ and R2 will equal to 220.5 KΩ.

3.5 Did the Design Meet Requirements and Constraints

Yes, all the requirements has been meet and tested.

All the previous requirements and constrains will be discussed in chapter number 4.

33
 RESULTS

4 Results
4.1 Prototype Setup

Firstly, all the main structure of the circuit was formed, then the capacitor stages and the charging
resistors were inserted. After that the input level was formed, which consists of the transformer and
the rectifier. Moreover, the triggering circuit was formed, followed by the protection circuit. The
last step was forming the wave shaping and the measurement circuit. According to the failure in the
first design, a second modified design was formed which included changes in the step-up
transformer type and ratings. Moreover, improvements in the type and ratings of the charging and
discharging capacitors, plus changing in the protection and wave shaping circuits.

4.2 Experiment/Simulation Setup

4.2.1 Simulation setup

Simulation of the Marx generator circuit was made using MATLAB SIMULINK software to get
nearly ideal outcomes to compare with the experimental ones. The simulation is carried out during
the discharging process as our main concern is on the voltage and current values at the output
stage.

4.2.2 Hardware setup

4.3 Experiment/Simulation results discussion

4.3.1 Simulation results discussion

The following is the schematic design of the Marx generator circuit while discharging:

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 RESULTS

Fig. 4.1 Simulated Marx generator while discharging

The 10 stage Marx generator was simplified to a single stage circuit by using the calculated
equivalent capacitances C1 and C2 (275 pF and 12.8 pF, respectively). The spark gap is substituted
with an ideal switch controlled by a pulse generator. A current measurement connected to a scope
was used to measure the current entering the wave shaping resistor and capacitor, and a voltage
measurement was connected in parallel to them to measure the voltage.

The following figure shows the behavior of the current in the discharging process:

35
 RESULTS

Fig. 4.2 The output current while discharging

The current reached 0 A after time value around 250 μs.

The following figure will show the voltage variation in the discharging process, as can be seen the
output voltage is an impulse wave with front time around 1µ second and a tail time around 50 µ
seconds.

36
 RESULTS

Fig. 4.3 The output voltage wave

The peak voltage reached around 84 kV.

4.3.2 Experiment Results Discussion

The experiment did meet the required controlled output voltage of a 100kV impulse wave, the
wave front time is around 1µ second and the tail time is around 50µ second as shown in the next
figure.

37
 RESULTS

100

90

80

70

60
Volts [KV]

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550

Time [Micro sec]

Fig. 4.4 The output impulse wave

Every single square on the oscilloscope represents 12.5kV according to the ratio of measurements
circuit discussed in previous chapter, in this case the final output is 100kV.

4.4 Validation of requirements/constraints

The following table discusses the validation of the requirements.

Table 4.1 Validation of requirements

Type of requirements
10 KV DC input.
10 charging stages
100 KV impulse output voltage.
The validation of the requirements
Yes, the input was been met, by the transformer
Yes, the 10 stages has been implemented
Yes, the output wave has reached 100kV and it
has been seen on the oscilloscope

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 RESULTS

Non inductive resistors Yes, by implementing carbon film resistor.

Wave shaping resistors and capacitors. Yes, it has been implemented and the effect of
the wave shaping circuit has been seen
Triggering system. Yes, the triggering system has been implement
and tested.

The following table discusses the validation of the constraints.

Table 4.2 Validation of the constraints

Type of constraint The validation of the constraints
Economical The budget limit was exceeded, the cause behind this is the
implementation of the second prototype after the failure of the
first.
Safety All the safety issues that were discussed previously were achieved.
Ethical The document did not exceed 15 % copy, and information
extracted from any book, paper or any other educational tool was
referenced.

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 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

5 Conclusion and Future Work

5.1 Conclusion:
The aim of the project was to design a 10 stage Marx generator with an input of 10 KV DC and to
get a 100 KV impulse voltage at the last spark gap, and to have a wave shape of 1/50 µs. First,
several books and papers regarding the design of the Marx generator and high voltage impulses in
general were read and well understood. Calculations were made for the circuit components and
searching for them was somehow hard as we were dealing with high voltage ratings. A design was
built and implemented, but at the end we ended up with several problems (which were discussed in
the previous chapters). Further researches were made by the group members with the help of the
supervisor until a second design was made and implemented which finally gave us the right
outcomes.

Working as a team for this relatively long period of time spent on researching and working gave us
a rich experience, and a better understanding regarding high voltage engineering.

5.2 Future work:

We recommend adding other components to the Marx generator circuit (such as inductors) to
study the effect of them on the outcomes of the generator. Moreover, to try to control the spacing
between the spark gaps using motors according to a certain code to give more accurate results.

40
 REFERENCES

REFERENCES

[1] "Marx Generator". En.wikipedia.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 13 May 2017.

[2] “International Journal of Ethics in Engineering & Management Education Website:
Www.ijeee.in (c),” n.d.
[3] CONSTRUCTION AND EVALUATION OF SINGLE STAGE MARX GENERATOR
“Madhu PALATI Research Scholar, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering,
School of Engineering & Technology, Jain University, Jakkasandra Post, Kanakapura Taluk,
Ramanagara District, Karnataka -562112,India. Mobile # +91- 9686596133, Email Id:
Mfmadhu@gmail.com,” n.d.
[4] Design and Implementation of 8 - Stage Marx Generator Used for Gas Lasers
“Innovative Systems Design and Engineering ISSN 2222-1727 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2871
(Online) Vol.7, No.5, 2016,” n.d.
[5] STUDIES ON LIGHTNING CHARACTERISTICS “Vol-1 Issue-5
2016 IJARIIE-ISSN (O)-2395-4396 C-1395 Www.ijariie.com 1 STUDIES ON
LIGHTNING CHARACTERISTICS Lohit Singh.G1 , Piyush Kankariya1 , Rakesh
Kumar1 , Varun.P1 , Shreyas1 , Madhu Palati2 1UG Student, 2Assistant Professor, 1, 2
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, School of Engineering & Technology,
Jain University, Bangalore,” n.d.
[6] C.L. Wadhwa, High Voltage Engineering, Second Edition. New Age International.

[7] Naidu, M S, and V Kamaraju. High Voltage Engineering. Second. The United States of America:
McGraw-Hill, 1995.

[8] Saleh n, Saleh. “DESIGN AND USE OF A NITROGEN LASER FOR DISCHARGE
STUDIES.” The Victoria University of Manchester, 1978.

[9] http://www.kronjaeger.com/hv/

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