Nalanda English Medium

School
{Shewalwadi}
2019-2020

Submitted By: Submitted To:

Dipanshu Gawde
TESLA COIL
 content

 Certificate
 Acknowledgement
 Introduction
 Principle
 Construction and working
 Types of Tesla coil
 Components of Tesla coil
 Applications of Tesla coil
 Limitation
 Bibliography
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that DIPANSHU
GAWDE the students of NALANDA
ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOL has
successfully completed the project titled as
TESLA COIL during the academic year
2019-2020 towards partial fulfillment of
physics practical examination conducted by
CBSE

(Teacher signature) (External

Examiner signature)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my

special thanks of gratitude to
my teacher ________________
who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this
wonderful project on TESLA
COIL, which also helped me
in doing a lot of research and I
came to know about so many
new things.
INTRODUCTION
A Tesla coil is an electrical resonant transformer
circuit designed by inventor Nikola Tesla in 1891. It is
used to produce high-voltage, low-current,
high frequency alternating-current electricity. Tesla
experimented with a number of different
configurations consisting of two, or sometimes three,
coupled resonant electric circuits.

Tesla used these circuits to conduct innovative

experiments in
electrical lighting, phosphorescence, X-ray
generation, high frequency alternating
current phenomena, electrotherapy, and
the transmission of electrical energy without wires.
Tesla coil circuits were used commercially in spark
gap radio transmitters for wireless telegraphy until
the 1920s, and in medical equipment such
as electrotherapy and violet ray devices. Today, their
main usage is for entertainment and educational
displays, although small coils are still used as leak
detectors for high vacuum systems.
PRINCIPLE OF WORKNG
A Tesla coil transformer operates in a different manner than
a conventional (i.e., iron core) transformer. In a
conventional transformer, the windings are very tightly
coupled, and voltage gain is limited to the ratio of the
numbers of turns in the windings.
However, unlike a conventional transformer, which may
couple 97%+ of the magnetic fields between windings, a
Tesla coil’s windings are “loosely” coupled, with the primary
and secondary typically sharing only 10-20% of their
respective magnetic fields and instead the coil transfers
energy (via loose coupling) from one oscillating resonant
circuit (the primary) to the other (the secondary) over a
number of RF cycles.
As the primary energy transfers to the secondary, the
secondary’s output voltage increases until all of the
available primary energy has been transferred to the
secondary (less losses). Even with significant spark gap
losses, a well designed Tesla coil can transfer over 85% of
the energy initially stored in the primary capacitor to the
secondary circuit. Thus the voltage gain of a disruptive
Tesla coil can be significantly greater than a conventional
transformer, since it is instead proportional to the square
root of the ratio of secondary and primary inductances.
In addition, because of the large gap between the primary
and secondary that loose coupling makes possible, the
insulation between the two is far less likely to break down,
and this permits coils to run extremely high voltages without
damage.
 Construction
The primary is wound at the bottom of the coil. The primary and
secondary have something like 1 cm-5 cm space between them to
avoid arcing from the secondary coil to the primary one. The primary
should be made of few turns (3-12) of heavy wire or even copper tube
or any other highly conductive material. The secondary is a large
single layer coil. It should be constructed on some non-conducting
material, such as PVC pipe. Winding must be neat and tight. Any
overlapping will affect performance drastically.
After secondary has been changed winded it should be insulated
properly. One could use something like plastic spray, silicon,
paraffin wax and many other good insulators for that. One could use
something like observe any appearing corona on the coil and
insulate it more or the coil will be destroyed. Arcing can be reduced
between primary and secondary coils by putting a plastic tube
between of them. Secondary have length/diameter of approximately
four.
The high input voltage, low-frequency power source is to charge the
primary tank circuit. This energy is used to charge capacitor of the
primary circuit and all the energy stored in it will be transferred to
the primary coil. The process of charging primary capacitor and
firing the spark gap occurs rapidly. The radio frequency chokes
(RFC) inductors are shown in act as high impedances to prevent the
AC source from interfering with the oscillating primary tank circuit.
Various types of Tesla
coil
Tesla coils fall into two categories: spark-gap coils and solid-state
coils. Every Tesla coil consists of a primary LC circuit that excites a
secondary circuit. Solid-state and spark-gap coils vary in how they
drive the primary sides of the coil. Solid-state coils have a number of
common sub-varieties as well.

Spark Gap Tesla Coil (SGTC)

Spark gap coils use an air gap to control the primary current. Using
a transformer (often a neon sign transformer or “NST”) , a primary
capacitor is charged to a high voltage. When the voltage is high
enough, the spark gap breaks down, ionizing the air between the
terminals and forming a short circuit. This allows current to flow
between the primary capacitor and primary inductor, completing the
primary circuit. Power is lost to dissipation in the coils due to their
resistance, and the spark gap is soon extinguished. Then the primary
is slowly recharged and the cycle starts again.

Solid-State Tesla Coils:

Solid-State Tesla Coils (SSTCs) encompass all Tesla coils which use
a semiconducting device(s) to generate the RF power for the
secondary. The consist of several types:

Single-Resonant Coils:
Single-resonant coils couple RF power (usually at a few hundred
volts peak to peak) to the secondary via a single coil. These coils are
best known for their bushy, quiet sparks and their high continuous
RF power. However, their spark length to power efficiency metric is
poor (8” of sparks typically requires a thousand watts or more).

Interrupted Solid-State Tesla Coils

(ISSTC):
The precursor to the DRSSTC, these interrupt the drive signal to an
SSTC in order to reduce power consumption while preserving spark
length. Generally the preferred way to build an SSTC unless you are
after the bushy, silent look (or high-fidelity audio reproduction), as it
is far easier to thermally manage than a continuous SSTC and less
temperamental than a DRSSTC.

Class-E Tesla Coils:

These use a Class-E inverter and a secondary operating at several
MHz. The higher frequencies (which are enabled by the extremely
efficient Class-E topology) allows for a stable, silent spark, which
can consequently be used to reproduce full-range audio. However,
typical variants use a low (~100V) bus voltage and consequently
have very poor spark performance relative to other coil types (2-3”
at best), while off-line ones require careful tuning and high powers to
produce 4-5” of spark. Despite these shortcomings, this type of coil
cannot be beat for its audio quality.
Dual-Resonant Solid-State Tesla Coil
(DRSSTC):
The DRSSTC produces the longest sparks of the solid-state coils; in
fact, DRSSTCs are approaching the performance of large spark-gap
coils while offering a significantly more compact driver and full
electronic control. The primary circuit of a DRSSTC is tuned to the
same frequency as its secondary. In this way it can achieve a very
high voltage on the primary and transfer a lot of energy to the
secondary.
 Components of tesla coil
The simplest Tesla Coil consists of only 6 basic parts shown
in the photograph on the left:-

 The Neon Sign Transformers provide the high voltage

supply which is required to operate the spark gap.

 Power from the transformers charges the bank of high

voltage capacitors

 Energy from the capacitors is transferred into the

primary winding when the spark gap fires. The spark
gap is an RQ style static gap with forced air cooling.

 Energy in the primary coil is transferred into the

secondary coil by magnetic coupling between the two
coils.

 When the energy is transferred to the secondary coil it

results in an extremely high voltage at the top of the
secondary.

 The toroid is the last stopping place for the electricity

before it jumps into the air.
How Tesla Coils Work
A classic Tesla coil consists of two inductive-capacitive (LC)
oscillators, loosely coupled to one another. An LC oscillator
has two main components, an inductor and a capacitor. An
inductor converts an electrical current into a magnetic field
or a magnetic field into a current. Inductors are formed from
electrical conductors wound into coils. Capacitors consist
of two or more conductors separated by an insulator. A
capacitor converts current into an electric field or an
electric field into current. Both magnetic fields and electric
fields are forms of stored energy. When a charged capacitor
(U=CV2/2) is connected to an inductor an electric current
will flow from the capacitor through the inductor creating a
magnetic field (U=LI2/2). When the electric field in the
capacitor is exhausted the current stops and the magnetic
field collapses. As the magnetic field collapses, it induces a
current to flow in the inductor in the opposite direction to
the original current. This new current charges the
capacitor, creating a new electric field, equal but opposite
to the original field. As long as the inductor and capacitor
are connected the energy in the system will oscillate
between the magnetic field and the electric field as the
current constantly reverses. The rate at which the system
oscillates is given by (the square root of 1/LC)/2pi. One full
cycle of oscillation is shown in the drawing below. In the real
world the oscillation will eventually damp out due to
resistive losses in the conductors (the energy will be
dissipated as heat).

In a Tesla coil, the two inductors share the same axis and
are located close to one another. In this manner the
magnetic field produced by one inductor can generate a
current in the other.. The primary oscillator consists of a flat
spiral inductor with only a few turns, a capacitor, a voltage
source to charge the capacitor and a switch to connect the
capacitor to the inductor. The secondary oscillator contains
a large, tightly wound inductor with many turns and a
capacitor formed by the earth on one end (the base) and an
output terminal (usually a sphere or toroid) on the other.

While the switch is open, a low current flows through the

primary inductor, charging the capacitor. When the switch
is closed a much higher current flows from the capacitor
through the primary inductor, The resulting magnetic field
induces a corresponding current in the secondary. Because
the secondary contains many more turns than the primary a
very high electric field is established in the secondary
capacitor. The output of a Tesla coil is maximized when two
conditions are met. First, both the primary and secondary
must oscillate at the same frequency. And secondly, the
total length of conductor in the secondary must be equal to
one quarter of the oscillator’s wave length. Wave length is
equal to the speed of light divided by the frequency of the
oscillator.
USES OF TESLA COIL
Two variations of the Tesla coil are found in everyday
devices, the CRT display and the internal combustion
engine. Every CRT type display (televisions,
computer monitors, etc.) uses a small Tesla coil,
usually referred to as a fly back transformer in this
application, to provide the high voltage necessary to
accelerate electrons from the electron gun in the
narrow end of the picture tube to the phosphors
coating the inside of the screen. An oil filled Tesla
coil, known as an ignition coil, is found under the
hood of all internal combustion powered automobiles.
It provides the high voltage to fire the spark plugs.
Tesla coils have also been used to provide special
effects for the entertainment industry.
 LIMITATION OF TESLA COIL

Secondary coil shocks: These are minor

electrocutions from getting too close to the coil, more
prevalent when building than any other time.
Ozone poisoning: High voltage produces large
amount of ozone which can be dangerous if breathed
in too much.
Radio Frequency Interference:
Continuous oscillation, such as in solid state Tesla
Coil, can produce radio waves that will cook flesh
without being noticed because of their low frequency.