TESLA COIL

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TESLA COIL
1.INTRODUCTION
A Tesla coil is an electrical resonant transformer circuit designed by inventor Nikola Tesla in
1891It 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.
Among his numerous innovations, Nikola Tesla dreamed of creating a way to supply power
to the world without stringing wires across the globe. The inventor came close to
accomplishing this when his "mad scientist" experiments with electricity led to his creation of
the Tesla coil.
Tesla developed the coil in 1891, before conventional iron-core transformers were used to
power things like lighting systems and telephone circuits. These conventional transformers
can't withstand the high frequency and high voltage that the looser coils in Tesla's invention
can tolerate. The concept behind the coil is actually fairly simple and makes use of
electromagnetic force and resonance. Employing copper wire and glass bottles, an amateur
electrician can build a Tesla coil that can produce a quarter of a million volts. [Infographic:
How the Tesla Coil Works]

2.LITERATURE SURVEY
The term "Tesla coil" is applied to a number of high voltage resonant transformer circuits.
Tesla coil circuits can be classified by the type of "excitation" they use, what type of circuit is
used to apply current to the primary winding of the resonant transformer

Spark-excited or Spark Gap Tesla Coil (SGTC) - This type uses a spark gap to switch
pulses of current through the primary, exciting oscillation in the transformer. This pulsed
(disruptive) drive creates a pulsed high voltage output. Spark gaps have disadvantages due to
the high primary currents they must handle. They produce a very loud noise while operating,
noxious ozone gas, and high temperatures which often require a cooling system. The energy
dissipated in the spark also reduces the Q factor and the output voltage.
Static spark gap - This is the most common type, which was described in detail in the
previous section. It is used in most entertainment coils. An AC voltage from a high voltage
supply transformer charges a capacitor, which discharges through the spark gap. The spark
rate is not adjustable but is determined by the line frequency. Multiple sparks may occur on
each half-cycle, so the pulses of output voltage may not be equally-spaced.
 Static triggered spark gap - Commercial and industrial circuits often apply a DC voltage
from a power supply to charge the capacitor, and use high voltage pulses generated by an
oscillator applied to a triggering electrode to trigger the spark.[15] This allows control of the
spark rate and exciting voltage. Commercial spark gaps are often enclosed in an insulating
gas atmosphere such as sulfur hexafluoride, reducing the length and thus the energy loss in
the spark.

3. WORK PLAN
Setup: A Tesla coil consists of two parts: a primary coil and secondary coil, each with its own
capacitor. (Capacitors store electrical energy just like batteries.) The two coils and capacitors
are connected by a spark gap — a gap of air between two electrodes that generates the spark
of electricity. An outside source hooked up to a transformer powers the whole system.
Essentially, the Tesla coil is two open electric circuits connected to a spark gap.
A Tesla coil needs a high-voltage power source. A regular power source fed through a
transformer can produce a current with the necessary power (at least thousands of volts).
In this case, a transformer can convert the low voltage of main power into the high voltage.

4. METHODS
Materials Required:
Magnetic wire a.k.a Enameled copper wire
22K Resistor
2N2222 Transistor
LED
Ordinary breadboard wire
 Any nonconductive cylindrical object
9V Battery (or 5V Supply)
Breadboard

Working of a Tesla coil:

Before we start building the Tesla coil, it is very important to know how it works. Only then
we will be able to build and debug one successfully. The Tesla coil works with the principle
of Electromagnetic Induction. According to which, when a conductor is placed under a
varying magnetic field, a small current will be induced inside the conductor. For a Tesla coil
this conductor will be called as the secondary coil and the varying magnetic field will be
produced by the primary coil by passing an oscillating current through the primary coil.
It might sound a bit confused, but let us proceed with the circuit diagram where things will be
made much clear.
The circuit diagram of Mini Tesla Coil Project given below is very simple. So let us
understand how it works and learn how to build it. The main component in this circuit is the
secondary coil (golden colour), which is made by winding a magnetic wire (enamelled)
around aylindrical object (any non conductive object will work).

A high current high frequency transistor like 2N2222 is used to supply current through the
primary coil (violet color). The whole set up is powered by a 9V battery as shown above. The
positive end of the battery reaches the collector of Transistor through the primary coil, and
the emitter is grounded. This means that whenever the transistor conducts, current is flown
through the primary coil. The LED diode and one end of the secondary coil is also connected
to base of transistor to make the circuit oscillate, this way the transistor will send a oscillating
current into primary coil. If you want get more technical and learn how the current oscillates
you can Google for “Slayer Exciter Circuit”.
So, with this arrangement we have a primary coil which will have an oscillating current, and
hence will produce a carrying magnetic flux around it. Now, this coil is wound around the
secondary coil and hence a according to law of electromagnetic induction a voltage will be
induced in the secondary coil. Since the number of turns in the secondary coil is very large
than primary coil, this voltage will be a very high voltage and hence this coil will have a very
strong electric flux around it that is powerful enough to glow normal CFL bulbs and is used
in Wireless Power Transmission.

5.CONCLUSION
After studying and developing the model of TESLA COIL we came to following Conclusion:
-
We are able to generate high voltage with high frequency and it can be used for testing the
apparatus for switching surges.
It can also be used for study of visual corona and ionization of gases under the electrical
stress.
It can also transmit the electrical power wirelessly up to certain distance depends upon its
ratings.

6.REFERENCE
www.livescience.com/46745-how-tesla-coil-works.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil
www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/what-is-a-tesla-coil.
www.dictionary.com/browse/tesla-coil
www.youtube/tesla_coil.