Corona Discharge (Definition)

Ionization of air surrounding a high

voltage conductor

Violet glow with hissing noise

 Corona Discharge (When it is formed/Condition)

Potential gradient: Potential gradient is the

Consider a current carrying high voltage conductor rate of change of the potential with respect to
displacement/distance.

Surrounded by air

Electric field (potential gradient

dV/dl) is formed in the air

Potential gradient<air Potential gradient ≥ air 132 kV in transmission

dielectric strength dielectric strength line

25 kV in
the air

No ionization of air and Ionization of air causes

132
air acts as insulator 9
kV

50 kV in
the air
90 kV in
the air

Air dielectric strength: 30 kV/cm (per cm, voltage withstand capacity of air). Above this value, air dielectric/insulation medium will breakdown and acts as conductor.
 Corona Discharge
(How it is formed)
Consider two conductors (A & B) of radius r cm and spaced d cm apart.
Phase Neutral

For phase conductor, during + half cycle, it will + +

r + + r
attract the free electronics and during – half
cycle, it will repulse the free electrons. +q + + -q
Therefore, attraction and repulsion occur during + +
+ and – cycles, respectively. Similarly, this
happens for the neutral conductor. This means A d B
air is ionized. This causes violet glow for both
the conductors. Hissing noise is generated due
to the attraction and repulsion.

The corona occurs between the conductors till potential gradient >air dielectric strength.

Ionization means that the electrons and positive ions are further free to move easily than they were in their original atomic structure due to the electric field.
So this ionized air is much more conductive than the previous non-ionized air. The ability of the electrons to move makes any material a good conductor.
 Critical Disruptive Voltage
Critical disruptive voltage: It is the minimum phase to neutral voltage at which electric field intensity at the surface of the conductor
exceeds dielectric strength and generates corona.

Consider two conductors (A & B) of radius r cm and spaced d cm apart. If V is the phase-neutral potential, then potential gradient at
the conductor surface is given by:
Phase Neutral
r
A r B
𝑉
Potential gradient, 𝑔 = 𝑑 (i)
𝛿𝑟𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑟
d

Corona is formed, when minimum potential gradient g=dielectric strength of air. The breakdown strength of air at NTP [76 cm pressure
and temperature of 25ºC is 30 kV/cm (max) or 21·2 kV/cm (r.m.s.)] and is denoted by 𝑔𝑜 . If 𝑉𝑐 is the phase-neutral potential required
under these conditions, then,

𝑉𝑐
Potential gradient, 𝑔𝑜 = 3.92 𝑏
𝛿𝑟𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑟
𝑑
𝛿 = Air density correction factor=
273 + 𝑡
𝑑 b=air pressure and t=temperature
Critical disruptive voltage, 𝑉𝑐 = 𝛿𝑔𝑜 𝑟𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑟 (ii)
At NTP, 𝛿=1
 Power Loss Due to Corona

Power loss due to corona (kW/km/phase): Energy loss due to corona is dissipated in the form of light, heat and sound. This affects
the transmission efficiency of the line.

𝑓 + 25 𝑟 2
𝑃 = 242.2 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑐 × 10−5 (iii)
𝛿 𝑑

f=supply frequency
V=phase to neutral voltage (rms)
Vc=critical disruptive voltage (rms) per phase
 System and Surrounding Factors Affecting Corona Discharge

𝑉
Potential gradient, 𝑔 = 𝑑 (i)
𝛿𝑟𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑟

𝑓 + 25 𝑟
𝑃 = 242.2 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑐 2
× 10−5 (iii)
𝛿 𝑑

(3) Air density

(1) Effect of System frequency (2) System voltage 1
𝑃 ∝ 𝑓 [From eqn (iii)] 𝑃 ∝ V ∝ 𝑔 (From eqns (i, iii)] 𝑃 ∝ [(From eqns (iii)]
𝛿

(4) No of ions (n) in the air

𝑃∝𝑛
In stormy weather and rain, 𝑛
increased, then 𝑃 increased.
Also, increased n causes
corona at less 𝑉 (voltage)
 Conductor Factors Affecting Corona Effect
𝑉
Potential gradient, 𝑔 = 𝑑
(i)
𝛿𝑟𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑟

(5) Radius of the conductor (5) Spacing between two conductors (6) Surface of the conductor
𝑄 1 𝐼
𝐸= ∝ 𝑔 ∝ 𝑃 [From eqn (i)] 𝐽 = 𝐴 (J=current density)
𝑑
2𝜋𝜀𝑟 1
1 𝐽 ∝ 𝑟 [𝐴 = 𝜋𝑟 2 ]
𝐸 ∝ 𝑟 [E=Electric field intensity] 1
𝐴𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝐸 ∝ 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠, P 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 ∝
𝑟
1 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 ∝ 𝐽
𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 ∝ Rough surface will have edges, where area
𝑟
will be less, but current density J will be
more.
Phase Neutral
r i.e. for rough surface of conductor, corona
r
+Q A r B loss will be more than solid conductor
surface.
d
 Methods of Reducing Corona Effect

Careful design should be made to avoid corona on the sub-stations or bus-bars rated for 33 kV and higher voltages otherwise
highly ionised air may cause flash-over in the insulators or between the phases, causing considerable damage to the
equipment.

The corona effects can be reduced by the following (5) Radius of the conductor
methods : 𝑄
𝐸=
2𝜋𝜀𝑟
(i) By increasing conductor diameter: By increasing 1
𝐸 ∝ 𝑟 [E=Electric field intensity]
conductor diameter, the electric field intensity is reduced
𝐴𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝐸 ∝ 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠, P
and hence corona effects are reduced. This is one of the
1
reasons that ACSR conductors which have a larger 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 ∝
diameter are used in transmission lines. 𝑟

r
+Q
 Methods of Reducing Corona Effect
𝑉
Potential gradient, 𝑔 = 𝑑 (i)
𝛿𝑟𝑙𝑜𝑔
𝑟
(ii) By increasing conductor spacing: By increasing
the spacing between conductors, the electric field
intensity is reduced and hence corona effects are
reduced. However, spacing cannot be increased too
much otherwise the cost of supporting structure (e.g.,
bigger cross arms) may increase to the cost.

(5) Spacing between two conductors

1
∝ 𝑔 ∝ 𝑃 [From eqn (i)]
𝑑
 Power Conductors

Conductors • Stranded conductors means a bunch of several single solid

conductors with small diameter

• Single solid conductor

Single Stranded
• Hollow shape single conductor

Solid Hollow

Solid

Stranded Hollow conductors

 Solid vs Hollow
Hollow conductor over solid conductor

Advantages:
 Increased diameter
 Decreased corona effect
Disadvantage:
It needs cooling, therefore costly.
1
(coronal loss ∝ 𝐸 ∝ 𝑟 )

Application: Due to reduced corona effect, hollow aluminum tubes can be used as busbar conductors in substations in short
length
𝑟𝑒𝑥𝑡
𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑡

𝑟𝑠

𝑟𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑟𝑠

Solid conductor
Hollow conductors
 Solid vs. Stranded
Stranded conductor over solid conductor

Less skin effect

Less corona loss

More flexible

𝜌𝑙
𝑅=
𝐴

Transmission and distribution lines use stranded conductors

 Properties of Conductor Materials

High conductivity To reduce electrical loss

High tensile strength To withstand mechanical strength

Low specific gravity As weight per unit volume is small. (Low sag, reduce cost of supports)

Low cost For long distances

 Materials used: Aluminum vs. Copper conductor

Though copper has high conductivity (100%) it is not used for transmission purposes primarily due to its higher cost and being
heavier than aluminum (61% conductivity).

Aluminum replaces copper for same current, because:

 Larger diameter [about 1.26 times] (Resistance varies inversely with the diameter. As the diameter gets larger so the resistance
of the wire gets smaller and get more space to carry current through)

 Lower voltage gradient at the surface of the conductor

𝜌𝑙
𝑅=
𝐴
 Less tendency to develop corona

 Lower cost (About 6 times cheaper)

 Lighter than copper (Twice lighter than copper), therefore specific gravity of Al (2.71 gm/cc) is lower than that of Cu (8.9 gm/cc).
This reduces the cost of tower also, as it need not to be made so strong as that of Cu conductor.