EEE 4008

HIGH VOLTAGE ENGINEERING

Module 2
Lecture 01: Introduction to High Voltage Engineering
Dr. S. Venkatesh
Associate Professor/ SELECT
VIT University, Vellore
E. Mail: venkatesh.srinivasan@vit.ac.in
 SYLLABUS
• Module 1: Overvoltages in Electrical Power Systems 5
Causes of over voltages and its effect on power system, Lightning, switching surges
and temporary over voltages, protection against over voltages
• Module 2: Electrical Breakdown in Gases, Solids and Liquids 6
Gaseous breakdown in uniform and non-uniform fields, corona discharges, Vacuum
breakdown, conduction and breakdown in pure and commercial liquids, breakdown
mechanisms in solid and composite dielectrics
• Module 3: Generation of High Voltages and High Currents 7
Generation of High DC, AC, impulse voltages and currents, Marx bank circuit, Tripping
and control of impulse generators
• Module 4: Measurement of High Voltages and High Currents 5
Measurement of High voltages and High currents and digital techniques in high
voltage measurement
• Module 5: High Voltage Testing & Insulation Coordination 7
High voltage testing of electrical power apparatus, pulse voltage and DC testing,
International & Indian standards and Insulation Coordination

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh 2

Monday, August 2, 2021
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 TEXT BOOKS & REFERENCES
• Text Book:
▪ M.S. Naidu and V. Kamaraju, ‘High Voltage Engineering’, Tata McGraw Hill,
3rd Edition, 2004.
• Reference Books:
▪ E. Kuffel and W.S. Zaengl, ‘High Voltage Engineering Fundamentals’,
Pergamon Press, Oxford, London, 1986
▪ C.L.Wadhwa, ‘High Voltage Engineering’, New Age International
Publications, New Delhi, India
▪ R. Arora, Wolfgang Mosch, ‘High Voltage and Electrical Insulation
Engineering’, John Wiley & Sons – IEEE Press, 2011
▪ M.A. Salama, Hussein Anis, Ahdab El- Morshedy, Roshdy Radwan, “High
Voltage Engineering: Theory and Practice”, 2nd Edition, Marcel Dekker, 2000.

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 3
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 MODE OF LECTURE
• Classroom Teaching:
▪ Hand-outs will be given
▪ Separate Audio/ Video Lecture Sessions for the entire course
• Industry Expert Lectures:
▪ Recent Trends & Advances in High Voltage Engineering
(2 Classes) to be handled by an Industry Expert
• Use of Physical & Computer Models in Lectures:
▪ Physical Models to facilitate explanation in Module-2 &
Module-3

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 4
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 BASIC TERMINOLOGIES
• Surge and Impulse:
▪ Surge -Transients occurring in an electrical system, equipment or networks in service
▪ Impulse - An intentionally applied aperiodic transient voltage or current which
usually rises rapidly to a peak value and then falls more slowly to zero
• Insulator and Dielectric:
▪ Insulator - Low electrical conduction (high resistance to the flow of current)
▪ Dielectric - Storage of electrical energy in terms of charges (due to polarization)
SUMMARY: ALL DIELECTRICS ARE INSULATOR BUT NEED NOT BE THE VICE-VERSA
• Breakdown, Flashover and Puncture:
▪ Breakdown (Disruptive Discharge) - Phenomena associated with the failure of
insulation under electrical stress, in which discharge completely bridges the
insulation under test, reducing the voltage between the electrodes practically to zero
▪ Flashover - A disruptive discharge that occurs over the surface of a dielectric in a
gaseous or liquid medium
▪ Puncture - A disruptive discharge that occurs through a solid dielectric

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 5
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 REFERENCE STANDARDS RELEVANT TO
HV ENGINEERING
• International Standards:
▪ International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) – IEC 60060
▪ Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) – IEEE 4
▪ IS/ IEC 60270
• Associated International Standards/ Regulatory Agencies/
Professional Bodies:
▪ American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
▪ National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association (NEMA)
▪ International Council on Large Electrical Systems (CIGRE)- Working Groups
and Study Committees
▪ National Electric Code (NEC)
• Indian Standard:
▪ Bureau of Indian Standards (IS) – IS/ IEC 60060
Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh
Monday, August 2, 2021 6
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 WHAT VOLTAGE IS HIGH VOLTAGE???
The International Electrotechnical Commission and its national
counterparts (IET, IEEE, VDE, etc.) define high voltage as:
• Above 1000 V for alternating current
• At least 1500 V for direct current
• Distinguish it from low voltage (50–1000 V AC or 120–1500 V DC)
• Extra-low voltage (<50 V AC or <120 V DC) circuits.
• This is in the context of testing, installation , building wiring and the safety
of electrical apparatus.

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 7
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 STANDARD TRANSMISSION VOLTAGES
• Voltages adopted for transmission of bulk power have to conform to standard
specifications formulated internationally. (IEC 60038)
A.C. three-phase systems having a nominal voltage above 35 kV and not exceeding 1200 kV

Source: IEC 60038: 2002-07, “IEC Standard Voltages”, Edition 6.2, 2002 8
 HIGH VOLTAGE ENGINEERING
• Pertains to Study, Analysis and Applications related to:
– Insulating Materials of various states of matter (solid, liquid, gases and
fluids including plasma) and its characteristics & properties related to its
use in electrical equipment
– Phenomena of Breakdown/ Conduction in Insulating Materials
– Generation of High Voltage Test Systems Using various Techniques such as
Cascading, Multiplexing etc
– Generation of High Current Test System Using various Techniques
– Measurement of High Voltage and High Current Parameters
– Insulation Coordination of High Voltage Equipment based on
• Overvoltages
• Internal – Switching, Ferranti , Temporary etc
• External – Lightning
• Power Frequency

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 9
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 BASIC CONCEPTS- OVERVOLTAGES
• What is “overvoltage”?
▪ When the voltage in a circuit or part of it is raised above its upper design
limit (RATED VOLTAGE), known as overvoltage.
▪ Conditions may be hazardous
• Types based on Source of Occurrence:
▪ External – Due to environmental/ atmospheric disturbances (Lightning)
▪ Internal - Generated by changes in the operating conditions of the network
• Types based on phenomena:
▪ Transient – Surges
▪ Power Frequency
• Types based on cause-effect:
• Lightning
• Switching
• Temporary Overvoltage (Power Frequency)

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 10
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 Conduction & Breakdown in
Gaseous Dielectrics
Breakdown
in Gases

Based on Based on Nature Based on Based on

Principle/ of Gaseous Electrode
Mechanism Dielectric Configuration Electric Field

Townsend’s Electro-negative Symmetrical Uniform Non-uniform

Mechanism
Non-
Streamer (or) electronegative Unsymmetrical Weakly
Kanal
Mechanism
Axisymmetric Strongly
Paschen’s Law

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 11
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 Conduction & Breakdown in Gaseous
Dielectrics- Townsend’s Mechanism
• Townsend’s Mechanism: Primary Process
▪ Based on Ionization by collision- The process of liberating
an electron from a gas molecule with the simultaneous
production of a positive ion is called ionisation
• A free electron collides with a neutral gas molecule
and gives rise to a new electron and a positive ion
• If the energy (E) gained during this travel between
collisions exceeds the ionisation potential, Vi (energy
required to dislodge an electron from its atomic
shell), then ionisation takes place

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 12
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 Conduction & Breakdown in Gaseous
Dielectrics- Townsend’s Mechanism
• Townsend’s Mechanism: Secondary Processes
▪ Photo-ionization
▪ Positive Ion Impact
▪ Photons
▪ Meta-stables and Neutral Atoms
Photo-ionization (Ionization by Radiation):
• Involves the interaction of radiation with matter
• Occurs when radiation energy absorbed by an atom exceeds ionisation potential
• Processes by which radiation can be absorbed by atoms or molecules:
▪ excitation of the atom to a higher energy state
▪ continuous absorption by direct excitation of the atom or dissociation of di-
atomic molécule or direct ionisation

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 13
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 Conduction & Breakdown in Gaseous
Dielectrics- Townsend’s Mechanism
• Effect of Positive Ion Impact:
▪ A positive ion approaching a metallic cathode can cause emission of
electrons from the cathode by giving up its kinetic energy on impact
▪ If the total energy of the positive ion, namely, the sum of its kinetic energy
and the ionisation energy, is greater than twice the work function of the
metal, then one electron will be ejected and a second electron will
neutralise the ion
• Effect of Photons:
▪ To cause an electron to escape from a metal, it should be given enough
energy to overcome the surface potential barrier
▪ The energy can also be supplied in the form of a photon of ultraviolet light
of suitable frequency
▪ Electron emission from a metal surface occurs at the critical condition

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 14
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 Conduction & Breakdown in Gaseous
Dielectrics- Townsend’s Mechanism
• Effect of Photons:
• A metastable atom or molecule is an excited particle whose lifetime is very
large (10-3 s) compared to the lifetime of an ordinary particle (10-8s)
• The lifetime of other excited states is too short for them to reach the cathode
and cause electron emission, unless they originate very near to the cathode
surface

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 15
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 Townsend’s Current Growth – Primary
Process and Current Growth Equation
• Townsend’s first ionization coefficient (α) is defined as the
number of electrons produced by an electron per unit length of
path in the direction of field
• Let n0 be the number of electrons leaving the cathode and
when these have moved through a distance x from the cathode,
these become n.
• When these n electrons move through a distance dx produce
additional dn electrons due to collision

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 16
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
 Townsend’s Current Growth –
Secondary Process & Current Growth

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 17
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
Townsend’s Current Growth – Secondary
Process & Current Growth

Prepared By: Dr.S. Venkatesh

Monday, August 2, 2021 18
Asso.Professor,SELECT, VIT University
Townsend’s Criterion for Sparking
Streamer Theory of Breakdown in Gases
• Townsend mechanism when applied to breakdown at
atmospheric pressure was found to have certain
drawbacks
• Townsend theory, current growth occurs as a result of
ionization processes only
▪ In practice, breakdown voltages were found to depend on the
gas pressure and the geometry of the gap
• Townsend’s mechanism predicts longer time lags:
▪ Order of 10-5 s, while in actual practice breakdown was
observed to occur at very short times of the order of 10-8 s
• Townsend mechanism predicts a very diffused form of
discharge
▪ Actually, discharges were found to be filamentary and
irregular
Streamer Theory of Breakdown in Gases
• The growth of charge carriers in an
avalanche in a uniform field E0 =V0/d is
described by the exponent e∝d
• This is valid only as long as the electrical
field of the space charges of electrons and
ions can be neglected compared to the
external field E0
• Raether observed that when the charge
concentration was higher than 106 but
lower than 108 the growth of an avalanche
was weakened
• When the ion concentration exceeded 108
the avalanche current was followed by a
steep rise in current and breakdown of the
gap followed
• Both the under-exponential growth at the
lower concentration and rapid growth in
the presence of the high concentration
have been attributed to the modification
of the originally uniform field E0 by the
space charge field
 Streamer Theory of Breakdown in Gases
• On the basis of his experimental observations and
some simple assumptions Raether, developed an
empirical expression for the streamer spark
criterion of the form

E is the externally applied field strength

Streamer Theory of Breakdown in Gases
Streamer Theory of Breakdown in Gases
Streamer Theory of Breakdown in Gases