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GASES AS INSULATING MEDIA GASES AS INSULATING MEDIA

• Air or other gases are found to be widely used insulating medial in most • Ideal gas consisting only of neutral molecules does not conduct electric
of the electrical apparatus current at all
• Bus bars of distribution lines, conductors of transmission lines, high • But in practice, because of different external influences (u.v radiation
voltage leads of transformers and other apparatus are insulated from of sun, cosmic rays etc,) a small quantity of ions and electrons which
one another by airspaces in which air plays a part of the insulation impart the gas a definite conductivity, are always present
• In some application,
pp , nitrogen
g ((N2), Carbon dioxide ((CO2), Freon • As the applied voltage is increased, the current increases because of
(CCl2F2) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) gases are also used greater part of ions reach the electrodes without recombining in the
space
• Gas used as insulating medial must satisfy the basic requirements of
• If the voltage further increased, a sharp increase of current takes place
• Chemically inert
• This process develops very intensively and at a certain value of
• Possess a low temperature of liquefaction
voltage, an electrical breakdown occurs
• High electric strength
• This voltage is called ‘Break down voltage” of the gas space and at
• High heat conductivity this voltage, the gas loses its dielectric properties
• Low cost

GASES AS INSULATING MEDIA IONIZATION PROCESSES

• Ideal Gasses are excellent insulators at normal temperature and pressure

• To understand the breakdown phenomenon in gases, the study of
electrical properties of gases and the processes which develop high • In actual gases there is current conduction of the order of 10-10 A/cm2
currents is essential. because of ionization air by the uv radiation and radioactive radiations
of the earth, cosmic rays etc.
• There are two types of electrical discharges in gases, namely
• However, as the voltage applied reaches high voltages, the gases
• Non-sustaining
become conductors and leading to breakdown of gases.
• Self-sustaining
• Different ionization processes,
processes namely,
namely
• Condition of change over of the discharge into a self sustaining is also
I. Ionization by Collision
the condition of the breakdown of the gas space.
II. Photo ionization and
• Breakdown of a gas occurs due to the process of ionization i.e. when a
greater part of molecules is ionized III.Secondary ionization processes
• Various physical conditions which govern the ionization process of IV.Thermal ionization,
gases are pressure, temperature, electrode field configuration, nature of • are responsible for the breakdown of gases.
electrode surfaces and the initial conducting particles etc. • The process of attachment also plays an important role in the case of
• Two types of theories which explain the breakdown mechanism of gases electron attaching gases.
are Townsend theory, and Streamer theory

IONIZATION PROCESSES
IONIZATION BY COLLISION

Fig. Arrangement for study of a Townsend discharge

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IONIZATION BY COLLISION PHOTO IONIZATION

PHOTO IONIZATION SECONDARY IONIZATION PROCESSES

SECONDARY IONIZATION PROCESSES SECONDARY IONIZATION PROCESSES

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Townsend’s Current Growth Equation Townsend’s Current Growth Equation

Townsend’s Current Growth Equation Townsend’s Current Growth Equation

Townsend’s Current Growth Equation Current Growth Equation in the Presence of

Secondary Processes
• When the initial set of electrons reaches the anode, the single avalanche
process is completed.
• Since the amplification of electrons is occurring in the field, the
probability of additional new electrons being liberated by other mechanisms
increases, and created further avalanches and are called as secondary
electrons
• The other mechanisms resulting in secondary processes are
• i) The positive ions created in the gap due to ionization shall drift towards
cathode and may have sufficient energy to cause liberation of electrons
from the cathode(emission) when they impinge on it.(less efficient)
• ii) The exited atoms or molecules in avalanches may emit photons, and this
will lead to the emission of electrons due to photo-emission.
• iii) the metastable particles (like mercury, and rare gases) may diffuse back
This current being dependent on I0 does not represent self causing electron emission.
sustaining discharge.

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Current Growth Equation in the Presence of

Townsend’s Criterion for Breakdown
Secondary Processes

Determination of Townsend's
Townsend’s Criterion for Breakdown Coefficients α and γ

Determination of Townsend's Breakdown in Electronegative Gases

Coefficients α and γ
• Some gases have affinity for electrons, electronegative in
nature
• Attachment is a process in which electrons get attached
to neutral atoms or molecules to form negative ions
• Negative
g ions too massive,, attachment represents
p an
effective way of removing electrons, led to current growth
and breakdown at low voltages
• Electron attachment process depends on the energy of
the electron and the nature of the gas.
• All electrically insulated gases, such O2, CO2, CI2, F2,
C2F6, C3F3, C4F10, CCI2F2 and SF6 exhibit this property

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Breakdown in Electronegative Gases
• Two types of attachment are encountered in gases as
a) Associative or Direct attachment:
- An electron directly attaches to form a negative ion
b) Dissociative attachment
- The gas molecules split into their constituent atoms
and the electronegative atom forms a negative ion
‘A’ is usually Sulphur or Carbon atom and
‘B’ is oxygen atom or one of the halogen
atoms or molecules
Breakdown in Electronegative Gases
The Townsend breakdown criterion for attaching
gases can also be deduced from the denominator as,
Time Lags for Breakdown
• Theoretically the mechanism of spark breakdown is a
function of ionization processes under uniform field
conditions
• Practically, the breakdown due to rapidly changing
voltages or impulse voltages is of great importance
• Actually there is a time difference between the
application of a voltage sufficient to cause breakdown
and the occurrence of breakdown itself, is called as
the time lag.
• Observed avalanche initiating electrons and the temporal
growth of current after the criterion for static breakdown is
satisfied
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Breakdown in Electronegative Gases
• The Townsend current growth equation is modified to
include ionization and attachment with such gases
• The current reaching the anode, can be written as,
where η is the number of attaching collisions
made by one electron drifting one centimetre in
the direction of the field
Breakdown in Electronegative Gases
• For SF6 it is 117 V cm-1 torr-1, for CCl2F2 121 V cm-1
torr-1 both at 200C.
• η values can also experimentally determined.
Time Lags for Breakdown
• Usually no difficulty in finding an initiatory electron
from natural sources in the case of slowly varying
fields - Ex. cosmic rays, detachment of gaseous
ions etc.
• However,
However for impulses of short duration (around 1
s), depending on the gap volume, natural
sources may not be sufficient to provide an
initiating electron while the voltage is applied, and
in the absence of any other source, breakdown
will not occur.
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Time Lags for Breakdown Statistical Time Lag (ts)

• Time ts which elapses between the application of a voltage
greater than or equal to the static breakdown voltage (Vs)
to the spark gap and the appearance of a suitably placed
initiatory electron is called the statistical time lag of the
gap, the appearance being usually statistically distributed.
• After such an electron appears,
appears the time tf required by the
ionisation processes to generate a current of a magnitude
which may be used to specify breakdown of the gap is
known as the formative time lag.
• tf + ts = t is the total time lag, and is shown in the diagram
• The ratio V/Vs, which is greater than unity, is called the
impulse ratio, and clearly depends tf + ts and the rate of
growth of the applied voltage.
• Average time required for an electron to appear
in the gap in order that breakdown may be
initiated.
• If ß = rate at which electrons are produced in the
gap by external irradiation
• P1 = probability of an electron appearing in a
region of the gap where it can lead to a spark
• P2 = probability that such an electron appearing
in the gap will lead to a spark then, the average
time lag
• ts=1/(ß P1 P2)

Statistical Time Lag (ts) Formative Time Lag (tf)

• If the level of irradiation is increased, ß increases

and therefore ts decreases.
• Also, with clean cathodes of higher work function
ß will be smaller for a given level of illumination
producing longer time lags.
lags
• The type of irradiation used will be an important
factor controlling P1, the probability of an electron
appearing in a favourable position to produce
breakdown.
• The most favourable position is, of course near
the cathode.
• After the statistical time lag, it can be assumed that
the initiatory electron is available which will
eventually lead to breakdown
• The additional time lag required for the breakdown
process to form is the formative time lag
• An uninterrupted series of avalanches is necessary
to produce the requisite gap current (A) which
leads to breakdown, and the time rate of
development of ionisation will depend on the
particular secondary process operative

Formative Time Lag (tf) Formative Time Lag (tf)

• The value of the tf will depend on the various

secondary ionisation processes
• Here again, an increase of the V above the static
breakdown voltage will cause a decrease of the tf
• The
Th Townsend
T d criterion
it i f breakdown
for b kd i satisfied
is ti fi d
only if at least one electron is present in the gap
between the electrodes as in the case of applied
d.c. or slowly varying (50 Hz a.c.) voltages
• With rapidly varying V of short duration (≈10-6 s),
the initiatory electron may not be present in the gap
that the breakdown can not occur

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Total time lag Time Lag Characteristics

Variation of the breakdown voltage with time of breakdown, and
can be defined for a particular wave shape.
The time lag characteristic based on the impulse waveform is
shown belowg.

Fig. Time lag characteristic based on impulse waveform

Time Lags for Breakdown Time Lags for Breakdown

• However, with such a rod gap, the gap setting will be

low, as the sharpness of the two characteristics are
different.
• Thus it is likely that there would be frequent
interruptions, even due to the smallest overvoltages
which
hi h would
ld in
i fact
f t cause no harm
h t the
to th system.
t
• Thus it is usual to have the rod gap characteristic
Fig. Voltage Time characteristics slightly higher (gap ii) resulting in the intersection of
• The time lag characteristic is important in designing insulation. the characteristics as shown.
• If a rod gap is to provide secondary protection to a transformer, then the • In such a case, protection will be offered only in the
breakdown voltage characteristic of the rod gap must be less than that of the region where the rod gap characteristic is lower than
transformer at all times (gap i) to protect it from dangerous surge voltages.
that of the transformer.
• This will ensure that the gap will always flashover before the protected
apparatus. This is shown in above figure.

Time Lags for Breakdown

Limitations of Townsend Theory

• This crossing point is found from experience for a

value of voltage which is highly unlikely to occur. i. Fails to explain the formative time lag of
• The other alternative is of course to increase the breakdown
transformer characteristic which would increase
th costt off the
the th transformer
t f a greatt deal.
d l ii Fails to explain the effect of space
ii.
charge
• This decision is something like saying, it is better
and cheaper to replace one transformer a year iii. Fails to explain the discharge under high
due to this decision than have to double the cost PD
of each of 100 such transformers in the system

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STREAMER THEORY OR KANAL STREAMER THEORY OF BREAKDOWN IN GASES

MECHANISM OF BREAKDOWN IN GASES
According to the Townsend theory;
- firstly, current growth occurs as a result of ionization process
only.
- But in practice, breakdown voltages were found to depend
on the gas pressure and the geometry of the gap;
secondly the mechanism predicts time lags of order of 10-5 s,
- secondly, s
but practically it was observed to occur at a very short time
-8
of 10 s.
- Also the Townsend mechanism predicts a very diffused form
of discharge, that actually discharges were found to be
filamentary and irregular.
- Townsend mechanism failed to explain all these observed
phenomena and as a result the Streamer theory was
proposed

STREAMER THEORY OF BREAKDOWN IN GASES

STREAMER THEORY OF BREAKDOWN IN GASES

Breakdown in non-uniform field and

STREAMER THEORY OF BREAKDOWN IN GASES
Corona Discharges
• In a uniform electric field, a gradual increase in voltage
across a gap produces a breakdown of the gap in the
form of a spark without any preliminary discharges.
• On the other hand, if the field is non-uniform, an increase
in voltage will first cause a localised discharge in the gas
to appear at points with the highest electric field intensity,
intensity
namely at sharp points or where the electrodes are
curved or on transmission line conductors.
• This form of discharge is called a corona discharge and
can be observed as a bluish luminance.
• This phenomena is always accompanied by a hissing
noise, and the air surrounding the corona region becomes
converted to ozone.

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Breakdown in non-uniform field and
Corona Discharges
• Corona is responsible for considerable power loss in
transmission lines and also gives rise to radio
interference.
• Also leads to deterioration of insulation by the combined
action of the discharge ion bombarding the surface and
the action of chemical compounds that are formed by
the corona discharge.
• In non-uniform fields, e.g. in point-plane, sphere-plane
gaps or coaxial cylinders, the field strength and hence
the effective ionization coefficient α vary across the gap.
• The electron multiplication is governed by the integral of
α over the path ʃ α dx
Breakdown in non-uniform field and
Corona Discharges
• Investigation with point-plane gaps in air have shown that when
point is positive, the corona current increases steadily with
voltage.
• At sufficiently high voltage, current amplification increases rapidly
with voltage upto a current of about 10–7 A, after which the
currentt becomes
b pulsed
l d with
ith repetition
titi frequency
f off about
b t 1 kHz
kH
composed of small bursts.
• This form of corona is known as burst corona.
• The average current then increases steadily with applied voltage,
leading to breakdown.
• With point-plane gap in air when negative polarity voltage is
applied to the point and the voltage exceeds the onset value, the
current flows in vary regular pulses known as Trichel pulses.
Breakdown in non-uniform field and
Corona Discharges
• In all gases the onset voltage of +ve corona is much higher than the -
ve corona.
• The breakdown Voltage of +ve corona to spark is also higher than the
-ve except in O2 that the result is inversed.
• Current of the -ve corona is much larger than the +ve in all gases.
• Current-voltage
g dependence
p of -ve or +ve corona shows the
Townsend’s relation
• -ve corona has a large luminous area than the +ve in all gases and
shows a stable bell-shaped glow before spark, except in case of O2 in
which the -ve corona exists near the tip of the cathode.
• +ve corona in all gases occurs only in a small region around the
anode needle.
• The electronegative oxygen is suggested to play an important role in
the characteristics of -ve corona discharge.
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Breakdown in non-uniform field and
Corona Discharges
• The electrode configuration has great influence on
the characteristics of the corona discharge
• The typical configurations include point-to-plane or
p
point-to-point,
p wire-to-wire, wire-to-plane
p or wire-to-
cylinder, etc. Among them, the point-to-plane (or
needle-to-plate) is the most typical and popular
configuration
• The corona discharge with the point-to-plane
configuration has been investigated widely in air
under various conditions
Breakdown in non-uniform field and
Corona Discharges
• The onset voltage is independent of the gap length and is
numerically equal to the onset of streamers under positive
voltage for the same arrangement
• The pulse frequency increases with voltage and is a
function of the radius of the cathode, the gap length and the
pressure
• A decrease in pressure decreases the frequency of the
pulses - should be noted that the breakdown voltage with
negative polarity is higher than with positive polarity except
at low pressure
• Therefore, under power frequency AC voltage the
breakdown of non-uniform field gap invariably takes place
during the positive half cycle of the voltage wave
Breakdown in non-uniform field and
Corona Discharges
• The formation of corona causes the current waveform in
the line, and hence the voltage drop to be non-sinusoidal.
It also causes a loss of power.
• There is always some electrons present in the atmosphere
due to cosmic radiation etc.
• When the line voltage is increased, the velocity of the
electrons in the vicinity of the line increases, and the
electrons acquire sufficient velocity to cause ionization
• To prevent the formation of corona, the working voltage
under fair weather conditions should be kept at least 10%
less than the disruptive critical voltage.
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Breakdown in non-uniform field and Breakdown in non-uniform field and

Corona Discharges Corona Discharges
• Corona formation may be reduced by increasing the • The effect of corona on radio reception is a matter of some
effective radius. importance
• Thus steel cored aluminium has the advantage over hard • The Corona frequency lies between 20 Hz and 20 kHz
drawn copper conductors on account of the larger • The current flowing into a corona discharge contains high-
diameter, other conditions remaining the same frequency
q y components,
p cause interference in the immediate
• The effective conductor diameter can also be increased by vicinity of the line
the use of bundle conductors • As the voltage is gradually increased, the disturbing field
• Corona acts as a safety valve for lightning surges, by makes its appearance long before corona loss becomes
causing a short circuit appreciable
• The advantage of corona in this instance is that it reduces • Field has its maximum value under the line and attenuates
transients by reducing the effective magnitude of the surge rapidly with distance.
by partially dissipating its energy due to corona. • Interference fails to about a tenth at 50 m from the axis of the
line

Post-Breakdown Phenomena Paschen's Law

DC. voltage current characteristic at an electrical discharge with

electrodes having no sharp points or edges

Paschen's Law Paschen's Law

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Paschen's Law
Practical considerations in using gases for  Practical considerations in using gases for
insulation purposes
• Gases find wide application in power system to provide
insulation to various electrical equipments and substations
• Gases are also used in circuit breakers for arc interruption
besides providing insulation between breaker contacts and
from contact to the enclosure used for contacts
• Various gases used are (i) air (widely used and cheapest)
(ii) oxygen (iii) hydrogen (better arc quenching) (iv)
nitrogen (v) CO2 and (vi) electronegative gases like sulphur
hexafluoride,(SF6) (outstanding arc quenching and
dielectric strength) or arcton (or Chlorodifluoromethane
(HCFC 22)) etc.
Practical considerations in using gases for  Practical considerations in using gases for
insulation purposes
Fig. DC breakdown strength of typical solid, liquid, gas and vacuum
insulations in uniform fields
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Paschen's Law
 
insulation purposes
• For high voltage power applications, the gaseous
insulation should possess the following properties
(i) high dielectric strength
(ii) thermal stability and chemical inactivity towards
materials of construction
(iii) non‐flammability and physiological inertness
(iv) low temperature of condensation
(v) good heat transfer(Thermal Conductivity) and
(vi) Commercial availability at moderate cost
 
insulation purposes
• SF6 has high dielectric strength and low liquification temperature, and
it can be used over a wide range of operating conditions
• SF6 was also found to have excellent arc‐quenching properties
• Widely used as an insulating as well as arc‐quenching medium in high
voltage apparatus such as high voltage cables,
cables current and voltage
transformers, circuit breakers and metal encapsulated substations
• Note ‐ addition of 30% SF6 to air (by volume) increases the dielectric
strength of air by 100%
• One of the qualitative effects of mixing SF6 to air is to reduce the
overall cost of the gas, and at the same time attaining relatively high
dielectric strength or simply preventing the onset of corona at desired
operating voltages
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Thermal Ionization
Ionization caused due to molecular collisions, radiations and electron collisions at
high temperatures is termed as thermal ionization.
If the temperature is increased in a gas, some of the gas molecules acquire high
kinetic energy, and then ionization takes place upon collision with neutral particles.
Also there is possibility of photo ionization on account of thermal radiation by the
heated gas.
Another possibility of ionization is due to collision of molecules with electrons
formed as a result of collision between molecules and radiations at high
temperatures.
In this process of ionization, some of electrons may recombine with positive ions
resulting into neutral molecules
molecules.
The intensity of ionization is determined only by the temperature of the gas,
whereas recombination depends on the number of ionized particles.
Therefore, a situation is reached i.e. thermo dynamic equilibrium, at which the rate
of new ion formation must be equal to the rate of recombination.
The degree of ionization ‘m’ of a gas i.e. the ratio of ionized molecules Ni to the
total number of molecules N in a unit volume at equilibrium, according to Sah’s
2
m
formula is given by, ρ 4 2.5 Wi / KT
 2.4 * 10 * T e    (2.5)
T  m2
N
when m  i , ρ  gas pressure, m of mercury column;
N
k  1.37 * 10 16 ergs / k , Boltzman' s cons tan t
T  absolute temperatue.

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