High Voltage Measurements

HV Measurement System
 HV Measurement System
Test Setup
Typical measurement system includes:
• converter/transformer including connecting conductors to test point
and earth
 voltage divider, instrument transformer
• transmission system from converter to measuring instrument
 including attenuators, matching impedance, terminators
• indicating or recording instrument
 voltmeter, ammeter, oscilloscope, digital recorder
 instrument typically includes internal attenuators which can be used as matching
impedance
• interference shielding and earthing system
 HV Measurement System

ZC Z3 0.1 kV
500 kV
damping
cable
resistance
Z4 Rin
voltage source

voltage
shaping 1 kV attenuator
circuit test voltage
object divider
instrumen
t

High Voltage Hall Control Room

 HV Measurement System
Voltage Dividers
 Two highly unequal impedances connected in series
 Produces an output voltage that is a fraction of its input voltage.
 Voltage division refers to the partitioning of a voltage among the components of the divider.
 HV Measurement System
Resistive Capacitive Damped capacitive Parallel resistive
and capacitive

U Uin U in U
in in
U Uout U
out Uout out

Divider type DC AC SI LI
Resistive, high ohmic (MΩ) ++ + + -
Resistive, low ohmic (kΩ) - - - ++
Capacitive -- ++ ++ -
Damped capacitive -- + ++ ++
Parallel resistive and capacitive + + + +
++ works well + works - problems or limitations -- cannot be used
 HV Measurement System

Stray Capacitance
Cr
Any two adjacent conductors can be considered
as a capacitor
CHV Ce
 High voltage divider has an open structure
• stray capacitance from objects close to the U
divider have an influence (earth, HV feeder,
divider elements)
• usually these influences can not be avoided
 correct design and selection of divider
 compressed gas capacitors do not have
this problem
 HV Measurement System
High Resistive Divider (MΩ)
 DC average value
RH RL
U out  U in  LI peak value, time parameters, and overshoot
Uin RH  RL
RL Uout (small resistance better for LI)

 Main problem is over-heating of HV

resistor 1 GΩ
• Typical design: 100 A to 1 mA
 Stray A: 1GΩ / 100 kV, 10W / 100 kV
100capacitance: 200 kV 1 GΩ
10 pF
• Stray capacitance to ground (or objects at high voltage) 10 kΩ 1V
• In a 2 GΩ divider for measurement of 200 kV a stray capacitance of 10
pF forms a low pass filter
 filter attenuates fluctuations and restricts speed of measurements 1 G

 Meter loading: Uin

• The resistances of a high voltage DC divider are usually so large,
10 k 1 M Uout
that the meter input resistance (typically 1M or 10M, sometimes
10 G) has an influence (changes divider ratio) 10k 1M
RL   9.99k
10k  1M
 HV Measurement System
Low Resistive Divider (kΩ)
Resistance typically 1 kΩ to 20 kΩ.
 The resistor needs to absorb the energy of the impulse
Uin  needs time to cool down between impulses
Uout  The main problem is the stray capacitance of the high
voltage resistor.
Field grading
• In order to avoid low pass filtering
effect, the field along the high voltage
resistor must be matched with the
resistance distribution
 field distribution of a shield or guard ring
placed over a resistive divider to enforce a
uniform field
• An alternative is to make non-linear
resistance distribution according to the field
 HV Measurement System
• One possibility is to use external shields driven by capacitors or resistors to
adjust the field

stray
capacitances

added
capacitors

...
 HV Measurement System
Capacitive Divider
 DC ripple
CH  AC peak value, RMS value, and overshoot
Uin
 SI peak value and time parameters
CL Uout
• small capacitance to avoid modifying pulse shape
1 jC L CH • large enough to minimize effect of stray capacitance
U out  U in  U in
1 jC L  1 jCH CL  CH  LI peak value, time parameters and overshoot

 Stray capacitance:
• Stray capacitance to ground (or objects in high voltage) changes the ratio of the divider.
• The ratio of the divider depends often on its distance from the wall of the HV lab.

 Cable loading:
• The capacitances of a high voltage AC divider are usually so low, that
the cable capacitance (typically 100 pF/m) has an influence to the 100 pF
divider ratio and time parameters. Uin
C L  100n  2n  102n Uout
100 nF 2 nF
 HV Measurement System
Damped Capacitive Divider
 SI peak value and time parameters
C1
 LI peak value, time parameters and overshoot
L1

UIN
R1
 Capacitive elements dominate on low frequencies
C2
 time parameters
L2 UOUT
 Resistive elements dominate on high frequencies
R2
 Steepness, overshoot

 Resistors are required to damp the

oscillations caused by stray inductance.
 Optimum response is obtained, when

R1 C2 L1
 
R2 C1 L2
19/09/21
 HV Measurement System
Measuring Cable (Impedance Matching)
 If the cable is not matched, the signal will be
reflected many times before it settles.
Speed of light = 30 cm/ns
Velocity of signal propagation in cable = 77% (~ 23 cm/ns)
20 m cable ≈ 87 ns

0
t/

C3 = C1 + C2 - Ck
 HV Measurement System
Digitizers
Resolution
• The resolution (8bits) of standard oscilloscopes is the
minimum that can be accepted for impulse
measurements.
• Often higher resolution (10 or 12 bits) is needed to
detect changes when the test results are analyzed.

Bandwidth
• Bandwidth has to >25 MHz.
• Settling of the step response is critical.

Input voltage level

• The signal on the cable from the high voltage lab is
hundreds of volts. Signal to noise ratio is not high
enough for lower signal levels.
• Good input attenuators are needed.

Software
• Special software is needed for evaluation of impulse
parameters.
 HV Measurement System
Current measurements
 Small DC measured using multimeter (volt-ohm-millammeter)
 Large currents measured using a shunt
• A resistor of accurately known resistance (shunt) is placed in
series with the load so that nearly all of the current to be measured
will flow through it.
• The voltage drop across the shunt is proportional to the current
flowing through it
• Since its resistance is known, a voltmeter connected across the shunt
can be scaled to directly read the current value.

 AC measured using current transformer, shunt, or Rogowksi coil

 Surge current typically measured using shunt
• Rogowksi coil also applicable to high frequency AC and surge currents
 HV Measurement System
Shunts
 Inductance of resistor has a significant role on measurements
• Inductance is minimized by ensuring that the magnetic fields of the
conducting paths cancel each other out

 Shunt designs can be:

• Coaxial (a)
• Radial (b) or otherwise symmetrical structure (eg. loop (c))
i R R
i R i
  u
u u

a b c
 HV Measurement System
Rogowski Coil
 Air-core, symmetrical toroid (doughnut) shaped coil
 Used as current transformer to measure current of a u2
i1
conductor passed through the coil
• Dynamic properties depend on mechanical structure
and winding design
• To minimize stray inductance, coil is wound tightly,
symmetrically and perpendicular relative to the tube
d i1
u2  M
 Secondary voltage u2 is proportional to measured current dt
• Integrating circuit needed to define ratio: M = mutual inductance
Add small resistor R to secondary coil (a)
R di
u2  Ri2 
L  M 1 dt
dt

Add large resistor R and capacitor C as integrator (b)

1 di
u2 
RC  M 1 dt
dt
 Sphere Gap

Sphere Gap
One of the standard methods for the measurement of peak value of
D.C, A.C. and impulse voltages.
• reliable only for certain gap configurations
• the most reliable and is used as the standard for calibration purposes
• used for checking the other voltage measuring devices used in high
voltage test circuits
• two identical metallic spheres separated by certain distance form a
sphere gap
• Sphere gap can be arranged either
• Horizontal with both spheres connected to the sources
voltage or one sphere grounded
• Vertically with lower sphere grounded
 Sphere Gap
• The breakdown strength of a gas depends on the ionisation of the gas
molecules, and on the density of the gas.
• The breakdown voltage varies with the gap spacing; and for a uniform
field gap, a high consistency could be obtained, so that the sphere gap is
very useful as a measuring device.

In the measuring device, two metal spheres are used, separated by a gas-
gap.
• The potential difference between the spheres is raised until a spark
passes between them.
• The breakdown strength of a gas depends on the size of the spheres,
their distance apart and a number of other factors.
 Sphere Gap

• The density of the gas (generally air) affects the spark-over voltage
for a given gap setting.
• The correction for any air density change must be made.

The air density correction factor Atmospheric pressure

The spark over voltage for a given gap setting under the standard
conditions (760 torr pressure and at 20oC) must be multiplied by the
correction factor to obtain the actual spark-over voltage.
 Sphere Gap

The breakdown voltage characteristic has been determined for similar

pairs of spheres (diameters 62.5 mm, 125 mm, 250 mm, 500 mm, 1 m
and 2 m)

Breakdown voltage characteristic of sphere gaps

Measuring sphere
 Sphere Gap

• When the gap distance is increased, the uniform field between the
spheres becomes distorted, and accuracy falls.
• The limits of accuracy are dependant on the ratio of the spacing d to
the sphere diameter D

For accurate measurement purposes,

gap distances in excess of 0.75D are
not used.
 Sphere Gap
• The voltage to be measured is applied between the two spheres and the
distance spacing S between them gives a measure of the spark over
voltage.
• Standard values of sphere diameter are specified.
• Standard table lists standardized disruptive voltages from the results of
large number of international experiments.
Sphere gap spark over voltages in kV (peak) Sphere Gap
 Sphere Gap

• The actual breakdown voltage Vd at air density  may be found

from the tabulated value, Vdo by the following formula;

Vd = kdVdo (kV)

Vdo = 24.22 S + 6.08 S

for uniform field at standard conditions of temperature T=200 C and

pressure p=1013 milibars or 760mmHg , S is the gap length in cm.
Influence of Nearby Earthed
Objects Sphere Gap

•The influence of nearby earthed object on the direct voltage

breakdown of horizontal gaps was studied by Kuffel and Husbands.

• They surrounded the gap by a cylindrical metal cage and found that
the breakdown voltage reduced materially especially when the gap
length exceeded a sphere radius.

• Fiegel and Keen have studied the influence of nearby ground plane
on impulse breakdown voltage of a 50 cm diameter sphere gap using
1.5/40 micro sec. negative polarity impulse wave.

• It is observed that the voltage increases with increase in the ratio

A/D.
Influence of Humidity Sphere Gap
• Kuffel has studied the effect of the humidity on the breakdown voltage
by using spheres of 2 cm to 25 cm diameters and uniform field
electrodes.

• The effect was found to be maximum in the region 0.4 mm Hg. and
thereafter the change was decreased.

• Between 4–17 mm Hg. the relation between breakdown voltage and

humidity was practically linear for spacing less than that which gave the
maximum humidity effect.

• The increase in breakdown voltage with increase in partial pressure of

water vapour and this increase in voltage with increase in gap length is
due to the relative values of ionisation and attachment coefficients in air.
Influence of Dust Particles
Sphere Gap
• When a dust particle is floating between the gap this results into erratic
breakdown in homogeneous or slightly inhomogenous electrode
configurations.
• When the dust particle comes in contact with one electrode under the
application of d.c. voltage, it gets charged to the polarity of the
electrode and gets attracted by the opposite electrode due to the field
forces and the breakdown is triggered shortly before arrival.
• Gaps subjected to a.c. voltages are also sensitive to dust particles but the
probability of erratic breakdown is less.
• Under d.c. voltages erratic breakdowns occur within a few minutes even
for voltages as low as 80% of the nominal breakdown voltages.
• This is a major problem, with high d.c. voltage measurements with
sphere gaps.