Course code : BTEE156200

Course Title: High Voltage Engineering

Introduction to High Voltage Engineering

by
Mr. J Veerendra Kumar
Assistant Professor
School of EEE, REVA University
 Syllabus
Unit 1: Over Voltages in Electrical Power Systems
Causes of over voltages and its effects on power system – Lightning, switching surges and
temporary over voltages, need for generating high voltages in laboratory. Electrical
Breakdown in Gases, Solids and Liquids : Gaseous breakdown in uniform and non-uniform
fields – Ionization process, Townsend’s current growth equation. Streamer theory of
breakdown. Paschen’s law of gases, Vacuum breakdown –Breakdown in pure and commercial
liquids – Breakdown mechanisms in solid dielectrics.

OBJECTIVE:
1. To describe and apply the knowledge of mathematics, science and electrical engineering
to the solution of high voltage fundamentals, principles and applications.
2. To understand the electrical breakdown phenomenon in gases, liquids and solids and
principles of application of these material in the design of high voltage insulation.

OUTCOME:
Enable the students to
• Understand the principle mechanisms for Electrical breakdown in Gases, Solids and
Liquids.
• Know the causes and effects of over voltages in power system.
 Syllabus…
Unit II : Generation of High Voltages and High Currents

HVAC- Cascade connection and working of transformers units connected in

cascade. Resonant circuits- principle of operation and advantages. Tesla coil.
HVDC-Voltage doubler circuit, Cockcroft- Walton type high voltage DC set.
Calculation of high voltage regulation, ripple and optimum number of stages for
minimum voltage drop. Impulse Voltages & Currents- Impulse voltage generator,
Marx Impulse circuit, Triggering methods of impulse generator. Generation of
switching impulse voltages. Generation of high impulse current.

OBJECTIVE:
1. To describe the principles behind generating high DC, AC and impulse
voltages.
2. To develop equivalent circuit models of the different high voltage generators.

OUTCOME:
Enable the students to
• Understand the principles of the generation and measurement of high voltage
AC, DC, Impulse voltages and Currents.
 Syllabus…
Unit III: Measurement of High Voltage and High Currents

Electrostatic voltmeter-principle, construction and limitation. Generating voltmeter-

Principle, construction. Standard sphere gap measurements of HV AC, HV DC, and
impulse voltages. Potential dividers, their types and applications. Measurement of
high impulse currents- Rogowsky coil and Magnetic Links.

OBJECTIVE:
1. To describe various techniques and circuits for measurement of High voltages
and currents.

OUTCOME:
Enable the students to
• Understand about the various methods and circuit designs for measuring high
voltages and currents.
 Syllabus…
Unit IV: Non Destructive High Voltage Testing

Measurement of Dielectric properties with Schering Bridge and Mega ohm meter.
Insulation Coordination: Principle of insulation coordination on high voltage and
extra high voltage power systems. Basic insulation level design systems.

OBJECTIVE:
1. To describe various high voltage tests performed on various electrical apparatus
such as cables, insulators etc.
2. To understand various types of transients in system and to know the modern
statistical methods of coordinating the insulation requirement of various
equipment in a system for their protection.
OUTCOME:
Enable the students to
• Understand the different techniques of testing of high voltage AC, DC and
impulse voltages.
• Understand the insulation coordination concept for the protection of various
equipment in power system.
 Reference Books

1. M.S.Naidu and V.Kamraju – High Voltage Engineering, Tata McGraw Hill

Publishing, Company, New Delhi.
2. E.Kuffer and W.S.Zaenglo- High Voltage Engineering, Pergamon Press.
3. C.L.Wadhwa, ‘High Voltage Engineering’ , New Age International Private
limited, 1995
 What is Over Voltage ?

 An overvoltage is a voltage pulse or wave which is

superimposed on the rated voltage of the network (OR)
 When the voltage in a circuit or part of it is raised above its
upper design limit, this is known as overvoltage

7
  What is High Voltage?
 The term high voltage (HV) usually means electrical energy at
voltages high enough to cause harm on living organisms.

 In electric power transmission engineering, high voltage is

usually considered any voltage over approximately 35,000 volts.

 In electric power transmission engineering, voltage more than

3,45,000 volts between conductors is termed as Extra high
voltage (EHV).
  What is High Voltage?
 Accidental contact with high voltage supplying sufficient energy
may result in severe injury or death.

 This can occur as a person's body provides a path for current

flow, causing tissue damage and heart failure. Other injuries can
include burns from the arc generated by the accidental contact.
  Levels of Voltages
As per IEC 60038:

In India, What is the highest Transmission Voltage ?

Ans: The Raichur-Sholapur 765KV single-circuit transmission line is the
highest voltage transmission line in India that has been interconnected with the
national grid that has thereby achieved the one nation-one grid-one frequency
system
  Applications to High Voltage Technology

 HV technologies are mainly used at Power Systems, Industries &

Research labs.
 In the area of Power Systems especially for bulk power
transmission and High voltage power transmission is required.
 In Industries the following Equipment like electrostatic
precipitators (EPS) , X ray Equipment, Auto mobile ignition coil
etc. are commonly using.
 Research labs using HV for doing nuclear research, particle
accelerators (Van de Graff generators).
 Optimum design of insulation is required for HV technologies.
 Industrial Applications of High Voltage

 Electrostatic precipitator-Air pollution control

 Electrostatic copying
 Electrostatic printing
 Electrostatic separation
 Plasma based application
 X-Ray equipment
 High voltage or current pulse generator
 Electrostatic coating of material
 Electrostatic Painting
  Need of High Voltage Generation in Power System

 To test the equipment such as transformers, bushing of transformers,

cable, capacitors & switch gears.
 To confirm the reliability & efficiency of the equipment or products.
 To study the insulation behavior under high voltage.
 To Determine the safety factor. The ratio of puncture strength to flashover
voltage is known as safety factor.
 To determine the working margin.
 Testing of equipment for HVDC application
 Simulate the over voltage that occur in power system due to lighting or
switching surges.
 Need for generating HV in laboratory

 HV lines are used for transmitting electric power for a long

distance
 Let ‘P’ be the power to be transmitted, Resistance of
transmission line will be ‘R’
 Power P =V*I
 We have the equation for power loss
 P Loss = I2* R = (P/V2) * R
 P Loss α 1/ (V2)

 ‘P’ and ‘R’ are fixed in the conductor, less power will be lost if
high voltage ‘V’ are used & efficiency will be improved.

2/18/2019 14
 Major Need of High Voltage Generation in Power
System (Power Transmission)

 One of the major applications of High Voltage Generation in Power

system is High Voltage Power Transmission. Here some of the merits
and Demerits listed for this application.

Advantages
• Reduced transmission line losses (Major Concern)
• Better efficiency
• Improvement in voltage regulation.

Disadvantages
• Increased insulation level
• With increase in the voltage of transmission, more clearance is required
between conductors and ground. Hence higher towers are required.
Review Questions
Q1. What are the advantages of transmitting
electrical power at high voltage? What are
the applications of high voltages ?

2/18/2019 16
Review Questions
Q2. List the advantages of high voltage power
transmission.

2/18/2019 17
Review Questions
Q3. Explain the need of high voltage in the
laboratory.

2/18/2019 18
Review Questions
Q4. What are the industrial applications of high
voltages?

2/18/2019 19
 CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF OVER-
VOLTAGES IN POWER SYSTEMS

J VEERENDRA KUMAR REVA UNIVERSITY

1. Internal causes
(i) Switching surges (ii) Insulation failure (iii) Arcing ground
(iv) Resonance
2. External causes: Lightning

 Internal causes do not produce surges of large magnitude.

 Surges due to internal causes hardly increase the system
voltage to twice the normal value.
 Generally, surges due to internal causes are taken care of by
providing proper insulation to the equipment in the power
system.
 However, surges due to lightning are very severe and may
increase the system voltage to several times the normal
value.
 If the equipment in the power system is not protected against
lightning surges, these surges may cause considerable damage.
J VEERENDRA KUMAR REVA UNIVERSITY
 Internal Causes of Over Voltages

• Internal causes of over voltages on the power system are

primarily due to oscillations set up by the sudden changes in
the circuit conditions.
• This circuit change may be a normal switching operation
such as opening of a circuit breaker, or it may be the fault
condition such as grounding of a line conductor.

1. Switching Surges: The overvoltages produced on the

power system due to switching operations are known as
switching surges. This can be explained by few cases.

J VEERENDRA KUMAR REVA UNIVERSITY

(i) Case of an open line: During switching operations of an
unloaded line, travelling waves are set up which produce
overvoltages on the line. As an illustration, consider an
unloaded line being connected to a voltage source as shown in
Figure.

• When the unloaded line is connected to the voltage source, a

voltage wave is set up which travels along the line. On reaching
the terminal point A, it is reflected back to the supply end
without change of sign. This causes voltage doubling i.e.
voltage on the line becomes twice the normal value.
J VEERENDRA KUMAR REVA UNIVERSITY
(ii) Case of an loaded line: Overvoltages will also be
produced during the switching operations of a loaded line.
Suppose a loaded line is suddenly interrupted. This will set up
a voltage of 2 Zn I across the break (i.e. switch) where i is the
instantaneous value of current at the time of opening of line
and Zn is the natural impedance of the line.

(iii) Current chopping: Current chopping results in the

production of high voltage transients across the contacts of the
air blast circuit breaker. When breaking low currents (e.g.
transformer magnetizing current) with air-blast breaker, the
powerful de-ionising effect of air-blast causes the current to
fall abruptly to zero well before the natural current zero is
reached. This phenomenon is called current chopping and
produces high transient voltage across the breaker contacts.
J VEERENDRA KUMAR REVA UNIVERSITY
2. Insulation failure:
The most common case of insulation failure in a power system
is the grounding of conductor (i.e. insulation failure between
line and earth) which may cause overvoltages in the system.
This is illustrated in Figure.

• Suppose a line at potential E is earthed at point X. The

earthing of the line causes two equal voltages of −E to
travel along XQ and XP containing currents −E/Zn and
+E/Zn respectively. Both these currents pass through X to
earth so that current to earth is 2 E/Zn. REVA UNIVERSITY
3. Arcing Ground:
The phenomenon of intermittent arc taking place in line-to-
ground fault of a 3φ system with consequent production of
transients is known as arcing ground.
• when the lines are long and operate at high voltages,
serious problem called arcing ground is often witnessed.
The arcing ground produces severe oscillations of three to
four times the normal voltage.
• The transients produced due to arcing ground are
cumulative and may cause serious damage to the
equipment in the power system by causing breakdown of
insulation. Arcing ground can be prevented by earthing the
neutral.

J VEERENDRA KUMAR REVA UNIVERSITY

4. Resonance:
• Resonance in an electrical system occurs when inductive
reactance of the circuit becomes equal to capacitive
reactance.
• Under resonance, the impedance of the circuit is equal to
resistance of the circuit and the p.f. is unity.
• Resonance causes high voltages in the electrical system. In
the usual transmission lines, the capacitance is very small
so that resonance rarely occurs at the fundamental supply
frequency.
• However, if generator e.m.f. wave is distorted, the trouble
of resonance may occur due to 5th or higher harmonics and
in case of underground cables too.

J VEERENDRA KUMAR REVA UNIVERSITY

 PHENOMENA CAUSES EFFECT
1. Lightning Clouds get charged Line insulators
(External Fault) during thunderstorms, flashover or puncture.
the high potential Travelling waves
gradient causes carries its effects to
breakdown of sub-stations and
insulation of air Power Station.
producing a lightning Insulation of the
stroke, which hits the system is stressed.
earth, and is attracted
by overhead lines.

J VEERENDRA KUMAR REVA UNIVERSITY

 PHENOMENA CAUSES EFFECT

2. Switching (a) Breaking Inductive (a) CB voltage

(Internal Fault) Circuits: energy stressed
stored in (b) Restrike possible
inductances gives (c) Wave travels to
rise to a potential both sides of CB.
rise across
capacitors. (d) Voltage
Oscillation in
(b) Switching-on sub-circuit.
capacitive line:
charging currents (a) Transmission line
gives rise to a insulation
travelling wave. stressed.
(c) Other switching (b) Terminal
operations. apparatus
insulation
stressed by
travelling waves.

J VEERENDRA KUMAR REVA UNIVERSITY

 PHENOMENA CAUSES EFFECT

3. Arcing Grounds Line to ground (a) Temporary fault

(Internal Fault) capacitive charge gets grows into
discharged through permanent fault.
earth fault. (b) Voltage rises to 3
Repeated charging or 4 times of
and discharging gives normal values.
rise to intermittent (c) Voltage of healthy
arcs. lines increase.

4 Sudden Changes Energy in inductances Voltage Oscillations,

In System transferred to Travelling waves.
Condition capacitances.
(Internal Fault)

J VEERENDRA KUMAR REVA UNIVERSITY

 PHENOMENA CAUSES EFFECT

5. Resonance The fault causing Rapid increase in

(Internal Fault) resonance between over-voltages,
inductance and insulation failure likely
capacitance in a part to occur.
of circuit.
Reflected wave gets
6. Travelling Waves High voltage waves superimposed on
(Internal Fault) get reflected on initial waves;
reaching a junction or Voltage rises to
end. several times normal
values,
Insulation failure likely
to occur.

J VEERENDRA KUMAR REVA UNIVERSITY

 Course code : BTEE156200
Course Title: High Voltage Engineering

Electrical Breakdown in Gases

by
Mr. J Veerendra Kumar
Assistant Professor
School of EEE, REVA University
 Electrical Breakdown in Gases
Basics:
 The electrical discharges in gases are of two types, i.e.
i. Non-sustaining discharges, and
ii. Self-sustaining types.
 The breakdown in a gas, called spark breakdown is the change
of a non-sustaining discharge into a self-sustaining
discharge.
 The build-up of high currents in a breakdown is due to the
process known as ‘IONIZATION’ in which electrons and ions
are created from neutral atoms or molecules, and their migration
to the anode and cathode respectively leads to high currents.
 The various physical conditions of gases, namely, pressure,
temperature, electrode field configuration, nature of electrode
surfaces, and the availability of initial conducting particles are
known to govern the ionization processes.
 Electrical Breakdown in Gases

 Two types of theories explain the mechanism for breakdown under different
conditions.
(i) Townsend theory, and
(ii) Streamer theory
 Electrical Breakdown in Insulation Dielectrics
 GAS / VACUUM INSULATOR :
• Air at Atmospheric pressure is most common gaseous insulation.
• Air has practical importance in power transmission lines and power
apparatus.
• In gases breakdown is occurred due to the process of collisional
IONIZATION.
• Air is having a dielectric strength of 30 KV/cm at atmospheric pressure.
• There are many other gases like N2(at high pressures), CO2, CCl2F2(Freon),
and SF6 are used a gas dielectrics because of their higher dielectric strength
and better properties than air.
• As on the gases examined to date SF6 is most attractive over all other gases
due to its better dielectric and Arc-Quenching properties for high voltage
systems.
• However because of its green house effect causing environmental hazards,
Researchers finding a replacement gas with mixure of pure N2, air and SF6.
• Vacuum is the best insulator with field strength of 107 V/cm and Under high
vacuum conditions when pressure is < 10-4 torr. breakdown cannot occur.
Vacuum used in Particle accelerators, X-Rays, Capacitors and CB etc.
 Electrical Breakdown in Insulation Dielectrics
 LIQUID DIELECTRIC :
• Liquids are used in High-Voltage Equipment to serve the dual purpose of
insulation and heat dissipation.
• They have the advantage of self-healing.
• However discharges may deposit on solid insulation support and leads to
surface breakdown on solid supports.
• Highly purified liquids have a dielectric strength as high as 1MV/cm.
• For Highly purified liquids breakdown mechanism is as air breakdown
mechanism.
• Similarly for commercial liquids the breakdown mechanism altered by
the presence of solid impurities and dissolved gases.
• Petroleum oils, Fluoro-carbons, silicones, organic esters and castor oils
are used in significant quantities.
• In practical applications, these dielectrics normally used at voltage stresses
of about 50-60 kV/cm when continuously operated.
• In the application of HV these can be used at stresses as high as 100 – 200
kV/cm.
 Electrical Breakdown in Insulation Dielectrics
 SOLID / Composite DIELECTRIC :

• Very large in number .

• Most widely used are : XLPE, PVC, ceramics, glass, rubber, resins,
reinforced plastics, polypropylene, impregnated paper, wood, cotton,
mica, pressboards, Bakelite, Perspex, Ebonite, Teflon, etc
• Introduction of Composite and Nano materials are in offering.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
Basics:
 The electrical discharges in gases are of two types, i.e.
i. Non-sustaining discharges, and
ii. Self-sustaining types(PG high enough that free e
accelerate hard enough to ionize atoms they collide ).
 The breakdown in a gas, called spark breakdown is the change
of a non-sustaining discharge into a self-sustaining
discharge.
 The build-up of high currents in a breakdown is due to the
process known as ‘IONIZATION’ in which electrons and ions
are created from neutral atoms or molecules, and their migration
to the anode and cathode respectively leads to high currents.
 The various physical conditions of gases, namely, pressure,
temperature, electrode field configuration, nature of electrode
surfaces, and the availability of initial conducting particles are
known to govern the ionization processes.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
 Two types of theories explain the mechanism for breakdown
under different conditions.
(i) Townsend theory and
(ii) Streamer theory
 In general the electrical discharge is normally created from
unionized gas by process of Collision.
 These processes occurs due to collisions in between Charged
particles and gas atoms or molecules. These are of two types
1. Elastic Collision – No change takes place in the internal
energy of the particle but their kinetic energy get
disturbed.
2. Inelastic Collision - change takes place in the internal
energy of the atom or molecule at the expense of total
kinetic energy of colliding particles.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
 IONIZATION PROCESS:
• A gas in its normal state is almost a perfect insulator.
• when a high voltage is applied between the two electrodes
immersed in a gaseous medium, the gas becomes a conductor and
an electrical breakdown occurs.
• The processes that are primarily responsible for the breakdown of a
gas are
i. Ionization by Collision
ii. Photo-Ionization
iii. Secondary Ionization Processes
iv. Electron Attachment Process
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
 Ionization by Collision :
• The process of liberating an electron from a gas molecule with the simultaneous
production of a positive ion is called ionization in gases.
• In the process of ionization by collision, a free electron collides with a neutral gas
molecule and gives rise to a new electron and a positive ion.
• If we consider a low pressure gas column in which an electric field E is applied
across two plane parallel electrodes.

Where A is atom, e- is electron and

A+ is positive ion.

• Electron starting at the cathode will be accelerated more and more between
collisions with other gas molecules during its travel towards the anode
• If Energy (Ԑ) gained during this travel between collisions exceeds the ionization
potential (Vi) i.e. (Ԑ > Vi) , then ionisation takes place
 Electrical Breakdown in Gases By J Veerendra Kumar
 PHOTO-IONIZATION :
• The phenomena associated with ionization by radiation, or photo-ionization,
involves the interaction of radiation with matter.
• This occurs when the amount of radiation energy absorbed by an atom or
molecule exceeds its ionization potential(Vi).
• An excited atom emits electro magnetic radiation when the electron returns
to the lower state or to the ground state from higher state (Bohr’s Principle
of quantum levels), the reverse process takes place when an atom absorbs
radiation.
• This can be expressed as

• Ionization in this process occurs when,

Where h is Planck's constant, λ is the wavelength of the

incident radiation and Vi is the ionisation energy of the atom
 Electrical Breakdown in Gases By J Veerendra Kumar
 SECONDARY – IONIZATION PROCESSES :
• From this secondary electrons are produced.
• These sustain a discharge after due to ionization by collision and photo-
ionization.
• These can be described in 3 ways,
a. Electron Emission due to Positive Ion Impact
b. Electron Emission due to Photons
c. Electron Emission due to Metastable or Neutral Atoms.
 Electron Emission due to Positive Ion Impact:
• When a Positive ions formed due to ionization by collision or by photo-ionization
travel towards the cathode. It causes emission of electrons from the cathode by
giving up its kinetic energy on impact.
• If the total energy of the positive ion is greater than twice the work function
of the metal, then one electron will be ejected and a second electron will
neutralise the ion.
• The probability of this process is measured as γi which is called as Townsend’s
Secondary ionization Coefficient.
 Electrical Breakdown in Gases By J Veerendra Kumar
 Electron Emission due to Photons:
• To cause an electron to escape from a metal, it should be given enough energy to
overcome the surface potential barrier.
• This can be happened when the energy is supplied in the form of a photon of
ultraviolet light of suitable frequency.
• Electron emission from a metal surface occurs at the critical condition

Where h is Planck's constant = 6.62 x 10-34 m2kg/s, v is the frequency

and Ҩ is work function of metallic electrode in eV

• Threshold frequency is expressed as

• If the incident radiation has a greater frequency than the threshold frequency, then
the excess energy goes partly as the kinetic energy of the emitted electron and
partly to heat the surface of the electrode.
 Electrical Breakdown in Gases By J Veerendra Kumar
 Electron Emission due to Metastable and Neutral Atoms:
• A metastable atom or molecule is an excited particle whose lifetime
is very large (103s) compared to the lifetime of an ordinary particle
(108s).
• Electrons can be ejected from the metal surface by the impact of
excited (metastable) atoms when their total energy is sufficient to
overcome the work function.
• This process is most easily observed with metastable atoms,
because the lifetime of other excited particles is too short for them
to reach the cathode and cause electron emission.
• Neutral atoms in the ground state also give rise to secondary
electron emission if their kinetic energy is high (= 1000 eV).
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
 ELECTRON ATTACHMENT PROCESS :

• The types of collisions in which electrons may become attached to atoms or

molecules to form negative ions are called attachment collisions.
• Electron attachment process depends on the energy of the electron and the nature
of the gas.
• All electrically insulating gases, such as O2, CO2, Cl2, F2, C2F6, C3F8,C4F10, CCl2
F2, and SF6 exhibit this property.
• An electron attachment process can be represented as:

• (Ea + K) is the energy released during this process.

• In the attaching or insulating gases, the atoms or molecules have vacancies in
their outermost shells and, therefore, have an affinity(attraction) for electrons.
• The attachment process plays a very important role in the removal of free
electrons from an ionized gas when arc interruption occurs in gas-insulated
switchgear.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
 Two types of theories explain the mechanism for breakdown under different
conditions.
(i) Townsend theory and
(ii) Streamer theory
 Townsend Current growth Equaition :

• Referring the above figure, Let us assume the n0 electrons are emitted from the
cathode.
• When one electron collide the neutral particle, a positive ion and an electron are
formed(Ionization by Collision).
• Let α be the average number of ionizing collisions made by an electron/cm travel
in the direction of the field. Then total ionised electrons per cm = n0 * α * 1
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases

• Here α is referred as the Townsend’s first ionization coefficient.

• At any distance x from the cathode,
 Let the number of electrons be nx.
 When these nx electrons travel distance of dx they produce electrons of

• At initial state,

• Then, the number of electrons reaching the anode (x = d) will be,

 Electrical Breakdown in Gases By J Veerendra Kumar
• The number of new electrons created, on the average, by each electron is

• Therefore, the average current in the gap, which is equal to the number of
electrons travelling per second will be
 Townsend’s theory
Current Growth in the presence of secondary process

18-02-2019 50
 Gaseous Dielectrics

18-02-2019 51
 Gaseous Dielectrics

Condition for gaseous dielectric breakdown

 Based on Townsend’s theory

 Above equation gives the total average current in a gap before the occurrence
of breakdown. As the distance between the electrodes d is increased, the
denominator of the equation tends to zero, and at some critical distance d =
ds.

18-02-2019 52
 Gaseous Dielectrics

Condition for gaseous dielectric breakdown

18-02-2019 53
 Gaseous Dielectrics

Limitation of Townsends theory

 Atmospheric pressure is not considered into account

 No explanation for the relation “a” proportional to “(E/P)”
 Townsends suggest that breakdown of gas dielectric is based on ionization
only. Later on it is found that breakdown of gas which is depends on geometry
of gap and air pressure
 Applicable only in uniform electric field.

18-02-2019 54
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
 TOWNSEND'S CRITERION FOR BREAKDOWN

• Above equation gives the total average current in a gap before the occurrence of
breakdown. As the distance between the electrodes d is increased, the denominator
of the equation tends to zero, and at some critical distance d = ds.

• For values of d < ds, I is approximately equal to I0, and if the external source for
the supply of I0 is removed, I becomes zero.
• If d = ds, I tends to Infinite and the current will be limited only by the resistance
of the power supply and the external circuit. This condition is called Townsend's
breakdown criterion and can be written as

• Normally, exp( αd) is very large, and hence the above equation reduces to
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
Note:
1. The voltage V which gives the values of α and γ for a given
gap spacing and at a given pressure satisfying the breakdown
criterion is called the spark breakdown voltage Vs and the
corresponding distance ds is called the sparking distance.
2. The Townsend mechanism explains the phenomena of
breakdown only at low pressures, corresponding to p X d (gas
pressure x gap distance) values of 1000 torr-cm and below.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
 EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF COEFFICIENTS α
AND γ

Construction :
• The electrode system consists of Two uniform field electrodes.
• The high voltage electrode is connected to a variable high voltage d.c. source (of 2
to 10 kV rating).
• The low voltage electrode consists of a central electrode and a guard electrode.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
• The central electrode is connected to the ground through the high resistance
of an electrometer amplifier having an input resistance of 109 to 1013 ohms.
• The guard electrode is directly earthed.
• The electrometer amplifier measures currents in the range 10 -14 to 10 -8 A.
• The electrode system is placed in an ionization chamber which is either a
metal chamber made of chromium plated mild steel or stainless steel, or a
glass chamber.
• The electrodes are usually made of brass or stainless steel.
• The chamber is evacuated to a very high vacuum of the order of 10 -4 to 10 -6
torr.
• Then it is filled with the desired gas and flushed several times till all the
residual gases and air are removed.
• The pressure inside the chamber is adjusted to a few torr depending on the gap
separation and left for about half an hour for the gas to fill the chamber
uniformly.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
Operation :
• The cathode is irradiated using an ultra-violet (U.V.) lamp kept outside the
chamber. The U.V. radiation produces the initiatory electrons (n0) by photo-
electric emission.
• When the d.c. voltage is applied and when the voltage is low, the current pulses
start appearing due to electrons and positive ions as shown in Figs. a and b. These
records are obtained when the current is measured using a cathode ray
oscillograph.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
• When the applied voltage is increased, the pulses disappear and an average d.c.
current is obtained as shown in Fig. 2.4.
• In the initial portion (To), the current increases slowly but unsteadily with the
voltage applied. In the regions T1 and T2, the current increases steadily due to
the Townsend mechanism.
• Beyond T2 the current rises very sharply, and a spark occurs.
 Electrical Breakdown in Gases By J Veerendra Kumar
• For determining the α and γ coefficients, the voltage-current characteristics for
different gap settings are obtained.
• From these results, a log I/Io versus gap distance plot is obtained under constant
field (E) conditions as shown in Figure below.
• The slope of the initial portion of the curves gives the value of α. Knowing α, γ
can be found from Townsend Equation.
• Using points on the upcurving portion of the graphs. The experiment can be
repeated for different pressures.
 Electrical Breakdown in Gases By J Veerendra Kumar
 BREAKDOWN IN ELECTRONEGATIVE GASES
• One process that gives high breakdown strength to a gas is the electron
attachment in which free electrons get attached to neutral atoms or molecules to
form negative ions.
• Attachment process represents an effective way of removing electrons which
otherwise would have led to current growth and breakdown at low voltages.
• The gases in which attachment plays an active role are called electronegative
gases.
• The most common attachment processes encountered in gases are
(a) The direct attachment in which an electron directly attaches to form a
negative ion, and
(b) The dissociative attachment in which the gas molecules split into their
constituent atoms and the electronegative atom forms a negative ion.
• These processes may be symbolically represented as:
 Electrical Breakdown in Gases By J Veerendra Kumar
• A simple gas of this type is oxygen. Other gases are sulphur hexafluoride,
freon, carbon dioxide, and fluorocarbons.
• In these gases, 'A’ is usually sulphur or carbon atom, and 'B’ is oxygen atom
or one of the halogen atoms or molecules.
• With such gases, the Townsend current growth equation is modified to include
ionization and attachment.
• An attachment coefficient (η) is defined, similar to α, as the number of
attaching collisions made by one electron drifting one centimeter in the direction
of field.
• Under this the current reaching anode can be written as

• The Townsend breakdown criterion for attaching gases can also be deduced by
equating the denominator in above eqn. to zero, i.e.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
 TIME LAG FOR BREAKDOWN
• The mechanism of spark breakdown is considered as a function of ionization
processes under uniform field conditions.
• But in practical engineering designs, 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.
• This time difference is called the TIME LAG.
• The Townsend criterion for breakdown is satisfied, only if at least one election is
present in the gap between the electrodes.
• In the case of applied d.c. or slowly varying (50 Hz a.c) voltages, there is no
difficulty in satisfying this condition.
• However, with rapidly varying voltages of short duration (= 10-6 s), the initiatory
electron may not be present in the gap, and in the absence of such an electron
breakdown cannot occur.
• The time t which lapses between the application of the voltage sufficient to
cause breakdown and the appearance of the initiating electron is called a
statistical time lag(ts).
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
• After the appearance of the electron, a time tf is required for the ionization
processes to develop fully to cause the breakdown of the gap, and this time is
called the formative time lag (tf). The total time ts + tf is called the total time
lag(t).
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
 T vs ∆V for different Gap Spacings:
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
STREAMER THEORY by Raether & Meek

• Streamer theory breakdown mainly arises due to the added effect of

the space charge field of an avalanche and Photo-electric ionization
in the gas volume. Below discuss about the Townsend theory :
a. According to townsend theory, 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 geomentry of the gap.
b. The mechanism predicts timelags in order of 10 -6 Sec while in
actual practice breakdown was observed to occur at very short time
of the order of 10 -8 Sec
c. While the Townsend mechanism predicts a very diffused form of
discharge, in actual practice discharges were found to be
filamentary and irregular.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
• Due to Townsend mechanism failed to explain all these observed phenomena.
In 1940 Raether, Meek and Loeb proposed the STREAMER THEORY.
• The streamer mechanism breakdown mainly arises due to the added affect of
the space-charge field of an avalanche and Photo-Electric ionization in the gas
volume between Anode and Cathode.
• Streamer theory predicts the development of a spark discharge directly from a
single avalanche.
• Cathode(-) plate at left
• Anode(+) plate at Right.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
• The growth of charge carriers in an avalanche in a uniform field
is described by townsend equation eαd.
• This is valid only when the influence of space charge due to
positive ions is very small compared to applied field(E).
• Raecher observed that when charge concentration was between
10^6 and 10^8, the growth of avalanche becomes weak.
• when > 10^8, the avalanche current follow the steep rise in
current between the electrodes leading to breakdown in gap.
• Figure in the previous slide shows the Electric field around the
avalanche as it progress along the gap and resuting modification
to the applied field.
• In this the space charge at the head of avalanche is assumed to be
spherical volume containg –ve charge at the top and + ions at the
bottom.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases

• The space charge produced in the avalanche causes sufficient

distortion of the electric field that those free electrons move
towards the avalanche head.
• Avalanche head in so doing generate further avalanches in a
process that rapidly become cumulative.
• As the Electron advance rapidly, the positive ion are left behind
in a relative slow moving tail.
• The field will be enhanced in front of head.
• Behind the head the field between the electrons and positive ions
is in opposite direction to applied field and hence resulting field
strength (Er) is less.
• Again behind of this the field between cathode and + ion gets
enhanced.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
• If a charge density in the avalanche approaches n = 10^8 the
space charge filled field and the applied field will have the same
magnitude and leads to the STREAMER.
• Streamer occurs when the charge within avalanche head reaches
a critical value of n0 = exp(αxc) = 108 or αxc lies in between 18
and 20. xc is the length of avalanche produced by photo
ionization in the inter electrode gap. Secondary Avalanches are
formed.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases

a. Primary Avalanche e swept

into Anode.
b. Secondary avalanche feed
into primary.
c. Self propagating streamer
Breakdown.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases

PASCHEN’S LAW
• It has been shown earlier that the breakdown criterion in gases is given as

• Substituting for E in the expressions for α and γ and rewriting breakdown

criterion equation we have
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases

• This equation shows a relationship between V and pd, and implies that the
breakdown voltage varies as the product pd varies. Knowing the nature of
functions f1 and f2 we can rewrite Eqn as,

• This Equation is known as Paschen’s Law.

• The Paschen Curve. The relation between V and pd is shown below
• It is seen that the relationship b/w V and pd is not linear and has a minimum
values for any gas
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
BREAKDOWN IN NON UNIFORM FIELDS AND CORONA
DISCHARGES

Corona discharge.....?
 It is an electric discharge mainly occuring at non uniform electric field
 Visual and audible discharge
 The corona will occur when the strength of the electric field around a conductor
is high enough to form a conductive region, but not high enough to cause
electrical breakdown or arcing to nearby objects.
 It is often seen as a Violet (or other color) glow in the air adjacent to pointed
metal conductors carrying high voltages, and emits light by the same property as
a gas discharge lamp.
 Potential difference between two electrodes should be greater than threshold
value (30kV).
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
BREAKDOWN IN NON UNIFORM FIELDS AND CORONA
DISCHARGES
• The voltage gradient required to produce visual a.c. corona in air at a conductor
surface, called the corona inception field, can be approximately given for the
case of parallel wires of radius r as

• For the case of coaxial cylinders, whose inner cylinder has a radius r the
equation becomes

• where m is the surface irregularity factor which becomes equal to unity for
highly polished smooth wires; d is the relative air density correction factor
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
BREAKDOWN IN NON UNIFORM FIELDS AND CORONA
DISCHARGES
• The corona inception and breakdown voltages of the sphere-plane arrangement
are shown in Figure below. From this figure it can be seen that
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
BREAKDOWN IN NON UNIFORM FIELDS AND CORONA
DISCHARGES
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
BREAKDOWN IN NON UNIFORM FIELDS AND CORONA
DISCHARGES

Results of corona
Corona discharge
 Power loss
 Hissing noise
 Ozone formation
 Chemical activities
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
BREAKDOWN IN NON UNIFORM FIELDS AND CORONA
DISCHARGES

Factors affecting corona

 Air desnsity & Humidity are inversly proportional to corona.
 Surface conduction is proportional to corrona.

Problems associated with corona

 Ozone (O3) , Nitric acid & Nitrogen oxide (Nox) production
 Electromagnetic interference
 Audible noise
 Insulation losses
 BREAKDOWN IN GASES
(Numericals)

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 8
 • What will the breakdown strength of air be for small gaps (1 mm)
and large gaps (20 cm) under uniform field conditions and
standard atmospheric conditions?
Solution : The breakdown strength of air under uniform field
conditions and standard atmospheric conditions is approximately
given by

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 8
• In an experiment in a certain gas it was found that the steady state
current is 5.5 x 10-8 A at 8 kV at a distance of 0.4 cm between the
plane electrodes. Keeping the field constant and reducing the
distance to 0.1 cm results in a current of 5.5 x 10-9A. Calculate
Townsend's primary ionization coefficient α.
Solution: The current at the anode I is given by

8
• Calculate the value of γ if the breakdown occurred when the gap
distance is increased to 0.9cm at Townsend's primary ionization
coefficient α = 7.676 /cm Torr.
Solution: The breakdown occurs when γeαd = 1

γ = 9.993 x 10 -4

8
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
POST-BREAKDOWN PHENOMENA AND APPLICATIONS
 This is the phenomenon which occurs after the actual breakdown
has taken place and is of technical importance.
• Glow and arc discharges are the post-breakdown phenomena,
and there are many devices that operate over these regions.
• This can be explained using the figure below.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
• In a Townsend discharge the current increases gradually as a
function of the applied voltage.
• Further to this point (B) only the current increases, and the
discharge changes from the Townsend type to Glow type (BC).
• Further increase in current results in a very small reduction in
voltage across the gap (CD) corresponding to the normal glow
region.
• The gap voltage again increases (DE), when the current is
increased more, but eventually leads to a considerable drop in the
applied voltage. This is the region of the arc discharge (EG).
• The phenomena that occur in the region CG are the post-
breakdown phenomena consisting of glow discharge (CE) and
the arc discharge (EG):
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Gases
 Glow Discharge
• A glow discharge is characterized by a diffused luminous glow. The
colour of the glow discharge depends on the cathode material and
the gas used.
• The glow discharge covers the cathode partly and the space between
the cathode, and the anode will have intermediate dark and bright
regions. This is called normal glow.
• If the current in the normal glow is increased such that the
discharge covers the entire cathode surface, then it becomes
abnormal glow.
• In a glow discharge, the voltage drop between the electrodes is
substantially constant, ranging from 75 to 300 V over a current
range of 1 mA to 100 mA depending on the type of the gas.
• The properties of the glow discharge are used in many practical
applications, such as voltage regulation tubes or VR tubes, for
rectification, as a relaxation oscillator, and as an amplifier.
 Electrical Breakdown in Gases By J Veerendra Kumar
 Arc Discharge
• If the current in the gap is increased to about 1 A or more, the voltage
across the gap suddenly reduces to a few volts (20-50 V).
• Then the discharge becomes very luminous and noisy (region EG in
Figure shown before). This phase is called the arc discharge and the
current density over the cathode region increases to very high values of
103 to 107 A/cm2.
• Arcing is associated with high temperatures, ranging from 1000oC to
several thousand degrees Celsius and The discharge will contain a very
high density of electrons and positive ions, called the arc plasma.
Applications:
• The study of arcs is important in circuit breakers and other switch
contacts.
• It is used for welding and cutting of metals.
• It is the light source in lamps such as carbon arc lamp.
• High temperature plasmas are used for generation of electricity through
magneto-hydro dynamic (MHD) or nuclear fusion processes.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN USING GASES FOR
INSULATION PURPOSES
• The greater the versatility of the operating performance demanded
from an insulating gas, the more rigorous would be the requirements
which the gas should meet .
• These requirements needed by a good dielectric gas do not exist in a
majority of the gases. Generally, the preferred properties of a
gaseous dielectric for high voltage applications are:
1. High dielectric strength,
2. Thermal stability and chemical inactivity towards
materials of construction,
3. Non-flammability and Physiological inertness,
4. Low temperature of condensation,
5. Good heat transfer, and
6. Ready availability at moderate cost
• Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) which has received much study in recent
years has been found to possess most of the above requirements.
 Course code : BTEE156200
Course Title: High Voltage Engineering

Electrical Breakdown in Liquids

by
Mr. J Veerendra Kumar
Assistant Professor
School of EEE, REVA University
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Breakdown in Liquids
• Liquids are more useful insulating materials than solids and
gases.
• Uses of liquid Dielectrics
1. High Voltage Cables ( impregnates )
2. High Voltage Capacitors ( impregnates )
3. Transformers (Acts as heat transfer agent)
4. Circuit Breakers (Arc quenching Medium)

 Liquid Dielectrics Classification:

1. Transformer oil
2. Synthetic Hydro Carbons
3. Chlorinated Hydro carbons
4. Silicon oils
5. Esters
 By J Veerendra Kumar
Electrical Conduction and Breakdown in Liquids
• The most common liquid dielectric is Transformer oil( Petrolium
Oil)

Transformer Oils:
• It is an almost colorless liquid consisting a mixture of
hydrocarbons which include paraffins, iso-paraffins,
naphthalenes and aromatics.
• When in service, the liquid in a transformer is subjected to
prolonged heating at high temperatures of about 950C, and
consequently it undergoes a gradual ageing process.
• With time the oil becomes darker due to the formation of acids
and resins, or sludge in the liquid.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
CHARECTERISTICS OF LIQUID DIELECTRICS

Electrical Properties:
• The electrical properties that are essential in determining the dielectric
performance of a liquid dielectric are
a. Its capacitance per unit volume or its relative permittivity
b. Its resistivity
c. Its loss tangent (tan δ) or its power factor which is an indication of
the power loss under a.c. voltage application
d. its ability to withstand high electric stresses.

PERMITIVITY:
• Permittivities of most of the petroleum oils vary from 2.0 to 2.6 while
those of askerels vary between 4.5 and 5.0 and those of silicone oils
from 2.0 to 73.
• In case of the non-polar liquids, the permittivity is independent of
frequency but in the case of polar liquids, such as water, it changes
with frequency. For example, the permittivity of water is 78 at 50 Hz
and reduces to about 5.0 at 1 MHz.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
CHARECTERISTICS OF LIQUID DIELECTRICS

 RESISTIVITY:
• Resistivities of insulating liquids used for high voltage applications
should be more than 1016 ohm-metre and most of the liquids in their
pure state exhibit this property.

 POWER FACTOR:
• Power Factor of a liquid dielectric under a.c. voltage will determine its
performance under load conditions.
• Power factor is a measure of the power loss and is an important
parameter in cable and capacitor systems.
• However, in the case of transformers, the dielectric loss in the oil is
negligible because the power factor is high and the efficiency
increases.
 By J Veerendra Kumar
CHARECTERISTICS OF LIQUID DIELECTRICS

 DIELECTRIC STRENGHTH:
• Dielectric Strength is the most important parameter in the choice of a
given liquid dielectric for a given application.
• The dielectric strength depends on the atomic and molecular properties
of the liquid itself.
• However, under practical conditions the dielectric strength depends on
the material of the electrodes, temperature, type of applied voltage, gas
content in the liquid etc.

Heat Transfer Characteristics

• The electric apparatus like transformers, cables, circuit breakers etc.
filled with liquid dielectric and heat is mainly transferred by
convection (The transmission of heat in a fluid by the circulation of
current)
• The factors that transfer the heat are Thermal conductivity(K) and
Viscosity(V)
 By J Veerendra Kumar
CHARECTERISTICS OF LIQUID DIELECTRICS

Chemical Stability Characteristics

• The insulating materials are subjected to electrical stresses in the
presence of materials like O2, water, fibers.
• These combinations cause degradation of the liquid with the result that
soluble solid and gaseous product can leads to corrosion, impairment
of heat transfer, deterioration of electrical properties, increases
dielectric losses and discharges which resulting arcing.
 Liquids as InsulatingMaterials
• Liquid dielectrics are more useful as insulating materials than either
solids or gases.

• liquids and solids are usually 103 times denser than gases.

• Oil is about 10 times more efficient than air or nitrogen in its heat transfer
capability when used in transformers.

• Liquids are expected to give very high dielectric strength of the order of 10
MV/cm, in actual practice the strengths obtained are only of the order of
100 kV/cm.

• Most Commonly Used Liquids insulating oils:

Mineral Oils, n-Hexane, n-heptane, Castor Oils, Silicon Oils, Transformer
oils, Liquid Nitrogen etc.

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 9
 Liquids as InsulatingMaterials
• Major Impurities in Liquids:
1. Dust
2. Carbon and Sulphur ions
3. Water Particles
4. Water Vapour
5. Ionic Particles
6. Dissolved Gases such as Co2

• The presence of even 0.01% water in transformer oil reduces its electrical
strength to 20% of the dry oilvalue.

• Liquid dielectrics are used mainly in high voltage cables and capacitors,
and for filling up of transformers, circuit breakers etc. Liquid dielectrics
also act as heat transfer agents in transformers and as arc quenching
media in circuit breakers.

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Schottkey effect
• Breakdown and conduction of current in liquid dielectrics is explained by
schottkey effect.

• It state that the conduction in insulating oil at low electric field (1kV/cm)
is largely ionic due to dissociation of impurities and increase linearly with
applied field.

• At High electric field (100kV/cm) the conduction current saturates

rapidly and breakdown take place.
ConductionCurrent

SaturationRegion BreakdownRegion

Ionic Region

ElectricField

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Breakdown inLiquids
1. Suspended Particle in Liquids or Impurities present in liquids:
 Carbon Particles
 Sulphur Particles
 Ionic Impurities
 Water Droplets and water Vapours
 Dissolved Gases
2. Formation of bubbles and cavitations:
 Temperature and pressure of Liquids
 Distance of separation gap between the electrodes
 Nature of materials
 Surface of electrodes
 Viscosity

 Various theories has been proposed for the breakdown of liquids

1. Suspended Particle Theory
2. Cavitations and bubble Theory
3. Stressed oil volume Theory.
1
 Breakdown inLiquids
1. Suspended Particle Theory:
• Commercial liquids will always contain solid impurities either as fibers or
as dispersed solid particles.

• The permittivity of these solids (ε1) will always be different from that of
the liquid (ε2).

• When H.V applied across two electrodes immersed into the liquids, the
particle get polarized in electric field E applied betweenelectrodes.

• Assume these particles to be sphere of radius r. These particles get

polarized in an electric field E and experience a force which is givenas:

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Breakdown inLiquids
• This force is directed towards areas of maximum stress, ifε2 > ε 1
• For example, in the case of the presence of solid particles like paper in the
liquid.

• If only gas bubbles are present in the liquid, i.e. ε2 < ε1 , the force
will be in the direction of areas of lower stress.

• If the voltage is continuously applied (d.c.) or the duration of the voltage is

long (a.c.), then this force drives the particles towards the areas
of maximum stress. If the number of particles present are large,
they becomes aligned due to these forces, and thus form a stable chain
bridging the electrode gap causing a breakdown between the
electrodes.

• If there is only a single conducting particle between the electrodes, it will

give rise to local field enhancement depending on itsshape.

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Breakdown inLiquids
• If this field exceeds the breakdown strength of the liquid, local breakdown
will occur near the particle, and this will result in the formation of gas
bubbles which may lead to the breakdown of theliquid.

• The values of the breakdown strength of liquids containing solid

impurities was found to be much less than the values for pure liquids.

• The impurity particles reduce the breakdown strength, and it was also
observed that the larger the size of the particles the lower were the
breakdown strengths.

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Breakdown inLiquids
2. Cavitations and the Bubble Theory:
• In practice, it is difficult to achieve hundred percent pure dielectric
without any sort of impurities.
• The more common factor responsible for breakdown of liquid insulating
material is the formation of cavity and bubbles inliquids.
• processes have been suggested to be responsible for the formation of the
vapour bubbles:

1. Gas pockets at the surfaces of the electrodes

2. gaseous products due to the dissociation of liquid molecules by
electron collisions.
3. vaporization of the liquid by corona type discharge from sharp points
and irregularities on the electrode surfaces.

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Breakdown inLiquids
• It has been suggested that the electric field in a gas bubble which is
immersed in a liquid of permittivity ε2 is given by:

• Where E0is the field in the liquid in absence of thebubble.

• When the field Eb equals the gaseous ionization field, discharge takes
place which will lead to decomposition of liquid and breakdown may
follow.

• A more accurate expression for the bubble breakdown strength isgiven as

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Breakdown inLiquids
• where σ is the surface tension of the liquid, ε2 and ε1 are the permittivities
of the liquid and bubble, respectively, r the initial radius of the bubble and
Vbthe voltage drop in thebubble.

• it can be seen that the breakdown strength depends on the initial size of
the bubble which of course depends upon the hydrostatic pressure above
the bubble and temperature of the liquid.

• This theory does not take into account the production of the initial bubble
and hence the results given by this theory do not agree well with the
experimental results.

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Breakdown inLiquids
3. Stressed Oil Volume Theory:
• The dielectric Field or breakdown strength of liquids is function of:
• largest possible impurity or weak link

• It was proposed that the electrical breakdown strength of the oil is defined
by the weakest region in the oil, namely, the region which is stressed to the
maximum and by the volume of oil included in thatregion.

• The breakdown voltage is highly influenced by the gas content in the oil,
the viscosity of the oil, and the presence of otherimpurities.

1
Breakdown inSolids
 Breakdown inSolids
• Function of any dielectric materials is to isolate one current carrying
circuit from other circuit.

• Solid materials have higher breakdown strength than gaseous and liquids.

Facts and Factors:

• When breakdown occurred in solid, it is permanently damaged.

• Damaged Solid materials can not recover their original breakdown

strength.

 Good Solids Dielectric Must Have:

• High Breakdown Strength
• Low dielectric loss
• High mechanical Strength
• Should be free from moisture

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Breakdown inSolids
• Factor Affecting the breakdown of Solids:

• Ambient Temperature.
• Mechanical Strength
• Impurities, Gaseous inclusion, water and moistures.
• Chemical deterioration.
• Permittivity.

• The principle mechanisms for breakdown of Solid materials:

• Intrinsic Breakdown or ionic Breakdown

• Electromechanical Breakdown.
• Thermal Breakdown
• Electrochemical Breakdown
• Treeing and tracking mechanism

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Breakdown inSolids
• The mechanism of breakdown is a complex phenomena in the case of
solids, and varies depending on the time of application ofvoltage.

• Time of application plays an important role in breakdown process, for

discussion purposes, it is convenient to divide the time scale of voltage
application into regions in which different mechanismsoperate.

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Intrinsic Breakdown
• When voltages are applied only for short durations of the order of 10-8S
the dielectric strength of a solid dielectric increases very rapidly to an
upper limit called the intrinsic electric strength.

• Experimentally, this highest dielectric strength can be obtained only

under the best experimental conditions. The maximum electrical
strength recorded is 15 MV/cm for poly vinyl alcohol at - 196˚C.

• Intrinsic breakdown depends upon the presence of free electrons which

are capable of migration through the lattice of the dielectric.

• A small number of conduction electrons are present in solid dielectrics,

along with some structural imperfections and small amounts of
impurities.

• Under certain range of electric field and Temperature. When these ranges
exceeded, additional e- in addition to trapped electrons participate in the
conduction

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Intrinsic Breakdown
• Types of Intrinsic Breakdown:
1. Electronic Breakdown
2. Avalanche or Streamer Breakdown

Electronic Breakdown
• Intrinsic breakdown occurs in time of the order of 10-8s and therefore is
assumed to be electronic innature.

• When an electric field is applied, electrons gain energy from the electric
field and cross the forbidden energy gap from the valence to the
conduction band.

• When this process proceeds continuously, more and more electrons get
collected in conduction band, and it leads breakdown.

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Intrinsic Breakdown
Avalanche or Streamer Breakdown
• This is similar to breakdown in gases due to cumulative ionization.

• Conduction electrons gain sufficient energy above a certain critical

electric field and cause liberation of electrons from the lattice atoms by
collisions.

• Under uniform field conditions, if the electrodes are embedded in the

specimen, breakdown will occur when an electron avalanche bridges the
electrode gap.

• In practice breakdown not occurs by

the formation of single avalanche itself,
it occurs as a result of many avalanches
formed within the dielectric and
extended step by step as shown in
figure.
By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Electromechanical breakdown
• When a dielectric material is subjected to an electric field, charges of
opposite nature are induced on the two opposite surfaces of the material
and hence a force of attraction is developed and the specimen is
subjected to electrostatic compressive forces.

• when these forces exceed the mechanical withstand strengthof the

material, the material collapses.

• If the initial thickness of the material is d0 and is compressed to a

thickness d under the applied voltage V then the compressive stress
developed due to electric field is:

• where Y is the Young's modulus

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Electromechanical breakdown

• Usually, mechanical instability occurs when

• the highest apparent electric stress beforebreakdown

• The above equation is only approximate as Y depends on the

mechanical stress.

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Thermal Breakdown
• When an insulating material is subjected to an electric field, the material
gets heated up due to conduction current.

• The conductivity of the material increases with increase in temperature

and a condition of instability is reached when the heat generated
exceeds the heat dissipated by the material and the material breaks
down.

• various heating curves corresponding to different electric stresses as a

function of specimen temperature.

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Thermal Breakdown
• The heat generated under d.c. stress E is given as

By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Thermal Breakdown
• The thermal instability condition is shown inFig.

• Here, the heat lost is shown by a straight line, while the heat generated
at fields E1 and E2are shown by separate curves. At field E1 breakdown
occurs both at temperatures TA and TB. In the temperature region of TA
and TB heat generated is less than the heat lost for the field E2 hence the
breakdown will not occur.
By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 1
 Electrochemical Breakdown
• Whenever cavities are formed in solid dielectrics, the dielectric strength
in these solid specimen decreases.

• It is related to thermal breakdown

• Electrochemical deterioration is due to the presence of mobility of ions

which are responsible for leakage current and energy losses inmaterial.

• In presence of air and gases due to the chemical reaction with insulating
materials, dielectric strength affected.

• Due to the oxidation with some air or ozone. i.e. rubber is oxidize with
ozone and cracks in pressure of ozone.

• Due to the contacts of different insulating materials with each other in

any practice apparatus.
• due to the presence of moistures and water particles.
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By J VEERENDRA KUMAR
 Treeing and Tracking
• When a solid dielectric subjected to electrical stresses for a long time fails,
Normally two kinds of visible markings are observed on the dielectric
materials.
1. A presence of conducting path across the surface of the insulation.
2. A mechanism whereby leakage current passes through the conducting
path leading to formation of spark.

• The spreading of spark channel during tracking, in the form of the branches of
a tree is called treeing.

• The formation of a continuous conducting paths across the surface of the

insulation mainly due to surface erosion under voltage application is known as
Tracking

• This phenomenon of tracking is common between layers of paper,

bakelite and similar dielectrics build of laminates.

• Treeing occurs mainly due to erosion of the material at the tip of the
surface.
 Treeing and Tracking

• When a dielectric material lies between two electrodes as shown in Fig. There is a
possibility for two different dielectric media, the air and the dielectric, to come in
series.
• The voltages across the two media are as shown (V1 across the air gap, and V2
across the dielectric). The voltage V1 across the air gap is given as,
 Treeing and Tracking
• V is the applied voltage and since Ԑ2 > Ԑ1, most of the voltage appear across d1,
the air gap. Sparking will occur in the air gap and charge accumulation takes
place on the surface of insulation.

• As time passes, breakdown channels spread through the insulation in an

irregular "tree" like fashion leading to the formation of conducting channels.
This kind of channeling is called treeing.

• Usually, tracking occurs even at very low voltages of the order of about 100 V,
whereas treeing requires high voltage.
 Treeing and Tracking

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By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 6
 Treeing and Tracking
How to prevent treeing & tracking?
 Treeing can be prevented by having clean, dry, and undamaged surfaces
and a clean environment.
 The materials chosen should be resistant to tracking.
 Sometimes moisture repellant greases are used. But this needs frequent
cleaning and regressing.
 Usually, treeing phenomena is observed in capacitors and cables, and
extensive work is being done to investigate the real nature and causes of
this phenomenon.

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By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 7
 PartialDischarge

• Partial Discharges are defined as the internal discharges which cause

the breakdown of voids or cavity or the gaseous pockets and which have
the same effects of treeing on the insulatingmaterials.

• When voltages are applied, due to the capacitance action, charges are
induced in the voids. Voltages due to electric field, are developed in the
voids.

• When voltage of voids reaches the breakdown strength of void-material,

breakdown occurs .

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By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 8
 Partial Discharge
• Effects of partial Discharges:

• The effects of partial Discharge on the insulating materials is the same

as that of treeing.

• During partial discharge, charges are induced in the voids. The charge
particles have sufficient energy to break the chemical bonds of dielectric
specimen.

• During the discharge, heat is generated. The heat carbonizes the

material of specimen in contact of void and thus causes the erosion.

• Chemical degradation and with the result, thickness of insulation is

reduced.

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By J VEERENDRA KUMAR 9
THANK YOU