High A.C.

Voltages Generation of High Voltages 1

GENERATION OF HIGH VOLTAGES

• Laboratory testing attempts to simulate the voltage conditions that the apparatus
may experience on the power system.
• These voltages include the normal AC or DC system voltages and switching and
lightning impulse voltages.
• Tests can be performed to obtain the failure or flashover voltage or otherwise to
obtain the withstand voltage of an apparatus.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 2

GENERATION OF HIGH ALTERNATING VOLTAGES

• When test voltage requirements are less than about 300 kV, a single
transformer can be used for test purposes.
• The impedance of the transformer should be generally less than 5% and
must be capable of giving the short circuit current for one minute or
more depending on the design.(The percentage impedance of a transformer is the
volt drop on full load due to the winding resistance and leakage reactance expressed as
a percentage of the rated voltage)

• In addition to the normal windings, namely, the low and high voltage
windings, a third winding known as meter winding is provided to measure
the output voltage.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 3

➢ For higher voltage requirements, a single unit construction becomes

difficult and costly due to insulation problems.
➢ Moreover, transportation and erection of large transformers become
difficult.
➢ These drawbacks are overcome by series connection or cascading of the
several identical units of transformers,
➢ Where in the high voltage windings of all the units effectively come in
series.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 4
▪ Cascade Transformers
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 5
▪ Cascade Transformers

➢ The cascade transformer units in which the first transformer is at the ground
potential along with its tank.
➢ The second transformer is kept on insulators and maintained at a potential of V2, the
output voltage of the first unit above the ground.
➢ The high voltage winding of the first unit is connected to the tank of the
second unit.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 6
▪ Cascade Transformers
➢ The low voltage winding of this unit is supplied from the excitation winding of
the first transformer, which is in series with the high voltage winding of the first
transformer at its high voltage end.
➢ The rating of the excitation (tertiary) winding is almost identical to that of the
primary or the low voltage winding.
➢ The high voltage connection from the first transformer winding and the
excitation winding terminal are taken through a bushing to the second
transformer.
➢ The third transformer is kept on insulators above the ground at a potential of
2V2 and is supplied likewise from the second transformer.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 7
▪ Cascade Transformers
➢ The number of stages in this type of arrangement are usually two to four, but
very often, three stages are adopted to facilitate a three-phase operation.
➢ Supply to the units can be obtained from a motor-generator set or through
an induction regulator for variation of the output voltage.
➢ The rating of the primary or the low voltage winding is usually 230 or 400 V
for small units up to 100 kVA.
➢ For larger outputs the rating of the low voltage winding may be 3.3kV, 6.6 kV
or 11 kV.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 8
▪ Cascade Transformers
➢ Testing of an H. V. apparatus or insulation always involves supplying of capacitive
loads with very low power dissipation.
➢ Thus if C is the capacitance of the test object, V is the rms value of the nominal
output voltage of the transformer at an angular frequency ω, then the nominal
rating of the transformer in kVA will be
➢ P = K. V2ω C, where K (> 1.0) is a factor to account for any extra capacitance in
the test circuit like that of the measuring capacitance divider etc.
➢ K may have values of the order of 2 or more for very high voltages (> IMV).
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 9
▪ Cascade Transformers
➢ The main disadvantage of cascading the transformers is that the lower stages of the
primaries of the transformers are loaded more as compared with the upper stages.
➢ The loading of various windings is indicated by
P in the Figure.
➢ For the three-stage transformer, the total output
VA will be 3VI = 3P
➢ Therefore, each of the secondary winding of the
transformer would carry a current of I = P/V.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 10
▪ Cascade Transformers
➢ The primary winding of stage-III transformer is loaded with P and so also the
tertiary winding of second stage transformer.
➢ Therefore, the primary of the second stage transformer would be loaded with 2P.
➢ Extending the same logic, it is found that the first stage primary would be loaded
with 3P.
➢ Therefore, while designing the primaries and tertiaries of these transformers,
this factor must be taken into consideration.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 11
▪ Cascade Transformers
➢ The total short circuit impedance of a cascaded transformer from data for individual
stages can be obtained.
➢ The equivalent circuit of an individual stage is shown
in the Figure.
➢ Zp, Zs, and Zt, are the impedances associated with
each winding. The impedances are shown in series
With an ideal 3-winding transformer with corresponding number of turns Np, Ns
and Nt. The impedances are obtained either from calculated or experimentally
derived results of the three short circuit tests between any two windings taken at a
time.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 12
▪ Cascade Transformers
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 13
▪ Cascade Transformers
➢ Assuming negligible magnetizing current, the sum of the ampere turns of all the
windings must be zero. Np Ip – Ns Is – Nt It = 0
➢ Assuming lossless transformer, we have, Zp= jXp, Zs = jXs and Zt =jXt
➢ Also let Np= Nt for all stages, the equivalent circuit for a 3-stage transformer would be
given as in Figure.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 14
▪ Cascade Transformers
➢ Circuit can be further reduced to a very simplified circuit as shown
➢ The resulting short circuit reactance Xres is obtained from the condition that the power
rating of the two circuits be the same.
➢ Here currents have been shown corresponding to high
voltage side.

➢ Last equation can be generalized for an n-stage transformer as follows:

➢ Where Xpi, Xsi and Xti are the short-circuit reactance of the primary, secondary and
tertiary windings of ith transformer.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 15
▪ Cascade Transformers
➢ It has been observed that the impedance of a two-stage transformer is about 3–4
times the impedance of one unit and
➢ A three-stage impedance is 8–9 times the impedance of one unit transformer.
➢ In order to have a low impedance of a cascaded transformer, it is desirable that the
impedance of individual units should be as small as possible.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 16
▪ Cascade Transformers
➢ Typical capacitance values for high capacitance test objects like power transformers, cables
• Power transformers (rating < IMVA) 1000 pF
• Power transformers (rating > IMVA) 1000-10,000 pF
• High Voltage power cables (with solid insulation) 250-300 pF/m
• High Voltage power cables (with gas insulation) 50-80 pF/m
• Metal Clad sub-station with gas insulation (GIS.) 100-10,00OPF
➢ The charging currents for the test apparatus may range from 10 mA at 100 kV to a few
milliamperes in the megavolt range. As such the transformers should have only a short
time rating (10 to 15 min) for high power ratings, as compared to those with nominal
power ratings.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 17
▪ Resonant Transformers
➢ The equivalent circuit of a high voltage testing transformer
consists of the leakage reactances of the windings, the winding
resistances, the magnetizing reactance, and the shunt
capacitance across the output terminal due to the bushing of the
high voltage terminal and also that of the test object.
➢ It may be seen that it is possible to have series resonance at
power frequency ω, if ω(L1 +L2)=1/ ωC.
➢ With this condition, the current in the test object is very large and
is limited only by the resistance of the circuit.
➢ The waveform of the voltage across the test object will be purely
sinusoidal.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 18
▪ Resonant Transformers

➢ The magnitude of the voltage across the capacitance C of the test object will be

➢ where R is the total series resistance of the circuit

➢ The factor Xc/R = 1/ωCR is the Q factor (Quality Factor) of the circuit and gives the
magnitude of the voltage multiplication across the test object under resonance conditions.
➢ Therefore, the input voltage required for excitation is reduced by a factor 1/Q, and the
output kVA required is also reduced by a factor 1/Q.
➢ The secondary power factor of the circuit is unity.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 19
▪ Resonant Transformers

➢This principle is utilized in testing at very high voltages and on occasions

requiring large current outputs such as cable testing, dielectric loss
measurements, partial discharge measurements, etc.

➢A transformer with 50 to 100 kV voltage rating and a relatively large current

rating is connected together with an additional choke L, if necessary.

➢The test condition is set such that ω (Le+ L) = 1/ω C where Le is the total
equivalent leakage inductance of the transformer including its regulating
transformer.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 20
▪ Resonant Transformers
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 21
▪ Resonant Transformers
➢ The chief advantages of this principle are:
1) It gives an output of pure sine wave,
2) Power requirements are less (5 to 10% of total kVA required),
3) No high-power arcing and heavy current surges occur if the test object fails, as resonance
ceases at the failure of the test object,
4) Cascading is also possible for very high voltages,
5) Simple and compact test arrangement, and
6) No repeated flashovers occur in case of partial failures of the test object and insulation
recovery. It can be shown that the supply source takes Q number of cycles at least to
charge the test specimen to the full voltage.

➢ The disadvantages are the requirements of additional variable chokes capable of

withstanding the full test voltage and the full current rating.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 22
▪ Resonant Transformers Series resonant
➢ A voltage regulator of either the auto-transformer type or a.c. test system
the induction regulator type is connected to the supply
mains
➢ The secondary winding of the exciter transformer is
connected across the H.V. reactor, L, and the capacitive
load C.
➢ The inductance of the reactor L is varied by varying its air
gap and operating range is set in the ratio 10 : 1.
➢ Capacitance C comprises of the capacitance of the test
object, capacitance of the measuring voltage divider,
capacitance of the high voltage bushing etc.
Parallel resonant
➢ The Q-factor obtained in these circuits will be typically of
a.c. test system
the order of 50.
➢ Single unit resonant test systems are built for output
voltages up to 500 kV, while cascaded units for outputs
up to 3000 kV, 50/60 Hz are available.
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 23
▪ Resonant Transformers Series resonant
➢ the inductance of the reactor coil L can be a.c. test system
adjusted by changing the air gap between the
primary and secondary coils.
➢ An air gap is an intentional space between the
two coils, and it affects the level of magnetic
coupling between the coils.
➢ By increasing the air gap, the magnetic coupling
is reduced, and this results in a decrease in the
inductance of the transformer. Similarly, by
Parallel resonant
decreasing the air gap, the magnetic coupling is a.c. test system
increased, and the inductance of the
transformer is increased.
➢ The operating range ratio of the reactor coil
refers to the range of frequencies over which
the resonant transformer can operate efficiently
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 24
▪ Example
A 100 kVA, 400 V/250 kV testing transformer has 8% leakage reactance and 2% resistance on 100 kVA base. A
cable has to be tested at 500 kV using the above transformer as a resonant transformer at 50 Hz. If the
charging current of the cable at 500 kV is 0.4 A, find the series inductance required. Assume 2% resistance for
the inductor to be used and the connecting leads. Neglect dielectric loss of the cable. What will be the input
voltage to the transformer ?
Solution: The maximum current that can be supplied by the testing transformer is
High A.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 25
 High D.C. Voltages
Generation of High Voltages 1

• The value of a direct test voltage is defined by its arithmetic mean value Vd and
is expressed mathematically as

• where T is the time period of the voltage wave having a frequency f = 1/T.

• The magnitude of the ripple voltage denoted by δV is defined as half the

difference between the maximum and minimum values of voltage i.e.,

• Ripple factor : is defined as the ratio of ripple magnitude to the mean value Vd
i.e., δV/Vd. The test voltages should not have ripple factor more than 5% or as
specified.
High D.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 2
Half-wave rectifier circuit
• The simplest circuit for generation of high direct voltage is the half wave rectifier.
• RL is the load resistance and C the capacitance to smoothen the d.c. output voltage.
• If the capacitor is not connected, pulsating d.c. voltage.
• No load connected, the d.c. voltage across capacitance remains constant at Vmax
whereas the supply voltage oscillates between ±Vmax
• The diode must be rated for 2Vmax .
High D.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 3
Half-wave rectifier circuit
• If the circuit is loaded, the output voltage does not remain constant at Vmax, fig.(c)
• After point E Fig.(c), the supply voltage becomes less than the capacitor voltage
diode stops conducting.
• Beyond F, the supply voltage is greater than the capacitor voltage and hence
the diode D starts conducting charging the capacitor C again to Vmax
High D.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 4

• charge Q is transferred to the load RL and is given as

• where I is the mean value of the d.c output iL(t) and VRL(t) the d.c. voltage which
includes a ripple as shown in Fig. (c).

• Suppose at any time the voltage of the capacitor is V and it decreases by an amount of
dV over the time dt then charge delivered by the capacitor during this time is dQ = CdV.
• Therefore, if voltage changes from Vmax to Vmin, the charge delivered by the capacitor.
High D.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 5

• Or the magnitude of charge delivered by the capacitor Q = C (Vmax – Vmin) = 2δV.C

• Therefore, 2δV.C = IT or This equation shows that the ripple in a rectifier output
depends upon the load current and the circuit parameter like f and C.

• The product fC is, therefore, an important design factor for the rectifiers.
• The higher the frequency of supply and larger the value of filtering capacitor the smaller
will be the ripple in the d.c. output.
• The single-phase half-wave rectifier circuits have the following disadvantages:
(i) The size of the circuits is very large if high and pure d.c. output voltages are desired.
(ii) The h.t. transformer may get saturated if the amplitude of direct current is
comparable with the nominal alternating current of the transformer.
High D.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 6

▪ Doubler circuit (Greinacher).

➢ Suppose B is more positive with respect to A and the
diode D1 conducts thus charging the capacitor C1 to
Vmax with polarity as shown in Fig.
➢ During the next half cycle terminal A of the capacitor
C1 rises to Vmax and hence terminal M attains a
potential of 2 Vmax. Thus, the capacitor C2 is charged
to 2 Vmax through D2. Normally the voltage across the
load will be less than 2 Vmax depending upon the
time constant of the circuit C2RL.
High D.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 7
COCKROFT-WALTON VOLTAGE MULTIPLIER CIRCUIT
In 1932, Cockroft and Walton suggested an improvement over the circuit
developed by Greinacher .
A. No Load Operation:
1) The portion ABM′MA is exactly identical to Greinarcher voltage doubler
circuit and the voltage across C′1 becomes 2Vmax when M attains a
voltage 2Vmax .
2) During the next half cycle when B becomes positive with respect to A,
potential of M falls and, therefore, potential of N also falls becoming
less than potential at M′ hence C2 is charged through D2.
3) Next half cycle A becomes more positive and potential of M and N rise
thus charging C′2 through D′2.
4) Finally all the capacitors C′1, C′2, C′3, C1, C2, and C3 are charged.
High D.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 8
• The voltage across the column of capacitors consisting of C1, C2, C3, keeps on oscillating as the supply voltage
alternates. This column, therefore, is known as oscillating column.
• The voltage across the capacitances C′1, C′2, C′3, remains constant and is known as smoothening column.
• The voltages at M′, N′, and O′ are 2 Vmax, 4 Vmax and 6 Vmax. Therefore, voltage across all the capacitors is 2
Vmax except for C1 where it is Vmax only. The total output voltage is 2nVmax where n is the number of
stages.
B. Generator Loaded : When the generator is loaded, the output voltage will never reach the value 2n Vmax.
Also, the output wave will consist of ripples on the voltage. Thus, we have to deal with two quantities,
the voltage drop ∆V and the ripple δV.
• Suppose a charge q is transferred to the load per cycle. This charge is q = I/f = IT. The charge comes from the
smoothening column, the series connection of C′1, C′2,C′3,. If no charge were transferred during T from this
stack via D1, D2, D3, to the oscillating column, the peak to peak ripple would merely be
• But in practice charges are transferred.
High D.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 9

• The diodes D1, D2, D3, conduct when B is positive with reference to A. Here C′2 transfers q charge to C3, C′1
transfers charge 2q to C2 and the transformer provides charge 3q.
• For n-stage circuit, the total ripple will be.

• In a multistage circuit the lowest capacitors are responsible for most ripple and it is, therefore, desirable to
increase the capacitance in the lower stages.
• However, this is objectionable from the view point of High Voltage Circuit where if the load is large and the
load voltage
goes down, the smaller capacitors (within the column) would be overstressed. Therefore, capacitors of
equal value are used in practical circuits i.e., C′n = C′n – 1 = ... C′1 = C and the ripple is given as
𝑰 𝒏(𝒏+𝟏)
𝜹𝑽 =
𝒇𝑪 𝟒
High D.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 10

➢ The second quantity to be evaluated is the voltage drop ∆V which is the difference between the theoretical no load
voltage 2nVmax and the onload voltage.
➢ Here C′1 is not charged upto full voltage 2Vmax but only to 2Vmax – 3q/C because of the charge given up through C1 in
one cycle which gives a voltage drop of 3q/C = 3I/fC.

𝑰 𝟐 𝟑 𝒏𝟐 𝒏
➢ In general for a n-stage generator the voltage drop ∆𝑽 = ( 𝒏 + − )
𝒇𝑪 𝟑 𝟐 𝟔
➢ If n ≥ 4 the linear term can be neglected and, therefore, the voltage drop can be approximated to
➢ The maximum output voltage is given by
➢ it is clear that for a given number of stages, a given frequency and capacitance of each stage, the output voltage decrease
linearly with load current I.
➢ The optimum number of stages assuming a constant Vmax, I, f and C can be obtained for maximum value of V0 max by
differentiating the above equation with respect to n and equating it to zero.
High D.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 11

Substituting nopt in V0 max equation

High D.C. Voltages Generation of High Voltages 12
Example 1. A ten stage Cockraft-Walton circuit has all capacitors of 0.06 µF. The secondary voltage of the supply transformer
is 100 kV at a frequency of 150 Hz. If the load current is 1 mA, determine (i) voltage regulation (ii) the ripple (iii) the
optimum number of stages for maximum output voltage (iv)the maximum output voltage.
Solution: Given C = 0.06 µF, I = 1 mA, f = 150 Hz n = 10
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 1
▪ Impulse voltage: A unidirectional voltage which rises quickly without appreciable
oscillations, to a peak value and then falls less rapidly to zero.
▪ Types:
1. Full impulse wave: develops its complete waveshape without flashover or
puncture
2. Chopped wave: wave is one in which flash-over occurs causing the voltage to
fall extremely rapidly. The rapid fall may have a very severe effect on power
system equipment
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 2
▪ Generation of Impulse Voltage
➢ Rise time of 0.5 to 20 µs, decay time 30 to 200 µs.
➢ Unidirectional and double exponential;
𝑣 𝑡 = 𝑉𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝 −𝛼𝑡 − exp −𝛽𝑡 where α 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝛽 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
➢ The equation represents a wave with rapid rise slowly falls to zero
➢ During waveshape recording the initial portion may not clearly defined or
missing due to disturbances.

Double exponential waveform Vin*(exp(-0.0146*t/1e-6[1/s])-exp(-2.467*t/1e-6[1/s]))

3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 3
LIGHTNING IMPULSE (LI, 1.2/50)
The standard lightning-impulse voltage is a smooth full lightning-impulse
voltage having a front time of 1.2 µs and a time to half-value of 50 µs and
described as a 1.2/50 impulse
U
Lightning-impulse voltage
Impulse voltage with a front time less
than 20 µs
1.0 B
Front time T1 0.9
Virtual parameter defined as 1.67 times
the interval T between the instants when
the impulse is 30% and 90% of the peak
value on the test voltage curve (points A
and B)
Time to half-value T2 0.5
virtual parameter defined as the time
interval between the virtual origin O1 and
A
the instant when the test voltage curve 0.3
has decreased to half the test voltage
value
Virtual Origin O1
Instant preceding that corresponding to 0 T´ T
point A, of the test voltage curve by a t
time of 0.3 T1 (=T´=0.5 T) T1 T2
O1
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 4
SWITCHING IMPULSE (SI, 250/2500)

The standard switching-impulse voltage is an impulse having time to peak

Tp of 250 µs and a time to half-value T2 of 2500 µs. It is describes as a
250/2500 impulse.

U
Switching impulse 1.0
Impulse voltage with a front 0.9
time of 20 µs or longer
Time to peak Tp
Time interval from the true
origin to the time of maximum
value of a switching-impulse
voltage
0.5
Time to half-value T2 Tp
Time interval between the true
origin and the instant when the
voltage has first decreased to T2
half-the maximum value.
0 t
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 5
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 6
▪ Analysis of Impulse Waves Generation Circuit
➢ A double exponential waveform of the type mentioned previously may be produced in
the laboratory with a combination of a series R-L-C circuit under over damped
conditions or by the combination of two R-C circuits.
➢ The most commonly used configurations for impulse generators are the circuits
shown in Figs.
➢ The advantages of these circuits are that
1. The wave front and wave tail times are independently controlled by changing either
Rd = R1 or Re = R2 separately.
2. Secondly, the test objects which are mainly capacitive in nature form part of C2=Cb.
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 7
▪ Analysis of Impulse Waves Generation Circuit
➢ The two circuits are widely used and differ only in the position of the wave tail control
resistance R2.
• When R2 is on the load side of R1 (Fig. a) the two resistances form a potential divider
which reduces the output voltage.
• When R2 is on the generator side of R1 (Fig. b) this particular loss of output
voltage is absent.
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 8
▪ Analysis of Impulse Waves Generation Circuit

▪ Calculation of the front time and tail time

𝐶1 𝐶2
➢ 𝑡𝑓 = 𝑡1 = 3𝑅1 = 3 𝑅1 𝐶𝑒 R2>>R1 Ce in microfarads, t1 is obtained in microseconds.
𝐶1 +𝐶2

➢ 𝑡𝑡 = 𝑡2 = 0.7(𝑅1 + 𝑅2 )(𝐶1 + 𝐶2 )

➢ Energy rating of generator=0.5 C1Vo2

3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 9
▪ MARX GENERATOR
➢ Impulse generator:
• Single stage structure can reach c. 200 – 300 kV
• For higher voltages n stages are stacked on top
of each other
• Multi stage generator first introduced by Erwin
Marx in 1923
• Used for simulation of lightning or
switching transients.
• Most common in circuit (b)
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 10
▪ MARX GENERATOR

1. Capacitors are charged in parallel to desired voltage.

3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 11
▪ MARX GENERATOR
2. The first spark gap is triggered, the rapid change in
potential causes the subsequent gaps to ignite causing the
stages to be connected in series
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 12
▪ MARX GENERATOR
3. Output voltage is the product of charging voltage and the number
of stages Vout=n .Vin
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 13
▪ MARX GENERATOR
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 14
▪ MARX GENERATOR
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 15
▪ EXAMPLE_1
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 16
▪ EXAMPLE_2
3. High Impulse Voltages Generation of High Voltages 17
▪ EXAMPLE_3