Energy Processes

PLASMA:

When the voltage is provided to gas and passed

through vacuum chamber ionized and called as
plasma. OR

On heating ionization (loss or gain of electrons) of

molecules or atom of the gas results turns into plasma.

Gas high temperature ionized gas (plasma)

Fourth state of matter:

The existence of the plasma is in the form of ions.
Electron makes the plasma electronically conductive.
Different gases have different plasma color.
e.g oxygen gas purple color
Hydrogen gas orange color
If it is the equal positive and negative charges so it is
neutral plasma.
If it is composed of a single species called as nonneutral plasma, in such plasma electric fields play a
dominant role.

For plasma to exist ionization is necessary

Plasma density referring to electron density, i.e the
number of free electron per unit volume.
The degree of the ionization of plasma is controlled
by the temperature.
Even a partially ionized gas in which as little as 1%
of the atom are ionized possess the characteristics of
plasma (i.e response to magnetic field and have
electrical conductivity).

SPARK
When the dielectric strength of the air/medium is
weak so the flow path is complete and the spark is
caused. OR
A spark is caused when the electric field strength
exceed a certain critical value to overcome the
dielectric strength of the medium between high
voltage electrodes so a very rapid increase in the
number of free electrons and ions in the air Process
is called dielectric breakdown.

The particles of the air are ionized and we see it is the

form of spark/light.
The spark is also the form of plasma.
Due to which high temperature is cause.
The high voltage spark caused explosion.
The spark is used for the welding, spark plug, nickel
plating etc.

Puncture Voltage:

It is the voltage across the insulator cause a breakdown

and conduction through the interior of insulator.
Tracking:

It is the slowly and gradually carbonization of insulator

surface.
Due to the carbonization leakage of current cause the surface
flash over.
It is caused due to high humidity and temperature rise.
It provides low resistive path.
The process of tracking continues until the insulator is short
circuited.

For each type of insulator the threshold voltage and

current values are defined.
When the voltage is increased from the threshold
voltage so that it breaks.
Due to breakdown the dielectric strength of the
insulator is weak and provides a low resistive path.
The breakdown can occur in the solid, liquid, gas and
vacuum.

Characteristics of an Insulator

The characteristics are classified as solid, liquid, gaseous and

vacuum insulators.
The following are the general characteristics features of an
insulators used in practice.
It should be high resistive.
It should have high dielectric strength.
It should be mechanically tough.
It should have high viscosity (for liquid).
It should not be hygroscopic (Hygroscopy is the ability of a
substance to attract and hold water molecules from the
surrounding environment.).
It should be capable of withstanding high temperature.

It should be non-flammable.
It should be chemically inert and stable.
It should be resistive to acidic compounds.
It should be capable of withstanding high service voltages.
It should be non-corrosive.
It should be non-toxic and environmentally friendly.
There are five general factors that causes insulation
degradation.
Thermal stresses.
Electrical stresses.
Mechanical stresses.
Chemical stresses.
Environmental contamination.

Energy Band Theory:

Each shell has its own energy level.

The energy of the outer shell is more as compare to the inner
shell.
The half-filled/ incomplete shell means the outermost shell,
because there is also some shell present after the last shell and
es moves through them by getting energy.
For the conduction the es should be on the conduction band.
The energy gap between the C.B and V.B is the forbidden
energy gap.
In case of conductor, the C.B and V.B are slightly overlap each
other. Because the forbidden energy gap is small/less.
But in case of insulator, the forbidden energy gap is high
between C.B and V.B

Band gap energy

Now the energy required to moves the es from the V.B to the
C.B is called as band gap energy.
The breakdown of insulator due to the energy band theory as
when the external energy is more than the band gap
energy so the breakdown of insulator occur due to which the
motion of es from V.B to C.B caused.
eV> E2-E1 (1ev=1.610-19j)
The voltage V is applied across the insulator with n
number of the es in the ground state as;
neV= E2-E1 (to move n es from E2 to E1
where E2-E1 (the band gap energy) is the difference of the
energy of the ground state and valence band

The motion of the es from ground state to the excited

state is due to;
1) Heat/ temp
2) Voltage /electric field provided
3) Due to hitting / bombardment with particle
4) Light of shore wave length
5) Sound
6) Radiations
7) Pressure

Ionization potential:
The energy required to eject removing the electron
from the outermost shell of gaseous atom is called the
ionization potential.
For the ionization fast moving electron is necessary.
eV> I.P
Means the K.E of the electron must be greater than the
ionization potential
External energy >ionization potential

Collision ionization:

The production of electron from an atom due to energetic incident

electrons, under the electric field, so the energy of incident electron is
transported to the atom. Resulting in positively charge ion

e- +A A+ +2ee- shows fast moving incident electron

A0 shows stationary target atom
This process is also called e- pair production
The ionization is due to collision of esThe moving or incident electron possess the K.E
i.e ev =1/2mv2
so v=(2ev/m)
The velocity of the incident e- depend upon the applied voltage so the
dependence of K.E of the incident e -is also based on the applied
voltage

When the kinetic energy or electron volts (ev) is less than

the ionization potential then excitation will take place.
i.e K.E/ev <I.P

e- + A0 A* + e- + hv

A* show the excitation of atom.

e- electron having k.E<I.P
A0 stationary target atom.
hv energy in the form of photon
To move the electron from the lower to a higher shell a
certain amount of energy is required. This energy can be
in the form of electric fields.

So that the energy gain by the e-s to move from lower

shell to higher shell in the form of definite units.
That unit is called as the quanta.
In the excitation the disturbance of atom occurs.
The wave length and frequency of the photon can be
finding from the color. So the energy given to the
electron is less than the ionization, only just to excite
e-.
EV
E = hv
C= V (lambda)

C =3*108 (velocity of light)

E2= hv + E1
E2= higher energy state.
E1=lower energy state.
The energy state depend upon the hv,
The energy in the form of photon.
E=hv
E2-E1=hv
The energy will release by the electrons when it is deexcited or de-jumping,

This ionization by radiation or photons involves the

interaction of radiation with matter.

Photo ionization occurs when the amount of radiation

energy absorbed by an atom or molecule exceeds its
ionization energy.

hv the photon energy

If the photon energy is less than the ionization energy, it

may still be absorbed thus raising the atom to a higher
energy level. This is known as photo excitation.

Thermal Ionization:

The term thermal ionization in general applies to the

ionizing actions of molecular collisions, radiation and
electron collisions occurring in gases at high temperatures.

When a gas is heated to high temperature, some of the gas

molecules acquire high kinetic energy and these particles
after collision with neutral particles ionize them and release
electrons (Primary Ionization)

These electrons and other high-velocity molecules in turn

collide with other particles and release more electrons
(Secondary Ionization).
Thus, the gas gets ionized.

The relationship of electrical conductivity and the

temperature is given by:

Where = certain constant expressed in (0hm.m)-1

Q = width of the forbidden band in joules
k= Boltzmanns constant (1.38 x 10-23 joule. 0C-1)
T= absolute temperature in 0K.

The transfer of electrons to the conduction band may be

caused by stress and by other energy effect as light.

DIELECTRIC BREAKDOWN

High-voltage transformers contain oil as their

insulating dielectric. When a critical electric field is
exceeded, conduction paths grow at microsecond
speeds through the oil failure of an dielectric, the
process of failure of dielectric strength is called
dielectric breakdown.

Breakdown Voltage

Breakdown voltage is also sometimes called the "striking

voltage.
The voltage at which an electrical insulation ruptures, thereby
destroying its insulating value and permitting current flow.
It is measured in kV/mm
Breakdown voltage is a characteristic of an insulator that
defines the maximum voltage difference that can be applied
across the material before the insulator collapses and
conducts.
The breakdown voltage of an insulator is the minimum voltage
that causes a portion of an insulator to become electrically
conductive.

Factors affecting on breakdown

voltage
1) Nature of waveform(i.e. DC, AC & impulse)
2) Frequency (The breakdown voltage at higher frequencies is
much lower than the breakdown voltage at 50 Hz. This is due to
increased internal heating)
3) Ageing (decreases with the ageing of dielectric.)
4) Thickness of the dielectric material
5) Temperature (inversely proportional)
6) Time for application of voltage
7) Moisture Content
8) Composition (The insulation level is made up of which kind of
material)

Electric Discharge in
Vacuum

The electric discharge in vacuum results from the neutral atoms, ions and electrons emitted
from the electrodes themselves.

Cathode spots are formed depending upon the current flowing.

For low currents a highly mobile cathode spot is formed and for large currents a multiple
number of cathode spots are formed.

These spots constitute the main source of vapours in the arc.

The processes involved in drawing the discharge will be due to high electric field between
the contacts or resistive heating produced at the point of operation or a combination of the
two.

The cathode surfaces, normally, are not perfectly smooth but have many micro projections.

Due to their small area of cross-section, the projections will

suffer explosive evaporation by resistive heating and
supply sufficient quantity of vapour for the arc formation.
Since in case of vacuum, the emission occurs only at the
cathode spots and not from the entire surface of the
cathode, the vacuum discharge is also known as cold
cathode discharge.
The stability of discharge in vacuum depends upon:
(i) the contact material and its vapour pressure and
(ii) circuit parameters such as voltage, current, inductance
and capacitance.
It has been observed that higher the vapour pressure at low
temperature the better is the stability of the discharge.
There are certain metals like Zn, Bi which show these
characteristics and are better electrode materials for
vacuum breakers.
Besides the vapour pressure, the thermal conductivity of
the metal also affects the current chopping level.

A good heat conducting metal will cool its surface faster and hence its
electrode surface temperature will fall which will result into reduction
in evaporation rate and arc will be chopped because of insufficient
vapour.

On the other hand, a bad heat conductor will maintain its temperature
and vaporization for a longer time and the arc will be more stable.

The process of multiplication of charged particles by the process of

collision is very small in the space between the electrodes in vacuum,
electron avalanche is not possible.

If somehow a gas cloud could be formed in vacuum, the usual kind of

breakdown process can take place.

This is the line of action adopted by the researchers to study

mechanism of breakdown in vacuum. By finding the way, gas cloud
could be created in a vacuum.

Numericals
Chapter 2 book by Dr. M. Naeem Arbab
Examples (2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.11)