EE 3183- Laboratory Practice IV

BREAKDOWN CHARACTEISTICS OF AIR

GAPS

INSTRUCTED BY
Mr. S.B. Wijesundara
GROUP MEMBERS
Samarakoon W.H.A.
Samarasinghe K.T.A.B.
Samarathunga L.L.
Sandanayaka S.D.M.

120560J
120564B
120566H
120575J

NAME
: Sandeepa I.A.K
INDEX NO
: 120583G
FIELD
: Electrical Engineering
GROUP
: G- 17
DATE OF PERFORMANCE : 17/06/2015
DATE OF SUBMISSION
: 01/07/2015

CALCULATION
Transformer ratio
= 220 V: 100 kV
Atmospheric pressure (p)
= 760 mmHg
Room temperature (t)
= 30 C
V = Breakdown voltages at pressure p and temperature t

(273 + 20)

760
(273 + )
760 (273 + 20)
=

760 (273 + 30)

=

293
303

= 0.9669

V = Vn

where Vn : Breakdown voltage at S.T.P

Specimen calculation for Rod-Rod for air gap distance 5 mm.

100
1

220 0.9669
100
1
= 23

220 0.9669
=

= 10.81 kV

Observed Breakdown Voltages(V)

Vn (kV)

Gap
Space
(mm)

Rod-Rod

PlatePlate

Sphere Sphere

Rod-Rod

PlatePlate

Sphere Sphere

23

24

24

10.81

11.28

11.28

10

39

25

42

18.33

11.75

19.74

15

49

26

66

23.04

12.22

31.03

20

56

36

87

26.33

16.92

40.90

25

80

46

96

37.61

21.62

45.13

30

98

57

127

46.07

26.80

59.70

35

120

66

142

56.41

31.03

66.76

40

133

68

158

62.52

31.97

74.28

45

142

74

176

66.76

34.79

82.74

DISCUSSION
1) H.V Lab arrangement with diagrams

The H.V lab is consistent with two basic sections. In downstairs the Testing
section is located and in upstairs the Controlling section is located. In controlling area, it consists with
all the main switching panels, controlling panels, power supply unit etc. In downstairs mainly the
impulse generator, HV DC Capacitor and other relevant equipment for the HV practical are well
established with the necessary safety options.

2) Safety procedures taken in conducting the experiment

To conducts a High voltage practical it essential to have proper safety procedures to protect
human from any kind of damage. Because there will be a flashover occurred due to breakdown of air
during the testing period. Therefore the air tends to act as conductor under this conditions. If there is
someone near, the High Voltage may be earthed through him or her which will be caused a serious
damage to the person. Due to this reason it is required have proper safety conditions in the testing area.

The controlling process completely separated from the testing area and warning
notifications are displayed in necessary places.

All the electrical equipment in the testing area is perfectly earthed. The railings are also
earthed and the door is blocked from a perfectly earthed earthing rod. This is used to
discharge the static charges of the testing equipment before another experiment.

There is a special inter lock at the entrance of the testing area to cut off the main power
supply from the controlling panel when the door is opened. This is the main safety
precaution unit as it does not allow controlling the testing equipment when there is
someone inside the testing area.

3) Method of HV AC generation

The figure shows the cascade arrangement of transformers for HV AC generation. In

this experiment we have to get 300 kV as High voltage output. But such a transformer is larger in
size and not possible to handle such transformer in laboratory condition. According to above
arrangement each transformer needs only to be insulated for 100 kV. The low voltage winding is
connected to the primary of the first transformer. And this transformer is connected to the
transformer tank which is earthed. Also one end of the high voltage winding is earthed through
this transformer tank. The high voltage end and a tapping near this end is taken out at the top of
the transformer through a bushing, and forms the primary of the second transformer. One end of
this winding is connected to the tank of the second transformer to maintain the tank at high
voltage. The secondary of this transformer also has one end connected to the tank and at the other
end the next cascaded transformer is fed. By continuing this arrangement again and again we can
obtain even higher voltage than 300 kV.
4) Need of the 2 M resister
This resistor increases its resistance according to the magnitude of the current going through
it. When the breakdown happens, high current will flow through the air gap. At this condition resistance
of the air gap does not enough to limit the current. In this experiment we use highly expensive
equipment. Therefore a high current may cause damage to the equipment used. To control this high
current a high resistance is required.

5) Factors that affect the breakdown of air gap for given pair of electrode

Temperature
The variation of the breakdown voltage with temperature is very small. Normally
when the temperature increases the breakdown voltage decreases. For electrodes like
nickel and iron, the strength remains unchanged for temperatures as high as 5000C.
To increase the breakdown voltage the electrodes have to cool using liquid Nitrogen.

Pressure
When the pressure decreases in smaller air gaps the breakdown voltage increases.
There is no change in breakdown voltage below a certain pressure. For large air gaps
about 200mm below certain pressure limit, the breakdown voltage starts to decrease
gradually.

Electrode separation.
The breakdown voltage is approximately proportional to the length for vacuum air
gaps less than about 1 mm. When all other parameters are remain constant there will be
a constant breakdown strength. The breakdown stress is relatively high for these small
gaps. Field emission of electrons probably plays an important part in the breakdown
process.

Surface finish of the electrode

When the surface is smooth the breakdown voltages are higher and when the
surface finish is rough the breakdown voltages are lower.

Area of the electrode.

The increase in the area of the electrode slightly reduces the breakdown voltage.

Air Gap Space Vs. Breakdown Voltage

Vn (kV)

Gap Space
(mm)

Rod-Rod

Plate-Plate

Sphere Sphere

10.81

11.28

11.28

10

18.33

11.75

19.74

15

23.04

12.22

31.03

20

26.33

16.92

40.90

25

37.61

21.62

45.13

30

46.07

26.80

59.70

35

56.41

31.03

66.76

40

62.52

31.97

74.28

45

66.76

34.79

82.74