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ELEC4611:POWERSYSTEMSEQUIPMENT

EXPERIMENT4:
IMPULSEVOLTAGESINELECTRICALSYSTEMS
BY
DANIELYOO(z3293531)
CHRISTOPHERLOPES(z3251736)

Introduction

Animpulseisanaperiodictransientvoltageorcurrentwhichusuallyrisesrapidlytoapeakvalueand
thenfallsmoreslowlytozero.Impulsetransientscanoccuronelectricalnetworksfromdirecthitsby
lightning strikes and switching operations. These instances can cause unpredictable voltages and
currentsthatmaybemanytimesabovethenormaloperating/ratedlimits.Therefore,itisessential
tomeasurethepotentialeffectoftheseeventsbyimpulsetesting.[1],[2]

Adistinctionismadebetweenlightningandswitchingimpulsesonthebasisofdurationofthefront.
Impulses with front duration up to 20s are defined as lightning impulses and those with longer
frontsaredefinedasswitchingimpulses.[1]

InpartAofthisexperimentweexaminetheeffectoflightningstrikesonHVequipment.Thisisdone
by using a four stage impulse generator to produce a 1.2/50s waveform. We aim to determine at
what voltage level causes breakdown across a sphere gap. The term electrical breakdown relates
tophenomenaassociatedwiththefailureofinsulationunderelectricalstress,inwhichthedischarge
completely bridges the insulation under test, reducing the voltage between the electrodes
practicallytozero.Thetermflashoverisusedwhenadisruptivedischargeoccursoverthesurface
ofadielectricinagaseousorliquidmedium.[1],[2]

In part B of this experiment we examine the distribution of voltages along different types of
transformer windings.A 0.2/150swaveform is used.Acomparisonismadebetweenconventional
windingsandinterleavedwindings.[3]

PartA:Highvoltageimpulsetesting

Introduction

Muchofequipmentonapowersystemissubjectedtosurgesduetolightningstrokes.Eachsystem
is designed for a basic insulation level (B.I.L.) requiring the various components to be capable of
withstanding different values of impulse voltage depending on the insulation coordination
philosophy adopted. The shape of impulse voltage chosen to simulate the lightning conditions is
1.2/50s (see AS1931) wave: the voltage magnitudes vary according to the equipment and are
specifiedintheparticularapparatusspecifications.Theobjectivesoftheexperimentare:
i) Identifyvariouscomponentsofafourstageimpulsegeneratorandd.cchargingset
ii) BecomefamiliarwithtwomethodsofHVmeasurement(spheregapandresistive
divider)andmakeadirectcomparisonathighvoltage
iii) Determineoperatingcharacteristicsofasurgediverter,usedtoprotectequipment
againstlightning.[3]

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Figure1.Waveformofamodellightningstrike[2]

BackgroundTheory

Totestequipmentinthisexperimentweuseafourstageimpulsegeneratortoprovideawaveform
that models a lightning strike in accordance with AS1931. The impulse generator is D.C. supplied
from a rectifier and a transformer. This charges each capacitor in the four stages. When the spark
gap in the lowest stage is triggered or the voltage exceeds the breakdown voltage it flashes over.
ThisraisesthevoltageseenbythesecondstageandplacestwicethesingleinitialD.C.voltageover
the second stage spark gap which causes it to flash over. This in turn raises the third stage voltage
whichinturnraisesthefourthstagevoltage.InthisfashionfourtimestheinitialD.C.voltageisseen
attheoutput.

Theoutputwaveformrisecanbecontrolledbysettingtherisetimeconstantwhichisdeterminedby
thefrontresistorsandfrontcapacitor.Thefalltimeissimilarlydeterminedbythetailresistorsand
generatorcapacitors.

Aresistivevoltagedivider allows aCROtoconnecttotheoutputoftheimpulsegenerator.Asurge

diverter is placed in parallel with the CRO connection as a malfunctioning earth could result in
destructivevoltagelevelsattheCROterminals.[3]
Apparatus

The standard lightning impulse voltage is supplied by a Passoni & Villa 400kV/10kJ impulse
generator. The circuit is shown in figure 2. It has 4 stages in series. The charging volts per stage is
100kV and the generator capacitance per stage is 1F (two 0.5F capacitors in parallel). Thus the
ratedenergyofthegeneratoris10kJ.

Resistivedivider(200:1)
Digitalstorageoscilloscope
Spheregap(25cmindiameter)forcalibration
24kVsurgediverter(testpiece)
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Figure2.SetupofHVapparatusforimpulsetesting

Procedure

1. Verifythatthecircuitgivesa1.2/50swavebyrecordingthefullwaveonCRO.Comparethe
measurementresultswiththecalculatedvaluesusingtheformulae:
t
]
= 2.7SC
]
R
]
andt
t
= u.7uC
g
R
t

WhereC
]
isthefrontcapacitance,R
]
thefrontresistance,C
g
thegeneratorcapacitanceand
R
t
the tail resistance. Note that both the external and internal front resistors should be
includedinthecalculationsforR
]
.
t
]
= 2.7SC
]
R
]

WhereC
]
= 4S42pFandR
]
= 87 | R
](LX1)
+ R
](IN1)
= SS + (4 8)]
t
]
= 2.7S 4S42pF 87
t
]
= 1.u4s

t
t
= u.7uC
g
R
t

WhereC
g
= u.2SF (4 scrics 1F copocitors)andR
t
= S2u (4 scrics 8u rcsistors)
t
t
= u.7u u.2SF S2u
t
t
= S6.uus

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Figure3.Risetimeoftestwaveform Figure4.Falltimeoftestwaveform

Fromfigures3&4abovewecanclearlyseetheriseandfalltimes.Therisetimecanbeseenonthe
leftasthetimetorisetothepeakvalue.Thefalltimecanbeseenontherightasthetimetofallto
halfthepeakvalue.Theyareasfollows:
t
]
= 1.4s
t
t
= S2.4s

AS1931Values Calculated Measured

t
]
1.2s30% 1.04s 1.4s
t
t
50.0s20% 56.0s 52.4s
Table1.VerificationoftestwavetoAS1931

The calculated value for rise time is 12% below the standard value whereas the measured value is
16% above. The calculated value for fall time is 12% above the standard 50.0s whereas the
measured value is less that 5% different. This is within the limits set out by the AS1931 and is
suitableforthisexperiment.[2]

2. Calibrate the sphere gap set for sparkover at 70kV. Lower the impulse level as far as
possibletoachieveatleastfivechoppedwavesfor10successiveimpulseapplications.

Theestimatedvalueforflashovercanbedeterminedbyfindingtheminimumsuchvaluethatcauses
atleastfivewavestobechoppedoutoftenappliedwaves.ThisoccurredwhentheCROread15.2V
ascanbeseeninfigure5below:

Figure5.Choppedwave

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3. Openthespheregapandincreasetheimpulseleveluntilthesurgediverterbeginstochop.
Observethewaveshapeandrecordtheresidualvoltagelevel.

Figure6.SurgeDiverterbeginstoconduct

In figure 6 above, the surge diverter is beginning to chop the waveform. This is seen by the tail,
which falls steeply at first and then more gradually. This indicates two different time constants
caused first when the surge diverter is on, bypassing the tail resistors, and then when it returns to
beingopen.

The residual voltage is thereforethe voltage at whichthe surge diverter returnsto an open circuit.
ThisoccursontheCROatapproximately13Vwhichequatesto:
:
RLSI0AL
= 2u4.S 24 1S = 6S.7kI

ResultsandDiscussion

1. ComparespheregapflashovervaluewiththatestimatedfromthedividerandCRO

Thenominalvalueforthespheregapflashoveris70kV.
Thevoltagedividerratiois203.4:1andthevoltagetransducerafurther24:1.Therefore,theactual
flashovervoltageisgivenby:
:
P.0.
= 2uS.4 24 1S.2
= 74.2kI
Thisisanerrorof6%whichcaneasilybeaccountedbychangesinhumidityaffectingthebreakdown
of air, the error in separation of the sphere which is manually controlled and the accuracy of
measuringequipment.

2. Commentonthetimelagofthesurgediverterflashover

Thetimelagbetweentheapplicationofthesurgeandtheflashoverofthesurgegaparisesdueto
the charging time as determined by the front capacitor and the external front resistance. This is
expressedinthegivenequation:
t
]
= 2.7SC
]
R
]

3. Describetheprincipleofthecontrolledtripping(triggering)circuitry

The controlled tripping circuitry works by attempting to induce breakdown across the lowest spark
gap at a voltage determined by the operator. Without this mechanism, flashover will occur only
whenthevoltageis large enoughtoovercomethesparkgap andthisvoltagecanvaryfromtestto
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test. The trigger gives the operator a way to ensure the flashoccurs at a consistent voltage each
time and meaning the output impulse is the same each time which increases the reliability,
repeatabilityandcredibilityoftheexperiment.

Importantly,thevoltagedeterminedbytheoperatormustbeaboveacertainlevelorelseeventhe
triggerwillfailtoinstigateflashover.

Once the lowest spark gap has flashed over, there is a virtual short to the negative terminal of the
nextcapacitor.Thishassomevoltageacrossitwhichincreasesthevoltageseenbythenexthighest
spark gap and leads to subsequent flashover. In this fashion, each stage contributes as the spark
gapsprogressivelyaccumulatethecapacitorvoltagetoproducetheimpulse.

Triggering the lowest spark gap at a consistent voltage allows the output impulse to also be
consistentinamplitudeandtime.

4. If the object for the lightning impulse test is a length of HV power cable which has a
capacitanceof5nF,whatadjustmentstothecircuitofFig.1arerequired?

The HV cable would act as the test capacitor and so it should replace the front capacitor. As the
capacitanceofthecableisslightlyhigherthanthefrontcapacitoritwillalsobenecessarytoadjust
thefrontresistorstoachievethesameriseandtailtimesassetoutbyAS1931.

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Part B: Voltage distribution along transformer windings when subjected to a

unidirectionalsurge

Introduction
Allpowersystemsequipmentisdesignedtowithstandthesurgesproducedbylightningstrikesand
switching operations which occur on the overhead lines. The most expensive items subject to such
events are the large powertransformers located at power stations and substations. Large rotating
machinesarealsosusceptibletosuchsurgesbecauseoftheirwindingstructures.[3],[4]

The present experiment is aimed at demonstrating the manner in which a lightning surge is
distributed within two types of transformer windings. The technique used is still employed to
determine such distributions in practice. The measurement highlights some of the difficulties
encountered in design and in simulating fullscale effects. The possible errors in choosing data for
computerprogramsareapparent,e.g.intherepresentationofdistributedparametersofinductance
andcapacitance.[3],[4]

BackgroundTheory

A transformer winding can be simplistically represented by a uniformly distributed circuit of series

inductanceandshunt/seriescapacitance.Whenaunitfunctionvoltageisappliedtothisequivalent
circuit, the initial distribution of voltage is determined entirely by the capacitive network shown in
figure7.Thevoltageatapointdistantfromtheneutralendofthewindingsisgivenby:

I(x) = I
0

sInh (
ox
l
)
sInh (u)

Whereo = _
C
g
C
s

x =distancefromtheneutralend

Figure7.Representationofatransformerwindingattransientfrequency

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The final voltage distribution is determined by the series resistance, or if there is a superimposed
power frequency excitation, by inductance; the distinction is superfluous since both quantities are
usuallylinear,andthedistributionthereforebecomesastraightline,correspondingto=0.

Figure8.Voltagedistributionalongtransformerwindings
whensubjectedtoaunidirectionalsurge

WecanseeinFigure8thatalphacanrelatetohowmuchvoltagedistributionisconcentratedinthe
line.

Inordertomakethemostefficientuseoftheinsulationprovidedinthetransformer,itisimperative
to design the windings in such a way as to eliminate, or at least reduce, both the initial voltage
concentration at the line end, and also subsequent high oscillatory voltages in the body of the
winding.[4]

Most of this report will look into how we decrease the earth capacitance and increase series
capacitance to get as close to zero as possible. Two possible methods in improving the voltage
distributionare:

1) Interleavedwinding
2) Useofstressgradingrings[4]

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Figure9.Sectionthrougha)conventionaldisk,
b)discwith2turnsinparallelandc)interleaveddisc

Figure10.Capacitancenetworkofdisctypecoilsfora)simpleconventionaldiscand
b)interleaveddisc.

Apparatus

Lowvoltagepulsegenerator
DigitalstorageCRO
66kV,6MVA(onephase)conventionaldiscwindingandlowvoltagewindings
66kV, 25MVA (part winding) interleaved disc, 3 conductors in parallel, no low voltage
winding,innerearthedscreen

Procedure

A.66/11kV,6MVAconventionaldiscwinding

1. Note layout of windings number of disc and turns, connections, etc. See Figures 9(a) and
10(a)ofBackgroundTheory.Alsonotelowvoltageconnections.
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2. Connect output of pulse generator to HV and the winding neutral to ground. Note earth
connections.

Figure11.circuitusedtomeasurewindingvoltagedistribution

3. Set pulse generator to give an impulse of approximately 0.2s rise time and a small decay
overatimeof150s.
4. Measure and record waveshapes (magnitude and duration) at crossovers between discs.
Everythirdconnectionwillsufficeexceptwherefinerdetailisrequired.

Figure12.Waveformofincidentvoltage(yellow)and
measureddownthelinevoltage(purple)

5. During(4)attempttoidentifytravellingwavecomponentandrecordapparentmagnitude
and time delay. The delay appears to be about 10s for the complete winding.

Winding#
(n)
Vpulse
(V)
Vpeak
(V)
Vratio
(%)
t_delay
(us)
Distancetoneutral
(%)
3 8.25 7.45 90.30 0.6 91.67
6 8.16 6.50 79.65 1.2 83.33
9 8.37 4.29 51.25 2.0 75.00
12 8.20 3.54 43.17 2.9 66.67
15 8.25 3.20 38.78 3.5 58.33
18 8.29 2.29 27.62 4.5 50.00
21 8.25 1.79 21.69 4.5 41.67
24 7.58 1.37 18.07 6.6 33.33
27 8.25 1.41 17.09 7.8 25.00
30 8.00 1.04 13.00 8.3 16.67
33 8.12 0.50 6.15 8.9 8.33
Table2.Conventionalwindingmeasurements
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B.66kV,25MVAinterleaveddisccoilstack(noLVwinding)

1. Repeat items A1 to A6. Is there a time delay? Refer to Figs. 9(b), 9(c) and 10(b) of the
Supplement.Determineconductorlayout(threeinparallel).

Figure13.Waveformofincidentvoltage(yellow)and
measureddownthelinevoltage(purple)

Interleaved winding achieves a capacitance increase and a leakage inductance decrease which
reducesthetimedelaymakingitdifficulttomeasure.

Winding#
(n)
Vpulse
(V)
Vpeak
(V)
Vratio
(%)
Distancetoneutral
(%)
3 8.33 6.70 80.43 85.71
6 8.12 5.00 61.57 71.42
9 8.08 3.66 45.29 57.14
12 8.25 2.62 31.75 42.85
15 8.00 1.41 17.62 28.57
18 8.08 0.46 5.69 14.28
Table3.Interleavedwindingmeasurements

Figure14.Voltagedistributionofconventionalwinding
Alpha Conventional Winding
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Distance to neutral (%)
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

t
o

G
N
D

(
%
)
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Figure15.Voltagedistributionofinterleavedwinding

In this experiment we measured the effectiveness of the interleaving method to improve voltage
distribution.

is a function of series capacitance and earth capacitance. We can get this closer to zero by
decreasing the earth capacitance or increasing the series capacitance. This is exactly what the
interleaved winding does; it will increase the series capacitance to make the voltage distribution
morelinearacrosstheline.

Itisevidentthatthevoltagedistributionismoreevenlydistributedalongthelineoftheinterleaved
windinginFigure15.Thisgraphshowsthatwitheffectiveinterleavedwindings,wecangettobe
muchclosertozero.

ResultsandDiscussion

1. Plotinitialvoltage(<1us)magnitudesagainstpositioninwindingforcasesA&B.

Figure16.InitialVoltagevsWindingPositionofConventionalandInterleavedwinding
Alpha Interleaved Winding
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Distance to neutral (%)
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

t
o

G
N
D

(
%
)
Initial Voltage vs Winding Position
7.5
7.6
7.7
7.8
7.9
8
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Winding Position (n)
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
Conventional
Interleaved
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2. Estimatevalueof'alpha'fromgraphsintheSupplement.

FromFigure14weestimatethat:
=3
for our measured conventional winding. The voltage distribution is more concentrated at the line
end,causinghigherstressacrossthosewindingsandtheirinsulation.Thehighergradingofrefers
tohigherconcentrationofvoltagedistributionatoneend.Forexampleif=30thereis90%ofthe
voltagedistributedonthefirst10%ofthetransformerwindings.FromFigure15wecanseethat
hasbeensignificantlyimprovedandfortheinterleavedwindingitisapproximately:
=1

3. For case A plot (i) apparent time delay versus winding position and (ii) magnitude at delay
timeversuswindingposition.

Figure17.Timedelayvs.WindingPosition

Figure18.Magnitudeattimedelayvs.WindingPosition
Time delay vs. Winding Position
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Winding Position (n)
T
i
m
e

d
e
l
a
y

(
u
s
)
Magnitude at time delay vs. Winding Position
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Winding Position (n)
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
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It is evident that as time delay increases, the voltage decreases. This is only for the conventional
windingasthetimedelaycausesthemagnitudepeaktooccurafterthepeakoftheincidentvoltage.

Discussion

1. Reasonforlowvoltage(andequivalenthighvoltage)tests.

Power system equipment are placed in a variety of environments, with some being susceptible to
lightning strikes and other forms of overvoltage from switching, etc. A test capable of simulating
these overvoltages ensures that the equipmentiscapable tobe situated in such environments and
notbedamagedandcauseoutages,lossofproperty,orpersonalinjury.

Sometimesequivalentlowvoltagetestsareused(part2ofthisexperiment)becausetheequipment
toproducehighvoltagesiscostly,largeanddangerous.Inthiscasethelowvoltagetestswaspurely
toshowusthevoltagedistributionacrosswindings.ItlacksintheareaoftestingtheBasicInsulation
Level(BIL)levelorqualityoftheinsulationasaHVsurgemayhavecausedinsulationbreakdown.

2. Neutralcurrent"fault"detection.

Thistechniquemonitorstheneutralcurrentsduringimpulsetesting.Ithelpsusdetectbreakdownof
insulation that may occur during HV winding tests as the wavelet at the neutral point may be
distortedduetoaninterturnshortcircuit.

3. HowinterleavedwindingimprovesHVimpulsevoltageperformance.

Alpha is a function of series capacitance and earth capacitance. We can get this to 1 by decreasing
earth capacitance or increasing the series capacitance. This is exactly what the interleaved winding
does; itwill increasetheseriescapacitancetomakethevoltagedistribution more linear acrossthe
line,reducingthechanceofinsulationbreakdownoccurringacrosslineendwindings.

4. WhythereisnocleartravellingwavecomponentincaseB.

It could be due to the increase of series capacitance on the line, because the added capacitance
increases the impedance. Also the interleaved winding technique reduces the leakage inductance
whichreducesthetimedelay.Allthismakesthemeasurementofthetimedelaymoredifficultwith
theappearanceofanocleartravellingwave.

5. Thewindingisnormallyimmersedininsulatingoilof
r
2.2.Whateffectwouldthishaveon
theresultsiftheyweredonewithoil?

C =
2ne
0
e

l
A

Introducing an
r
will increase allthe capacitances. The increase should all be in proportion so that
thevoltagedistributionremainsunaffected.

Two main effects come from immersing the windings in oil. Firstly, the breakdown voltage will
increase,thusreducingthechanceofpartialdischargeorarcingoccurringduringalightningimpulse.
Secondly,theoilwouldaid inheatconvectionand willthereforeincreaseeitherthe lifetimeofthe
equipmentortheratingoftheequipment.

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6. Switching surge voltage waveform has slower rise and fall times, e.g. 100/1000s. What
effectwouldthishaveonvoltagedistributiononwindings?

Switching surges occur as a result of a circuit breaker or switch breaking a fault current. Switching
surges last longer than lightning surges because they contain more energy. By lasting longer they
contain lower frequency components than lightning surges, therefore reducing the dominant
capacitive attribute of the windings. The switching surge should have a more uniformly distributed
voltageacrossthetransformerwindings.

Conclusion

In this experiment we performed an impulse test to simulate a lightning strike and observed the
distributionofvoltageoverdifferenttypesoftransformerwindingsundertransients.
In part A, we produced a test waveform from an impulse generator that complied with AS1931 by
setting the parameters of rise and fall times. The various components involved in the fourstage
impulse generator include generating capacitors, spark gaps and resistors which form a stage. The
D.C.chargingsetincludesastepuptransformerandrectifierunit.
A lot of different environmental factors and human errors impacted the test results in this
arrangement which means that calibration is needed every time. This is not optimal, as the
capacitanceofthetestobjectalsochangestheparametersofthewaveformandsotheresistorsand
capacitorvalueswouldalsoneedtobechangedtokeepthewaveformincompliancewithAS1931.
In this experiment we observed that the surge diverter exhibited a time delay before it conducted
andthattheresidualvoltagewasapproximately60kV.
In part B, we observed the voltage distribution across a conventional transformer winding and an
interleaved one after a transient was applied. The conventional winding exhibited a nonlinear
voltagedistributionwithhighstressatthelineendandlowstressattheneutralend.Incomparison,
theinterleavedwindinghadamuchmorelinearvoltagedistributionwhichmeansthatthestressis
moreevenalongthelengthofthewinding.Thisoccurredbecauseinterleavedwindingsincreasethe
seriescapacitanceandhencesendclosertounity.

References

[1]AustralianStandardAS1768:2007LightningProtection
[2]AustralianStandardAS1931:1996HighVoltagetesttechniques
[3]Dr.ToanPhung,ELEC4611LectureNotes2012,ElectricalInsulationforHighVoltageEquipment,
UniversityofNewSouthWales
[4]Dr.ToanPhung,ELEC4611Experiment4,ImpulseVoltagesinElectricalSystems,Universityof
NewSouthWales