CHAP 3 GENERATION OF HIGH AC AND DC VOLTAGES

HVDC is used for testing HVAC cables of long lengths as these have very large capacitance and
would require very large values of currents if tested on HVAC voltages.
Even though D.C. tests on A.C. cables is convenient and economical, these suffer from the fact
that the stress distribution within the insulating material is different from the normal operating
condition.
HVDC is also being used extensively in physics for particle acceleration and in medical
equipments (X-Rays).
The most efficient method of generating high D.C. voltages is through the process of
rectification employing voltage multiplier circuits. Electrostatic generators have also been used
for generating high D.C. voltages.
HALF-WAVE RECTIFIER CIRCUIT
This can be seen as revision of previous curriculums. The following are actually very important
for this subject.
You must understand the formula in order to determine the ripple in a rectifier
namely:

The single phase half-wave rectifier circuits have the following disadvantages:
1. The size of the circuits is very large if high and pure d.c. output voltages are desired.
2. The h.t. transformer may get saturated if the amplitude of direct current is comparable
with the nominal alternating current of the transformer.
It is to be noted that all the circuits considered here are able to supply relatively low currents
and therefore are not suitable for high current applications such as HVDC transmission.
COCKROFT-WALTON VOLTAGE MULTIPLIER CIRCUIT

In 1932, Cockroft and Walton suggested an improvement over the circuit developed by
Greinacher for producing high D.C. voltages. Fig. 2.3. shows a multistage single phase cascade
circuit of the CockroftWalton type.

No Load Operation: The portion ABM′MA is exactly indentical to Greinarcher voltage doubler
circuit and the voltage across C becomes 2Vmax when M attains a voltage 2Vmax.
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.

An increase of supply frequency is in general more economical than increase of the capacitance
values; small values of C also provide a dc supply with limited stored energy, which might be an
essential design factor, i.e. for breakdown investigations on insulating materials. A further
advantage is related to regulation systems, which are always necessary if a stable and constant
output voltage V0 is required. Regulation can be achieved by a measurement of V0 with suitable
voltage dividers within a closed loop regulation system, which controls the ac supply voltage V(t).
For fast response, high supply frequencies and small stored energy are prerequisites.

Cascade generators of Cockcroft-Walton type are used and manufactured today worldwide.
More information about possible constructions can be found in the literature or in company
brochures. The dc voltages produced with this circuit may range from some 10 kV up to more
than 2 MV, with current ratings from some 10 µa up to some 100 mA. Supply frequencies of
50/60 Hz heavily limit the efficiency, and therefore higher frequencies up to about 1 000 Hz
(produced by single-phase alternators) or some 10 kHz (produced by electronic circuits)
dominate.
ELECTROSTATIC GENERATOR
In electromagnetic generators, current carrying conductors are moved against the
electromagnetic forces acting upon them
In contrast to the generator, electrostatic generators convert mechanical energy into electric
energy directly. The electric charges are moved against the force of electric fields, thereby
higher potential energy is gained at the cost of mechanical energy.
Van de Graaf generator
Shows belt driven electrostatic generator developed by Van deGraaf in 1931. An insulating belt
is run over pulleys. The belt, the width of which may vary from a few cms to metres is driven
at a speed of about 15 to 30 m/sec, by means of a motor connected to the lower pulley. The
belt near the lower pully is charged electrostatically by an excitation arrangement. The lower
charge spray unit consists of a number of needles connected to the controllable d.c. source (10
kV–100 kV) so that the discharge between the points and the belt is maintained.

The advantages of the generator are:

1. Very high voltages can be easily generated
2. Ripple free output
3. Precision and flexibility of control
The disadvantages are:
1. Low current output
2. Limitations on belt velocity due to its tendency for vibration. The vibrations may
make it difficult to have an accurate grading of electric fields
These generators are used in nuclear physics laboratories for particle acceleration and other
processes in research work.
GENERATION OF HIGH A.C. VOLTAGES

Test transformers normally used for the purpose have low power rating but high voltage
ratings. These transformers are mainly used for short time tests on high voltage equipment.
The currents required for these tests on various equipment are given below:

The design of a test transformer is similar to a potential transformer used for the measurement
of voltage and power in transmission lines. The flux density chosen is low so that it does not draw
large magnetising current which would otherwise saturate the core and produce higher
harmonics.
Cascaded Transformers
For voltages higher than 400 KV, it is desired to cascade two or more transformers depending
upon the voltage requirements.
The transformer cost for a given voltage may be reduced, since cascaded units need not
individually possess the expensive and heavy insulation required in single stage transformers
for high voltages exceeding 345 kV.
The tertiary winding (excitation winding) of first stage has the same number of turns as the
primary winding, and feeds the primary of the second stage transformer

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.
Reactive Power Compensation

This means the load connected to these transformers is highly capacitive. Therefore, if rated
voltage is available at the output terminals of the test transformer and a test piece (capacitive
load) is connected across its terminals, the voltage across the load becomes higher than the
rated voltage as the load draws leading current.
Thus, it is necessary to regulate the input voltage to the test transformer so that the voltage
across the load, which is variable, depending on the test specimen, remains the rated voltage.

Another possibility is that a variable inductor should be connected across the

supply as shown in Fig. 2.13 so that the reactive power supplied by the load is absorbed by the
inductor and thus the voltage across the test transformer is maintained within limits.

It is clear from the above considerations that the design of the compensating reactor depends
upon :

1. The capacitance and operating voltage of test specimen.

2. The power rating of the available regulator.
3. The possibility of different connections of the winding of test transformer.
4. The power rating of the test transformer.
SERIES RESONANT CIRCUIT
The equivalent circuit of a single-stage-test transformer along with its capacitive load is shown
in Fig. 2.15. Here L 1 represents the inductance of the voltage regulator and the transformer
primary, L the exciting inductance of the transformer, L2 the inductance of the transformer
secondary and C the capacitance of the load. Normally inductance L is very large as compared
to L1 and L2 and hence its shunting effect can be neglected.

Similarly, presence of harmonics due to saturation of iron core of transformer may also result in
resonance.
Third harmonic frequencies have been found to be quite disastrous.
With series resonance, the resonance is controlled at fundamental frequency and hence no
unwanted resonance occurs.

The development of series resonance circuit for testing purpose has been very widely welcome
by the cable industry as they faced resonance problem with test transformer while testing short
lengths of cables.
The following are the advantages of series resonance circuit.

(i) The power requirements in KW of the feed circuit are (kVA)/Q where kVA is the reactive
power requirements of the load and Q is the quality factor of variable reactor usually greater
than 40. Hence, the requirement is very small.

(ii) The series resonance circuit suppresses harmonics and interference to a large extent. The
near sinusoidal wave helps accurate partial discharge of measurements and is also desirable
for measuring loss angle and capacitance of insulating materials using Schering Bridge.

(iii) In case of a flashover or breakdown of a test specimen during testing on high voltage side,
the resonant circuit is detuned and the test voltage collapses immediately. The short circuit
current is limited by the reactance of the variable reactor. It has proved to be of great value
as the weak part of the isolation of the specimen does not get destroyed. In fact, since the arc
flash over has very small energy, it is easier to observe where exactly the flashover is occurring
by delaying the tripping of supply and allowing the recurrence of flashover.

(iv) No separate compensating reactors (just as we have in case of test transformers) are
required.
This results in a lower overall weight.

(v) When testing SF6 switchgear, multiple breakdowns do not result in high transients. Hence,
no special protection against transients is required.

(vi) Series or parallel connections of several units is not at all a problem. Any number of units
can be connected in series without bothering for the impedance problem which is very
severely associated with a cascaded test transformer. In case the test specimen requires
large current for testing, units may be connected in parallel without any problem.