INTRODUCTION

HV Generation
DC AC Impulse
Rectification Transformer Generator
Circuits
Cockcroft- Resonant
Walton Circuit
Multistage
Van de Graaf Tesla Coil Generator

2
 DC VOLTAGES
capacitor
Rectification of AC Voltage discharging

capacitor
charging

output
I

input ac C R
input ac

When ac voltage increases from Vmax to + Vmax, diode is

conducting and thus capacitor C is charged to +Vmax
When ac voltage decreases from +Vmax to Vmax, diode
stops conducting and thus capacitor C discharges,
causing current I to flow across load R

3
 DC VOLTAGES voltage is
constant
Rectification of AC Voltage
capacitor
charging

output
I=0

input ac C R
input ac

Note that if no load is connected (open circuit), voltage

across capacitor C remains constant (dc voltage) since no
discharge of current occurs (I = 0)
Since ac voltage oscillates between Vmax, diode must
have a peak inverse rating of 2Vmax

4
DC VOLTAGES
Rectification of AC Voltage
2V output
Vmax

Vmin

input ac

T = 1/f

Ripple voltage is defined as

If current I is known, ripple voltage can be approximated

5
DC VOLTAGES
Rectification of AC Voltage
I

input ac C R

For full-wave rectification, an additional diode is

connected to the circuit
Capacitor C is charged at every half cycle
Ripple voltage is smaller since frequency f is doubled
Vmean is a higher for full-wave rectifier as compared to that
of half-wave, where

6
DC VOLTAGES
Rectification of AC Voltage
output
2V
Vmax
Vmin

T = 1/f input ac

In the full-wave rectification, estimation of ripple voltage

now follows the new frequency, which is twice the
frequency of the input ac
can you see now why
Vmean for full-wave is
higher than half-wave? 7
DC VOLTAGES
Cockcroft-Walton Generator

8
DC VOLTAGES
Cockcroft-Walton Generator

When ac voltage increases from Vmax to 0, diode Dn

conducts and Cn is charged from 0 to Vmax
When ac voltage increases from 0 to Vmax, diode Dn still
conducts and Cn is charged from Vmax to 2Vmax 9
DC VOLTAGES
Cockcroft-Walton Generator

Dn conducts and charges Cn to 2Vmax

As voltage across Cn swings back to zero, Cn-1 discharges
to a minimum of 2Vmax as Dn-1 conducts and Cn is still
maintained at 2Vmax 10
DC VOLTAGES
Cockcroft-Walton Generator

In the next oscillation of ac voltage will force Dn-1 to

conduct and thus Cn-1 will also charges up to 2Vmax

11
DC VOLTAGES
Cockcroft-Walton Generator

Potentials at nodes 1, 2 n are oscillating due to ac

voltage oscillation
Potentials at nodes 1, 2 n remain constant because it is
an open circuit 12
DC VOLTAGES
Cockcroft-Walton Generator

If generator is not connected to any load, output will

reach a maximum dc voltage of 2nVmax, where n is the
number of stages of the cascaded circuit
13
DC VOLTAGES
Cockcroft-Walton Generator
When the generator is connected to load, output voltage
will not reach 2nVmax
Current I will flow across load
Capacitances are the same at each stage n so C is constant
The maximum output voltage is denoted as VO max

voltage drop 2nVmax

V
VO max
voltage 2V
ripple

Vmax

T = 1/f
14
DC VOLTAGES
Cockcroft-Walton Generator
Voltage drop can be calculated

Ripple voltage can be found

Voltage regulation is defined as

From power companies point of view, regulation is an

important parameter in ensuring the optimization of
voltage output with the generator capacity
The smaller the regulation, the more desirable

15
DC VOLTAGES
Cockcroft-Walton Generator
For n>5, the second and third terms from the voltage drop
equation can be ignored as they become less dominant,

Thus in this case,

For maximum VO max (or minimum regulation), the above

equation is differentiated with respect to n and equated to
0, and the optimum number of stages, nopt is expressed as

need to memorize
formulae? YES! 16
DC VOLTAGES
Van de Graaf Generator

It is an electrostatic generator that converts mechanical

energy into electrical energy
17
DC VOLTAGES
Van de Graaf Generator
Positive charge is
sprayed onto an
insulating moving belt
by means of corona
discharge at a
potential of 10 to 100
kV above earth
The belt moves by
means of motor and
the charge is conveyed
to the upper end
where it is removed by
a collector connected
inside of a metal
electrode

18
DC VOLTAGES
Van de Graaf Generator
Second corona-point
system excited by a
rectifier is employed,
which is connected to
the inside of the HV
terminal and is
directed towards the
pulley
Negative charge of the
corona at the upper
spray point is
collected by the belt
and neutralizes
remaining positive
charge
Thus rate of charging
is doubled for a given
belt speed
19
AC VOLTAGES
Single Unit Testing Transformer

Primary winding is usually rated for low voltages of less

than 1 kV
Iron core is fixed at the earth potential, as well as one
terminal of each of the two windings
Due to the presence of electromagnetic flux at the coil,
energy is transferred to the secondary winding and
voltage is increased due to higher number of turns
20
AC VOLTAGES
Cascaded Transformer
Construction of transformer limits the voltage to be
increased more than 100 kV
Transformer needs to be cascaded to get higher output

21
AC VOLTAGES
Cascaded Transformer
LV input of v1 is connected to primary winding of
transformer 1, designed for HV output of v2
Secondary winding of transformer 1 supplies the primary
for transformer 2; both windings are dimensioned for the
same low voltage and HV output is fixed at v2
Secondary windings for both units are connected in series,
thus a voltage of 2v2 is produced
If another transformer unit is connected (transformer 3),
the HV output due to the cascaded arrangement is now
3v2
The main disadvantage of transformer cascading is the
heavy loading of primary windings for the lower stages;
thus an adequate dimensioning of the primary and
exciting coils is necessary

22
AC VOLTAGES
Cascaded Transformer

23
AC VOLTAGES
Series Resonant Circuit
Resonance principle of a series tuned LC circuit can be
made use of to obtain a higher voltage with a given
transformer
Equivalent circuit for a testing transformer connected to a
capacitive load can be represented as
L1 L2
capacitive
R1 R2
load

+
ac supply Ro Lo C Vc
-

transformer
equivalence

R1, R2, L1 and L2 are due to losses and inductance of the

windings where as Ro and Lo are due to core losses and its
magnetization inductance
24
AC VOLTAGES
Series Resonant Circuit
Shunt impedance (Ro and Lo) is usually large compared to
R1, R2, L1 and L2 and thus can be neglected
Equivalent circuit can be further simplified to
R L

+
ac supply C Vc
-

By voltage divider rule, the magnitude of voltage across

capacitor Vc will be

25
AC VOLTAGES
Series Resonant Circuit
Resonance at power frequency occurs when

Thus under resonance condition, Vc becomes

The Q factor gives the magnitude of the voltage

multiplication across the test object under resonance
condition
Input voltage required for excitation is reduced by a
factor of 1/Q
Resonance can be achieved by introducing an additional
inductance into the system known as choke, that can be
varied in order to achieve XL = XC condition
26
AC VOLTAGES
Tesla Coil
torus

V1

C2
L2
V2

C1
HV ac spark
L1
supply gap

Primary winding of inductance L1 is connected in series

with capacitor C1
C1 is charged with a certain voltage V1 via ac transformer
When breakdown is initiated across the spark gap, an LC
resonant circuit is established, storing electrical energy
oscillating at the circuits resonant frequency

27
AC VOLTAGES
Tesla Coil
torus

V1

C2
L2
V2

C1
HV ac spark
L1
supply gap

Energy is transferred to secondary winding L2 via

magnetic coupling between the two windings
Secondary LC circuit (L2 and C2) is resonant at the same
frequency as the primary LC circuit
Voltage slowly builds up across C2 until all primary
energy has been transferred to the secondary

28
AC VOLTAGES
Tesla Coil

spot the differences

between Tesla coil and
normal transformer? 29
IMPULSE VOLTAGE
Standard Impulse Waveshape
Impulse voltage is defined by its front time T1, tail time T2
and peak value of the voltage
It can be represented as

where T1 and T2 in microseconds (s)

Example
1.2/50 s, 1000 kV represents an impulse voltage with
front time 1.2 s , tail time 50 s and peak value of 1000
kV
Mathematically, impulse voltage can be expressed as

30
IMPULSE VOLTAGE
Standard Impulse Waveshape
V (%)

T
100
90

10
t (s)
T1

T is the time taken for voltage to rise from 10 to 90% of the

peak value
Front time T1 is the time with respect to the extrapolated
line, i.e. 1.25T
31
IMPULSE VOLTAGE
Standard Impulse Waveshape
V (%)

T
100
90

50

10
t (s)
T1

T2

In cases where the value for 10% is difficult to be

determined, T can also be defined with respect to 30%
T2 is the time taken for the impulse voltage to fall to its
50% magnitude after reaching the peak value
32
IMPULSE VOLTAGE
Impulse Generator Circuits
Two basic circuits for impulse generator are
G R1

V0 C1 R2 C2 V(t)

G R1

V0 C1 R2 C2 V(t)

Capacitor C1 is slowly charged from dc source until spark

gap G breaks down with very short ignition time
R1 will damp the circuit (control T1), R2 will discharge the
capacitors (thus control T2) and C2 represents the full load
33
IMPULSE VOLTAGE
Impulse Generator Circuits
Taking the Laplace transform of the first circuit
1/sC1 R1

V0/s + R2 1/sC2 V(s)

-

R2 and C2 are parallel

Using voltage divider

34
IMPULSE VOLTAGE
Impulse Generator Circuits
Further simplification gives

Re-arranging terms

This can be expressed as

35
IMPULSE VOLTAGE
where

{for second circuit, }

Since

Thus

Taking the inverse Laplace transform for this expression

36
IMPULSE VOLTAGE
Impulse Generator Circuits
Output voltage V(t) is therefore the superposition of two
exponential functions

V(t)

mathematical derivation
for impulse voltage needs
to be memorized? NO 37
IMPULSE VOLTAGE
Impulse Generator Circuits
Simpler model impulse generator based on series RLC
circuit L
G

V0 C R V(t)

Taking the Laplace transform of the circuit

1/sC sL

V0/s + R V(s)
-

Using voltage divider

38
IMPULSE VOLTAGE
Impulse Generator Circuits
Further simplification gives

Re-arranging terms

where ,

Using the same steps as in previous circuit

39
IMPULSE VOLTAGE
Multistage Impulse Generator
All parallel capacitors C are charged through resistance R
by applying of dc voltage
Breakdown voltage of the gap G is made greater than the
charging voltage V0
Discharge (or firing) of generator is initiated when the
gaps are made to spark over simultaneously by external
means
All capacitors get connected in series and discharge into
the load or test object

R R R R R1
+

G G G G V(t)
V0 C C C C

-
R R R R

40