Advance

H gh Vo tage
Eng neer ng
Lecture # 1

Basics of High Voltage, Electric

Field, its Estimation &
Electrode Configurations

Hidaytaullah khan
Phd Scholar CIIT
Islamabad

Course Books

High Voltage and Electrical Insulation Engineering

(June 2011 Edition) by Ravindra & Wolfgang (IEEE Press)
High Voltage Engineering Fundamentals (2nd Edition)
by E.Kuffel, W.S.Zaengl, J.Kuffel

Reference Books

Advances in High Voltage Engineering (IET) Edited by

A.Haddad & D.Warne
High Voltage Engineering by C.L. Wadhwa
0 High Voltage Engineering by M.S.Naidu (4th Edition)

Why High Voltage (Engineering)?

Its the knowledge of the behavior of dielectrics

(insulator) electrical insulation when subjected to
high voltage

No concept of a complete Insulator Even a good

Insulator can conduct under High Voltages

Result is to minimize the volume of the electrical

insulation requirements and trouble-free life of high
voltage apparatus.

A totally different Domain (Engineering) when High

Voltage are applied. Stray Capacitances &
Inductances come into play.

HVAC & HVDC

Transmission
Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) based on High Power
GTO and IGBTs

Examples of FACTS system include Fixed Series Capacitors (FSC)

Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor (TCSC) and STATCOMS
Link for FACTS devices http://www.siemens.com.pk/pt_ac.html

List of HVDC Projects

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HVDC_projects

Basic Definitions to Start With

Electron
Proton
Ion
Ionization
Electric Charge
Space Charge
Volume Charge Density v
Electric Discharge
Electric & Magnetic Field
Electromagnetics

Di-Electric & Electric

Material

What the difference between these ?

Electric Material capable of developing

(conducting) electric charge or current

Di-Electric Material not capable of developing

(conducting) electric charge or current but
admits electrostatic and magnetic lines of force

Di-Electric Material Properties Relative

Permittivity r , Type of Material & Amplitude
of Voltage Applied

Electrical Breakdown

Failure of Electrical Insulation Properties (flow of current) of an Insulator or Di-electric

Local Breakdown

Global Breakdown

confined locally to a
part of an Insulator

complete rupture or
failure of insulator
properties

(Partial Breakdown)

(Electrical Breakdown)

Corona: Partial Electrical Breakdown (discharge)

Stable Partial Breakdown (PB) in

Gaseous Di-electrics

Types: Audible & Visible Corona

Streamer:

Extension of Corona at Distance

Shower of Discharge (Streamer Corona)

Example: Discharge of Cloud (Lightning)

Aurora:

Luminous phenomenon consisting of streamers or

Arches of Light at Polar Regions

Explained under Faradays Glow Discharge

Atoms in Ionosphere stuck by High Energy

Electrons Coming from Sun (cosmic Radiation)

Aurora Australis (Southern Hemisphere)

Aurora Borealis (Northern Hemisphere)

Aurora:

Di-electric Property: Capacitance

Is the field between the plates of a Capacitor Uniform?

Permittivity of a Di-electric is Constant ?

Stray Capacitance

How to minimize it?

Electric Field

Electric Charge is considered static when there is

no movement of charge

Field produced by Static charge or Direct

Voltage is known as Electro-static field

Field produced by power frequency Alternating

voltage is known as quasi-stationary Electric field

Dielectric Breakdown
depends on

&

&

&

&

&

&

&

&

Composition of dielectric material, presence of impurities

imperfections in the dielectric
Pressure
Humidity
Temperature
Electric field configuration (shape of the electrodes, their size and
gap distance)
Electrode material
Duration
Magnitude and the waveform of the applied voltage

Electric Field Lines & Equipotential Lines

Field Between Sphere or Cylinder and Plane

Electric Field Lines & Equipotential Lines

Field on a Bundled Conductor Cross Section

Electric Field Intensity or Stress

Electrostatic Force per unit positive test charge q

placed at a particular point p in a dielectric

Electric Field Intensity E = F / q [N/C] or [V/m]

More commonly used unit are KV/cm or KV/mm

Potential Difference between two points a an b? How
to find it in terms of Electric Field E

Electric Field Intensity or Stress

Uab = Ua - Ub

Uab = <a - <b

Uab = Work done in moving

a Unit positive charge from
point b to point a

Uab is positive if Work is done

which means <a
is at a higher potential

Electric Field Intensity or Stress

Electric Field intensity E is

given by the rate of change of
potential with distance

Maximum value of the rate of change of

potential is obtained when the direction of
E is opposite to the direction in which
potential is increasing rapidly

The maximum magnitude of

the Field Intensity can there
be obtained when the
direction of the increment of
the distance is opposite to the
direction of E

Electric Field Intensity or Stress

Electric Field intensity E is

numerically equal to the potential
gradient

Partial Breakdown in Di-electrics

Gases:

CORONA (Stable)

Solid and Liquid:

INTERNAL BREAKDOWN

Surface Breakdown or Tracking

When Partial Breakdown takes place on the surface of a solid or a

liquid its called as Surface Breakdown or Tracking

Partial Breakdown Inception Voltage Ui

Classification of Electric Fields

is Schwaiger Factor
(Dimensionless Quantity)

Classification of Electric Fields

Dielectric Between
Parallel Plates

Classification of Electric Fields

Sphere-Sphere
Electrodes

Classification of Electric Fields

Needle-Needle
Electrodes

Degree of Uniformity of Electric Fields

Schwaiger Factor

Degree of Uniformity of Electric Fields

Geometrical
Characteristic Factor (p)

Divergence

The divergence of the vector flux density A is the

outflow of flux from a small closed surface per
unit volume as the volume shrinks to zero

OR

Divergence at a point (x,y,z) is the measure of the

vector flow out of a surface surrounding that
point

Divergence for Fields (continued)

Imaginary

Vector Field: A

Surface (S)

Vector Field: B
Imaginary
Surface (S) /
I--... "

-t "

'tep/ \

'

t .-

ep--.

, /' 1
..........

, /t' l
-

Imaginary

Surface (S)

Vector Field: C

tt

t"' '
I f ep f I
\ 1 t- t
/

Imaginary

Surface (S)

Vector Field: D
/

"

I /\. \
I

ep

!I

- / I

Divergence for Fields

Vector Field: E

Imaginary
Surface (S)

-t-. .

di

= a Dx -a Dy

a-

aD:.

ay

a-

1 a
div D = -- p D
p ap
P

1 aD

aD.

+- + a-:
p a<t>

cylindrical

a .

dtv D =-:; - ( rD, + . -( mO D0

r- ar
r tn B ao

aD
+ r .Itn B ( pheri al)
8if>

Curl for Fields

The curl of any vector is a vector, and any

component of the curl is given by the limit of the
quotient of the closed line integral of the vector
about a small path in a plane normal to that
component desired and the area enclosed, as the
path shrinks to zero.

OR

We can describe curl as circulation per

unit area. The closed path is vanishingly
small, and curl is defined at a point

Curl

Curl for Fields

Curl

curl H = (

a H. aaHx ) + ( a Hx - -a---H=.:. ) <J , + ( -a-H--,. - a Hx aay aa- ax 1

ax
ay ..

1 aH
p CJ<P

Vx

aH<>
a-

<p

1 CJHP
p a<P

aHp

aH
ap

a;

c lindric

1 aHr
in o a<fJ

( pherical)

Maxwells Equation

Todays Text Covered from (Chapter 1) of IEEE

Press Book (Ravindra Book) + Up-til Article 2.4
(Chapter 2)

and

Chapter 1 of Kuffel Book