KEEE 4274

EXPERIMENT HV2: HIGH VOLTAGE GENERATION

MOHD FUAD BIN SARMAN (KEE 120026)
DEMONSTRATOR: MR. S. SAFDAR

ABSTRACT
This experiment simulates three types of high voltage generation by using Pspice Schematic.
The three types of generation are alternating current, direct current and impulse generation. In
each type of the generation, some components value is manipulated in order to understand the
characteristic of the output voltage towards the changes. The results of the different
characteristics are compared and recorded.

INTRODUCTION
n the fields of electrical engineering and applied physics, high voltages (d.c., a.c., and impulse)
are required for several applications. For example, electron microscopes and x-ray units
require high d.c. voltages of the order of 100 kV or more. Electrostatic precipitators, particle
accelerators in nuclear physics, etc. require high voltage (d.c) of several kilovolts and even
megavolts. High a.c. voltages of one million volts or even more are required for testing power
apparatus rated for extra high transmission voltages (400 kV system and above). High impulse
voltages are required for testing purposes to simulate overvoltage that occur in power systems
due to lightning or switching surges. For electrical engineers, the main concern of high voltages
is for the insulation testing of various components in power systems for different types of
voltages, namely, power frequency a.c., high frequency, switching or lightning impulse.
Different forms of high voltages mentioned above are classified as
(i)

high d.c. voltages,

(ii)

high a.c. voltages of power frequency,

(iii)

high a.c. voltages of high frequency,

(iv)

high transient or impulse voltages of very short duration such as lightning

overvoltages, and

(v)

transient voltages of longer duration such as switching surges.

Normally, in high voltage testing, the current under conditions of failure is limited to a small
value (less than an ampere in the case of d.c. or a.c. voltages and few amperes in the case of
impulse or transient voltages). But in certain cases, like the testing of surge diverters or the
short circuit testing of switchgear, high current testing with several hundreds of ampere is of
importance. Tests on surge diverters require high surge currents of the order of several
kiloamperes. Therefore, test facilities require high voltage and high current generators. High
impulse current generation is also required along with voltage generation for testing purposes.
To generate high voltage, the transformer is used. Transformers are capable of either increasing
or decreasing the voltage and current levels of their supply, without modifying its frequency,
or the amount of Electrical Power being transferred from one winding to another via the
magnetic circuit. A single phase voltage transformer basically consists of two electrical coils
of wire, one called the Primary Winding and another called the Secondary Winding. When
a transformer is used to increase the voltage on its secondary winding with respect to the
primary, it is called a step-up transformer. When it is used to decrease the voltage on the
secondary winding with respect to the primary it is called a step-down transformer.
AC voltage dominates transmission and distribution systems. The most common form of
testing HV apparatus is related to high AC voltages, the testing voltages are usually AC singlephase voltages to ground and sinusoidal. The r.m.s value for a cycle of T:

1
= 2 ()

Moreover, a direct test voltage is defined by its arithmetic mean value,

1
= 2 ()

Applied voltage to test objects then deviate periodically from the mean value. Therefore, a
ripple is present, show in equation below:

 = 0.5( )
Impulse voltages are referred to as a T1/T2 impulse. The front time T1 is 1.67T when the
impulse is 0.3 and 0.9 of the peak value. Tail-time T2 is time to half of peak. Tp is time to
peak. From here, we known that 1.2/50 impulse is the accepted standard lightning impulse
voltage (1.2s = front time, 50 s = tail time).

Figure 1 General shape and definitions of lightning impulse (LI) voltages.

The design of the above lightning impulse voltage is depending on the following components:

For front time,

1 2
1 = 31 (
)
1 + 2
While for tail or fall time,
2 = 0.7(1 + 2 )(1 + 2 )

OBJECTIVES
1. To perform simulation of high AC, DC and impulse voltage generation.
2. To design circuits generating high voltage based on certain requirements.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

TEST 1: HIGH AC VOLTAGE GENERATION

Figure 2 Circuit configuration for high a.c. voltage generation.

Voltage versus Time

150000
100000

Voltage, V

50000

0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

-50000
-100000
-150000

L2 = 1000H

Time, t
L2 = 10kH

L2 = 100kH

L2 = 1000kH

L2 = 10000kH

Graph 1 Graph voltage versus time for high voltage a.c generation with different secondary
inductance value.

From the output graph, as the value of secondary inductor is increased, the output voltage is
increases. This response can be described from the following transformer identity:
VP
LP
=
VS
LS
From the above relationship, the increment of secondary inductor will cause the increment of
the output voltage. Due to the square root function, the increment of the inductor gives a rise
of power of two for the output voltage. This therefore cause a small increment of the inductor
magnitude to give a significant increment of output voltage.
Theoretically, the increment of the output of the voltage is due to the increment of the magnetic
flux at the secondary inductor as we increase the value of the inductor, L2. This obey the
Faraday law:
VS = NS

d
dt

The increment of the inductance give a bigger energy storage, therefore, a greater energy can
be used in order to produce an opposing voltage and it is measured as an output voltage.

Questions:
1. Using a suitable diagram, explain the operation of AC voltage generation.

The presence of AC source in the primary side cause the current flow across resistive
load R1 and producing primary voltage. The inductor that is connected inside the
primary circuit will induce e.m.f. that will influence the secondary inductor by the
principle of mutual inductance as in which the production of the e.m.f. is produced
along with the magnetic flux. As the secondary inductor does influence by the mutual

inductance, it will store energy due to its inductance value and consequently, the energy
store will induce e.m.f. at the secondary side. This secondary e.m.f. will cause current
flow and the current will flow through R2 and produce output voltage. The transformer
will step up the voltage according to the value of inductor in the primary winding and
secondary winding. The relationship between the value of inductor and the voltage is
given by:
VP
LP
= =
VS
LS

The voltage after step up, VS is supplied to the load R2 thus creating the alternating
output voltage, V0.

2. What is the effect of L2:L1 on the output voltage V0?

Graph 1 shows that when the value of L2:L1 increased, the output voltage, V0 will also
increase. This is due to Faradays Law of Induction that states:
=

=
=

(1)

> 1, < 1

By law of conservation of energy, apparent power and reactive power are each
conserved in the input and output.
S = IP VP = IS VS (2)
Combining (1) and (2) yields the ideal transformer identity:
VP IS NP
LP
= =
= =a
VS IP NS
LS

(3)

LS
VS 2
=[ ]
Lp
VP
This proves that as the ratio LS:LP or L2:L1 increases, the output voltage V0 or VS
increases.

3. What is the relationship of L1 and L2 with the turn ratio of a transformer?

From equation (3), we can represent the relationship between turn ratios of a
transformer with L1 and L2 as follow:
N1
L1
=
N2
L2
From the above relationship, the relation between turn ratios with L1 is proportional in
square root function while for L2, inversely proportional in function of square root. The
overall relationship state that the turn ratios of the transformer is proportional with ratio
between L1 and L2 in function of square root.

4. Using only components available in the market, design a circuit in PSpice, which can
generate an AC voltage, V0 of 100kV peak magnitude using an AC source that can give
an output between 1V to 240V only and a transformer of L2:L1 = 1,000,000. When
designing the circuit, you must ensure that the voltage rating of each component (120
kV) is not exceeded. The cost of the overall circuit must also be as low as possible, i.e.
the circuit cost is higher if more components are used.

Figure 3 Schematic of Design Circuit.

Graph 2 Result of design circuit simulation

The applied ratio of L2: L1 is specified to be 1000000 and the peak output voltage we
calculated using equation is as below:

|0 | =

2
1000000
| | =
100 = 100
1
1

From the simulation result, we can see that the output voltage obtained is 96.745kV
which is very close to 100kV.

TEST 2: HIGH DC VOLTAGE GENERATION

Figure 4 Circuit configuration for high d.c. voltage generation.

Voltage versus Time

120000
100000

Voltage, V

80000

60000
40000
20000
0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

Time, t
C = 1uF

C = 10uF

C = 100uF

C = 1mF

Graph 3 Graph voltage versus time for high voltage d.c generation with different capacitance
value.

Graph 2 shows that as the value of the capacitor increases, the ripple magnitude is reduced.
This is due to the stored energy inside the capacitor discharge when the voltage source is drop.
The presence of diode makes the circuit conducts only positive cycle of the A.C. source. The
function of capacitor is to smoothen the fluctuated output voltage to be constant so that it can
represent a constant D.C. output voltage. Whenever the voltage is increases, the charges that
flow across the capacitor will be stored cause the capacitor to charge. Whenever the voltage is
dropped, the capacitor need to compensate with the drop by releasing those charges, therefore,
it is discharged. The higher the capacity of the capacitor, the higher the amount of charges able
to be stored. This therefore cause the discharge process slow and reduce the ripple voltage.
This occurrence can be represented by the following equation:
=

This equation is valid for half-wave rectifier since the circuit in this test only use a diode which
only can produce a half-wave rectifier The above relationship explains the result of this test in
which the increment of the capacitance reduce the ripple voltage.

Voltage versus Time

120000
100000

Voltage, V

80000
60000
40000
20000
0
-200
-20000

300

800

1300

1800

2300

Time, t
R = 1k Ohm

R = 100 Ohm

R = 10 Ohm

R = 1 Ohm

Graph 4 Graph voltage versus time for high voltage d.c generation with different resistance
value.

The result above shows that with the decrement of the voltage, the ripple voltage is getting
bigger. This can be represented by the following equation:
=

The equation states that the relationship between the ripple voltage and the resistance is
inversely proportional. Theoretically, due to the small resistance value, the current flow will
increases as we relate it with Ohms law. Due to this high current requirement to flow across
the resistor, the rate of discharge of the capacitor is increases, therefore cause the increment of
ripple voltage. As we refer to the equation above, the increment of the current will increase the
ripple voltage magnitude. This therefore explains the result obtained.

Questions:
1. Using figure below, explain how a DC voltage is generated from an AC voltage source.

The A.C. source will pass across the diode. The diode will only allow one direction of
current flow, therefore, in such configuration in which the positive terminal is
connected to the anode terminal of the diode, therefore, only positive cycle of the
voltage is allowed. Then, the presence of the capacitor will smoothen the ripple voltage
causes a near constant output voltage to be produced due to the charging and
discharging activity of the capacitor. Therefore, a D.C. output voltage is obtained.

2. What is the effect of C value on the ripple voltage? Explain why.

As the value of capacitance increases, there is a higher capacity to store the charges.
This therefore, during the charging, the voltage magnitude is reduced in slow rate due
to the discharging of the same rate of charges over a bigger charges stored during
charging process. This caused the ripple voltage to reduce. This relationship can also
be represented by the following equation:
=

The equation states that the ripple voltage magnitude is inversely proportional to the
capacitance value.

3. What is the effect of RL value on the ripple voltage? Explain why.

As the value of resistor decreases, the value of current that pass through the resistor is increases.
This is due to the Ohms law relationship. In order to compensate with this high current flow,
the capacitance will discharge more in which the rate of the discharge will be increases. This
will cause the ripple voltage to increase significantly. The relationship also can be represented
by the following equation:

From the above equation, the ripple voltage is inversely proportional to the resistance.

4. The diode D has a maximum voltage rating of 140kV. In Figure 2, do you think that
having only 1 diode D is sufficient in this circuit? Explain your answer.

Diode must withstand a peak reverse voltage, 2Vmax. So if the diode D has a maximum
voltage rating of 140kv, it is insufficient in this circuit. Due to the source is VAC=100
sin (2*50t), it will exceed the limits of the diode, 2Vmax.

5. Using only components available in the market (refer to Other Information in page
1), design a circuit in PSpice, which can generate a DC voltage, V0 of +200kV peak
magnitude and allowable 2kV ripple using an AC source (sinusoidal) that can give an
output between 1V to 140kV only. When designing the circuit, you must ensure that
the voltage rating of each component (120kV) is not exceeded. The power dissipated
by each resistor must not exceed 1kW. The cost of the overall circuit must also be as
low as possible, i.e. the circuit cost is higher if more components are used.

Figure 5 Schematic of DC voltage generation.

Graph 5 Output Voltage of DC voltage generation.

A DC voltage can be generated by cascading the half-wave rectifier circuit. It can

produce an output DC voltage of 200kV with 140kV of input voltage. From figure 16,
during negative half cycle, the diode D2 is forward bias and the capacitor C1 is charged
up to peak value of input voltage 100kV. During positive half cycle, diode D1 is forward
bias to charge up the capacitor C2 while diode D2 blocks the capacitor C1 from
discharging. Now the capacitor C1 has same peak voltage as input voltage. Therefore,
capacitor C2 is charged up to twice the peak voltage value and produce 200kV.

TEST 3: HIGH IMPULSE VOLTAGE GENERATION

Figure 6 Circuit configuration for high impulse voltage generation.

Voltage versus Time

100000
90000
80000

Voltage, V

70000
60000
50000
40000
30000

20000
10000
0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Time, t
C2 = 1pF

C2 = 10pF

C2 = 100pF

C2 = 1nF

Graph 6 Graph voltage versus time for high impulse voltage generation with different load
capacitance value.
The result above shows that the magnitude of the voltage is decreases as the value of the
capacitance, C2 is increases. Capacitor C2 behaves as a load capacitance. The discharge of the
load capacitor, C2 is dependent to the discharge resistance, R2. Therefore, as what we can see,
the rate of discharge is the same even though we change the capacitance of C2. Since the

discharge resistance is fixed, therefore, the quantity of charges is fixed. The increment of the
load capacitance will result in a lower output voltage. This relationship can be described from
the equation of capacitance in between two plates:
=

Where q is charges ad V equal to voltage. As the capacitance increases, the voltage is reduced
due to its inversely proportional relationship.

Voltage versus Time

100000
90000
80000

Voltage, v

70000

60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Time, t
R2 = 10k Ohm

R2 = 1k Ohm

R2 = 100 Ohm

R2 = 10 Ohm

Graph 7 Graph voltage versus time for high impulse voltage generation with different
discharge resistance value.
R2 is a discharge resistance in which its discharges the capacitors and control the tail wave. As
R2 reduces, the time to start discharge is quicker. A quicker time to start discharge causes the
magnitude of the output voltage to decrease. This is due to the Ohms law that explains as
resistance is getting smaller, current will increase. Therefore, the following equation may
applied in order to determine the time to discharge.
=

( 0 )

From the equation, a bigger current will cause a shorter time to discharge.

Voltage versus Time

100000
90000
80000

Voltage, V

70000
60000
50000
40000
30000

20000
10000
0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Time, t
C1 = 1nF

C1 = 10nF

C1 = 100nF

C1 = 1uF

Graph 8 Graph voltage versus time for high impulse voltage generation with different
discharge capacitance value.
The increment of the discharge capacitance, C1 causes the discharge slope is reduced. This is
due to bigger capacitance will store more charges and during the discharge process, the
capacitance will take longer time to discharge due to more charges stored. The voltage is
constant because it is parallel to the voltage source which is constant when the circuit is not yet
open.

Questions:
1. Using figure below, explain how impulse voltage is generated from a DC voltage
source.

From figure above, the capacitor C1 is slowly charge from a D.C. source until the spark
gap G break down. This spark gap acts as a voltage-limiting and voltage-sensitive
switch, whose ignition time (time to voltage break down) is very short in comparison
to TS. As such single-stage generator may be used for charging voltages from some kV
up to about 1MV, the sphere gap will offer proper operating conditions. The resistor R1
and R2 and the capacitance C2 from wave shaping network R1 will primary damp the
circuit and control the front time TS. R2 will discharge the capacitor and therefore
essentially control the wave tail. The capacitance C2 represents the full load, example
the object test as well as all other capacitive elements, which are in parallel to the test
object.

2. What is the effect of C2 value on the rise and fall time of V0? Explain why.

From equation of front time,

1 = 31 (

1 2
) (1)
1 + 2

As the value of C2 is reduced, the front time is also reduced.

While for tail or fall time,
2 = 0.7(1 + 2 )(1 + 2 ) (2)
The increment of C2 will cause the tail time to increase.

3. What is the effect of R2 value on the rise and fall time of V0? Explain why.

As we refer to equation front time, t1, the value of R2 does not affect the front time. For
the tail or fall time as mentioned in equation 2, the increment of the R2 will cause the
increment of the fall time.

4. What is the effect of C1 value on the rise and fall time of V0? Explain why.

From equation 1, as we increase the value of C1, the front time will decrease. While
from equation 2, the increment of C1 will cause the increment in fall time.

5. Using only components available in the market, design a circuit in PSpice or OrCAD,
which can generate an impulse voltage, V0 of +80 kV peak magnitude, 8us rise time
and 20us fall time, using a DC source that can give an output between 1V to 140kV
only. When designing the circuit, you must ensure that the voltage rating of each
component (120kV) is not exceeded. The power dissipated by each resistor must not
exceed 1kW. The cost of the overall circuit must also be as low as possible, i.e. the
circuit cost is higher if more components are used.

Figure 7 Design for Impulse Voltage.

Graph 9 Result of Impulse Voltage design.

In this open-ended task, a DC source with 100kV is used for two-stage impulse circuit
in order to generate an impulse voltage, V0 of 200 kV peak magnitude, 8s rise time
and 20s fall time. From Figure 21, we noticed that an impulse voltage, V0 of 200 kV
peak magnitude is produced. However, I failed to get the result of 8s rise time and
20s fall time

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, there are three generation of high voltage been conducted in this experiment
which are A.C. generation, D.C. generation and impulse generation. In A.C. generation, the
magnitude of the output voltage is varied depend on the transformer ratio between primary and
secondary side. In D.C. generation, the smoothness of the D.C. output is dependent to the size
of the capacitor and the resistor. In impulse generation, it involves three components to vary
the output which are discharge capacitor, discharge resistor and load capacitor. All of these
type of high voltage generation is successfully being simulated by using Pspice Schematic.

REFERENCES
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on

10

Dec.

2015

from

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/textbook/alternating-current/chpt-9/mutualinductance-and-basic-operation/
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http://www.schoolphysics.co.uk/age16-

19/Electricity%20and%20magnetism/Electrostatics/text/Capacitor_charge_an
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