Determining impulse generator settings for various test cases

with the help of a www-based simulation program

Wolfgang Schufft
1*
, Wolfgang Hauschild
2
, Ralf Pietsch
2
1
Chemnitz University of Technology, Faculty ET/IT, D-09107 Chemnitz; Germany
2
HIGHVOLT Prftechnik Dresden GmbH, Marie-Curie-Str. 10, D-01139 Dresden, Germany
*E-mail : wolfgang.schufft@etit.tu-chemnitz.de

AbstractThe determination of the impulse generator
settings is desirable to support the test operation in a test
laboratory as well as for teaching purposes. Especially
the question whether the standard LI or SI parameters
can be reached in a certain test case or not has to be
answered in advance. As well the time for changing the
resistors in a multi-stage impulse can be shortened
essentially by knowing the optimum circuitry of the
impulse generator. Commercially available network
simulation software is not adapted to the special
problem of the determination of the impulse generator
settings. Thus a software tool has been developed now,
that combines the adaptation of a network simulation
program to the problem of determining the impulse
generator settings, using www-technology to enable
world-wide access to this solution.

INTRODUCTION
A technical solution for determining impulse generator
settings has been described before [1]. The one-stage
equivalent impulse circuit has been transferred to an
virtual user surface on a computer screen.


Settings for each element of the impulse circuit can be
made by potentiometers or by corresponding windows.
After the input has been finished the data set is sent via
www to a server and the test voltage shape is calculated
and immediately displayed on the computer screen. The
peak value and the time parameters of the calculated
impulse are evaluated according to IEC 60060-1 [2].
There are two versions of the so-called Virtual Impulse
Generator - VIG. The VIG 2002, see fig. 1, is meant for
teaching purposes mainly. It contains the main elements
of a one-stage equivalent impulse circuit. The overall
circuit inductances is concentrated in one element, i.e. in
series with the front resistor. Stray capacitances are
neglected in this simplified circuit. A chopping circuit
enables the calculation and display of chopped impulses,
as typically required for transformer testing. The access
to the VIG 2002 is possible without any pre-condition,
password, etc.:
http://vig-simulator.etit.tu-chemnitz.de/VIG2002/
the VIG 2002 is sufficient for the determining of the
impulse generator settings for circuits with relatively
small dimensions, i.e. a few metres, which correspond to
test voltages of some 100 kV


Fig.1: Virtual Impulse Generator VIG 2002




Fig. 2: User surface of the Virtual Impulse Generator VIG 2003 (input values exemplary, not realistic)
C1 - Impulse capacitor; R1 - Front resistor; L1 - Inductance of the front resistor; R2 - Tail resistor; L2 - Inductance of
the Glaninger-coil (part of the Glaninger unit); C2 - Capacitance of the HV-electrode; L3 - Impulse circuit inductance;
R3, L4, C3 - Series-overshoot-compensation; L5, R4, C4 - Parallel-overshoot-compensation / Damped capacitive
voltage divider with an inductance; R5, C5 - Separate damped capacitive voltage divider / Load capacitance; C6 -
Capacitive load / Support capacitor / Capacitance of the HV electrode of the separate damped capacitive voltage divider;
R6 - Ohmic load / Resistance of the Glaninger-unit; L6, C7 - Transformer; R7 - Termination resistor; C8 - Earth
capacitance of the transformer; R8 - Connection resistor; R9, C9 - Separate chopping gap; C10 - Capacitance of the HV
electrode of the separate chopping gap

Impulse generator circuits in the MV-range have
dimensions in the order of some 10 m. Thus a circuitry
for extended impulse circuits, which considers diverse
stray inductances and capacitances as well as accessories
for transformer testing and testing of high-capacitance
test objects, must be applied. This circuitry is realised as
the VIG 2003, circuitry see user surface fig. 2.
The VIG 2003 is accessible by:

http://vig-simulator.etit.tu-chemnitz.de/VIG2003/

With the help of the save-button, see fig. 2, it is possible
to download the calculated curve on the computer hard
drive. It can be used for import into EXCEL or even for
the input of an digital-analogue-converter to generate an
adequate electric impulse.

EXAMPLES FOR THE APPLICATION OF THE
VIG
Single stage generator: In a first step the VIG 2003 shall
be used for the pre-determination of the impulse shape
for a single stage HV modular system, which is
typically used for teaching purposes, total view see fig. 3,
circuitry see fig 4.

Fig.3: Impulse generator arrangement based on a HV
modular system
impulse circuit
divider
meas.
rectifier
C
1
R
2 5
5
L
1
R R
1
C C
6

Fig. 4: Circuitry of an impulse generator arrangement
based on a HV modular system, element designation see
fig. 2.


The input data for the impulse calculation were:
C
1
= 10 nF, 34,4kV impulse capacitor
R
1
= 298 Ohm front resistor
R
2
= 5874 Ohm tail resistor
L
1
= 2 H circuit inductance
R
5
= 250 Ohm divider resistor
C
5
.= 0,3 nF divider/basic load
C
6
= 0,6 nF test object
For the calculation a circuit inductance of 2 H has been
estimated. A comparison between the calculated and
measured impulse is given in table 1. The deviation
between the calculated and measured impulse data is in
the range of a few percent. i.e. not far away from the
measuring accuracy of the impulse test system.
Table 1: Comparison between calculated and measured
impulses for a one-stage HV modular system

impulse data calculated measured deviation/%
Up/kV 30,8 30,1 2,19
T1/s 0,863 0,87 -0,80
T2/s 46,2 47,5 -2,80

The calculated and measured impulse curves are
shown in fig. 5. A variation of the impulse circuit
inductance between 0,1 and 10 H has shown,
that this inductance has no essential influence on the
impulse shape, caused by a minimal load capacitance of
0,3 nF + 0,6 nF = 0,9 nF and a front resistor of R
1
= 298
Ohm.
-5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
-0,5 0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5
Time in s
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

i
n

k
V
measured
calculated
Fig. 5: Calculated and measured impulse curves for a HV
modular system
Large multistage generator: A second example is an
impulse voltage test system 420 kJ/4200 kV. It consists
of a 21-stage impulse generator with a stage capacitance
of 1 F and a stage charging voltage of 200 kV and a
slightly damped capacitive voltage divider, photograph
see fig. 6, sketch see fig. 7. Even the large dimensions of
the impulse circuit require the separate consideration of
the capacitances of the generator and the divider top
electrode and the consideration of a long HV lead
between these electrodes.

Fig. 6: Impulse voltage test system 420 kJ / 4200 kV

Fig. 7: Impulse voltage test system 420 kJ / 4200 kV
For calculation such a complete multi-stage impulse
generator is reduced to a one-stage equivalent circuit, see
fig 8. Two options are possible, i.e. to relate the output
quantities to one stage or to relate the stage quantities to
the output voltage. The first option was chosen in this
case leading to the following input data for the one stage
equivalent circuit:
C
1
= 1000 nF, 200 kV impulse capacitor
R
1
= 36 Ohm front resistor
R
2
= 76 Ohm tail resistor
L
1
= 3,37 H front resistor inductance
C
2
.= 76,2 pF
.
21 = 1600 pF HV-electrode capacitance
L
3
= 52,5 H / 21 = 2,5 H HV lead inductance
L
5
= 16,8 H / 21 = 0,8 H divider inductance
R
4
= 315 Ohm /21 = 15 Ohm divider resistance
C
4
.= 381 pF
.
21 = 8 nF divider capacitance
C
6
= 76,2 pF
.
21 = 1,6 nF divider HV electrode
capacitance



1
R L
1
L
3
L
5
V(t)
C
1
R
2
C
2
C
4
R
4
6
C

Fig. 8: One-stage equivalent circuit of a multi-stage
MARX generator
The comparison between calculated and measured
impulse data for the 21-stage impulse voltage test system
is given in table 2. It is remarkable, that the deviation of
calculated and measured impulses is in the range of the
measuring accuracy. However the shapes of both curves
show visible differences, see fig. 9.

impulse data calculated measured deviation/%
Up/kV

4066,7
(193,649
.
21) 4070 -0,08
T1/s 1,083 1,089 -0,54
T2/s 55,13 56,54 -2,48

Table 2 Comparison between calculated and measured
impulse data for a 21-stage Impulse voltage test system
Impulse testing of transformers: This is a very important
application of impulse test systems. There are different
problems to be mastered:

- to guarantee an impulse front according to IEC
standard for the impulse testing of HV coils
considering the capacitive coupling between the HV
coils
- to guarantee a time-to-half-value for impulse testing of
low-inductive low-voltage coils
- limitation of the over-shoot for large, extended test
arrangements

The VIG 2003 includes a simple transformer model
consisting of the transformer inductance L6 and the
transformer capacitance C7, see fig. 10. A separate
chopping gap is realised together with R9 and C9. There
are different measures to extend the tail for the testing of
low-inductive low-voltage coils, i.e. termination resistor
R7 and Glaninger unit with L2 and R6.

As a simple example an impulse tests shall be performed
for the three HV coils of a power transformer 30 MVA,
110/25 kV. To select the correct front (R1) and tail (R2)
resistors the test has been simulated by the VIG2003
using the correct C7/L6 parameters of the coils to be
tested. As a result of simulation R1 and R2 are selected
from available set of resistors. Then the HV test has been
performed with those resistors and the result is compared
in tab. 3. The deviation between the calculated and
measured front time T1 is about 5 %, the deviation for
the time-to-half-value T2 is below 1 %. However the
pre-determination of the generator settings for
transformer tests is a challenge because of the needed
knowledge of the precise values for winding inductance
(L6) and capacitance (C7).
-500
0
500
1.000
1.500
2.000
2.500
3.000
3.500
4.000
4.500
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Time in s
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

i
n

k
V
measured
calculated

-500
0
500
1.000
1.500
2.000
2.500
3.000
3.500
4.000
4.500
-10 0 10 20 30 40 50
Time in s
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

i
n

k
V
measured
calculated
Fig. 9: Calculated and measured impulse curves for a
21-stage impulse test system, impulse front above,
impulse tail below




Fig. 10: Input data set for transformer testing: C1 - Impulse capacitor; R1 - Front resistor; L1 - Inductance of the front
resistor; R2 - Tail resistor; L3 - Impulse circuit inductance; R5, C5 - Separate damped capacitive voltage divider / Load
capacitance; R6 - External tail resistor (ohmic load); L6, C7 Transformer (stray) inductance, input capacitance
phase 1 phase 2 phase 3
Test object
parameters

C7/nF 1,16 1,13 1,05
L6/mH 161 110 72
calc. T1/s 1,36 1,34 1,28
meas. T1/s 1,43 1,41 1,35
deviation T1/% -4,90 -4,96 -5,19
calc. T2/s 57,20 51,60 44,80
meas. T2/s 57,00 51,70 45,30
deviation T2/% 0,35 -0,19 -1,10

Table 3: Impulse test of the HV coils of a power
transformer 30 MVA, 110/25 kV

CONCLUSIONS
(1) The determination of the impulse generator settings,
i.e. the values for the front and tail resistors, in order to
generate impulses in accordance to the IEC standards is
desirable to support the test operation in a test laboratory
as well as for teaching purposes.

(2) There is a free-accessible www-based solution to
determine the impulse curve and data depending on the
input data of a one-stage equivalent circuit

(3) Impulse circuit arrangements for some 100 kV have
small dimensions only and a relatively small test object
capacitance in most of the cases. In general there is no
need to consider different stray inductances and stray
capacitances for the calculation, i.e. the so-called VIG
2002 is sufficient for the calculation. Whereas impulse
circuit arrangements in the MV range require more
detailed one-stage equivalent circuits as realised with the
VIG 2003.

(4) Transformer impulse testing is one important field in
the HV test practice. The VIG 2003 contains some
elements to reach a standard conform impulse shape.

(5) For some test cases calculated and measured
impulses were compared to each other. Under the
assumption of realistic stray capacitances and
inductances there is a remarkably small deviation
between calculated and measured impulses.

REFERENCES
[1] Leister, N., Schufft W.: Virtual ASP-based impulse
generator. Proceedings of the XIIIth International
Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, Delft, the
Netherlands August 25 29, 2003, p. 272
[2] IEC 60060-1, High-voltage test techniques. Part
1:.General definitions and test requirements
[3] R. M. Del Vecchio, R. Ahuja, R. D. Frenette,
Determining ideal impulse generator settings from
a generator-transformer circuit model. IEEE Trans.
on Power Delivery, 17(2002)1