A gas in its normal state in almost a perfect insulator.

The high voltage applied,

the gas become a conductor and an electrical breakdown occurs
The processess of breakdown are ionization by collision, photo ionization and the
secondary ionization process. In insulating gases (called electron attaching
gasses) the process attachment also plays an important role.
Ionization by collision:

e + A e + A+ + e
Photo ionization : called radiation
The process of radiation can be absorbed by atom or molecules.
-

Excitation of the atom to a higher energy state

Continuous absorption by direct excitation of the atom or dislocation of

diatomic molecule or direct ionization,

Etc

hv + A A+ , ionization occurs when c(h/E1)

h planks constant
c velocity of light
wavelength of incident radiation
Ei the ionization energy of atom

1,27/Ei 10-6 cm
Ei a is in electrion volts (eV): the higher the ionization energy, the shorter will be
the wavelength of the radiation capable of causing ionization
If a wavelength of radiation 1250 Amstrong is capable of causing photoionization of almost all gases.
Secondary ionization process
By wich secondary electrons are produced are the one hich sustain a discharge
after it is established due to ionization by collision and poto-ionization. They are
briefly described below:

a. Electron emission due to + ion impact. Positive ions are formed due to
ionzation by collisions or photo ionization and being positively charged, they
travel towards the cathode
b. Electron emission due to photos. To cause an electron to escape from a metal
Electron emission from a metal surface at critical condition:
hf tho, tho is the work function of the metallic electrode, f frequency.
f = tho/h, known as the threshold frequency
electron attachment process : the type of collisions in which electrons may
become attached to atoms or molecules to from negative ions. Depends on the
energy of the electron and the nature of the gas.
Atom + e + k negative atomic ion + (Ea + K)
Causing of townsends theory fail:
1. Current growth occurs as aresult of ionization process only. In practice,
breakdown voltage depend on pressure and geometry of gap
2. The mechanism predicts time lags of the order 10 -5 second. In practice,
breakdown was observed to occur at very short time of the order 10 -8 second.
Townsend theory fail to explain all these observed phenomena.
Pita theory predict the development of a spark discharge directly from a single
avalanche in which the space charge developed by the avalanche itself is said to
transform the avalance into a plasma streamer.
Example
In an experiment in a certain gas it was found that the steady state current is 5,5
x 10-8 A at 8 kV at distance 0,4 cm between the plan electrodes. Keeping the field
constat and reducing the distance to 0,1 cm results in a current of 5,5 x 10 -9 A.
Calculate townsend theory?
The properties of gaseous dielectric for high voltage app:
1. High dielectrich strength
2. Thermal stablitity and chemical innactivity towards materials of
construction
3. Non-flammability and physiological intertness
4. Low tempeature of condensation

Homework
1. Explain properties of the gas when in the gas media is applied low and
high voltage
2. Why does townsends theory fail to explain about as phenomena
3. What are advantages of the streamer theory in the gas insulation

TOPIC : TRANSFORMER OIL

Composition of liquid dielectric. Mixtures of: hydrocarbons which include
paraffins, iso paraffins, naphtalenes, and aromatics.
Become darker due to the formation of acids and resins or sludge. Some of the
acids are corrosive to solid insulating material and metal parts. Deposit of slugde
on the transformer core, the coil and inside the oil ducts reduce curculation of oil
TOPIC: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
Essential in determining the electric performance of liquid.
-

Its capacitance per unit volume or its relative permittivety

Its resstivity
Its loss tangen or its power factor which is an indication of the power loss

under ac voltage app

Its ability to withstand hogh electric stresses

In case of non-polar liquids, permitifity is independent of frequency. But for polar

liquids, such as water, it changes with frequency. Example permitifity of water is
78 at 50 hz and produces to about 5 at 1 MHz.
Power factor: under ac voltage will determine its performance under load
conditions. It is a measure of the power loss and an important parameter in
cable and capacitor systems. In transformer

Breakdown test use electrodes spheres of 0,5 to 1,0 cm in diameter with gap
spacing about 100-200 micro-metre. The test voltages required for the teset are

usually low, of the order of 50-100 kV. DC conductivities will be different from the
permittivity of the liquid.
TOPIC : THEORY ABOUT DIELECTRIC LIQUID
Explain the breakdown in the liquid, proposed any theory
Suspended partical theory :
In commercial liquids, the preserence of solid impurities cant be avoided, like
fibres or dispersed solid partikel. Permivities of there particles will be different
from the permittivity of the liquid
Radius (r), fields (E), and force (F)
Calvitation and bubble theory :
The breakdown field is given as
Thermal mechanism theory :
Explain breakdown under pulse conditions is thermal breakdown. This
mechanism based on extremely large current jut before breakdown
The high current believed projections on cahode surface with densities of order
of 1 A/cm3. These high density current pulse give rise to localised heating of the
oil which may lead to the formation of vapour bubble.
Stressed oil volume theory :
The impurity of liquid will determine breakdown strength. The breakdown voltage
is highly influenced by the gas content in the oil, the viscosity of the oil, and
presence of other impurities. The stressed oil volume is taken as the volume
which is contained between the maxium stress (Emax) contour and 0,9 Emax
contour. By this theory the breakdown strength is inversely proportional to the
stressed oil volume. Increase in the stressed oil volume consequently result in a
reduction in the breakdown voltage.
Questions :
1. Explain the phenomena of electical conduction in liquid. How does it differ
from that gas?
2. What are commercial liquid dielectrics? How are they different from pure
liquid dielectrics?
3. What are the factos that influence conduction in pure liquid dielectric and

Minggu ke 13
Breakdown in solid dielectrics
Intro :
Solid dielectric materials are used in all kinds of electric circuits ad divices to
insulate one current carrying part from another when they operate at diferent
voltage. Solid dielectrics have higher breakdown strength compared to liquids
and gases. Breakdown in solid dielectrics are of extreme importance in
insullation studies.
Classification of breakdown mechanism:
1)
2)
3)
4)

Intristic / ionic breakdown

Electromechanical breakdown
Failure due to
4) thermal brekdown

1) Definition: the intrisic electrice strength is when voltage applied only on

short duration pf the rder of 10-8 s, the dielectric strength of a solid
dielectric increases rapidly to an upper limit
The highest dielectric strength depends only on the structure of the
material and the temperature
Intrisic breakdowns depends upon the presence of free electrons which are
capable of migration through the lattice of the dielectric. Usually, a small
of conduction electrons are present in solid dielectrics, structural
imperfections and small amounts of impurities.
Trapped electron are released, and these electrons participate in the
conduction process. Base on this principle, 2 types of instricsic breakdown
mechanism: electronic and avalance/streamer breakdown.
2) Electronic breakdown
Free electrons are also assumed to be large, and electrons collisions occur
when an electric field is applied, electrons again energy from electric field
and cross the forbidden energy gap from the valency to the conduction
band
When this process is repeated, more and more electrons become available
in the construcion band, eventually leading to breakdown.
3) Avalanche / steamer breakdown
Similar to breakdown in gases due to cumulative ionizations.

Conduction electrons gain sufficient energy aove a certain critical electric

field and cause liberation of electrons from the laatice atoms by collisions.
An electron starts from the cathode will drift towards the anode and during
this motion gains energy from field and loses during it collisions.
In practice, the breakdown doesnt occur by the formation of a simgle
avalanche itself, but occurs as a result of many avalanches formed within
the electric and extended step by step through the entire of the material.
4)