UNSW - SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

ELEC4611 POWER SYSTEM EQUIPMENT LABORATORY

EXPERIMENT 4
IMPULSE VOLTAGES IN ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS

PART A: High voltage impulse testing

Introduction:
Much of the equipment on a power system is subjected to surges due to lightning
strokes. Each system is designed for a basic insulation level (B.I.L.) requiring the
various components to be capable of withstanding different values of impulse voltages,
depending on the insulation coordination philosophy adopted. The shape of impulse
voltage chosen to simulate the lightning conditions is a 1.2/50s (see AS1931) wave:
the voltage magnitudes vary according to the equipment and are specified in the
particular apparatus specifications. The objectives of the experiment are to:
(i) identify various components of a four-stage impulse generator and DC charging
set,
(ii) become familiar with two methods of HV measurement (sphere gap and resistive
divider) and make a direct comparison at high voltage,
(iii) determine operating characteristics of a surge diverter, used to protect equipment
against lightning.

Apparatus
The standard lightning impulse voltage wave is supplied by a Passoni & Villa
400kV/10kJ impulse generator. The circuit is shown in Fig.1. It has 4 stages in series.
The charging volts per stage is 100 kV and the generator capacitance per stage is 1 F
(two 0.5 F capacitors in parallel). Thus, the rated energy of the generator is 10 kJ.

Digital storage oscilloscope.

Calibration spheres gap (25 cm in diameter) for calibrating the voltmeter.
HV resistive divider (204:1) plus divider (24:1) in control cabinet, i.e. ~5000:1 in total
24 kV surge diverter (test piece).

Procedure
1. Verify circuit connection and identify each circuit element. Verify that the circuit
gives a 1.2/50s wave by recording the full wave on the CRO. Compare the
measurement results with the calculated values using the formulae:
t f = 2.75C f R f and t t = 0.70C g Rt
where Cf is the front capacitance, Rf the front resistance, Cg the generator
capacitance and Rt the tail resistance. Note that both the external and internal front
resistors should be included in the calculations for Rf.

For all the following steps, use your phone camera to capture oscilloscope screen
displays for report writing.

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2. This step is to calibrate the voltmeter. Refer to the look-up Table for gap spacing
and adjust calibration sphere gap for spark-over at 70 kV. Generate impulse at
some fixed level and repeat several times. If the calibration sphere gap sparks over
every time then the applied impulse level is well over 70 kV. If none then the
level must be well below 70 kV. Thus, by trial and error, you will find the level
where you get 50% chance of spark-over, e.g. 5 spark-overs for 10 successive
impulse applications. This will enable you to work out the scaling factor for the
voltmeter reading.

3. Open the calibration sphere gap for 100 kV spark-over (i.e. sphere gap is
effectively removed from circuit for impulse less than 100 kV). Generate impulses
at 75 kV, 80 kV, etc and observe the waveshape for each case. Record the impulse
level when the surge diverter begins to conduct and also record the residual voltage
level.

DANGER: Ensure DC supply earthed and capacitors discharged before touching

circuit.

Results and discussion

1. Compare sphere gap flashover value with that estimated from the divider and
CRO.
2. Comment on time lag of surge diverter flashover.
3. Describe the principle of the controlled tripping (triggering) circuitry.
4. If the object for the lightning impulse test is a length of HV power cable which
has a capacitance of 5 nF, what adjustments to the circuit of Fig.1 are required ?

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 External
Front resistor

8 55
1F
80

4k
8 4k
80
1F
Generator capacitor
(one stage)
4k
8 4k
80
Internal 1F
4342pF
Front resistor
4k
80
Charging 8 4k
resistor
1F
4k

Earthing
Tail Front
switch
Trigger resistors capacitor

Resistive
Voltage divider

Rectifier

Step-up
transformer

Fig.1: Pasoni & Villa 400kV/10kJ four-stage impulse generator.

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PART B: Voltage distribution along transformer windings when subjected to a
unidirectional surge.

Introduction:

All power system equipment is designed to withstand the surges produced by lightning
strikes and switching operations which occur on the overhead lines. The most expensive
items subject to such events are the large power transformers located at power stations
and sub-stations. Large rotating machines are also susceptible to such surges because of
their winding structures.

The present experiment is aimed at demonstrating the manner in which a lightning surge
is distributed within two types of transformer windings. The technique used is still
employed to determine such distributions in practice. The measurement highlights some
of the difficulties encountered in design and in simulating full-scale effects. The
possible errors in choosing data for computer programs are apparent, e.g. in the
representation of distributed parameters of inductance and capacitance.

See supplement for further explanations.

Apparatus:
Haefely impulse generator
Digital storage CRO
66kV, 6MVA (one phase) conventional disc winding and low voltage windings
66kV, 25MVA (part winding) interleaved disc, 3 conductors in parallel, no low voltage
winding, inner earthed screen.

Circuit

Puls e Ch1
generator 10:1 probe CRO
Ch2
10:1 probe
Transformer
w inding

HF CT

Procedure:
A. 66/11kV, 6MVA conventional disc winding:

For all the following steps, use your phone camera to capture oscilloscope screen
displays for report writing.

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1. Note layout of windings - number of disc and turns, connections, etc. See Figs. 4(a)
and 5(a) of Supplement. Also note low voltage connections.

2. Connect output of impulse generator to HV and the winding neutral to ground. Note
earth connections. Make sure that the ground conductor is not touching the winding.

3. Choose the generator setting to generate 1.2/50s impulses and set the impulse
voltage level at its minimum. This will produce an impulse in the order of 100 V.

Warning: During the triggering for generating the impulse, do not touch the winding.

4. Measure and record waveshapes (magnitude and duration) at crossovers between

discs. Every third connection will suffice except where finer detail is required.

5. During (4) attempt to identify "travelling wave" component and record apparent
magnitude and "time delay". The delay appears to be about 10s for the complete
winding.

B. 66kV, 25MVA interleaved disc coil stack (no LV winding):

1. Repeat items A1 to A6. Is there a "time delay"? Refer to Figs. 4(b), 4(c) and 5(b) of
the Supplement. Determine conductor layout (three in parallel).

Results:

1. Plot "initial" voltage magnitudes against position in winding for cases A & B.

2. Estimate value of ' ' from graphs in the Supplement.

3. For case A plot (i) apparent time delay versus winding position and (ii) magnitude at
delay time versus winding position.

Conclusions:

Discuss

1. Reason for low voltage (and equivalent high voltage) tests.

2. Neutral current "fault" detection.

3. How interleaved winding improves HV impulse voltage performance.

4. Why there is no clear travelling wave component in case B.

5. The winding is normally immersed in insulating oil of  r  2.2 . What effect would
this have on the results if they were done with oil?

6. Switching surge voltage waveform has slower rise and fall times, e.g. 100/1000s.
What effect would this have on voltage distribution on windings?

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 SUPPLEMENT

IMPULSE DESIGN OF HV TRANSFORMER WINDINGS

With some simplification, a transformer winding may be represented by a uniformly

distributed circuit of series inductance and shunt/series capacitance. When a unit-
function voltage is applied to this equivalent circuit, the initial distribution of voltage is
determined entirely by the capacitive network shown. The initial voltage at any point in
the winding may be determined by solving the differential equations for this network
and inserting the necessary boundary conditions.

If Cg is total capacitance of the winding to earth, Cs is series capacitance measured

from end to end of the winding, l is total winding length and the neutral is solidly
earthed (this being common practice at higher system voltages), then the voltage at a
point distant x from the neutral end of the winding is given by:

V sinh 
x
l Cg
v = where =
x sinh 
Cs

l
x
C
LINE s

V
C
g

NEUTRAL

Fig.1: Simplified circuit of a transformer winding.

The final voltage distribution is determined by the series resistance, or if there is a

superimposed power frequency excitation, by inductance; the distinction is superfluous
since both quantities are usually linear, and the distribution therefore becomes a straight
line, corresponding to  = 0.

In order to make the most efficient use of the insulation provided in the transformer, it
is imperative to design the windings in such a way as to eliminate, or at least to reduce
severely, both the initial voltage concentration at the line end, and also subsequent high
oscillatory voltages in the body of the winding. Any improvement in the initial
distribution will also decrease the divergence between the initial and final response of
the winding; thus, it will also reduce the magnitude of the subsequent oscillations. It is
therefore sufficient to concentrate attention solely on improving the initial voltage
distribution in the windings. Since the initial distribution is controlled entirely by the
ratio of capacitances, this may be done either by reducing the earth capacitance Cg (or

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nullifying its effect by electrostatic shields), or alternatively by increasing the series
capacitance Cs.

Fig.2: Initial impulse voltage distributions.

The disc coil shown in Fig. 4(a) has a total of 20 turns in series wound with a single
conductor. To produce an interleaved coil, 10 turns are wound in series with two wires
in parallel [Fig. 4(b)] and a joint is then made at the outside between one wire from each
section [Fig. 4(c)]. This puts all 20 turns in series and at the same time fully interleaves
the coil.

Fig.3: Transition time-space distribution of impulse voltage. Times t

shown against curves are s after instant of impact.

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The series capacitance network of the coil is shown in Fig.5(b) and consists of the inter-
turn capacitances of each section all in parallel, the two sections then being in series.
The intersection capacitance is not shown for clarity but has the same value as a simple
disc coil. If the inter-turn capacitance of the disc coil [Fig. 4(a)] is 10% of its total
capacitance then the inter-turn capacitance of the interleaved coil [Fig. 4(c)] has a
relative value of 810%. Hence:

Ordinary disc: CTotal = Ct-t + Cs-s = 10% + 90% = 100%

Interleaved disc: CTotal = Ct-t + Cs-s = 810% + 90% = 900%

i.e. the interleaved coil has a series capacitance 9 times that of the disc coil. Since the
ground capacitances of the two coils are the same, it is clear that the distribution
constant is improved by a factor of 3. In general, interleaved disc windings have values
of  lying between 1 and 3 for the complete winding so that they produce impulse
distributions which approach the ideal straight line. Sufficient conductor insulation
must be provided to take care of the relatively large working voltage between turns, but
even so, the insulation requirements are much less than for an ordinary disc winding
because of the superior impulse distribution.

Note that the above simple comparisons of capacitance are only approximate as a
number of assumptions are not discussed. However, the principles (and approximations)
are applied in practical designs.

Fig.4: Sections through (a) conventional disc, (b) disc with 2 turns in
parallel and (c) interleaved disc.

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 Fig.5: Capacitance network of disc type coils for (a) simple
conventional disc and (b) interleaved disc. Magnitude and
direction of Ic’s shown by arrows.

__________________

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