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Experiment No. 2: To Observe The Breakdown Voltage of Dielectric (Air) by Using Different Electrodes

This document summarizes an experiment to observe the breakdown voltage of air using different electrode shapes. The experiment involved applying increasing voltage between rod-plane and spherical electrodes placed at varying distances and recording the breakdown voltage. Key findings were: 1) Breakdown voltage of air increased with distance between electrodes. 2) Rod-plane electrodes had lower breakdown voltages than spherical electrodes due to asymmetric electric fields caused by sharp edges concentrating the field. 3) Dielectric strength of air was measured to be between 9.3kV and 24.45kV depending on electrode shape and separation distance.

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Ahmad Mukhtar
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126 views2 pages

Experiment No. 2: To Observe The Breakdown Voltage of Dielectric (Air) by Using Different Electrodes

This document summarizes an experiment to observe the breakdown voltage of air using different electrode shapes. The experiment involved applying increasing voltage between rod-plane and spherical electrodes placed at varying distances and recording the breakdown voltage. Key findings were: 1) Breakdown voltage of air increased with distance between electrodes. 2) Rod-plane electrodes had lower breakdown voltages than spherical electrodes due to asymmetric electric fields caused by sharp edges concentrating the field. 3) Dielectric strength of air was measured to be between 9.3kV and 24.45kV depending on electrode shape and separation distance.

Uploaded by

Ahmad Mukhtar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Department of Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, New Campus

Ahmad Mukhtar High Voltage Engineering Lab


2016-EE-282 (Section: A) Submitted to: Dr. Faheem Gohar Awan

Experiment no. 2:
To observe the breakdown voltage of dielectric (air) by using
different electrodes

Theory:
The atoms in insulating materials have very tightly bound electrons, resisting free
electron flow very well. However, insulators cannot resist indefinite amounts of voltage.
With enough voltage applied, any insulating material will eventually succumb to the
electrical pressure and then current flow will occur. However, unlike the situation with
conductors where current is in linear proportion to applied voltage (given a fixed resistance),
current through an insulator is quite nonlinear: for voltages below a certain threshold,
virtually no current will flow, but if the applied voltage exceeds that threshold voltage
(known as the breakdown voltage or dielectric strength), there will be a rush of current.
Dielectric strength is the voltage required to cause dielectric breakdown, that is, to force
current through an insulating material. After dielectric breakdown, the material may or may
not behave as an insulator any more, the molecular structure having been altered by the
breach. There is usually a localized puncture of the insulating medium where the current
flowed during breakdown.
The thickness of an insulating material plays a role in determining its breakdown voltage.
Specific dielectric strength is sometimes listed in terms of volts per mil (1/1000 of an inch) or
kilovolts per inch (the two units are equivalent) but in practice, it has been found that the
relationship between breakdown voltage and thickness is not exactly linear. An insulator
three times as thick has a dielectric strength slightly less than 3 times as much. However, for
rough estimation use, volt-per-thickness ratings are fine.

Material Dielectric strength (kV/inch)


Vacuum 20
Air 20 to 75
Porcelain 40 to 200
Paraffin Wax 200 to 300
Transformer Oil 400
Rubber 450 to 700
Paper 1250
Glass 2000 to 3000
Mica 5000

Procedure:
We will energize the primary winding of 150kV Testing Transformer by applying
voltage using Induction Voltage Regulator (IVR) which is in parallel with that
Transformer.
Electrodes used for spark gap are Rod & Plane shaped and Spherical shaped
electrodes.
Department of Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, New Campus
Ahmad Mukhtar High Voltage Engineering Lab
2016-EE-282 (Section: A) Submitted to: Dr. Faheem Gohar Awan

Page 1/2
Primary winding is being energized and at first, we will perform experiment using
Rod & Plane shaped electrode by keeping them at some distance and are connected to
the tertiary winding of 150kV Testing Transformer.
Secondary to tertiary winding voltage ratio is 1.5
On Main Switch Board for IVR, we can view the effect of change in tertiary winding
voltage to which spark gap is connected due to change in primary winding voltage. In
other words, it is breakdown voltage.
Check the value of breakdown voltage of air and multiply it with 1.5 factor.
Note down the readings by varying the distance between Rod & Plane shaped
electrodes.
Repeat this experiment by using Spherical shaped electrodes

Observations and Calculations:

Serial No. Distance (cm) Breakdown Voltage


(kV)
1 0.5 9.30
2 1.0 14.55
3 1.5 17.55
4 2.0 20.10
5 2.5 21.45
6 3.0 24.45

Graph:
Dielectric Strength of insulator
30
Conclusion:
Breakdown Voltage (kV)

25 We
20 observed that by having
15 unsymmetrical shape
10 electrodes, the breakdown
5
occurs at lower values of
voltage. The reason is that
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 the edges in the electrodes
Distance (cm) cause asymmetric electric
field due to which at some
points, electric field is
higher which causes breakdown of air. As sphere has no edges so breakdown voltage is
higher.

Page 2/2

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