Multistage Impulse

GeneratorsMarx Circuit
A single capacitor may be used for voltages up to 200 kV.
Beyond this voltage, a single capacitor and its charging unit may
be too costly, and the size becomes very large.
Hence, for producing very high voltages, a bank of capacitors
are charged in parallel and then discharged in series.
The arrangement for charging the capacitors in parallel and
then connecting them in series for discharging was originally
proposed by Marx
Marx circuit arrangement for
multistage impulse generator
Multistage impulse generator incorporating the series
and wave tail resistances within the generator
CONTD..
Usually the charging resistance Rs is
chosen to limit the charging current to
about 50 to 100 mA , and the generator
capacitance C is chosen such that the
product CRs is about 10 s to 1 min.
The gap spacing is chosen such that the
breakdown voltage of the gap G is greater
than the charging voltage V.
Thus, all the capacitances are charged to
the voltage V in about 1 minute
CONTD
When the impulse generator is to be
discharged, the gaps G are made to spark
over simultaneously by some external
means.
The discharge time constant will be very
very small (microseconds), compared to
the charging time constant .
Hence, no discharge takes place through
the charging resistors Rs.
CONTD

Impulse generators are nominally rated

by the total voltage (nominal), the
number of stages, and the gross energy
stored.
The nominal output voltage is the
number of stages multiplied by the
charging voltage.
The nominal energy stored is given as
1/2 C1V2 .
CONTD
16-stage impulse generator having a stage
capacitance of 0.280 Micro Farad and a
maximum charging voltage of 300 kV will
have an energy rating of 192 kW sec.

The height of the generator will be about

15 m and will occupy a floor area of
about 3.25 x 3.00 m.
Components of a Multistage
Impulse Generator
DC Charging Set: Giving a variable DC
voltage of either polarity to charge the
generator capacitors.
Charging Resistors: These will be non-
inductive high value resistors of about 10 to
100 kilo-ohms.
Each resistor will be designed to have a
maximum voltage between 50 and 100 kV.
CONTD
Generator Capacitors and Spark
Gaps :
These are arranged vertically one over
the other with all the spark gaps aligned.
The capacitors are designed for several
charging and discharging operations.
The capacitors will be capable of giving 10
kA of current.
The spark gaps will be usually spheres or
hemispheres of 10 to 25 cm diameter
CONTD
Wave-shaping Resistors and capacitors :
Resistors will be non-inductive wound type
and should be capable of discharging
impulse currents of 1000 A or more.
Each resistor will be designed for a
maximum voltage of 50 to 100 kV.
Resistors will be non-inductive wound type
and should be capable of discharging impulse
currents of 1000 A or more. Each resistor
will be designed for a maximum voltage of
50 to 100 kV
CONTD
The load capacitor may be of compressed
gas or oil filled with a capacitance of 1 to
10 Micro Farad.
A commercial impulse voltage generator
uses six sets of resistors ranging from 1.0
ohm to about 160 ohms with different
combinations.
The resistors used are usually resin cast
with voltage and energy ratings of 200 to
250 kV and 2.0 to 5.0 kWsec.
CONTD
Triggering System: This consists of
trigger spark gaps to cause spark
breakdown of the gaps.
Voltage Dividers: Voltage dividers of
either damped capacitor or resistor type
and an oscilloscope with recording
arrangement are provided for
measurement of the voltages across the
test object.
Generation of Switching Surges
A switching surge is a short duration
transient voltage produced in the system
due to a sudden opening or closing of a
switch or circuit breaker or due to an
arcing at a fault in the system.
Now-a-days in extra high voltage
transmission lines and power systems,
switching surge is an important factor
that affects the design of insulation.
CONTD.
The transient voltage may be an
oscillatory wave or a damped oscillatory
wave of frequency ranging from few
hundred hertz to few kilo hertz.
Switching surges contain larger energy
than the lightning impulse voltages.
CONTD
Several circuits have been adopted for
producing switching surges.
They are grouped as
* impulse generator circuit
modified to give longer duration wave
shapes.
* power transformers or
testing transformers excited by DC
voltages giving oscillatory waves and
these include Tesla coils.
Impulse generator circuits modified
to give switching surges
CONTD
The arrangement is the same as that of an
impulse generator.
The values of R 1 & R2 producing Wave
shapes of long duration are range from 1 to
5 kilo-ohms and 5 to 20 kilo-ohms
respectively.
R1 is about 20 to 30% of R2 .
The values of the charging resistors R1 are to
be increased to very high values as these will
come in parallel with R2 in the discharge
circuit.
CONTD
With the use of an inductor L, the value of
R1 is considerably reduced, and the
efficiency of the generator increases.
The damped oscillations may have a
frequency of 1 to 10 kHz depending on the
circuit parameters.
Usually, the maximum value of the switching
surge obtained is 250 to 300 kV with an
impulse generator having a nominal rating of
1000 kV and 25 kW sec.
sphere gap was included in parallel with the
lest object for voltage measurement and
also for producing chopped waves.
Circuit for producing switching surges using
a transformer
CONTD
An impulse generator condenser C
charged to a low voltage DC (20 to 25 kV)
is discharged into the low voltage winding
of a power or testing transformer.
The high voltage winding is connected in
parallel to a load capacitance C2 a
potential divider R2 a sphere gap S, and
the test object.
Through an autotransformer action,
switching surge of proper wave shape can
be generated across test object.
 MuIti Test Sets for High Voltage
Testing
In many small laboratories like in the teaching
institutions, small industries and utility
organizations, the requirements of high
voltages may be less than about 200 kV, 50 Hz,
AC and 400 KV DC and 400 kV standard
lightning and switching impulse voltages.
For such applications, flexible and universally
interchangeable modular systems of the above
voltage and energy ratings are available under
different trade names.
CONTD
A.C.Testing Transformers:
With continuous power ratings of 3 to 5 kVA
with a short time rating about 150%.
The unit can be one single transformer of up
to 100 kV(RMS), or 2 or 3 units connected in
cascade with voltage ratings up to 300
Kv(rms).
D.C Units: D.C sets are available as
multi-stage voltage doubler units with one
pulse output, or as a quad ampler unit of
up to 400 kV rating with the same
specifications.
CONTD
Impulse Voltage Units:
Marx circuit of 2 to 4 stages can be assumed
using the transformer and d.c. Rectifier unit
described earlier for an output voltage of about
400 kV(peak) using a one stage rectifier unit.
The necessary wave front and wave tail resistors
and load capacitances are normally provided.
By having increased number of units the system can
be expanded to obtain higher and desired type of
voltage.
The units can be mounted on wheels or located
permanently in a test hall of size 4m x 3m x 3m
 Generation of High Impulse
Currents
Lightening discharges involve both high
voltage impulses and high current
impulses on transmission lines.
Protective gear like surge diverters have
to discharge the lightning currents
without damage.
Basic Circuit of an impulse current
generator
Arrangement of capacitors for high
impulse current generation
 Circuit for Producing Impulse Current
Waves
For producing impulse currents of large value, a bank
of capacitors connected in parallel are charged to a
specified value and are discharged through a series R-
L circuit.
C represents a bank of capacitors connected in
parallel which are charged from a d.c. source to a
voltage up to 200 kV.
R represents the dynamic resistance of the test object
and the resistance of the circuit.
L is an air cored high current inductor, usually a spiral
tube of a few turns
Contd
If the capacitor is charged to a voltage V
and discharged when the spark gap is
triggered, the current im will be given by
the equation..
Contd
It can be shown that the maximum value of
im is normally independent of the value of V
and C for a given energy W= 1/2 CV2 .
low inductance is needed in order to get
high current magnitudes for a given
charging voltage V.
Generation of High Impulse Currents
For producing large values of impulse
currents, a number of capacitors are
charged in parallel and discharged in
parallel into the circuit.
In order to minimize the effective
inductance, the capacitors are subdivided
into smaller units.
Contd
If there are n1 groups of capacitors, each
consisting of n2 units and if L0 is the
inductance of the common discharge
path, L1 is that of each group and L2 is
that of each unit, then the effective
inductance L is given by
The essential parts of an impulse
current generator are
DC charging unit : giving a variable voltage to
the capacitor bank,
capacitors : * value (0.5 to 5 microfarad )
* capable of giving high short
circuit currents
additional air cored inductor
proper shunts and oscillograph for
measurement purposes,
triggering unit
spark gap: initiation of the current generator
Generation of Rectangular Current
Pulses
Generation of rectangular current pulses of
high magnitudes can be done by discharging
a pulse network or cable .
The length of a cable or an equivalent pulse
forming network is charged to a specified DC
voltage.
When the spark gap is short-circuited, the
cable or pulse network discharges through
the test object.
set-up for producing rectangular
current pulses
Contd
To produce a rectangular pulse, a coaxial
cable of surge impedance Z0 is used.
If the cable is charged to a voltage V and
discharged through the test object of
resistance R, the current pulse i is
generated.
In practice, it is difficult to get a coaxial cable
of sufficient capacitance and length.
Often artificial transmission lines with
lumped L and C are used.
Usually, 6 to 9 L-C sections will be sufficient
to give good rectangular waves.
Contd
The duration of the pulse time is given by
t = 2 (n -1) LC,
where n - the number of sections used,
C - capacitance per stage or section
L -inductance per stage or section.
 TRIPPING AND CONTROL
OF IMPULSE GENERATORS
In large impulse generators, the spark gaps
are generally sphere gaps or gaps formed
by hemispherical electrodes.
The gaps are arranged such that sparking of
one gap results in automatic sparking of
other gaps as overvoltage is impressed on
the other.
In order to have consistency in sparking, an
ultra-violet lamp is provided from the
bottom to all the gaps.
Contd.
To trip the generator at a predetermined
time, the spark gaps may be mounted on
a movable frame, and the gap distance is
reduced by moving the movable
electrodes closer.

This method is difficult and does not

assure consistent and controlled tripping.
Tripping of an impulse generator
with a three electrode gap
Contd
A simple method of controlled tripping
consists of making the first gap a three
electrode gap and firing it from a
controlled source.
The first stage of the impulse generator is
fitted with a three electrode gap.
central electrode is maintained at a
potential in between that of the top and
the bottom electrodes with the resistors
R1 and RL.
Contd..
The tripping is initiated by applying a
pulse to the thyratron G by closing the
switch S.
The capacitor C produces an exponentially
decaying pulse of positive polarity.
The thyratron conducts on receiving the
pulse from the switch S and produces a
negative pulse through the capacitance
C1 at the central electrode of the three
electrode gap
Contd.
Hence, the voltage between the central
electrode and the top electrode of the
three electrode gap goes above its
sparking potential and thus the gap
conducts.
The resistance R2 ensures decoupling of
voltage oscillations produced at the spark
gap entering the oscilloscope through the
common trip circuit.
Tripping circuit using a trigatron
Contd
Trigatron gap requires much smaller
voltage for operation compared to the
three electrode gap.
It consists of a high voltage spherical
electrode, an earthed main spherical
shape electrode and a trigger electrode.
The trigger electrode is a metal rod with
an annular clearance of about 1 mm
fitted into the main electrode through a
bushing.
Contd..
Tripping of the impulse generator is effected
by a trip pulse which produces a spark
between the trigger electrode and the
earthed sphere.
Due to space charge effects and distortion of
the field in the main gap, spark over of the
main gap occurs.
The trigatron gap is polarity sensitive and
a proper polarity pulse should be applied
for correct operation.
 Three Electrode Gap for
Impulse Current Generator
Contd..
In the case of impulse current generators
using three electrode gaps for tripping and
control, a certain special design is needed.
The electrodes have to carry high current
from the capacitor bank.
Secondly, the electrode has to switch large
currents in a small duration of time (in about
a microsecond).
Therefore, the switch should have very low
Inductance.
For high current capacitor banks, a number of
spark gap switches connected in parallel.
Contd
Recently, trigatron gaps are being
replaced by triggered vacuum gaps.

being fast switching at high currents

Triggering of the spark gaps by focused

laser beams .
performance is better than the
conventional triggering methods.