AIR UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

EXPERIMENT NO 12

Lab Title: Generation and measurement of direct voltage - II

Student Name: Reg. No:
Objective:

LAB ASSESSMENT:

Excellent Good Average Satisfactory Unsatisfactory

Attributes (5) (4) (3) (2) (1)
Ability to Conduct
Experiment

Ability to assimilate the

results

Effective use of lab

equipment and follows the
lab safety rules

Total Marks: Obtained Marks:

LAB REPORT ASSESSMENT:

Excellent Good Average Satisfactory Unsatisfactory

Attributes
(5) (4) (3) (2) (1)
Data presentation

Experimental results

Conclusion

Total Marks: Obtained Marks:

Date: Signature:
Experiment 09

Generation and measurement of direct voltage - II

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS!!!

It is important and essential that all participants familiarize themselves and strictly follow
all safety precautions.

Objectives:
High direct voltages are necessary for testing insulation systems, for charging capacitive storage devices
and for many other applications in physics and technology. The topics covered in this experiment are:

 Greinacher voltage doubler circuit.

 Polarity effect.

Note: Extra care is essential in direct voltage experiments, since the high-voltage capacitors in many
circuits retain their full voltage, for a long time even after disconnection. Earthing regulations are to
be strictly observed. Even unused capacitors can acquire dangerous charges!

High direct voltages required for testing purposes are mostly produced from high alternating voltages
by rectification and wherever necessary subsequent multiplication. An important basic circuit for this
purpose is the Greinacher doubler-circuit which can at the same time be considered as the basic unit
of the Greinacher cascade. The transient performance of this circuit when switched on can be
observed in the voltage curves. After switching the transformer on the potential of nodes "a" and "b"
increase in accordance with the capacitive voltage division, since V2 conducts. At t2 the diode V1
prevents the potential of node “a” from falling below zero. Within the time t2 to t3 a current flow
through V1 which reverses the charge on capacitor C1. At t4 voltage division takes place once more
and the entire process is repeated until steady-state condition is reached.

“a” from falling below zero. Within the time t2 to t3 a current flow through V1 which reverses the
charge on capacitor C1. At t4 voltage division takes place once more and the entire process is repeated
until steady-state condition is reached.
Equipment:

Recommended external equipment:

General Purpose Digital Storage Oscilloscope
Test setup:

Procedure:
1. Verify the earthing connections are secure and earth resistance is within the limits. Use MEGGER
meter to measure the earth resistance.
2. Make sure all safety precautions are taken cared of before turning on the panel.
3. Make sure that ELCB breaker (installed at the input of panel power supply) is working properly.
4. Setup the equipment as shown in figure.
5. Connect the oscilloscope with the AC/DC peak Voltmeter to display the waveform of Dc voltage
measured on the meter.
6. Make sure that discharge rod is placed in front of the cage entrance, so that anyone entering the
cage must pick up the rod for capacitor discharging.
7. Press the power on button and start increasing the input voltage of transformer by using the
voltage regulator controls and measure the output voltage using the AC/DC Peak voltmeter or by
using the Voltmeters provided on the panels. (You may also control the voltage regulating speed
using the rotary control switch). Record the readings in the table and save the waveforms
displayed on the oscilloscope.
8. Decrease the input voltage to lower limit, power of the panel and carefully discharge the
measuring capacitor using the discharge rod.
9. For the second part of for point – plane polarity effect, you can change the polarity by reversing
the anode/cathode terminals of the diodes used.
10. While observing the polarity effect, you will hear continuous hissing sound just before complete
breakdown of the air between electrodes. This hissing sound is produced by “Corona Discharge”
happening between the electrodes, which initiates when you have applied sufficient breakdown
voltages. The amplitude of the hissing sound will keep on increasing as voltage applied increases
and finally resulting in a continuous flashover between the electrodes.
11. After the flashover has occurred, reduce the applied voltage to zero and wait for a little while for
the capacitor voltage to drop to zero and then use grounding switch to make sure capacitor is
completely discharged. Else if you ground the capacitor directly after switching off input supply
using grounding switch, there will be a huge spark and a huge noise will be produced and a lot of
current will flow towards ground terminal, which should be avoided as much as possible.
12. Record the readings for different gap spacing’s for a single polarity and then switch the polarity
by reversing the direction of diodes and repeat all the steps.
13. Plot the recorded values in Gap vs. Breakdown Voltage graph and clearly mention the polarity
used for each graph.
14. For any queries regarding the use of any equipment, user manual may be consulted provided by
the equipment supplier.
Results:

Gap Spacing’s Breakdown Values for Breakdown Values for

( mm ) Positive Polarity (KV) Negative Polarity (KV)
10

20

30

40

Plots:

 Breakdown voltages vs gap settings for Positive polarity:

 Breakdown voltages vs gap settings for Negative polarity:

  Breakdown voltages vs gap settings for both polarities:

Observations and discussion:

 Write your observations about this experiment.

Conclusion: