Degree of Uniformity of Electric Fields (η)

• The degree of uniformity η (eta), introduced

by Schwaiger in 1922 as measure of the
uniformity of a field

Emean and Emax are the values of the mean and the maximum field
intensities in a dielectric respectively.
U is the peak value of potential difference applied between the
two electrodes at a distance d apart.
 Geometrical characteristic factor
• Schwaiger also introduced a factor “ p ” , the
geometrical characteristic factor for electrode
configurations.
• He established that it is possible to represent
η as a function of “ p ” described as

where r is the smallest radius of curvature of electrodes, and d the shortest

gap distance between the two electrodes under consideration
For some common and practical electrode configurations, above
equation is represented graphically – known as Schwaiger
Curves. (class discussion from sec. 2.3.1, Ravindra Arora, ref. book)
 Stress Control in Dielectrics
• More uniform the field i.e., Schwaiger Factor(η) closer
to 1, better is the utilization of the dielectric.
• Non-uniform field causes higher electric stress in the
dielectric.
• Methods to reduce stress in the dielectric:
-Shaping the conductors to reduce stress
concentrations
-Insertion of higher dielectric strength insulation at
higher stress points
-Selection of materials appropriate permittivity's to
obtain more uniform voltage gradients
 Stress Control in Dielectrics
• It is possible to achieve a higher degree of uniformity of fields
by giving suitable shapes and sizes to various electrodes in an
equipment.
• Borda profile achieves a lower field intensity beyond the main
field region than the Rogowski profile – space requirement is
also is lower.
 Stress Control in Dielectrics
• Electrodes at high potentials in labs are given
large, smooth, dome-like bodies or other shapes,
like toroid rings, to bring down the electric stress
on the atmospheric air (dielectric).

• Modern trend in such electrode design includes

“segmented electrodes ”

• These constitute a number of small, identical,

smooth discs brought together to give rise to a
large desired continuous shape.
 Stress Control in Dielectrics
• Sharp contacts are often enveloped by a large diameter
hemispherical electrode having an aperture, or provided
with concentric toroidal rings (doughnut shaped rings).

• Tubular electrodes of large diameters are used for the

connections at sub -stations and high voltage laboratories,
which bring down the field intensity at higher voltages
considerably.

• Large spheres used at bends are provided with smooth

holes for the connection of these circular and tubular
electrodes.
 HV
dc test
equipment
Segmented Electrodes
Tubular Conductors used in Substations
Stress cone on a screened (shielded) cable end termination
 End of Unit-1 (Introduction)
……………………………………………….
Unit-2 (Gaseous Dielectrics and Vacuum)
 Objectives
• Properties of gaseous dielectrics
• Mechanism of the generation of charge
carriers
• Development of Electron Avalanche -
Townsend’s current growth equation
• Breakdown Mechanism in Uniform, weakly
non-uniform, and extremely non-uniform
fields
 Fundamentals of Breakdown in Gaseous Insulation
• Air: main insulating material used in outdoor power
systems

• SF6: more expensive than air; used in metal clad GIS

• Gases are good insulators at NTP as the electrons are not

mobile

• With high E —> ionization —> prod. electrons —> flow of

current flow of current leads to electrical discharges

• Discharges may lead to sparks (low energy discharges) or

arcs (high energy discharges)

• Lightning is a natural example of high energy discharge

 Fundamentals of Breakdown in Gaseous Insulation
• The gases used as dielectrics are classified into two main
groups - electropositive and electronegative

• The electropositive gas molecules try to give up electrons

forming positive ions

• In electronegative gases the molecules absorb free

electrons forming negative ions.

• The largest percentage content of atmospheric air is

nitrogen (about 78%), which is an electropositive gas.

• The second largest constituent is oxygen (about 20%),

which is a very weak electronegative gas - for all practical
purposes the air can be considered as an electropositive
gas.
 Fundamentals of Breakdown in Gaseous Insulation
• Among electronegative gases, sulphur
hexafluoride (SF6) is now used most extensively
as a dielectric.

• Much theoretical as well as experimental

research work, has been performed on air to
study the complicated discharge processes in
gaseous dielectrics.

• Therefore, scientists have chosen air to develop

“breakdown mechanisms” for gaseous dielectrics
 Ionisation in Gaseous Dielectrics

• consider uniform field between

electrodes

• space is filled by loosely bound gas

atoms or molecules

• ionisation is initiated by free

electrons (produced by cosmic
radiation)

• Cosmic radiation consists of high-

energy charged particles, x-rays and
gamma rays produced in space.

• free electrons get accelerated in the

field - accelerated electron may
collide against an atom or molecule -
the collision can be elastic or non-
elastic

number of new electrons = number of +Ve ions

 Ionisation in Gaseous Dielectrics

• In elastic collision, energy is conserved

• In non-elastic collision, say, electron—atom, electron’s KE

gets converted to PE or heat
- i.e. KE of colliding electron may push or excite an
electron in the atom from lower orbit to upper orbit
—> PE gain
- or KE of colliding electron may cause vibration of
atom —> heat

• If this PE gain > ionization energy of gas atom

- then one or more electrons may leave their orbits
- atom will lose a negative charge, thus becoming a
positive ion
 Ionisation in Gaseous Dielectrics

• more the density of atoms, more will be electron collisions

• besides electron collision, ionisation is also effected by:
- thermal ionization due to heating
- photo ionisation due to photons which are emitted
when excited electrons return to their normal orbits
 Avalanche formation: Townsend’s primary ionization
coefficient (α)
• α = number of ionising collisions per unit length travel of 1
electron
• if ’n’ electrons move over a distance ‘dx’ & create ‘dn' new
electrons (note that ‘dn’ new positive ions are formed) then,
dn = α n dx
dn/n = α dx
ln n = αx + A
now at x = 0 (at cathode), n = n0, so that ln n0 =A
i.e. ln n = αx + A = αx + ln n0
ln n/n0 = αx
n = n0.eαx
i.e an exponential increase
where n0 = initial electrons at the cathode; x = length of the
discharge measured from cathode
 Avalanche formation: Townsend’s primary ionization
coefficient (α)
• n = n0.eαx - Number of electrons and +ve ions increases
exponentially with ‘x’

• Such a charge buildup/formation is called an avalanche

• Avalanche consists of fast moving electrons at front and slow

+Ve ions at the tail
 Avalanche formation: Townsend’s primary ionization
coefficient (α)
The discharges shown above are non-self-sustaining, which
means
- process stops when initiating electrons cease to appear
- such avalanches alone cannot lead to flashover
- a feedback process is needed to develop into a flashover
- in other words initiating electrons are continuously required
Secondary processes, such as ion impact at cathode or photo-
ionization, provide the required feedback of fresh initiating
electrons
Electronegative gases, attachment and de-ionization
• Certain gases have the property of electronegativity or
electron affinity i.e. free electrons are attracted and
become attached to molecules/atoms of gas forming
negative ions

• Attachment affects process of electron multiplication

and avalanche formation

• The attachment process is represented by the

attachment coefficient “ηa”

• ηa = number of attachments per unit length travel of 1

electron
Electronegative gases, attachment and de-ionization
• Allowing for attachment processes, the Townsend
avalanche eq. now becomes
n = no.e(α-ηa)x
• electron multiplication is thus less for electro-ve gases

• for ηa > α exponent is -ve and avalanche is terminated

• From power system point of view, the most important

electro-ve gas is SF6 (and O2 in case of air insulation)

• SF6 gas is used extensively as an insulating medium in

gas-insulated systems and also in circuit breakers
 Townsend discharges (ideal progression)

• Involves formation of avalanche

• replenishment of electrons by secondary
ionization process
• photo-ionization and/or cathode
bombardment by +Ve ions
• conductivity of the gas increases - discharge
current flows and flashover occurs
 Townsend’s 2nd ionization coefficient γ

• Cathode emission: thermionic or by photons or by ion impact

• In the above case new electrons are emitted by +ve ion
impact
• Each +ve ion releases γ new electrons upon cathode-impact
• γ is defined as Townsend's second ionisation coefficient
• γ = number of electrons released at cathode by impact of one
+ve ion.
Townsend breakdown criterion (derivation)
 Townsend breakdown criterion (derivation)
k = no. electrons in gas space
= no. of +ve ions liberated that can reach the cathode
 Townsend breakdown criterion (derivation)
• replacing ’n’ by ‘I’ the current at anode becomes:
I = I0eαd/{1- γ(eαd — 1)}

• current becomes infinite if

1- γ(eαd — 1) = 0
or γ(eαd — 1) = 1
or γ eαd ≈ 1

normally γ eαd >> 1

• Theoretically, current (I) can become infinitely large but

practically it is limited by external R and drop across arc
 Townsend breakdown criterion (derivation)
• γ(eαd — 1) = 1 defines condition for spark or
breakdown

• γ(eαd — 1) = 1 is known as Townsend breakdown

criterion valid for uniform gaps at low pressures

• population of electrons will grow if

γ(eαd −1) > 1
eαd > (1/γ)+1
Thus at flashover: αd > ln(1/γ +1)
Townsend breakdown mechanism schematic
 Shortcomings of Townsend’s Theory
• According to Townsend’s generation mechanism, the drift
velocity of electrons determines the time required for
breakdown by normal avalanche propagation in a few
generations.

• The estimated time required for breakdown in comparatively

longer gap distances by this theory was too long, contrary to
the actual time measured experimentally (Raether, 1939)

• This necessitated a novel breakdown mechanism suitable for

longer gap distances in uniform fields that could not be
explained by the Townsend mechanism.
As per Raether’s theory, the space
charge of the avalanche itself
produces a field instability.

Streamer breakdown mechanism

describes the development of
breakdown directly from a single
avalanche.

The space charge development

within the avalanche due to rapid
growth of charge carriers
transforms it into a conducting
channel.

The interaction between the space

charges and the polarities of the
electrodes result in distortion of
the uniform field.
Schematic of a cathode directed streamer breakdown - development stages

When the avalanche extends across the gap, the electrons are swept
into the anode, and the positive ions in the tail of the avalanche
stretch out across the gap
 Schematic of a cathode directed streamer breakdown - development stages

In the gas surrounding the avalanche, secondary electrons are produced by photons and
photoelectric effect at the cathode.

The secondary electrons initiate the secondary avalanches, which are directed toward
the stem of the main avalanche
Schematic of a cathode directed streamer breakdown - development stages

The positive ions left behind by the secondary avalanches effectively lengthen and
intensify the space charge of the main avalanche in the direction of the cathode
and the process develops in the form of a self - propagating streamer breakdown.
Critical number of ions in streamer avalanche for n0=1 (avalanche initiated by
single electron) is nearly 5x108 = e20
i.e. αxc= 20, with xc the critical avalanche length (for uniform gaps)

for non-uniform gaps

Flashover of uniform gaps: effect of pressure & gap length
(Paschen’s Law)

• In small uniform air-gaps, at NTP, breakdown occurs ~ 30 kV/ cm

• In such gaps Townsend flashover mechanism prevails (at 1 Atm

=760 Torr)

• At lower pressures (few tens of Torr)

‣ gas molecules are less densely packed
‣ mean free path between collisions is longer
‣ electrons attain higher speeds before colliding
‣ Probability of collision (avalanche formation) increases
‣ lower flashover voltage for the same gap
Flashover of uniform gaps: effect of pressure & gap length
(Paschen’s Law)

• At very low pressures (such as Vacuum - milli to

micro Torr)
‣the gas atoms are far apart
‣that the collision probability is low
‣ionisation and flashover takes place at a
much higher voltage values

• Paschen did extensive studies on the flashover

voltages at different pressures and gap distances
Flashover of uniform gaps: effect of pressure & gap length
(Paschen’s Law)

• α (Townsend’s first ionization coefficient)is an

indication of the ionization probability of a gas

• α depends on the applied field strength E and the gas

pressure p

where A and B are constants, unique for each gas

γ(eαd—1) = 1 is known as Townsend breakdown criterion valid for
uniform gaps at low pressures (discussed in previous slides). Therefore,
αd = k = ln (1+1/ γ) (a constant) at breakdown.

combining the previous equation with “αd = k”we get

αd = Ap exp(−Bp / E) d = k

Substituting E = V/d into this equation

αd = Apd exp(−Bpd /V ) = k

solving for V, we get a relation for breakdown voltage VC :

The relation led to the formulation of Paschen's law

Paschen's Law: The flashover voltage of a uniform field gap is a

function of the product of gap length and gas pressure
Breakdown voltage vs pd characteristic in uniform field
(Paschen’s curve)