High Voltage Engineering

Breakdown Phenomena

Module 1

ELECTRICAL AND
ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
Dwarakanath S K

SJB
I NS T I T U T E O F T EC H O LO G Y
MODULE 1
BREAKDOWN MECHANISM OF GASEOUS, LIQUID AND SOLID MATERIALS

Classification of HV insulating media. Properties of important HV insulating media under each

category. Gaseous dielectrics: Ionizations: primary and secondary ionization processes. Criteria for
gaseous insulation breakdown based on Townsend’s theory. Limitations of Townsend’s theory.
Streamer’s theory breakdown in non uniform fields. Corona discharges. Breakdown in electro negative

1
SECTION 1

CLASSIFICATION OF BREAKDOWN
Content

1. Classification of Breakdown
Mechanism

The most important material used in high voltage apparatus is ing to very high values. The electric breakdown strength of insu-
the insulation The principle media of insulation used are Gases/ lating materials depends on the following parameters.
Vaccum, Liquid and Solid or a combination of these
1) Pressure
(Composite).The dielectric strength of an insulating material is
defined as the maximum dielectric stress which the material can 2) Temperature
withstand. It is also the voltage at which the current starts increas-
3) Humidity

2
4) Field Configurations (iii) The electrical conductivity

5) Nature of applied voltage Other important properties are viscosity, thermal stability, specific
gravity, flash point etc. The most important factors which affect the
6) Imperfection in dielectric materials
dielectric strength of oil are the, presence of fine water droplets
7) Materials of electrodes and the fibrous impurities. The presence of even 0.01% water in oil
brings down the dielectric strength to 20% of the dry oil value and
8) Surface conditions of electrodes etc the presence of fibrous impurities brings down the dielectric
PROPERTIES OF IMPORTANT HV INSULATING MEDIA strength much sharply. Therefore, whenever these oils are used for
providing electrical insulation, these should be free from moisture,
The various properties required for providing insulation and arc products of oxidation and other contaminants.
interruption are:
GASES AS INSULATING MEDIA
(i) High dielectric strength.
1.The simplest and the most commonly found dielectrics are gases.
(ii) Thermal and chemical stability
2.Most of the electrical apparatus use air as the insulating medium,
(iii) Non-inflammability. and in a few cases other gases such as nitrogen (N^, carbon diox-
ide (CO^, freon (CC12F2) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF$) are also
(iv) High thermal conductivity. This assists cooling of current carry-
used. Various phenomena occur in gaseous dielectrics when a volt-
ing conductors immersed in the gas and also assists the arc-
age is applied.
extinction process.
3.When the applied voltage is low, small currents flow between the
(v) Arc extinguishing ability. It should have a low dissociation tem-
electrodes and the insulation retains its electrical properties.
perature, a short thermal time constant (ratio of energy contained
in an arc column at any instant to the rate of energy dissipation at 4.On the other hand, if the applied voltages are large, the current
the same instant) and should not produce conducting products flowing through the insulation increases very sharply, and an elec-
such as carbon during arcing. trical breakdown occurs.

The three most important properties of liquid dielectric are 5.The maximum voltage applied to the insulation at the moment of
breakdown is called the breakdown voltage.
(i) The dielectric strength
6.The electrical discharges in gases are of two types, i.e. (O non-
(ii) The dielectric constant and
sustaining discharges, and (U) self-sustaining types.

3
7.The breakdown in a gas, called spark breakdown is the transition All collision that occur in practice are inelastic collision.
of a non-sustaining discharge into a self-sustaining discharge. The
Example : ionization attachment excitation recombination or inelas-
build-up of high currents in a breakdown is due to the process
tic collision.
known as ionization in which electrons and ions are created from
neutral atoms or molecules, and their migration to the anode and
cathode respectively leads to high currents. At present two types of
theories, viz. (i) Townsend theory, and (U) Streamer theory are
Interactive 1.1 Breakdown Mechanism
known which explain the mechanism for breakdown under differ-
ent conditions. The various physical conditions of gases, namely,
pressure, temperature, electrode field configuration, nature of elec-
trode surfaces, and the availability of initial conducting particles
are known to govern the ionization processes.!

Collision process

An electric discharge is normally created from unionised gas by col-

lision process

Types of collision

Elastic collision

Elastic collision are collisions which when occur no change it takes

place in the internal energy of the particles but only their kinetic
energy Re distributed

Inelastic collision

Inelastic collision on the other hand is those in which internal

changes in energy take place within an atom and molecule at the
expenses of the total kinetic energy of the colliding particle.

The collision and often results in a change in the structure of the

atom.

4
Ionization process Townsend introduced a coefficient α known as Townsend’s first
ionization coefficient and is defined as the number of electrons pro-
1.A gas and its normal state is almost the perfect insulation.
duced by an electron per unit length of path in the direction of
2.When High Voltage is applied between the two electrodes im- field. Let n0 be the number of electrons leaving the cathode and
mersed in a gaseous medium that gas becomes conductor and an when these have moved through a distance x from the cathode,
electrical breakdown occurs these become n.

3.The process that are primarily responsible for the breakdown of Now when these n electrons move through a distance dx produce
gas ionization by collision photo ionization and the secondary ioni-
zation process

4.In the process of ionization by collision a free electron collides

with the natural gas molecule and gives rise to a new electron and
a positive ion

Townsends 1st theory

Current growth equation

additional dn electrons due to collision. Therefore,
If we consider a low pressure gas column in which an

electric field E is applied across two plane parallel electrodes, as

shown in Fig.no of electrons emitted from the cathode

Where, A is the atom, A+IS the positive ion and e~ is the electron.

5
 Class E ! 120°C ! Polyethylene, terephthalate, cellulose trice-
trate, polyvinyl acetate enamel

Class B ! 130°C ! Bakelite, bituminised asbestos, fibre glass,

mica, polyester enamel

Class F ! 155°C ! As class B but with epoxy based resin

Class H ! 180°C ! As class B with silicon resin binder silicone

rubber, aromatic polyamide (nomex paper and fibre), polyimide
film (enamel, varnish and film) and estermide enamel

Class C Above ! 180°C,! as class B but with suitable non-organic

binders, teflon and other high temperature polymers.

Where Io is initial current at the cathode the term is called “ elec- Applications of insulation material
tron avalanche & it represents the no electrons produced by elec-
Power transformer, Circuit Breaker, Rotating machines, power ca-
trons travelling from cathode to anode.
bles, power capacitors, capacitor bushings.
Classification of HV insulating material

International Electrotechincal Commission has categories various

insulating materials depending

upon the temperature of operations of the equipments under the

following categories.

Class Y ! 90°C !Natural rubber, PVC, paper cotton, silk without im-
pregnation.

Class A ! 105°C ! Same as class Y but impregnated

6
 From the equation

In an experiment in a certain gas it was found that the steady state

current is 5.5 x 10^-8 A at 8 kV at a distance of 0.4 cm between the
plane electrodes. Keeping the field constant and reducing the dis-
tance to 0.1 cm results in a current of 5.5 x 10^-9A. Calculate Town-
send's primary ionization coefficient α

This is a straight line equation with slope α and intercept ln I0 as

shown in Fig. 1.3 if for a given

pressure p, E is kept constant. Townsend in his earlier investiga-

tions had observed that the current in parallel plate gap increased
more rapidly with increase in voltage as compared to the one given
by the above equation. To explain this departure from linearity,
Townsend suggested that a second mechanism must be affecting
the current. He postulated that the additional current must be due
to the presence of positive ions and the photons. The positive ions
TOWNSEND SECOND IONIZATION COEFFICIENT will liberate electrons by collision with gas molecules and by bom-
bardment against the cathode. Similarly, the photons will also re-

7
lease electrons after collision with gas molecules and from the cath-
ode after photon impact.

Let us consider the phenomenon of self-sustained discharge where

the electrons are released

from the cathode by positive ion bombardment. Let n0 be the num-

ber of electrons released from the cathode by ultraviolet radiation,
n+ the number of electrons released from the cathode due to posi-
tive ion bombardment and n the number of electrons reaching the
anode. Let ν, known as Townsend second ionization co-efficient be
defined as the number of electrons released from cathode per inci-
dent positive ion, Then

Now total number of electrons released from the cathode is (n0 +

n+) and those reaching the

anode are n, therefore, the number of electrons released from the

gas = n – (n0 + n+), and corresponding to each electron released
from the gas there will be one positive ion and assuming each posi-
tive ion releases ν effective electrons from the cathode then TOWNSEND BREAKDOWN MECHANISM

When voltage between the anode and cathode is increased, the cur-
rent at the anode is given by

8
 Therefore, the condition νeαd = 1 defines the threshold sparking
condition.

(2) νeαd > 1

Here ionization produced by successive avalanche is cumulative.

The spark discharge grows

more rapidly the more νeαd exceeds unity.

(3) νeαd < 1

the current in the anode equals the current in the external cirrcuit. Here the current I is not self-sustained i.e., on removal of the
Theoretically the current becomes infinitely large under the above source the current I0 ceases to flow.
mentioned condition but practically it is limited by the resistance
STREAMER THEORY OF BREAKDOWN IN GASES (Limita-
of the external circuit and partially by the voltage drop in the arc.
tion of Townsend)
The condition νeαd = 1 defines the condition for beginning of
spark and is known as the Townsend criterion for spark formation Townsend mechanism when applied to breakdown at atmospheric
or Townsend breakdown criterion. Using the above equations, the pressure was found to have certain drawbacks. Firstly, according to
following three conditions are possible. the Townsend theory, current growth occurs as a result of ioniza-
tion processes only. But in practice, breakdown voltages were
(1) νeαd =1
found to depend on the gas pressure and the geometry of the gap.
The number of ion pairs produced in the gap by the passage of arc Secondly, the mechanism predicts time lags of the order of 1(T5S,
electron avalanche is sufficiently large and the resulting positive while in actual practice breakdown was observed to occur at very
ions on bombarding the cathode are able to relase one short times of the order of 1(T8S. Also, while the Townsend mecha-
nism predicts a very diffused form of discharge, in actual practice,
secondary electron and so cause a repetition of the avalanche proc- discharges were found to be filamentary and irregular. The Town-
ess. The discharge is then said send mechanism failed to explain all these observed phenomena
to be self-sustained as the discharge will sustain itself even if the and as a result, around 1940, Raether and, Meek and Loeb inde-
source producing I0 is removed. pendently proposed the Streamer theory. The theories predict the
development of a spark discharge directly from a single avalanche
in which the space charge developed by the avalanche itself is said

9
to transform the avalanche into a plasma streamer. Consider Fig. proaches the cathode, a cathode spot is formed and a stream of elec-
2.12. trons rush from the cathode to neutralize the positive space charge
in the streamer; the result is a spark, and

the spark breakdown has occurred. The three successive stages in

the development of the streamer are shown diagrammatically in
Fig. 2.13 in which (a) shows the stage when avalanche has crossed
the gap, (b) shows that the streamer has crossed half the gap
length, and (c) shows that the gap has been bridged by a conduct-
ing channel.

Meek proposed a simple quantitative criterion to estimate the elec-

tric field that transforms an avalanche into a streamer. The field Er
produced by the space charge, at the radius r, is given by

A single electron starting at the cathode by ionization builds up an

avalanche that crosses the gap. The electrons in the avalanche where a is Townsend's first ionization coefficient, p is the gas pres-
move very fast compared with the positive ions. By the time the sure in torr, and x is the distance to which the streamer has ex-
electrons reach the anode the positive ions are virtually in their tended in the gap. According to Meek, the minimum breakdown
original positions and form a positive space charge at the anode. voltage is obtained when Er = E and x = d in the above equation
This enhances the field, and the secondary avalanches are formed
from the few electrons produced due to photo- ionization in the BREAKDOWN IN NON-UNIFORM FIELDS.
space charge region. In non-uniform fields, such as coaxial cylinders, point-plane and
This occurs first near the anode where the space charge is maxi- sphere-plane gaps, the applied field varies across the gap. Simi-
mum. This results in a further increase in the space charge. This larly, Townsend's first ionization coefficient
process is very fast and the positive space charge extends to the (a) also varies with the gap. Hence ad in Townsend's criterion is
cathode very rapidly resulting in the formation of a streamer. Com- rewritten by replacing ad by integration of a dx. Townsend's crite-
paratively narrow lumimous tracks occurring at breakdown at rion for breakdown now becomes
high pressures are called streamers. As soon as the streamer tip ap-

10
 been successfully used for determining the corona onset voltages
of many non-uniform geometries. However, the condition for the
advancement of streamers has not been arrived at so far. Figures
Meek and Raether also discussed the non-uniform field break- 2.18 and 2.19 show the d.c. breakdown characteristics for a wire-
down process as applied to their Streamer theory, and the Meek's coaxial cylinder geometry in nitrogen and for a point-plane geome-
equation for the radial field at the head of an avalanche when it try in air, respectively.
has crossed a distance x is modified as
From the practical engineering point of view, rod-rod gap and
sphere-sphere gap are of great importance, as they are used for the
measurement of high voltages and for the protection of electrical
apparatus such as transformers. The breakdown characteristics of
rod-rod gaps are shown n Fig. 2.20. From this figure it can be seen
Breakdown characteristics for nitrogen between a wire
that the breakdown voltages are higher for negative polarity. The
and a coaxial cylinder of radii 0.083 and 2.3 cm. 1-wire positive, 2- breakdown voltages were also observed to depend on humidity in
wire negative air. In the case of rod gaps the field is non-uniform, while in the
case of sphere gaps field is uniform, if the gap is small compared
with the diameter. In the case of sphere gaps, the breakdown volt-
ages do not depend on humidity and are also independent of the
voltage waveform. The formative time lag is quite small (~ 0.5 |i s)
even with 5% over voltage. Hence sphere gaps are used for break-
down voltage (peak value) measurements.

where Ox is the value of a at the head of the avalanche, and p is the

gas pressure. The criterion for the formation of the streamer is
reached when the space charge field Er approaches a value equal
to the applied field at the head of the avalanche. This equation has

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 Gallery 1.1 Corona discharge Image Collection around the world
Corona Discharges

If the electric field is uniform, a gradual increase in voltage across a

gap produces a breakdown of the gap in the form of a spark with-
out any preliminary discharges. On the other hand, if the field is
non-uniform, an increase in voltage will first cause a discharge in
the gas to appear at points with highest electric field intensity,
namely at sharp points or where the electrodes are curved or on
transmission lines. This form of discharge is called a corona dis-
charge and can be observed as a bluish luminiscence. This phe-
nomenon is always accompanied by a hissing noise, and the air sur-
rounding the corona region becomes converted into ozone.

Drawbacks

Corona is responsible for considerable loss of power from high volt-

age transmission lines, and it leads to the deterioration of insula-
tion due to the combined action of the bombardment of ions and of
the chemical compounds formed during discharges. Corona also
gives rise to radio interference. The voltage gradient required to 1 of 14
produce visual a.c. corona in air at a conductor surface, called the
For the case of coaxial cylinders, whose inner cylinder has a radius
corona inception field, can be approximately given for the case of
r the equation Becomes
parallel wires of radius r as
where m is the surface irregularity factor which becomes equal to
unity for highly polished smooth wires; d is the relative air density
correction factor given by,

12
where b is the atmospheric pressure in torr, and t is the tempera-
ture in 0C, d = 1 at 760 torr and 250C. The expressions were found
to hold good from atmospheric pressure down to a pressure of sev-
eral torr. On the high voltage conductors at high pressures there is
a distinct difference in

the visual appearance of the corona under positive and negative

polarities of the applied voltage. When the voltage is positive, co-
rona appears as a uniform bluish white sheath over the entire sur-
face of the conductor. On the other hand, when the voltage is nega-
tive, the corona will appear like reddish glowing spots distributed The corona inception and breakdown voltages of the sphere-plane
along the length of the wire. Investigations with point-plane gaps arrangement are shown in Fig. 2.16. From this figure it can be seen
in air showed that when point is negative, corona appears as cur- that
rent pulses called Trichel pulses, and the repetition frequency of
these pulses increases as the applied voltage is increased and de- (a) at small spacings (region I), the field is uniform, and the break-
creases with decrease in pressure. On the other hand, observations down voltage mainly depends on the spacing;
when the point is positive in air showed that the corona current in-
(b) at fairly large spacings (region II), the field is non-uniform, and
creases steadily with voltage. At sufficiently high voltage, current
the breakdown voltage depends both on the sphere diameter and
amplification increases rapidly with voltage, up to a current of
the spacing; and
about 10""7A, after which the current becomes pulsed with repeti-
tion frequency of about 1 kHz composed of small bursts. This form (c) at large spacings (region III), the field is non-uniform, and the
of corona is called burst corona. The average current then increases breakdown is preceded by corona and is controlled only by the
steadily with applied voltage leading to breakdown. spacing. The corona inception voltage mainly depends on the
sphere diameter.

13
Review 1.1 Breakdown mechanism

Question 1 of 5
Maximum efficiency will occur, when copper loss
is_______to iron loss?

A. greater than

B. less than

C. equals to

D. any of the above

Check Answer

14
SECTION 2

BREAKDOWN IN ELECTRONEGATIVE GASES

It has been recognised that one process that gives high breakdown to produce ionization due to collisions, attachment represents an
strength to a gas is the electron attachment in which free electrons effective way of removing electrons which otherwise would have
get attached to neutral atoms or molecules to form negative ions. led to current growth and breakdown at low voltages. The gases
Since negative ions like positive ions are too massive in which attachment plays an active role are called electronegative
gases.

The most common attachment processes encountered in gases are

15
(a) the direct attachment in which an electron directly attaches to
form a negative ion, and

(b) the dissociative attachment in which the gas molecules split

into their constituent atoms and the electronegative atom forms a
negative ion. These processes may be symbolically represented as:

(a) Direct attachment

AB+ e »AB PASCHEN'S LAW

(b) Dissociative attachment

AB-H e »A + B

TIME-LAG

! 1.! there is a time difference between the application of a

voltage sufficient to cause breakdown and the occurrence of break-
down itself. This time difference is called the time lag.

! 2.! The time t which lapses between the application of the

voltage sufficient to cause breakdown and

! 3.! the appearance of the initiating electron is called a statis-

tical time lag (fy) of the gap. The appearance of electrons is usually
statistically distributed. After the appearance of the electron, a time
tt is required for the ionization processes to develop fully to cause
the breakdown of the gap, and this time is called the formative
time lag (tt).

! 4.! The total time ts + tt is called the total time lag.

16
 Interactive 1.2 Breakdown mechanism solid dielectrics

The Paschen's curve, the relationship between V and pd is shown

in Fig. for three gases CC>2, air and H2. It is seen that the relation-
ship between V and pd is not linear and has a minimum value for
any gas.

17
SECTION 3

Breakdown in Liquid Dielectrics

CONDUCTION AND BREAKDOWN IN LIQUID DIELECTRICS ! 2.! This is because both liquids and solids are usually 103
times denser than gases.

! 3.! liquids are expected to give very high dielectric

! 1.! Liquid dielectrics, because of their inherent properties,
strength of the order of 10 MV/cm, in actual practice the strengths
appear as though they would be more useful as insulating materi-
obtained are only of the order of 100 kV/cm.
als than either solids or gases.

18
! 4.! Liquid dielectrics are used mainly as impregnants in !4.! With time
high voltage cables and capacitors, and for filling up of transform- the oil becomes
ers, circuit breakers etc. darker due to the
formation of acids
! 5.! Petroleum oils (Transformer oil) are the most commonly
and resins, or
used liquid dielectrics. Synthetic hydrocarbons and halogenated
sludge in the liq-
! 6.! When used for electrical insulation purposes they uid. Some of the
should be free from moisture, products of oxidation and other con- acids are corrosive
taminants. The most important factor that affects the electrical to the solid insulat-
strength of an insulating oil is the presence of water in the form of ing materials and
fine droplets suspended in the oil. The presence of even 0.01% wa- metal parts in the
ter in transformer oil reduces its electrical strength to 20% of the transformer.
dry oil value. The dielectric strength of oil reduces more sharply, if
!5.! Deposits of
it contains fibrous impurities in addition to water.
sludge on the
transformer core,
on the coils and
inside the oil ducts
Transformer Oil reduce circulation
of oil and thus its
! 1.! As already mentioned, transformer oil is the most com- heat transfer capa-
monly used liquid dielectric in power apparatus. bility gets considerably reduced.

! 2.! It is an almost colourless liquid consisting a mixture of

hydrocarbons which include paraffins, iso-paraffins, naphthalenes
and aromatics. Electrical Properties of liquid Dielectric

! 3.! When in service, the liquid in a transformer is subjected

to prolonged heating at high temperatures of about 950C, and con- The electrical properties that are essential in determining the dielec-
sequently it undergoes a gradual ageing process. tric performance of a liquid dielectric are

(a) its capacitance per unit volume or its relative permittivity

19
(b) its resistivity down strength and lead to electrical breakdown of the liquid dielec-
trics are discussed in subsequent sections.
(c) its loss tangent (tan 5) or its power factor which is an indication
of the power loss under a.c. voltage application

(d) its ability to withstand high electric stresses. Suspended Particle Theory

Permittivities of most of the petroleum oils vary from 2.0 to 2.6 ! 1.! In commercial liquids, the presence of solid impurities
while those of askerels vary between 4.5 and 5.0 and those of sili- cannot be avoided. These impurities will be present as fibres or as
cone oils from 2.0 to 73 (see Table 3.1). In case of the non-polar liq- dispersed solid particles.
uids, the permittivity is independent of frequency but in the case
! 2.! The permittivity of these particles (t^) will be different
of polar liquids, such as water, it changes with frequency. For exam-
from the permittivity of the liquid (ei). If we consider these impuni-
ple, the permittivity of water is 78 at 50 Hz and reduces to about
ties to be spherical particles of radius r, and if the applied field is
5.0 at 1 MHz. Resistivities of insulating liquids used for high volt-
E9 then the particles experience a force F, where
age applications should be more than 1016 ohm-metre and most of
the liquids in their pure state exhibit this property.

Power Factor of a liquid dielectric under a.c. voltage will deter-

mine its performance under load conditions. Power factor is a
measure of the power loss and is an important parameter in cable ! 3.! This force is directed towards areas of maximum stress,
and capacitor systems. However, in the case of transformers, the if 62 > £i»f°r example, in the case of the presence of solid particles
dielectric loss in the oil is negligible when compared to copper and like paper in the liquid.
iron losses. Pure and dry transformer oil will have a very low
! 4.! On the other hand, if only gas bubbles are present in the
power factor varying between 1(T4 at 2O0C and 10~3 at 9O0C at a
liquid, i.e. 62 < EI, the force will be in the direction of areas of
frequency of 50 Hz. Dielectric Strength is the most important pa-
lower stress. If the voltage is continuously applied (d.c.) or the du-
rameter in the choice of a given liquid dielectric for a given applica-
ration of the voltage is long (a.c.), then this force drives the parti-
tion. The dielectric strength depends on the atomic and molecular
cles towards the areas of maximum stress.
properties of the liquid itself. However, under practical conditions
the dielectric strength depends on the material of the electrodes, ! 5.! If the number of particles present are large, they be-
temperature, type of applied voltage, gas content in the liquid etc., comes aligned due to these forces, and thus form a stable chain
which change the dielectric strength by changing the molecular bridging the electrode gap causing a breakdown between the elec-
properties of the liquid. The above factors which control the break- trodes.

20
! 6.! If there is only a single conducting particle between the (c) Gaseous products due to the dissociation of liquid molecules by
electrodes, it will give rise to local field enhancement depending electron collisions; and
on its shape.
(d) Vaporization of the liquid by corona type discharge from sharp
! 7.! If this field exceeds the breakdown strength of the liq- points and Irregularities on the electrode surfaces.
uid, local breakdown will occur near the particle, and this will re-
sult in the formation of gas bubbles which may lead to the break-
down of the liquid. 3. Once bubble is formed, it will elongate in the direction of the
electric field under the influence of electrostatic forces.
! 8.! The vales of the breakdown strength of liquids contain-
ing solid impurities was found to be much less than the vlaues for 4. Breakdown occurs when the voltage drop along the length of the
pure liquids. The impurity particles reduce the breakdown Bubble becomes equal to the minimum value of paschen’s curve
strength, and it was also observed that the larger the size of the par- for the gas in bubble. Breakdown field id given by
ticles the lower were the breakdown strengths.

Cultivation & the Bubble Theory:

1. It was experimentally observed that in many liquids, the break-

down strength depends strongly on the applied hydrostatic pres-
Where: a is the surface tension of the liquid,
sure, suggesting that a change of phase of the medium is involved
in the breakdown process, in other words-A kind of vapour bubble E1 is the permittivity of the liquid,
formed is responsible for breakdown.
E2 is the permittivity of the gas bubble,
2. The following process has be suggested to be responsible for the
r is the initial radius of the bubble( assumed as a sphere)
formation of vapour bubble:
Vb is the voltage drop in the bubble
(a) Gas pockets at the surfaces of the electrodes;

(b) Electrostatic repulsive forces between space charges which may

be sufficient to overcome the surface tension;

21
(3) Stressed oil volume theory:
Breakdown in soil dielectrics:-
1. In commercial liquids, where minute traces of impurities are pre-
1. Solid dielectrics materials are used in all kinds of electrical appa-
sent, the V breakdown strength is determined by the “largest possi-
ratus & devices to insulate one current carrying part from another
ble impurity”or”weak link”.
when they operate at different voltage.
2. on statistical basis, the electrical breakdown strength of the oil is
2. A good dielectric should have low dielectrics loss, high mechani-
defined by the weakest region in the oil, namely, the region which
cal strength , should be free from gaseous inclusions & moisture &
is stressed to the maximum & by the volume of oil included in that
be resistant to thermal & chemical deterioration solid dielectrics
region.
have higher breakdown Strength compared to liquids & gases.
3. According to this theory, the breakdown strength is inversely
3. Solid Insulating materials
proportional to the stressed oil volume.
a) Organic materials :
4. The breakdown voltage is highly influenced by the gas content
in the oil, the viscosity of the oil, presence of other impurities. ! eg: paper, wood, rubber

b) Inorganic materials

! eg: Mica, Glass, Procelain

4. The various breakdown mechanisms can be classified as follow

22
! a) Intrinsic or ionic breakdown 4. Intrinsic breakdown depends upon the presence of free electrons
which are capable of migration through the lattice of the dielectric.
! b) Electron mechanical

! c) Thermal
(B) Avalanche or Streamer Breakdown:
! d) Failure due to treeing & tracking
1. This is similar to breakdown in gases due to cumulative ioniza-
! e) Electro chemical
tion.
f) Breakdown due to internal discharge
2. Conduction electrons gain sufficient energy above a certain criti-
cal electric field & cause liberation of electrons from the lattice at-
oms by collisions.

3. Under uniform field condition, if the electrodes are embedded in

the specimen, breakdown will occur when an electron avalanche
bridges the electrode gap.

4. An electrode within the dielectric, starting from the cathode will

(A) Intrinsic breakdown: drift towards the anode & during this motion gains energy from
the fields & loses it during collisions.
1. When voltages are applied only for short durations of the order
of 10-8 sec, the dielectric strength of a solid dielectric increases 5. When the energy gained by an electron exceeds the lattice ioniza-
very rapidly to an upper limit called the intrinsic electric strength. tion potential, an additional electron will be liberated due to colli-
sion of the first electron.
2. Experimentally, this highest dielectric strength is achieved, only
under best experimental condition when all extraneous influences 6. This process repeats itself resulting in the formation of an elec-
have been isolated & the value depends only on the structure of tron avalanche. Breakdown will occur, when the avalanche exceeds
the material & the temperature. a certain critical size.

3. Maximum electrical strength recorded is 15mv/cm For 7. Practically, breakdown does not occur by the formation of a sin-
polyvinyl-alcohol at -1960c. gle avalanche formed within the dielectric & extending step by
step through the entire thickness of the materials as shown on fig
below.

23
Fig. Impulse voltage applied b/w point-plane electrode with point
embedded in a transparent solid dielectric such as perspex

(C) Electromechanical Breakdown:

1. When solid dielectrics are subjected to high electric fields, failure The above equation is only approximate as Y depends on the me-
occurs due to electrostatic compressive forces which can exceed the chanical stress. Also when the material is subjected to high stresses
mechanical compressive strength. the theory of elasticity does not hold good, and plastic deformation
has to be considered.

2. If the thickness of the specimen is 4$ and is compressed to a (D)THERMAL BREAKDOWN:-

thickness d under an applied voltage V, then the electrically devel- 1. When an electric field is applied to a dielectric, conduction cur-
oped compressive stress is in equilibrium rent, however small it may be, flows through the material.

2. The current heats up the specimen and the temperature rises.

The heat generated is transferred to the surrounding medium by
conduction through the solid dielectric and by radiation from its
outer surfaces.

24
3. Equilibrium is reached when the heat used to raise the tempera-
ture of the dielectric, plus the heat radiated out, equals the heat gen-
erated. The heat generated under d.c. stress E is given as

25
Conductivity

the degree to which a specified material conducts electricity, calculated as the ratio of the cur-
rent density in the material to the electric field which causes the flow of current.

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Dielectric strength

Dielectric Strength is a measure of the electrical strength of a material as an insulator. Dielec-

tric strength is defined as the maximum voltage required to produce a dielectric breakdown
through the material and is expressed as Volts per unit thickness.

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Dielectrics

having the property of transmitting electric force without conduction; insulating.

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Electrical Insulation

An electrical insulator is a material whose internal electric charges do not flow freely; very
little electric current will flow through it under the influence of an electric field. This con-
trasts with other materials, semiconductors and conductors, which conduct electric current
more easily.

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Ionization

Ionization is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive

charge by gaining or losing electrons to form ions, often in conjunction with other chemical
changes.

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Chapter 1 - Classification of Breakdown Mechanism