Prepared By: Kazi Newaj Faisal, 071022, 4th Year, EEE, RUET

HVDC generation
1. Write down some applications of high DC voltage

(i) DC high voltage is used in the HVDC transmission lines (overhead lines and underground cables
both).
(ii) HVDC is used for testing HVAC cables of long lengths as these have very large capacitance and
would require very large values of currents if tested on HVAC voltages. D.C. tests on A.C. cables are
more convenient and economical.
(iii)In industry it is being used for electrostatic precipitation of ashing in thermal power plants,
electrostatic painting, cement industry, communication systems etc.
(iv) HVDC is also being used extensively in physics for particle acceleration and in medical equipments
(X-Rays).

2. Draw the circuit diagram of the half wave dc high voltage generator and discuss its operation
by showing the proper wave shapes.

The simplest circuit for generation of high direct voltage is the half wave rectifier shown in Fig. 2.1. Here
RL is the load resistance and C the capacitance to smoothen the d.c. output voltage. If the capacitor is not
connected, pulsating d.c. voltage is obtained at the output terminals whereas with the capacitance C, the
pulsation at the output terminal are reduced. Assuming the ideal transformer and small internal resistance of
the diode during conduction the capacitor C is charged to the maximum voltage Vmax during conduction of
the diode D. Assuming that there is no load connected, the d.c. voltage across capacitance remains constant
at Vmax whereas the supply voltage oscillates between ±Vmax and during negative half cycle the potential of
point A becomes – Vmax and hence the diode must be rated for 2Vmax. This would also be the case if the
transformer is grounded at A instead of B as shown in Fig. 2.1 (a). If the circuit is loaded, the output voltage
does not remain constant at Vmax. After point E (Fig.2.1 (c)), the supply voltage becomes less than the
capacitor voltage, diode stops conducting. The capacitor cannot discharge back into the a.c. system because

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of one way action of the diode. Instead, the current now flows out of C to furnish the current iL through the
load. While giving up this energy, the capacitor voltage also decreases at a rate depending on the time
constant RC of the circuit and it reaches the point F corresponding to Vmin. Beyond F, the supply voltage is
greater than the capacitor voltage and hence the diode D starts conducting charging the capacitor C again to
Vmax and also during this period it supplies current to the load also. This second pulse of ip(ic + il) is of
shorter duration than the initial charging pulse as it serve mainly to restore into C the energy that C
meanwhile had supplied to load. Thus, while each pulse of diode current lasts much less than a half cycle,
the load receives current more continuously from C.

EXTRA QUEASTION

EQ.1: Prove that = =

Assuming the charge supplied by the transformer to the load during the conduction period t,
which is very small to be negligible, the charge supplied by the transformer to the capacitor during
conduction equals the charge supplied by the capacitor to the load. Note that iC>> iL. During one period T
= 1/f of the a.c voltage, a charge Q is transferred to the load RL and is given as

where I is the mean value of the d.c output iL(t) and VRL(t) the d.c. voltage which includes a ripple as
shown in Fig. 2.1 (c).
Suppose at any time the voltage of the capacitor is V and it decreases by an amount of dV over the time
dt then charge delivered by the capacitor during this time is dQ = CdV. Therefore, if voltage changes
from Vmax to Vmin, the charge delivered by the capacitor

Or the magnitude of charge delivered by the capacitor

Q = C (Vmax – Vmin)
Using δV = ½(Vmax – Vmin), we get
Q = 2δVC
Therefore, 2δVC = IT Or, = =

3. What are the disadvantages of single phase half-wave rectifier circuits for generating HVDC?

The single phase half-wave rectifier circuits have the following disadvantages:
(i) The size of the circuits is very large if high d.c. output voltages are desired.
(ii) The ripple voltage is less for larger capacitor, which makes the system bulky.
(iii)The transformer conducts for a small portion of the time period of the sine wave. It may be saturated
if the dc current is high. Therefore it is not suitable for HVDC power transmission.

4. Draw the circuit diagram of the Greinacher voltage doubler circuit and discuss
its operation.

When high d.c. voltages are to be generated, voltage doubler or cascaded voltage multiplier
circuits are used. One of the most popular doubler circuit due to Greinacher is shown in Fig.
2.2. Let us suppose B is more positive with respect to A and the diode D1 conducts thus
charging the capacitor C1 to Vmax with polarity as shown in Fig. 2.2. During the next half

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cycle terminal A of the capacitor C1 rises to Vmax and hence terminal M attains a potential of
2Vmax. Thus, the capacitor C2 is charged to 2
Vmax through D2. Normally the voltage across
the load will be less than 2Vmax depending
upon the time constant of the circuit C2RL.

5. Draw the circuit diagram of the Cockroft-Walton voltage multiplier circuit and discuss its
operation.
Or, Draw the circuit diagram and discuss the operation of a multistage circuit for generating
dc HV.

No Load Operation: The portion ABM′MA is exactly

indentical to Greinarcher voltage doubler circuit and
the voltage across C becomes 2Vmax when M attains a
voltage 2Vmax. During the next half cycle when B
becomes positive with respect to A, potential of M falls
and, therefore, potential of N also falls becoming less
than potential at M′ hence C2 is charged through D2.
Next half cycle A becomes more positive and potential
of M and N rise thus charging C′2 through D′2. Finally
all the capacitors C′1, C′2, C′3, C1, C2, and C3 are
charged. The voltage across the column of capacitors
consisting of C1, C2, C3, keeps on oscillating as the
supply voltage alternates. This column, therefore, is
known as oscillating column. However, the voltage
across the capacitances C′1, C′2, C′3, remains constant
and is known as smoothening column. The voltages at
M′, N′, and O′ are 2Vmax, 4Vmax and 6Vmax. Therefore,
voltage across all the capacitors is 2Vmax except for C1
where it is Vmax only. The total output voltage is
2nVmax where n is the number of stages. Thus, the use
of multistage arranged in the manner shown enables
very high voltage to be obtained. The equal stress of
the elements (both capacitors and diodes) used is very
helpful and promotes a modular design of such
generators.

Generator Loaded: When the generator is loaded, the output voltage will never reach the value 2nVmax.
Also, the output wave will consist of ripples on the voltage. Thus, we have to deal with two quantities, the
voltage drop ∆V and the ripple δV. Suppose a charge q is transferred to the load per cycle. This charge is q =
I/f = IT. The charge comes from the smoothening column, the series connection of C′1, C′2, and C′3. If no
charge were transferred during T from this stack via D1, D2, D3, to the oscillating column, the peak to peak
ripple would merely be 2 = ∑ 1

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6. What are the disadvantages of Cockroft-Walton voltage multiplier circuit? What is the
solution?

In Cockroft-Walton voltage multiplier circuit the output voltage increases with the number of stages. But at
the same time the voltage drop due to load current also increases. so If we want to draw more current, the
output voltage will reduce. If we want more HV then we have to increase the Capacitance C, which is not
advisable because it will make the system bulky. So the solution is to increase the supply frequency or use
symmetrical cascaded rectifiers

7. Draw the circuit diagram of the electrostatic generator or Van de Graaf generator and discuss
its operation.

Fig. 2.8 shows belt driven

electrostatic generator developed by
Van deGraaf in 1931. An insulating
belt is run over pulleys by means of a
motor connected to the lower pulley.
The belt near the lower pulley is
charged electrostatically by an
excitation arrangement. The lower
charge spray unit consists of a
number of needles connected to the
controllable d.c. source (10 kV–100
kV) so that the discharge between
the points and the belt is maintained.
The charge is conveyed to the upper
end where it is collected from the
belt by discharging points connected
to the inside of an insulated metal
electrode through which the belt
passes. The entire equipment is
enclosed in an earthed metal tank
filled with insulating gases to reduce
corona discharges. An isolated
sphere is the most favourable
electrode shape and will maintain a
uniform field E with a voltage of Er where r is the radius of the sphere. As the high tension electrode collects
charges its potential rises. The potential at any instant is given as V = q/C where q is the charge collected at
that instant. It appears as though if the charge were collected for a long time any amount of voltage could be
generated. However, as the potential of electrode rises, the field set up by the electrode increases and that
may ionise the surrounding medium and, therefore, this would be the limiting value of the voltage. In
practice, equilibrium is established at a terminal voltage which is such that the charging current equals the
discharge current which will include the load current and the leakage and corona loss currents.

The moving belt system also distorts the electric field and, therefore, it is placed within properly shaped
field grading rings. The collector needle system is placed near the point where the belt enters the h.t.
terminal. A second point system excited by a self-inducing arrangement enables the down going belt to be
charged to the polarity opposite to that of the terminal and thus the rate of charging of the latter, for a given
speed, is doubled. The self-inducing arrangement requires insulating the upper pulley and maintaining it at a

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potential higher than that of the h.t. terminal by connecting the pulley to the collector needle system. The
arrangement also consists of a row of points (shown as upper spray points in Fig. 2.8) connected to the
inside of the h.t. terminal and directed towards the pulley above its points of entry into the terminal.

8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of electrostatic generator? In what application it is
used?

The advantages of electrostatic generator are:

(i) Very high voltages can be easily generated
(ii) Ripple free output
(iii)Precision and flexibility of control

The disadvantages are:

(i) Low current output
(ii) Limitations on belt velocity due to its tendency for vibration. The vibrations may make it difficult to
have an accurate grading of electric fields

These generators are used in nuclear physics laboratories for particle acceleration and other processes in
research work.

Formulas For Math

The voltage drop Where,

The ripple voltage Vm=Peak value of transformer secondary voltage

f = Frequency of the supply voltage
I = Load current
The optimum number of stages C = Capacitance of each stage.
n=Number of stages
The output voltage available at this stage

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9. What is voltage regulation of voltage multiplier? Derive the equation for voltage regulation of a
multistage DC voltage generator?

The voltage regulation of voltage multiplier is the voltage drop ∆V which is the difference between the
theoretical no load voltage 2nVmax and the onload voltage.

In order to obtain the voltage drop ∆V let us ass Fig. 2.4 (a).

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I  2 3 n2 n 
So, the voltage regulation, ∆V =  n + − 
fC  3 2 6

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