HIGH VOLTAGE

MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS
Test Setup
Voltage Divider
Measurement Cable
Digitizer
Current Measurements

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HIGH VOLTAGE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Voltage Converter Transmission Indicating or Interference

source Voltage divider system recording shielding
•From converter to
instrument
Instrument measuring instrument •Voltmeter, ammeter,
(Transformer) transformer •Including attenuators,
oscilloscope, digital Earthing
recorder
matching impedance, system
terminators •Instrument typically
includes internal
attenuators which can be
used as matching
impedance

Typical HV measurement setup includes:

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HIGH VOLTAGE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Z1

Attenuator
Zc

0.1 kV
Z2 Rin

Voltage divider
1000 kV

Voltage Cable
Test
Source
Object Instrument
1 kV

Laboratory Control Room

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VOLTAGE DIVIDER

Two highly unequal impedances

connected in series
• Produces an output voltage that is a
fraction of its input voltage.
• Voltage division refers to the
partitioning of a voltage among the
components of the divider.

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 VOLTAGE DIVIDER
Parallel
Damped Resistive
Resistive Capacitive Capacitive and
Capacitive

R1 R1
C1 C1 R1
C1
Uin Uin Uin Uin
R2 Uout Uout R2 Uout R2 Uout
C2 C2
C2

Divider Type DC AC SI LI
High Ohmic (MΩ) ++ + + -
Resistive
Low Ohmic (kΩ) - - - ++
Capacitive -- ++ ++ -
Damped Capacitive -- + ++ ++
Parallel Resistive and Capacitive + + + +
++ works well + works - problems or limitations -- cannot be used

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 STRAY CAPACITANCE

Any two adjacent conductors

can be considered a capacitor Cv Ce

High voltage divider has an Usually these

open structure
• Stray capacitance from
objects close to the divider have
an influence
• Ground, HV feeder, divider
elements
influences can not be
avoided
• Correct design and selection
of divider
• Pressurized gas capacitors do
not have this problem

Ci

Capacitive coupling of isolated systems

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 HIGH RESITANCE DIVIDER (MΩ)
Optimal: DC average value
Also: LI peak value, time parameters, overshoot
RH (small R better for measuring LI)

Uin Problem: Overheating of HV resistor

(main problem for ALL resistive dividers)
RL Limit P = U2 / large R
RL U out  U in
RH  RL (large R = better for slower pulses, DC)
Typical design: 100 A to 1 mA [1GΩ , 100 kV = 10…100 W]

1 GΩ
• Stray capacitance to ground (or HV objects)
Stray • In a 2 GΩ divider for measurement of 200 kV a stray
capacitance of 10 pF forms a low pass filter 1 GΩ
Capacitance • Filter attenuates fluctuations and restricts measurement speed (τ
200 kV
10 pF
=RC)
10 kΩ 1V

The resistances of a high voltage DC divider are usually so 10 k 1 M

1 GΩ RL   9.99 k
Meter large, that the meter input resistance (typically 1M or 10 k  1 M
Loading 10M, sometimes 10 G) has an influence (changes divider Uin
ratio) 10 kΩ 1 MΩ Uout

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 LOW RESITANCE DIVIDER (kΩ)

RH Optimal: Lightning Impulses (LI)

– faster (shorter) impulses
Uin
Problem: Stray Capacitance of high voltage resistor
RL
RL U out  U in
RH  RL High voltage resistance typically 1 kΩ to 20 kΩ

The resistors Needs time to

absorb the cool down
energy of the between
impulse impulses

tSI >> tLI  SI has

LI: 1.2/50 pulse duration ≈ 50 µs
E.g. too much energy =
SI: 250/2500 pulse duration ≈ 2750 µs overheating

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 FIELD GRADING

In order to avoid low pass filtering effect, the field along the high voltage
resistor must be matched with the resistance distribution
 Using a shield or guard ring placed over a resistive divider to enforce a uniform
field

U
5/6 U
4/6 U An alternative is to
make non-linear
resistance distribution
3/6 U according to the field
2/6 U
1/6 U

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 STRAY CAPACITANCE COMPENSATION

One possibility is to use external shields driven by capacitors or resistors

to adjust the field

Added
compensation
Stray capacitors
capacitance

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 EMRP 1000 kV DC Reference Voltage Divider (MIKES)
Modular resistive divider with capacitive shields to compensate the parasitic
effects of stray capacitance

Free Space (20, 20) Room Feeder

kV
C [nF] ∆% C [nF] ∆% C [nF] ∆%
1000 9.000 100 9.000 100 9.000 100
800 8.865 -1.5 8.658 -3.8 8.793 -2.3
600 8.784 -2.4 8.424 -6.4 8.622 -4.2
400 8.739 -2.9 8.280 -8.0 8.514 -5.4
200 8.712 -3.2 8.190 -9.0 8.460 -6.0

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CAPACITIVE DIVIDER
Optimal: DC: only ripple
AC: peak value, RMS value, overshoot
CH SI: peak value and time parameters
• Small capacitance to avoid modifying waveform
Uin • Large enough to minimize effects of stray capacitance
1
jC L CH Also: LI: peak value, time parameters and
CL U out  U in  U in overshoot
1

1 CL  CH
• polarization of dielectric might not be fast
jC L jC H enough to follow fast time-varying voltage

Stray Stray capacitance to ground (or HV objects) changes

the ratio of the divider
Capacitance Ratio often depends on distance to wall in laboratory
Uin

Uout

The capacitances of a high voltage AC divider are CL = 100 nF + 2 nF

Cable usually so low, that the cable capacitance (typically
100 pF
= 102 nF
Uin
Loading 100 pF/m) has an influence to the divider ratio and
time parameters. 100 nF 2 nF Uout

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 DAMPED CAPACITIVE DIVIDER

C1 Optimal: SI: peak value and time parameters

L1 LI: peak value, time parameters, overshoot
R1
Uin
C2 Capacitive elements dominate at low frequencies (f > 0
Hz, cannot measure DC)
L2 Uout (SI, time parameters)

R2 Resistive elements dominate at high frequencies

(LI, steepness, overshoot)

Resistors are required to damp the oscillations

caused by stray inductance.
 Optimum response is obtained, when

R1 C2 L1
 
R2 C1 L2
1. Excessively over-damped 2. Over-damped
3. Typical 4. Excessive overshoot
5. DC-offset

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MEASUREMENT CABLE

U
If the measurement cable is not
matched with the instruments (Z1
1 ≠ Z2), the signal will be reflected
many times before it settles.
• Speed of light c = 30 cm/ns
• Velocity of signal in cable v = 77% (~ 23
cm/ns)
• 20 m cable ∆t ≈ 87 ns

0 ∆t

(C3 = C1 + C2 – Ck)

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 RECORDING INSTRUMENTS

Resolution
• The resolution (8bits) of standard oscilloscopes is
the minimum that can be accepted for impulse
measurements.
• Often higher resolution (10 or 12 bits) is needed to
detect changes when the test results are analyzed.

Bandwidth
• Bandwidth has to be >25 MHz.
• Settling of the step response is critical.

Input voltage level

• The signal in the cable for high voltage laboratory
measurements is hundreds of volts. Signal to noise
ratio is not high enough for lower signal levels.
• Good input attenuators are needed.

Software
• Special software is needed for evaluation of
impulse parameters.

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 Analogue Risetime
LeCroy Samples
Bandwidth [10-90%]
WaveMaster 8600A 6 GHz 75 ps 20 GS/s = 1 S/50 ps
SDA 11000 11 GHz 40 ps 40 GS/s = 1 S/25 ps
SDA 830Zi 30 GHz 15.5 ps 80 GS/s = 1 S/12.5 ps

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CURRENT MEASUREMENTS

Shunts
Rogowski Coil

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 CURRENT MEASUREMENTS
Small DC measured using multimeter (volt-ohm-millammeter)

Large currents measured using a

shunt
• A resistor of accurately known resistance (shunt) is
placed in series with the load so that nearly all of
the current to be measured will flow through it.
• The voltage drop across the shunt is proportional
to the current flowing through it
• Since its resistance is known, a voltmeter connected
across the shunt can be scaled to directly read the
current value.

AC measured using a current transformer, shunt, or Rogowksi coil

Surge current typically measured using a shunt (Rogowksi coil also applicable)

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 CURRENT SHUNTS
Inductance of resistor has a significant role on measurements
u
uR uL i uR u
uL
i R L
Inductance is minimized by ensuring that the magnetic fields of the conducting paths cancel
each other out
i R R
i R i
Shunt designs can be: a  
b c u
• Coaxial (a) u u
• Radial (b)
• or otherwise symmetrical
structure. e.g. loop (c)

Structures are designed to improve cooling, compensate magnetic field

and minimize inductance.

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 ROGOWSKI COIL

 Air-core, symmetrical toroid shaped coil

 Used as current transformer to measure
current of a conductor passed through the coil u2  M
d i1
i1 dt
• Dynamic properties depend on mechanical structure
and winding design
• To minimize stray inductance, coil is wound tightly,
symmetrically and perpendicular relative to the tube M = mutual inductance

 Secondary voltage u2 is proportional to measured current

• Integrating circuit needed to define ratio:
Add small resistor R to secondary coil Add large resistor R and capacitor C as integrator

R di 1 di
u2  Ri 2 
L  M 1 dt
dt
u2 
RC  M 1 dt
dt

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