18EE56 – High Voltage
Engineering
Module – 1
Conduction and Breakdown in Gases
• Townsend's Current Growth Equation
• Current Growth in the Presence of Secondary Processes
• Townsend's Criterion for Breakdown
• Experimental Determination of Coefficients α and γ,
Townsend's Current Growth Equation
• let us assume that n0 electrons are emitted from
the cathode. When one electron collides with a
neutral particle, a positive ion and an electron
are formed. This is called an ionizing collision.
• Let α be the average number of ionizing
collisions made by an electron per centimeter
travel in the direction of the field (α depends on
gas pressure p and E/p, and is called
the Townsend’s first ionization coefficient).
• At any distance x from the cathode, let the
number of electrons be nx. When these
nx electrons travel a further distance of dx they
give rise to (αnxdx) electrons.
Townsend's Current Growth Equation
Then, the number of electrons reaching the anode (x = d) will be
The number of new electrons created, on the average, by each electron is
Therefore, the average current in the gap, which is equal to the number of electrons travelling per second
will be
Current Growth in Presence of Secondary Processes
• The single avalanche process described in the previous section becomes complete
when the initial set of electrons reaches the anode.
• However, since the amplification of electrons [exp (αd)] is occurring in the field, the
probability of additional new electrons being liberated in the gap by other
mechanisms increases, and these new electrons create further avalanches.
• The other mechanisms are
1. The positive ions liberated may have sufficient energy to cause liberation of
electrons from the cathode when they impinge on it.
2. The excited atoms or molecules in avalanches may emit photons, and this will lead
to the emission of electrons due to photo-emission.
3. The metastable particles may diffuse back causing electron emission.
• The electrons produced by these processes are called secondary electrons.
• The secondary ionization coefficient γ is defined in the same way as α, as the net
number of secondary electrons produced per incident positive ion, photon, excited
particle, or metastable particle,
• and the total value of γ is the sum of the individual coefficients due to the three
different processes, i.e. γ=γ1+γ2+γ3. γ is called the Townsend’s secondary
ionization coefficient and is a function of the gas pressure p and E/p.
Current Growth in Presence of Secondary Processes
Following Townsend’s procedure for current growth; let us assume
n′0 = number of secondary electrons produced due to secondary ()) processes.
Let n″0 = total number of electrons leaving the cathode.
The total number of electrons n reaching the anode becomes,
Townsend’s Criterion for Breakdown
The above equation gives the total average current in a gap before the occurrence of breakdown. As the distance
between the electrodes d is increased, the denominator of the equation tends to zero, and at some critical
distance d=ds.
For values of d < ds, I is approximately equal to I0 and if the external source for the supply of I0 is removed, I
becomes zero. If d = ds, I→∞ and the current will be limited only by the resistance of the power supply and
the external circuit. This condition is called Townsend’s breakdown criterion and can be written as
Normally, exp (αd) is very large, and hence the above equation reduces to yexp (ad) =
For a given gap spacing and at a given pressure the value of the
voltage V which gives the values of α and γ satisfying the
breakdown criterion is called the spark breakdown
voltage Vs and the corresponding distance ds is called
the sparking distance
Experimental Arrangement to Measure
Ionization Coefficients α and γ
• The electrode system consists of two
uniform field electrodes.
• The high voltage electrode is
connected to a variable high voltage
d.c. source (of 2 to 10 kV rating).
• The low voltage electrode consists of
a central electrode and a guard
electrode.
• The central electrode is connected to
the ground through the high
resistance of an electrometer
amplifier having an input resistance
of 109 to 1013 ohms.
• The guard electrode is directly
earthed.
• The electrometer amplifier measures
Experimental Arrangement to Measure
Ionization Coefficients α and γ
• The electrode system is placed in an ionization
chamber which is either a metal chamber made of
chromium plated mild steel or stainless steel, or a
glass chamber.
• The electrodes are usually made of brass or
stainless steel.
• The chamber is evacuated to a very high vacuum
of the order of I0-4 to 10-6 torr.
• Then it is filled with the desired gas and flushed
several times till all the residual gases and air are
removed.
• The pressure inside the chamber is adjusted to a
few torr depending on the gap separation and left
for about half an hour for the gas to fill the
chamber uniformly.
• The cathode is irradiated using an ultra-violet
(U.V.) lamp kept outside the chamber. The U.V.
Experimental Arrangement to Measure
Ionization Coefficients α and γ
• When the d.c. voltage is applied and when the voltage is when secondary electrons are produced a
the cathode by positive
low, the current pulses start appearing due to electrons
and positive ions
• These records are obtained when the current is measured
using a cathode ray oscilloscope.
• When the applied voltage is increased, the pulses
disappear and an average d.c. current is obtained.
• In the initial portion (T0), the current increases slowly but •When secondary electrons are
produced by photons at the cathode.
unsteadily with the voltage applied.
• In the regions T1 and T2, the current increases steadily
due to the Townsend mechanism.
• Beyond T2 the current rises very sharply, and a spark
occurs.
Experimental Arrangement to Measure
Ionization Coefficients α and γ
• For determining the α and γ Ionization Coefficients, the
voltage-current characteristics for different gap settings
are obtained.
• From these results, a log I/I0 versus gap distance plot is
obtained under constant field (E) conditions as shown in
Fig.
• The slope of the initial portion of the curves gives the
value of α.
• Knowing α, γ can be found
• using points on the later upturn portion of the graphs.
The experiment can be repeated for different pressures.
• It can be easily seen that α/p and γ are functions of E/p.
• The spark-over voltage for any gap length ds is Vs =
Eds where ds is the critical gap length for that field
strength as obtained from the graph.
Experimental Arrangement to Measure
Ionization Coefficients α and γ
• It may be noted that if I0, the initial current, is more, the average anode current I will
also be more, and the relation log I/I0 versus d plot remains the same. Typical variation
of α is shown in figure
