Lightning Impulse Breakdown Tests : Triggered Spark Gap Analysis

Sammanfattning: This project was made by student from UmeåUniversity and a request from the universityETH in Zürich, Switzerland. In this research project the electrical strengthof different natural gases and mixtures was investigated, and the aim was to finda gas or gas mixture with a natural origin or strongly attaching gases that couldreplace SF6 (Sulfur Hexafluoride). The gases were tested with breakdown experiments,one of those test was called lightning impulse breakdown test. The mainpart of this project was to investigate triggered spark gaps, which could be used inlightning impulse breakdown test. These spark gaps were made in a previous thesis,but have proved to not be reliable, therefore an investigation was needed. In thelab, a breakdown test setup, made up of a rectifying circuit and a transformer, wasused. In this project voltages up to 140kV were used. The two main parts of theproject were the spark gap unit and circuit analyzing and the spark gap characterization.These two parts contained test to see if the spark gap worked as it shouldor if there were any problems with it. The results from the tests showed that therewere problems with the spark gap, but these problems could be corrected or avoidedthrough controls of the spark gap before use.