Sparkover Voltage Estimation of Standard Sphere Gaps for Negative Polarity by Calculation of Ionization Index

Sparkover Voltage Estimation of Standard Sphere Gaps for Negative Polarity by Calculation of Ionization Index

The field utilization factor (equation omitted) (the mean electric field / the maximum electric field) of standard sphere gaps was calculated by the charge simulation method, taking into account the ground plane and shanks. n changes mainly with g/r and slightly with 1$_1$, 1$_2$ and 1, where D=2r is the sphere diameter, g is the gap length, 1$_1$ and 1$_2$, respectively, are the lengths of the upper and lower shank, and t is the shank diameter. Generally, (equation omitted) increases as 1$_1$,1$_2$ and t each becomes larger. IEC standard 60052(2002) limits t$\leq$0.2D 1$_1$$\geq$1D and prescribes A=1$_2$＋D＋g where A is the height of the spark point on the upper sphere. Therefore, (equation omitted) is the largest when A=9D and the smallest when A=3D. The simple equation of a straight line, (equation omitted)=1- (g/3r), can generally be used as a representative value of (equation omitted) for a wide variety of sphere diameters that are permitted by the IEC standard. The maximum electric field E$_{m}$ at sparkover of standard air gaps has also been calculated by the relation E$_{m}$=V/(equation omitted)g). E$_{m}$ describes a U-curve for g/r, up to the sphere diameter of 1 m. Moreover, for 1.5-m and 2-m diameters and especially .for negative polarity, sparkover voltages have been calculated by integration of the ionization index.index.