High voltage engineering

The laboratory collaborates on projects aimed at the diagnosis and development of insulation systems of high-voltage equipment in the field of voltage testing according to standardized procedures or designs testing methods for research purposes. Cooperation on projects of the Department of Materials and Technology is traditional. In recent years, this has included projects such as UMTRIS - Environmental Compatibility of Transformer Oils - Alternative Insulating Fluids, EKOM - Composite Structures in Electrical Engineering, NAPREKON - Braided Intermittent Composite Structures and the current TA CR project - Introduction of Advanced Asset Management in the Renewable Energy Sector in the Czech context.

The laboratory is equipped with high-voltage power supplies with parameters that allow tests on model configurations and complete power devices. For these purposes the laboratory is equipped with AC sources - 600 kV cascade, Tettex 150 kV transformer; DC - HIGHVOLT modular system 270 kV and impulse voltage source - HAEFELY HIPOTRONICS SGSA 300 kV/15 kJ impulse generator.

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The laboratory's activities also include contract research or individual contracts for partners in the industry (ČEZ, ČEPS, E.ON Energie, FAIVELEY TRANSPORT). The demands to replace sulfur fluoride have led to the most significant research activity, a long-term collaboration with Schneider Electric to investigate the behavior of synthetic air gas insulation for various electrode geometries, pressures, and stresses.

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The assessment of insulation systems of high-voltage equipment has resulted in further research activities:

  • Simulation of conditions for insulation failure in a closed pressure system, discharge mechanism.
  • Evaluation of aging of insulation systems using artificial neural networks.

The HV laboratory team is also actively involved in the activities of the Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL), which offers a range of certification and pre-certification tests in the field of electrical engineering. ETL is accredited by the Czech Institute for Accreditation according to the CSN EN ISO 17025 standard for the vast majority of tests. ETL has special equipment for performing these tests and experienced experts in their execution. The laboratory can measure interference emissions from equipment in the range of 9 kHz to 6 GHz and test the immunity of equipment by standardized tests.  The Electrotechnical Laboratory has the necessary instrumentation, including an anechoic chamber.