3 rd Year High Voltage Engineering (Prof. Dr.

Ahdab Elmorshedy)

Chapter 4
Corona Discharge
1. Introduction:
Corona on transmission lines causes power loss, radio and television interference, and audible
noise near the transmission line. At extra-high-voltage (EHV) levels (i.e.; at 345kV and
higher), the conductor itself is the major source of audio noise, radio interference (RI),
television interference (TVI), and corona loss. RI is a noise type that occurs in the AM radio
reception, including the standard broadcast band from 0.5 to 1.6 MHz. It does not take place
in the FM band. Radio noise (RI or TVI) is usually expressed in mV/m or in dB above 1
V/m. The effects of corona in EHV transmission lines depend on a number of parameters
that may not remain constant over a period, and the contributions of each add to the effects in
a complex manner. The determination of the disruptive critical voltage requires the
assignment of average values for the conductor irregularity factor that may vary considerably
with the weathering effects on the conductor.
The radio and television interference levels depend upon the variations in radial distance
from the conductor to the antenna and the line height. Some parameters are known with good
accuracy and may be taken as constant, whereas there are others which are affected by errors
of evaluation and may vary with time .The usual interest consists in evaluating the disruptive
critical voltage and the radio noise due to corona with respect to these variable parameters.
The term corona is used to describe the partial discharge that develops in zones of highly
concentrated electric fields. The corona discharge is accompanied by a number of observable
effects, such as visible light, audible noise, electric current, energy loss, radio interference,
mechanical vibrations and chemical reactions. The chemical reactions that accompany corona
in air produce the smell of ozone and nitrogen oxides.
Corona has long been a main concern for power transfer engineers because of the power loss
it causes on the lines and the noise it causes in radio and TV reception.
Corona has several beneficial applications as in Van De Graff generators, electrostatic
precipitations, electrostatic printing, electrostatic deposition, ozone production.
Corona is a luminous discharge due to ionization of the air surrounding a conductor around
which exists a voltage gradient exceeding a certain critical value.

2. Corona Discharge:
If the voltage is high the surface stress may reach a value at which the air breaks down, and
becomes a conductor. The conducting layer of air forms part of the conductor so that r
increases and the maximum stress decreases. If the spacing is small enough, the corona may
bridge the conductors and cause flashover. Generally, the spark is large enough for the
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3 rd Year High Voltage Engineering (Prof. Dr. Ahdab Elmorshedy)

corona to cease spreading long before it bridges the conductors; values of r and E are reached
such that the stress is insufficient to ionize any more air.
The phenomenon of corona is accompanied by a faint glow and a hissing noise. There is also
energy loss.

3. Disruptive critical voltage:

A transmission line should operate just below the disruptive critical voltage in fair weather so
that corona only takes place during adverse atmospheric conditions. Therefore, the calculated
disruptive critical voltage is an indicator of the corona performance of the line. However, a
high value of the disruptive critical voltage is not the only criterion of satisfactory corona
performance. The sensitivity of the conductor to foul weather should also be considered, and
the fact that corona increases more slowly on stranded conductors than on smooth
conductors. According to Peek2, after making allowance for surface condition of the
conductor by using the irregularity factor, the expression for the disruptive critical voltage,
V0 is :
V0 =21.1m0r ln (d/r) kV

(1)

Where;
V0= disruptive critical voltage to neutral in kilovolts (rms).
r = radius of conductor in centimeters.
d = spacing between two conductors in centimeters.
m0 = irregularity factor (0< m0 < 1)
= 1.0 for clean, smooth conductor
= 0.98 to 0.93 for roughened wires
= 0.87 to 0.8 for stranded wires
= air- density factor
The air-density factor is:
=

P 273 + t 0
P0 273 + t

3.92 P
273 + t

Where;
P = barometric pressure in centimeters of mercury, P0=76cm
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3 rd Year High Voltage Engineering (Prof. Dr. Ahdab Elmorshedy)

t = ambiant temperature in degrees Celsius, t0=25C

The breakdown strength of air at 76 cm pressure and 25 C is 30 kV/cm or 21.1 kV(rms)/cm.
This value is called E. At a barometric pressure of P cm of mercury and t C, the breakdown
strength is E.
V0 is the disruptive critical voltage. Bad atmospheric conditions such as fog, rain or sleet may
reduce V0 to 0.8 of the value given above.

Corona discharge on a 160 kV transmission line ceramic insulator.

The humidity is 80%.

4.Visual Critical Voltage

When the voltage of the line is the disruptive critical value, there is no visible corona. This is
due to the fact that the charges ions in the air must be able to receive a finite energy before
they can cause further ionization by collision, which is necessary for the corona discharge.
Peek states that the disruptive critical voltage must be so exceeded that the stress is greater
than the breakdown value up to a distance of 0.3r cm from the conductor. Thus, visual
corona will occur when the breakdown value is attained at a distance r + 0.3r from the axis,
instead of a distance r.
This requires that the voltage to neutral be (1+0.3/r) times the disruptive critical voltage.

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3 rd Year High Voltage Engineering (Prof. Dr. Ahdab Elmorshedy)

The expression for the visual critical voltage, Vv, given by Peek is:
Vv =21.1 mvr [1+ 0.3/r] ln (d/r) kV

(2)

Where;
Vv = visual critical voltage in kilovolts (rms).
mv = irregularity factor for visual corona (0< mv < 1)
= 1 for smooth conductors
When the wire is stranded or rough, mv is less than unity.
mv = 0.72 for stranded wires ( corona occurs in local places only )
= 0.82 (decided corona occurs along the length of conductor)
Note that the voltage equations (1) and (2) are for fair weather. For wet weather voltage
values, multiply the resulting fair weather voltage values by 0.80. For a three-phase horizontal
conductor configuration, the factors 0.96 and 1.06 multiply the calculated disruptive critical
voltage for the middle conductor and for the two outer conductors, respectively.

5. Corona Loss
If the visual corona voltage is exceeded, the power loss due to corona is given by Peek's
formulae. The expression for the fair weather corona loss per phase or conductor, Pc is:
P=

390
( f + 25) r/d (V V0 ) 2 10 -5 kW/mile/ph.

Where;
V0= disruptive critical voltage to neutral in kilovolts (rms).
f = frequency in hertz.
V= line-to-neutral operating voltage in kilovolts.
Corona loss occurs on T.L conductors when the voltage gradient in the immediate vicinity of
the conductor surface exceeds the breakdown strength of air. The breakdown of air in this
region generates heat, light, audible noise and radio interference.
Corona loss on an EHV line can fluctuate from a few kilowatts per mile in fair weather to
several hundred kilowatts per mile in rain or snow.

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3 rd Year High Voltage Engineering (Prof. Dr. Ahdab Elmorshedy)

The magnitude of fair weather corona loss is significant in comparison with foul weather loss.
Fair- weather loss occurs for a large percentage of time and the consideration will affect the
value of the total energy consumed by the line.
The resistance losses depend on line loading, while the corona losses depend on the weather
conditions.

Example:
Find the disruptive critical and visual corona voltages of a 3-phase line operating at 220 kV;
the conductor radius is 0.98 cm stranded cored Al at a minimum spacing of 381cm.
Temperature 15.6 C , barometer 73.7 cm , m0 = 0.83 stranded
r = 0.98 cm ,

d = 381 cm

Solution:
t = 15.6 C

, b = 73.7 cm

= (3.92* 73.7)/(273+15.6) = 1.00

V = 21.1 m0 * 0.98 ln (381/0.98)
= m0 * 21.2 * 0.98 * 2.303 * 2.6
= 126 m0 kV rms to neutral
As the conductors are stranded, we take mo = 0.83 for fine weather,
m0 = 0.83 *0.8 for rough weather.
V = 104 kV in fine weather
83 kV in rough weather
1 + 0.3 /r = 1 + 0.3 / r = 1.3

Vv = 1.3 * 126 m v = 164 m v

For local visual corona m v = 0.72
V = 118 KV
For decided corona m v = 0.82
V =134 KV

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3 rd Year High Voltage Engineering (Prof. Dr. Ahdab Elmorshedy)

The actual voltage to neutral is 220/3 =127 KV

Thus there is no corona under normal circumstances.
P=

390

( f + 25) r/d (V V0 ) 2 10 -5 kW/mile/ph.

6. Avoidance of corona:

The critical voltage can be raised either by increasing the spacing or the diameter of
the conductors. The spacing can not be increased greatly or the cost of the supports
will be very high. The diameter of the conductor can be increased by using hollow
conductors.

Steel-cored Al conductors have a large diameter for a given conductivity and weight,
and are thus good from the point of view of corona.

For very high voltages 275 kV it has been found economical to use the hollow
conductors.

A line is usually designed to work at a voltage just below the disruptive critical voltage
for fair weather (= 1). It is economical to have a small corona loss in bad weather,
rather than have larger conductors to avoid corona entirely. Moreover, corona acts as
a safety value for surges.

7. Current effects of corona:

Corona forms when the voltage of a conductor passes the disruptive critical voltage, and
disappears when the voltage descends through the same value. This occurs on each conductor
every half cycle and contributes a triple harmonic to the charging current, since the effective
capacitance of the conductor increases when the corona is present. The triple harmonic
currents pass through neutral to earth in an earthed system, in a non-earthed system the
neutral has a voltage to earth of triple frequency.

8. Radio and Television Interference:

One of the possible consequences of T.L corona discharges is radio noise. Radio noise (RN)
refers to any unwanted disturbance within the radio frequency band, such as undesired
electric waves in any transmission channel or device. The radio frequency band extends from
3 kHz to 30000 MHz. The corona discharge process is pulsatory in nature producing pulses of
current and voltage on the T.L. conductors. These pulses are characterized by rise and decay
time constants which may be in the order of hundreds of microseconds and repetition rates
which may be in the MHz range. The frequency spectra of those pulses can cover a
considerable portion of the radio frequency band. The electromagnetic fields resulting from
the corona discharges may create unwanted disturbances in the operation of a transmission
channel over a wide range of frequencies. T.L corona may be a source of a radio noise.
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