Date of Award

12-2013

Degree Name

MS in Electrical Engineering

Department/Program

Electrical Engineering

Advisor

Vladimir Prodanov

Abstract

Using isolation and noise immunity techniques, this thesis designs and constructs a low cost measurement system to safely and accurately measure high voltage, high frequency pulses in harsh EM environments. High voltage pulses apply to medical, plasma, and food industries. The difficulty of accurately measuring high voltage pulses continues to pose an issue. Measuring high voltage systems can cause damage to the system, the measurement system, and the user. High voltage and high frequency pulses create a harsh environment of electromagnetic fields that can disrupt the circuitry of the measurement system and harm the user. Implementing isolation from the high voltage system protects the measurement and user. An ideal pulse has sharp rising and falling edges, introduction high frequencies that prove difficult to sense and characterize. The measurement system requires a sufficiently large bandwidth to accurately measure the pulse edges. Commercial off the shelf pulse measurement systems such as oscilloscopes and multimeters cost thousands of dollars. Cheaper but simpler designs fail to provide isolation for safety. The measurement system in this thesis addresses all of these issues, allowing people to measure and characterize high voltage pulses.

Technologies used in this measurement network include optocouplers, transimpedance amplifiers, and analog-to-digital converters. The development process describes design, simulations, characterizations, construction, testing, and troubleshooting. Simulations show expected operations of components and characterizations assist in determining performance parameters of the system. Testing involves performing a low voltage test and a high voltage test and identifying limitations of the design. Finally, this thesis suggests future work to improve performance and lower cost of the measurement system.

Download

Share

COinS