Generation of High Voltage DC using Diodes & Capacitors in Ladder Network

Abstract

The project is designed& constructed to develop a high voltage DC of around 2KV from a input AC supply source of 230V using the capacitors and diodes that are constructed in the form of ladder network based on voltage multiplier concept. Generally transformers are used for stepping up of voltage in which the output of the secondary of the step up transformer increases the voltage and decreases the current. The other method for stepping up the voltage without the use of transformers is by using voltage multiplier circuit which converts AC to DC. These Voltage multipliers are primarily used to develop high voltages where low current is required. The concept of developing high voltage DC from single Phase AC is described in this project which can be enhanced up to 10KV. For safety purpose this project is restricted with a multiplication factor of 8 so that the output would be within 2KV.This concept of generation of high voltage using multiplier circuit is used in Electronic appliances such as CRT?s, oscilloscopes and in industrial applications. The principle of voltage multiplier circuit is that the voltage keeps on doubling at each stage. Thus, the output of an 8 stage voltage multiplier circuit is 2KV DC which cannot be measured by using a standard multimeter. Hence a potential divider of 10:1 is used at the output such that 200V reading means 2KV.