Activities and features of the new High Voltage Laboratory at the Ohio State University (USA)

In the USA, only a handful of high voltage laboratories can be found that are operated by universities. The High Voltage Laboratory at The Ohio State University was designed and constructed in the 1990s. Its major facilities are related to the generation and measurement of high voltage AC, DC and surges. The laboratory has high voltage DC sources (up to 150,000 V), high voltage AC sources (up to 250,000 Vrms), a 1,000,000 V surge generator, and a high voltage Tesla transformer (up to 2.5 MV). Test capabilities include withstand, partial discharge and breakdown tests on gases, liquids and solids, electric and magnetic field tests, reduced-scale model tests, fog chamber tests (accelerated aging) and shielding and attenuation experiments. The laboratory is used for education (teaching high voltage courses and lab sessions), research and independent testing