Design and construction of a low-cost 30 kV variable DC power supply unit

Abstract

A high voltage power supply is a key component in the advancement of science and technology. Application of high voltage power supply requires careful attention to critical variables such as voltage ripple, long and short term stability, repeatability and accuracy. These are important factors in the consideration of reliable scientific data. This paper presents the design of a low-cost high voltage power supply from the off-the-shelf electronics components to meet the high-end requirement of high voltage power supply. A 30kV, 63.8mA maximum power supply was constructed at the Fountain University electronics workshop. This high voltage directs current (HVDC) power supply was built around three basic compartments that include an adjustable low voltage power supply (LVPS), a high frequency oscillator, and a line output transformer (LOPT) using flyback transformer, NE555timer, BU508D BJT, and other off-the-shelf components. The current-voltage relationship at the output of the constructed High Voltage Direct Current was found to be linear. This power source will serve any high DC voltage applications such as electrospinning. The constructed 30kV power supply has been tested in the electrospinning laboratory of the Center for Energy Research and Development (CERD) Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife. The unit successfully electrospun Zinc-Titaninm polymeric solution into fibers at about 8 kV. The importance of this fabricated device is its high reliability despite its low cost and capability to produce different magnitude of high voltage DC.