DESIGN OF SOLID STATE TESLA COIL USING 555

TIMER AND IRFP460N MOSFET

Soumyadeep Sarkar
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE)
Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra
[email protected]

Abstract: The Solid State Tesla Coil is a The Tesla coil was invented around 1891.
device which is capable of producing The original intention for its invention was
extremely high voltage, high frequency and to create a wireless electrical energy
low amperage alternating current distribution system. Unfortunately, the
electricity. The original device i.e. the design could not send power at even close to
Spark Gap Tesla Coil was designed by reasonable efficiency, as almost all the
Nikola Tesla around 1891. This device has useful power was being wasted on corona
similarities to that of a traditional Spark and arcing. But what makes the Tesla coil
Gap Tesla Coil but has a different circuitry truly magnificent is the voltage it produces.
for operation. This paper documents the A typical spark gap type coil takes (usually)
design, operation and construction of such the voltage from a common wall socket, and
a system. steps it up to a couple thousand volts, where
it then goes through the switching circuit,
Keywords: Tesla Coil; Solid State Tesla through the primary, and is seen on the
Coil; Magnifying Transmitter; 555 Timer secondary side as more than 200,000 volts.
IC; MOSFET; High Voltage; High This type of Tesla Coil requires a high
Frequency; Corona Discharge. voltage supply. A Solid State Tesla Coil does
not require this, as it works with mains
voltage.
I. INTRODUCTION
The Solid State Tesla Coil is one of the types
A Tesla coil is an electrical resonant of Tesla coils available. It has several
transformer circuit used to produce advantages over the more common
high-voltage, low-current, and spark-gap Tesla coil. They are less noisy
high frequency alternating current electricity. than conventional Tesla coils, yet they can
Nikola Tesla experimented with a number of still achieve a respectable output. They can
different configurations of resonant electric also be made to play music through its spark,
circuits. Tesla used these coils to conduct which is Audio Modulated. They are also
experiments related to electrical friendlier to nearby electronic apparatus,
lighting, phosphorescence, X-ray though one should still be cautious. Its main
generation, high frequency alternating component, the 555 timer IC is connected to
current phenomena, electrotherapy, the circuit and the supplied power is 12
the transmission of electrical energy without Volts, 500 mili-amperes, the MOSFET used
wires, etc. Tesla coil circuits were is the IRFP460N. The MOSFET (with a 680
commercially used in spark-gap radio picofarad, 2 Kilo-volt capacitor) is
transmitters for wireless telegraphy until the connected to one end of the primary coil and
1920s, and in medical equipment such as the other is connected to one end of the 110
electrotherapy and violet ray devices. Today Volts AC line with a 6 Ampere diode in
their main use is for entertainment and series. The MOSFET is protected using
educational displays, though small coils are several diodes on the Gate, Drain and
still used today as leak detectors for high Source pins. The capacitor which is used in
vacuum systems. parallel with the AC line is a Mylar
capacitor; FKPs and MKPs can also be used.
Such capacitors are used because first, the
ordinary capacitors may not work and
second, due to the load of the device. The
Secondary coil is made using pure copper
wire of 36 American Wire Gauge with
additional spray varnishing insulation
coating to prevent leakage. One end of the
Secondary coil is grounded and the other is
connected to a toroid for top load
capacitance, the expression of which is
given by:

Fig.1: Primary Coil

(1)
where, C= Top-load Capacitance. B. For Secondary Coil:-
D1= Diameter of the Toroid Ring. 36 American Wire Gauge copper wire
D2= Diametric Thickness of the Ring. wound on a PVC pipe of 6 cm diameter and
20 cm in height with 18.5 cm of winding,
Its Spark Length can be calculated by: leaving free space of 0.75 cm on both the
sides.
(2)
where, P= Power.
L= Spark Length.
And for matching the Inductance to the
capacitance for proper resonance frequency,
the expression is given by:

(3)
where, F= Resonant Frequency (KHz)
L= Inductance. (mH)
C= Capacitance (microfarads)
The coil is tuned to the best of my Fig.2: Secondary Coil
knowledge and the best configuration which
is used is: C. 555 Timer Circuit:-

A. For Primary Coil:- The 555 timer IC (also known as the “Time
Machine” of an electronic circuitry) is an
2mm insulated wire with 1 mm insulation integrated circuit (chip) having a variety of
and 1 mm wire wound on a PVC pipe of 9 uses as a timer, flip-flop element, pulse
cm diameter with 15 turns. generator or even in oscillator applications.
The 555 can be used to provide time delays,
as an oscillator, and as a flip-flop element.
Certain IC derivatives can provide up to four
timing circuits in one package.
It was designed by an American Company
named Signetics in the year 1971 and is still II. TUNING THE TESLA COIL
in widespread use because of its
affordability and device stability. Proper tuning is essential for achieving good
power output from the SSTC. The resonator
is a high-Q RLC circuit. If it is not driven at
the correct frequency, the driver will see it as
a high-impedance reactive load. More
importantly, proper tuning provides major
efficiency benefits.
The most important is its tuning both the
Primary Coil and Secondary Coils. There are
various ways of tuning the coil but a basic
way of doing it is to make certain that the
Primary Coil’s resonant frequency is tuned
to that of Secondary coil, by using low
Fig.3: NE555 Chip power oscillations and then increasing and
decreasing it accordingly until maximum
D. The MOSFET:- power is obtained.

The Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field

Effect Transistor or a MOSFET is a type of
transistor used for amplifying, modulating III. ADVANTAGES OF SOLID STATE
and switching electronic signals. The TESLA COIL OVER
MOSFET is actually a four terminal device TRADITIONAL SPARK GAP
with Source (S), Gate (G) and Drain (D) and TESLA COIL
the Body (B) terminals; with the body
internally connected to the Source making it The most basic advantage which a Solid
a three terminal device. State Tesla Coil has over the traditional
Tesla Coil is that the analysis of its circuitry
The main advantage of using a MOSFET is very (using circuit theory).They are also
over an ordinary transistor is that it requires very easy to set up whereas the traditional
very little current to turn on, while spark gap Tesla coil requires high drive
delivering a much higher current to a load. voltage for good sparks. The SSTC is
However it requires a higher gate voltage to flexible in terms of impedance matching.
turn on. The traditional Tesla Coil also needs a high
voltage power source which is usually
derived from Neon Sign Transformers or
Microwave Oven Transformers but the Solid
State Tesla Coil does not need any such kind
of power source. An additional problem with
the traditional Tesla Coil is the complex
tuning procedure, needed to achieve optimal
performance.

Fig.4: IRFP460N
IV. PICTORIAL REPRESENTATION OF THE SOLID STATE TESLA COIL
WORKING AT MAXIMUM POWER:
Here we can see the Solid State Tesla Coil working in its best configuration. High voltage corona
arching can also be seen on the top of the coil.
Note: Here the coil is working without the placing of a Top Load Capacitance.

(a) (b)
Fig.6: (a), (b) Maximum Power Performance.

V. INSTALLATION DIAGRAM

Fig.7: Installation diagram

VI. THE SCHEMATIC:

Fig.8: Circuit diagram

VII. LIST OF COMPONENTS

The following table provides a list of components necessary to build the proposed Solid State
Tesla Coil circuit:

Table 1: Component List

VIII. THE METHOD OF DRIVING of benign heat. Spark gaps can produce loud
THE PRIMARY COIL OF THE noises, UV radiation, ozone, and other
SOLID STATE TESLA COIL: hazards. In contrast, the H-bridge driver is
very efficient. It is also much more reliable
The Tesla Coil is driven by a primary coil than a spark gap.
that is coupled to a resonator. Energy is
The most important benefit of the SSTC
transferred from the primary coil to the
is its continuous wave output. Since the
secondary coil (resonator) by means of
oscillator of a traditional Tesla coil needs to
magnetic coupling between them. When the
be recharged, it provides pulsed output
drive method is employed we also benefit
power. The SSTC output is a clean sine
from the “step-up” of the drive voltage due
wave.
to transformer action between the two coils.
An additional problem with the traditional
The SSTC described in this report can be
Tesla coil is the complex tuning procedure
controlled by a function generator, adjusting
needed to achieve optimal performance. If
its operating frequency is as simple as
two LRC resonant circuits are used, one of
turning a knob- the potentiometer knob in
them must be tuned to match the other. This
the circuit.
is achieved by tapping the primary coil at
the correct point.
IX. APPLICATIONS
Since the SSTC described in this report is
The concept of using a Tesla coil to power controlled by a function generator, adjusting
high voltage devices is not at all new. In the its operating frequency is as simple as
early 1900s, it was commonly used by turning a knob.
scientists to drive X-ray and gas filled tubes.
This setup fell into disfavour not because of X. CONCLUSION
limitations of the air core transformer, but
Although the traditional Tesla coil has been
because of the impracticality of the spark
removed from most commercial applications
gap. Spark gaps produce broadband radio
outside of the special effects industry, the
emissions that interfere with radios at a
SSTC may prove to be a much more
significant distance.
practical device. The air core transformer
The SSTC partially solves this problem.
described here uses only 36AWG magnet
The electromagnetic emission of the SSTC
wire, and is much cheaper than a
has a very narrow bandwidth, and does not
comparable ferrite transformer. The circuit is
seem to cause major interference with
also fairly inexpensive to construct. Like the
commercial radio equipment. In terms of
traditional Tesla coil, the SSTC can be used
potential electromagnetic interference, the
as a power supply for UV lamps, X-ray
SSTC is very similar to the RF induction
tubes, and other high voltage components. It
furnace, which operates at up to 400 KHz
can perform the operation without
and is commonly found in industrial plants.
introducing the disadvantages of a spark
Induction chargers are also able to drive air
gap.
core coils without causing major radio
interference. The electromagnetic emission Nikola Tesla, the person who electrified the
of the SSTC must be considered, but is world has predicted that the world is
probably not prohibitive. destined to be running on only one source of
energy, i.e. electricity. With the traditional
The traditional Tesla coil has other
version of this device he tried to send energy,
commercial disadvantages as well. The
electrical energy to all people for free.
spark gap is an inefficient switch, and the
However, to his dismay he found that the
wasted energy is not dissipated in the form
device is wasting energy in the form of [4] R.Burnett, Available:
arching and corona discharging, with a little https://www.richieburnett.co.uk/sState2.h
modification on the device he could have tml
made his design successful which he [5] R. C. Weast, CRC Handbook of
couldn’t, not because of certain Chemistry and Physics, 62nd, CRC Press,
circumstances. I believe, this device is the Inc, 1981.
key to the future. He also presented the fact
that earth’s crust is a conductor of electricity, [6] L. Balogh, “: Design and Application
if by any means, we can convert the crust in Guide for High Speed MOSFET Gate
Drive Circuits”, Available:
to a conductor, which covers the whole earth,
http://www.ti.com/lit/ml/slup169/slup169
it would provide electricity without the use
.pdf
of wires to any part of the world.
Electricity and Magnetism are unique forces [7] Chakrabarti, “Circuit Theory, Analysis
and Synthesis”, Dhanpat Rai & Co. (Pvt.)
in nature. They have a strange effect upon
Ltd., RP2012
one another, very stimulating and exciting. If
we achieve the power of manipulating them [8] Robert L. Boylestad- Louis Nashelsky,
at a certain procedure, it would probably “Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory”,
change the world. Tenth Edition, Pearson.
The Tesla Coil as we know today is based on
unfinished technology. Nikola Tesla XII. Author Profile:
designed those coils, believing them to be Soumyadeep Sarkar is
the stepping stones to something greater- currently pursuing B. Tech in
something so big, that it would kick off an Electrical and Electronics
energy race which would dwarf the nuclear Engineering from Kurukshetra
race. The future iteration of this device uses University, Kurukshetra. He is a
more sophisticated solution. A phase locked research scholar and also an eminent member
loop is used to adjust the operating of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics
frequency until the primary current is in Engineers (IEEE). His interested areas of
phase with the secondary voltage. Such research are Electrical Machines and Drives,
systems are still being developed. flexible AC transmission systems, High
Voltage AC and Power Electronics. His other
research interests include Quantum Physics,
Biomedical Science, Classical Mechanics,
Astrophysics and Biological psychiatry
REFERENCES
[1] “Tesla Coil- Wikipedia, the free
encyclopaedia”, Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil
[2] “Solid State Tesla Coil and their Uses by
Sean Soleyman (14 December, 2012)”,
Available:
http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/Tech
Rpts/2012/EECS-2012-265.html
[3] “Class E- A New Class of High
Efficiency Tuned Single Ended Switching
Power
Amplifiers,” IEEE Journal of Solid State
Circuits (Vols. SC-10, no. 3, 1975).