A Novel Technique of Utilization of Common Mode Voltage as an Energy Source

Abstract

The domestic supply socket consists of three terminals namely live, neutral and earth. The potential difference between live and neutral is almost of constant magnitude while the P.D between neutral and earth should be ideally zero. But practically it is not zero. A small PD exists between the neutral and earth terminals due to the voltage drop across the resistance of the neutral wire. Its value ranges from .1-6V depends on the loads connected and the amount of unbalance between the phases. The voltage is maximum at peak hours at midday. It is small in the morning and evening. Till now there has been no practical usage of this small potential difference. Experiments were carried out to find the credibility of this small voltage for practical applications. The most important field that has been found is electrolysis. Strong and weak electrolytes require different circuits for proper utilization of the NE potential. Construction and characteristics of such circuits (making use of the small potential difference between neutral and earth terminals) have been dealt with in this paper in detail.