Jörgen Blennow

Field experiences with measurements of dielectric response in frequency domain for power transformer diagnostics

Some new methods, based on characterization of the dielectric response of transformer insulation in time and frequency domains, have been pointed out by CIGRE as suitable to assess moisture content in pressboard and paper. Measuring devices available today on the market are quite robust in field conditions; however there is a risk that undesired internal and external factors might influence the measurements. These influences can lead to mistaken interpretation of insulation wetness. Operators should therefore be aware of the risks appearing at different measuring conditions and of the precautions that can be taken to minimize their effects. This work presents a systematic investigation on the influence of some factors on the results of dielectric response measurements in field conditions. The errors that can be committed during the measurements if certain precautions are not taken, with different equipment connected in parallel, are evaluated. The influence of rain and electromagnetic disturbances are also analyzed proposing solutions to attenuate their effects. Finally, a discussion on the influence of temperature distribution follows. The work is concentrated on frequency response measurements, although some results from the use of polarization and depolarization current technique are also discussed.

Influence of rise time on partial discharge extinction voltage at semi-square voltage waveforms

This work presents measurements of the partial discharge (PD) extinction voltage in three different types of test objects, using semi-square voltages with 2 ¿s and 100 ¿s rise time. A needle creating corona discharges, a twisted pair specimen commonly used for testing motor insulation and a paper/oil test object modelling the turn-to-turn insulation of a transformer winding were investigated, presenting extinction voltages between approximately 1 kV and 8 kV. For the twisted pair specimen the PD extinction voltage was significantly lower at the shorter rise time, whereas for the other test objects, just a small or no difference could be detected. The conclusion is that depending on what range of rise times and what insulation system that are studied, there may be an influence of the rise time of the applied voltage on the PD extinction voltage.

Dielectric response measurements utilizing semi-square voltage waveforms

Dielectric response measurements belong to the group of diagnostic tools used for quality evaluation of high voltage insulation systems. A measurement system called arbitrary waveform impedance spectroscopy (AWIS) is presented here which is capable of utilizing the harmonic content of repetitive voltages with a semi-square waveform and the corresponding current response to perform dielectric response measurements. Extensive circuit modeling and calibrations are required in order to perform accurate measurements. AWIS could offer new possibilities, especially for continuous monitoring of the dielectric properties of high voltage components and systems. The accuracy of the technique in both low and high voltage applications is verified by comparison with results obtained by means of the frequency domain spectroscopy (FDS) technique.

Dielectric heating in insulating materials subjected to voltage waveforms with high harmonic content

Dielectric heating is one potential aging mechanism active below partial discharge inception voltage in materials used as high voltage insulation. When exposed to voltage waveforms containing high amount of harmonics, the heat generation will be larger due to increased power losses as compared with power frequency excitation. This may result in a decreased life or even failure of insulation due to the increased operating temperature or to thermal runaway. An analysis of the power developed due to dielectric heating in two different materials subjected to voltage waveforms with high harmonic content is presented in this paper. By expressing the non-sinusoidal loss as an enhancement factor to the sinusoidal one, a geometry-independent formalism is derived. From dielectric response measurements at low voltage and at several temperatures the dielectric power loss in the material can be calculated for different voltage levels and waveforms. Two important material parameters can be extracted from the calculated dielectric power loss: (i) non-sinusoidal loss compared with sinusoidal loss with the same fundamental frequency (pfact) and (ii) change of loss with changing temperature (dpfact/dT). These two parameters could potentially be used to indicate the suitability of materials for use in applications where voltage waveforms contain high harmonic content.

Measurement of partial discharges at rapidly changing voltages

This work presents a measuring system for PDs at repetitive voltages with short rise times, based on a coupling device adapted for this kind of voltages and a method for removing contributions from the applied voltage. The potential of the system has been demonstrated through measurements of PDs around a needle in air at voltages of 5.5 kV - 9.5 kV with rise times down to 10 mus. The observations obtained with this PD source prove that the measuring technique described enables detailed studies of PD properties under repetitive rapidly changing voltage waveforms in the investigated range of voltages and rise times.

Evaluation of the performance of several object types for electrical treeing experiments

A comparison of the efficiency between various test object types for studying the development of electrical trees in polymers is presented. Two types of newly developed wire-plane objects are investigated and compared with two versions of the traditionally used needle-needle object. The two needle-needle objects are prepared according to ASTM standard and act as references, whereas the alternative objects rely on the use of an ultra-thin tungsten wire (10 and 20 μm) for providing the highly divergent electric stress. In one of these object types the wire extends from a semiconducting tab embedded in the tested material whereas the embedded wire is extended and connected externally by means of a copper tape in the other type. The comparison is made using cross linked polyethylene (XLPE) for the testing purposes. The wire type objects provide some promising advantages, including parallel formation of several electrical trees and an exposure of a larger material volume. Further advantages include the simplification of both the manufacturing and the measuring procedures. Among the newly developed test objects, the one without the semiconducting tab is considered most advantageous as it allows for more accurate treeing initiation measurements at a lower voltage level. A disadvantage with the wire electrode is its tendency to form kinks during object preparation, which may lead to difficulties in correctly estimating the field strength locally as well put strain on the surrounding material. However the multitude of electric trees formed in each object allows for trees growing at such imperfections to be discarded in following data analyses. Although finding a statistical method that makes good use of all the data poses a challenge, a suggested approach is presented.

Evaluation of a PD measuring system for repetitive steep voltage waveforms

Measurements of partial discharges (PDs) at high frequency voltages is important but not a straightforward task. In this paper a PD measuring system developed for use at repetitive, steep voltage waveforms is presented, which is based on electrical detection using capacitive decoupling of the PD signals. The system utilizes only a low order filter and allows the presence of significant remnants of the applied voltage in the signal used for PD detection. Analytical calculations that estimate the reachable sensitivity of this method are presented, and for an example with a test object of 100 pF capacitance, a sensitivity in the range of 1 - 10 pC/kV at 1 μs rise time was obtained. Further, the transfer function of the measuring system has been measured and used for reconstruction of the voltage across the test object, the latter consisting of both the applied square-like voltage and voltage drops due to PDs. This is an attractive possibility since the applied high voltage signal at the test object can be recalculated from the same signal as is used for PD detection. In addition, the reconstruction of the PD voltage drop could provide information about the PD processes, provided that the sampling frequency is high enough.

Electrical treeing behavior of DC and thermally aged polyethylenes utilizing wire-plane electrode geometries

This paper presents electrical treeing behavior in low density polyethylene (LDPE) and cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) after exposure to thermal and DC electro-thermal ageing. Both the ageing and the treeing tests were performed by means of two different types of test objects with wire-plane electrode geometry. One type of the tested objects contained only wire electrode of 10 μm diameter, whereas in the other type the wire electrode was attached through a semiconducting tab. The ageing was performed at 80°C with and without 10 kV DC voltage of both polarities connected to the wire and lasted up to 800 hours. The AC electrical treeing tests were applied afterwards for detecting changes of material properties after the ageing. The results showed that the electrical tree inception voltage consistently decreased with increasing time of thermal exposure, whereas the applied DC electric stress had a negligible effect on the observed behavior. Similar effects were found in both the tested materials (LDPE and XLPE) though the object type also influenced the results. For the objects with semiconducting tab, a higher level of the scale parameter was registered because of shielding effect of the tab on the electric field strength at the wire electrode. It also yielded less number of trees growing in parallel at the electrode. The dominant effect of thermal stress on the ageing of LDPE was elucidated by using various analytical techniques, like differential scanning calorimetry, infrared spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and oxidation induction time, and it is believed to mainly affect antioxidant content in the test objects.

PD properties when varying the smoothness of synthesized waveforms

The increased use of power electronic components in power systems makes it important to understand how rapidly rising voltages affect insulation systems. One vital aspect of this challenge is the measurement of partial discharges, PDs, which are considered as being a sign of weakness and can affect the life of insulation considerably. In this paper an approach is presented to measure PDs in a dielectrically insulated cavity when exposed to pulse width modulated (PWM) voltage shapes with different degree of smoothness. This is a continuation of our earlier investigations on the different behavior of PDs where voltages characterized by different rise times were applied. The present investigation shows that the PD amplitude decreases significantly already at a moderate level of PWM voltage smoothness to a magnitude that is about the same as for sinusoidal voltage shape. For the phase resolved PD (PRPD) pattern to become similar to the normal AC pattern it is required that the remains from PWM steps are lower than the extinction voltage. This work elucidates how PDs are affected by synthesized waveforms and limits for a sufficient smoothing level are found, which is of importance when designing insulation systems exposed to fast transients.

Influence of biofilm contamination on electrical performance of silicone rubber based composite materials

In this research, three kinds of silicone rubber based composite materials, SIR, NSIR and DSIR, were prepared. SIR is the reference silicone rubber without addition of antimicrobial biocide. Two different antimicrobial agents at a concentration of 3 wt% were added to the reference silicone rubber to form the other two types of materials. The materials were inoculated with a fungal spore suspension containing nutrients. Fungal growth could be observed visually in form of spots by naked eye, and biofilm was formed and detected by SEM observation on the surfaces of SIR and NSIR samples, whereas DSIR samples were completely free of the fungal growth. Then the electrical performance of both clean and biofilm contaminated samples, including the surface and volume conductivity, surface flashover voltage and leakage current before flashover, were measured. The obtained results indicate that as compared with SIR base material, the biocides have not changed the surface conductivity and surface flashover voltage of NSIR and DSIR materials. At the same time, the volume conductivity of NSIR remains almost the same as SIR, while that of DSIR increases by about two orders of magnitude. Biofilm could increase the surface conductivity and decrease the surface flashover voltage significantly. The time domain and frequency domain analyses of the leakage currents flowing before flashover event provide useful information on the severity of contamination by biofilm and the eventual risk for surface flashover.