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A high-density electrical pressboard plays a significant role in maintaining the safe and stable operation of power equipment. In response to concerns about finding an evaluation method based on the dielectric performance of the pressboard, this study set up a measurement platform to capture data for three key dielectric properties, namely, relative permittivity, volume resistivity, and surface resistivity. Five kinds of pressboards obtained from representative insulating materials manufacturers were chosen as test samples, and the effects of temperature and moisture content of the pressboards on their dielectric properties were quantitatively investigated. The results indicated that (1) with increasing temperature and moisture content of the pressboards, there was an increase in the relative permittivity, with a maximum increase of 55.85%; (2) the higher the temperature and moisture content of the pressboards, the lower the volume and surface resistivity, and the maximum reduction was as much as 98.25%; (3) significant differences exist in the dielectric properties of different batches of pressboards from the same manufacturer; and (4) the results of tests of conventional physical and chemical properties of pressboards could help explain the differences in dielectric properties between different types of pressboards. Finally, based on the variation in dielectric properties for different test conditions, a method for evaluating the performance of pressboards is proposed. Using this method, the dielectric properties of different insulating pressboard products can be compared horizontally, which will provide data support and technical reference for the design of insulation structures and the selection of insulating materials for different applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of the oil–pressboard/paper insulation structure is the key to maintain the safe and reliable operation of power transformers, which mainly relies on simulation and verification test undertaken with simple or equivalent models, falling short of the physical entity verification undertaken in the large-scale structure. Based on the Kerr electro-optic effect and the optical fiber technology, a novel electric field measuring sensor was developed in this paper for the application test in the large-scale oil–pressboard structure. The sensor is contained of collimator, total reflection prism, coupler, and customized optical elements, whose appearance is a miniature capsule-shaped configuration. The key technical performance parameters of sensor were obtained, for instance, and the effect of imported sensor on the electric field under measurement is an average 1.17% reduction in intensity; the sensitivity of designed system is 162.84 V/mm under ac voltage and 40.43 V/mm under dc voltage. Under dc voltage, the measuring accuracy of the designed system is greater than 97.42%, while in the context of ac voltage, it could reach 97.14%. The application test was conducted to capture the dynamic process of the electric field in oil in the large-scale outlet device model, which has three uniformly spaced oil spacings divided by pressboards, under ac voltage, dc voltage, and polarity reversal voltage. The experimental results verify that the developed electric field sensor could be effectively and reliably applied in the large-scale oil–pressboard insulation, and it could be confidently inferred that the larger the scale of insulation structure, the better is the performance of sensor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • All the measurement were conducted on an actual well-built GIS/GIL platform. • Quantitative influence of surface charge on the flashover voltage are put forward. • Impacting mechanism of surface charges on flashover voltage is proposed. • The conclusion could provide guidance for the insulation design and fault diagnosis. Abstract Under AC, DC and switching impulse voltages, the surface charges accumulated on the basin insulators of Gas Insulated Substation (GIS) or Gas Insulated Metal Enclosed Transmission Line (GIL) could distort local electric field and even reduce the surface flashover voltage. In order to quantitatively measure the influence of surface charge accumulation on flashover voltage of insulator in actual GIS/GIL apparatus, a high-precision 3D surface charge measurement platform and a reasonable model were established for flashover tests in reference to the insulation design and flashover properties of actual 220 kV GIS basin insulator. The surface charge accumulation dynamics and corresponding flashover voltages of the built models under different conditions were captured and analyzed. The results indicate that, as the density of accumulated surface charges increases under either AC, DC or switching impulse voltage application, the surface flashover voltage would decrease from 62.1 kV to 55.7 kV, namely a margin of 10.3% under AC voltage application. In the context of DC voltage, there appears a 22.8% flashover voltage drop, from 61.0 kV to 47.1 kV. While for the case of switching impulse voltage, the charge accumulation reduced the flashover voltage to 52.9 kV with a 13.6% decline from 61.2 kV. Based on the simulation and theoretical calculations, the 'enhanced electric field zone' was identified to justify the influencing mechanism of surface charges on flashover voltage. The research results could contribute to optimal insulation design and fault diagnosis of basin insulator in GIS/GIL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) equipment observes surface charge accumulation under DC or AC voltage in real operation, which could distort the electric field and incur flashover eventually. With a 3D high-resolution surface charge measurement system established on actual 220 kV GIS basin insulator, the present research captured the surface charge distribution characteristics of the insulator under DC and AC voltage through high-precision probe scanning on the insulator surface. The test results show that: 1) Surface charge demonstrates obvious polarity effect under DC voltage. Under positive DC voltage, there accumulated mainly positive surface charges. Under negative DC voltage, the polarity of accumulated surface charges is all negative. Regardless of charge polarities, the surface charge density increases as the voltage amplitudes mounts and the voltage application duration prolongs. 2) Surface charge accumulation also takes place under AC voltage application. All charges are negative and distribute in a uniformed manner but in smaller density comparing to the DC scenario. As the voltage amplitudes increase, the surface charge density first increases, then decreases and finally reaches a near saturation state. As voltage application goes on, the surface charge accumulation becomes more obvious. Above all, the insulation issues in relation to surface charge accumulation require due attention in the application and maintenance of GIS equipment, and the present research attempts to provide useful reference for the optimal design of GIS/GIL insulators. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Resistive-Capacitive (RC) model has been widely adopted for analysis of the electric field in oil-pressboard insulation under DC voltage. However, studies in this regard have indicated that the charge polarity effect in oil-pressboard insulation, namely the stronger adsorption of negative charges by pressboard, could not be adequately captured by the RC model. In order to analyze the electric field with due consideration of charge polarity effect, the present paper adopted the Kerr electro-optic techniques to have measured the electric field in the oil spacing under DC voltage for two experiments models with Model I having two oil spacing divided by a pressboard at the spacing ratio of 1:1, and the Model II at the spacing ratio of 1:2. As Model I is concerned, the strength of electric field in the upper oil spacing reached 1.61 times of the initial one under positive voltage and 1.60 times under negative voltage, while the field in the lower oil spacing registered as one eighth of the initial one under both positive and negative voltages. For Model II, the electric field strength in the upper oil spacing reached 2.3 times of the initial field under positive voltage and one fourth of that under negative voltage, showing much stronger charge polarity effect compared to that in Model I. In order to analyze the effect of interface charge on electric field, an electric field analysis model based on interface charge, named Interface Charge Polarity Effect (ICPE) Model, is proposed in this paper. Referring to the different adhesive abilities of positive and negative charges on pressboard, the influence of interface charge on electric field can be analyzed by the proposed model, which could make the contribution to the insulating design and proofread for the converter transformer. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• A high precision interface charge measuring platform under AC/DC voltages are set up. • The interface charge accumulating mechanism of oil-pressboard are presented. • The impacting mechanism interface charge on flashover features are proposed. • The conclusions could provide guidance for insulation design of oil-pressboard. The interface charges of oil-pressboard insulation could distort the local electric field and even weaken the insulating strength of converter transformer. This paper employs the electrostatic capacitive probe to capture the accumulation characteristics of interface charges in oil-pressboard insulation with needle-plate electrode under AC, DC and combined AC/DC voltages. The research results indicate that, under AC voltage, the polarity of interface charge is the same to that of the instantaneous value of applied voltage, and density of interface charge remains constant with the AC voltage application prolonging. In the context of DC voltage, the density of negative interface charge is about 1.2–1.5 times of that of the positive one. Under AC/DC combined voltage, the time-dependent dynamic accumulating process of interface charge behaves similarly to the waveform of AC voltage, and the larger the amplitude of DC component in combined voltage, the weaker the fluctuation. The tests for the surface flashover of oil-pressboard insulation were also conducted, aiming at discovering the impacting mechanism of interface charge accumulation on flashover voltage. The surface flashover voltage of test model under negative DC superimposed AC voltage is 1.3 times higher than that of positive DC combined with AC voltage. The built interface polarization model made an explanation for the interface charge accumulation, and the impacting mechanism of interface charge on flashover voltage, namely the positive effect of homopolar interface charges, is also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epoxy post-insulator is one of the key parts in SF6 gas-insulated DC wall bushing, which is irreplaceable in high voltage direct current transmission projects. Flashovers occur on post-insulators frequently, where a great number of tiny metal particles exist. The micron metal particles attached to the epoxy will change the insulation state of the surface. However, this relation between microstructure of material and macroscopic electrical properties on flashover would still arouse controversy. In order to study the effect of particles on the flashover characteristics, the particles generated from wear of spring in DC wall bushing were selected, the surface potential decay along surface and the DC flashover voltage of epoxy attached with particles were measured. The results show that the discrete particles could increase surface trap level by 0.025 eV under the effect of Van der Waals force. Furthermore, the deeper traps could capture the charge during the streamer development and inhibit the flashover, when the particle amount less than 500 per mm2. If the particles are more enough to form the continuous paths, these conductive paths could promote the streamer to propagate, which shortens the insulation distance, increases the electric field, and decreases the flashover voltage by 50% finally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epoxy post-insulator is one of the key parts in SF6 gas-insulated DC wall bushing, which is irreplaceable in high voltage direct current transmission projects. Flashovers occur on post-insulators frequently, where a great number of tiny metal particles exist. The micron metal particles attached to the epoxy will change the insulation state of the surface. However, this relation between microstructure of material and macroscopic electrical properties on flashover would still arouse controversy. In order to study the effect of particles on the flashover characteristics, the particles generated from wear of spring in DC wall bushing were selected, the surface potential decay along surface and the DC flashover voltage of epoxy attached with particles were measured. The results show that the discrete particles could increase surface trap level by 0.025 eV under the effect of Van der Waals force. Furthermore, the deeper traps could capture the charge during the streamer development and inhibit the flashover, when the particle amount less than 500 per mm2. If the particles are more enough to form the continuous paths, these conductive paths could promote the streamer to propagate, which shortens the insulation distance, increases the electric field, and decreases the flashover voltage by 50% finally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The micron metal particles are inevitably produced in long-term operation condition of high voltage direct current SF6 insulated apparatus, which could frequently cause the surface discharge. Degradation of long-term surface discharge will be a severe threat to the insulation strength. Aiming at this problem, the surface charge accumulation and flashover voltage of epoxy itself before and after discharge degradation by particles were compared in this paper. The composition after degradation was measured by EDS and FTIR. The microstructure was observed by SEM. The roughness was measured as well. The trap distribution was measured by SPD. The mechanism of degradation and its effect on insulation characteristics were analyzed. The results show that the surface charge accumulation increase three times after degradation. Additionally, flashover voltage decreases 19% after degradation. The smoothly surface after degradation decrease the trap energy level for 14%, which might be the change reason of surface charge accumulation and flashover voltage. This paper can offer as a reference for the effect of micron metal particles on insulation degradation in SF6 gas insulated equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DC wall bushing is one of the key equipment in high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission project. At present, post insulators based on epoxy composites are widely used for supporting insulation in SF6-insulated apparatus. However, the flashover faults caused by surface charge accumulation can be a severe threat to the long-term operation of the post insulators under dc field. Therefore, the issue of charge accumulation on epoxy post insulators in HVDC wall bushing and its effect on flashover has been widely concerned. Aiming at this problem, the flashover characteristics of epoxy samples in SF6 gas under polarity reversal conditions with dc voltage prestressed for 10–600 min were measured in this article. The flashover process is analyzed through surface charge distribution measurement and electric field computation. The results show that with the increase of prestressed time, the accumulated negative charge density could reach $-14.8\,\,\mu \text{C}/\text{m}^{{2}}$ , which led to a 12% increase in maximum field strength. As a result, the polarity reversal flashover voltage could decrease by 12% and the flashover time delay could decrease by 84.6%. This article can offer as a reference for the effect of surface charge accumulation on flashover in SF6 gas-insulated equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]