Course code : POWE522
High Voltage Engineering
Break down in Liquids and Solids
Breakdown in liquid dielectrics
Function of liquid dielectric in transformer:
(i) Providing insulation between live and
grounded parts
(ii) Carrying out the heat from transformer
to the atmosphere
In circuit breaker it has an additional
function of arc extinguishing.
It must be chemically stable and free from moisture and contamination, because:
Even 0.01% water in oil brings down the dielectric strength to 20%
Characteristics of Liquid Dielectrics
Electrical Properties
The electrical properties that are essential in determining the
dielectric performance of a liquid dielectric are its
(i) capacitance per unit volume or its relative permittivity
(ii) resistivity
(iii) loss tangent (tan δ) or its power factor which is an
indication of the power loss under ac voltage application
(iv) its ability to withstand high electric stresses.
• Permittivity of most of the petroleum oils vary from 2.0 to 2.6
while those of silicone oils from 2.0 to 73 (see Table ).
The permittivity for di-electric material represents the amount of
storing energy or capacitance in the electric field
• Resistivity of insulating liquids used for high-voltage
applications should be more than ohm meter and most of the
liquids in their pure state exhibit this property.
• Dielectric Strength Maximum electric field that material can
withstand under ideal conditions before undergoing
breakdown.
• Power Factor.
• Power factor is a measure of the power loss and is an important
parameter in cable and capacitor systems. However, in the case
of transformers, the dielectric loss in the oil is negligible when
compared to copper and iron losses. Pure and dry transformer
oil will have a very low power factor varying between at 20°C
and at 90°C at a frequency of 50 Hz.
Pure liquid: Which are chemically pure, structurally
simple and do not contain any impurity even in trace of 1
in 109 is called pure liquids.
Commercial liquids: are chemically impure and contain
mixtures of complex organic molecules.
There are different theories of breakdown in liquid dielectrics:
(i) Suspended solid particle mechanism
(ii)Electronic breakdown
(iii)Cavity breakdown
(iv)Electro convection breakdown
Electronic Breakdown
• Once an electron is injected into the liquid, it gains energy
from the electric field applied between the electrodes.
• The threshold condition for the beginning of avalanche
where λ is the mean free path, hv is the energy of ionization and
C is a constant.
These electrons are accelerated under the electric field and would
gain sufficient energy to knock out an electron and thus initiate
the process of avalanche.
Suspended solid particle mechanism
Commercial liquids will always contain solid impurities either as
fibers or as dispersed solid particles.
The radius of the solid sphere is r. These particles get polarized in
an electric fields E
Hence the dielectric strength depends upon the concentration of
particles N, radius r and temperature of the liquid.
Larger the radius of the particles lower the dielectric strength.
Cavity Breakdown (bubble)
• The more are the chances of partially ionized gases coming
out of the gap and higher the chances of breakdown.
This means a kind of vapor bubble formed is responsible for
the breakdown.
(i) Gas pockets on the surface of electrodes.
(ii) Due to irregular surface of electrodes, point charge
concentration may lead to corona discharge, thus vaporizing the
liquid.
(iii) Changes in temperature and pressure.
(iv) Dissociation of products by electron collisions giving rise
to gaseous products.
TREATMENT OF TRANSFORMER OIL
• Oil, besides being a good insulating medium, it allows better
dispersion of heat.
• In order to achieve operational requirements, it must be treated
to attain high degree of purity
• Whatever be the nature of impurities whether solid, liquid or
gaseous, these bring down the dielectric strength of oil
materially.
(Oil at 20°C with water contents of 44 ppm will have 25% of
its normal dielectric strength)
Filtration and Treatment
• This system provides for cycling the liquids. The liquid from the reservoir
flows through the distillation column where ionic impurities are removed.
Water is removed by drying agents or frozen out in the low-temperature
bath. The gases dissolve in the liquid are removed by passing them through
the cooling tower and/or pumped out by the vacuum pumps.
The liquids then passes thought
the filter where dust particles
are removed. The liquid thus
purified is then use in the test
cell. The used liquid then flows
back into the reservoir.
• The vacuum system thus
helps to remove the moisture
and other gaseous
impurities.
Testing of Transformer oil
• The oil is poured in a container known as test-cell which has internal
dimensions of 55 mm × 90 mm× 100 mm high. The electrodes are polished
spheres of 12.7 to 13 mm diameter, preferably of brass, arranged
horizontally with their axis not less than 40 mm above the bottom of the
cell. For the test, the distance between the spheres shall be 4 + 0.02 mm. A
suitable gauge is used to adjust the gap. While preparing the oil sample, the
test-cell should be thoroughly cleaned and the moisture and suspended
particles should be avoided. Fig. 1.13 shows an experimental set-up for
finding out the dielectric strength of the given sample of oil. The voltmeter
is connected on to the primary side of the high voltage transformer but
calibrated on the high voltage side.
Testing of Transformer oil
• The gap between the spheres is adjusted to 4 mm with the help of a gauge
and the spheres are immersed in oil to a depth as mentioned earlier.
• The voltage is increased gradually and continuously till a flash over of the
gap is seen or the MCB operates. Note down this voltage. This voltage is
known as rapidly-applied voltage.
• Next bring the voltage back to zero and start with 40% of the rapidly
applied voltage and wait for one minute. See if the gap has broken. If not,
increase the voltage every time by 2.5% of the rapidly applied voltage and
wait for one minute till the flash over is seen or the MCB trips. Note down
this voltage.
• The acceptable value is 30 kV for 4mm applied for one minute. In fact
these days transformer oils with 65 kV for 4 mm 1 minute value are
available. If it is less than 30 kV, the oil should be sent for reconditioning.
Conclusion
• Experimental Evidence shows that the breakdown depends
upon the gap length by the following expression
𝑉 𝑏= 𝐴𝑑 𝑛
𝑑=𝑔𝑎𝑝 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔h𝑡 , 𝐴=𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 ,𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡h𝑎𝑛1
Breakdown of solid dielectrics
The solid insulation not only provides insulation to the live parts
of the equipment from the grounded structures, it sometimes
provides mechanical support to the equipment
When breakdown occurs the gases regain their dielectric
strength very fast, the liquids regain partially and solid
dielectrics lose their strength completely.
Roughly speaking, the product of the breakdown voltage and
the log of the time required for breakdown is almost a constant
Breakdown of solid dielectrics
• The time of application plays an important role in breakdown
process, for discussion purposes, it is convenient to divide the
time scale of voltage application into regions in which
different mechanisms operate.
(i) Intrinisic Breakdown
(ii) Electromechanical Breakdown
(iii) Breakdown Due to Treeing and Tracking
(iv) Thermal Breakdown
(v) Electrochemical Breakdown
INTRINSIC BREAKDOWN
• When voltages are applied only for short durations of the order of the
dielectric strength of a solid dielectric increases very rapidly to an upper
limit called the intrinsic electric strength.
• Intrinsic breakdown depends upon the presence of free electrons which
are capable of migration through the lattice of the dielectric.
• The impurity atoms, or molecules or both act as traps for the conduction
electrons up to certain ranges of electric fields and temperatures.
• When these ranges are exceeded, additional electrons in addition to
trapped electrons are released, and these electrons participate in the
conduction process.
i) Electronic Breakdown
ii) Avalanche or Streamer Breakdown
If the initial thickness of the material is d0 and is compressed to a
thickness d under the applied voltage V then the compressive stress
developed due to electric field is
For any real value of V the reduction of thickness can not be less than
40% of its original value. If the ratio V/d at this value of V is less than
the intrinsic strength of the specimen, a further increase in V shall make
the thickness unstable and the specimen collapses.
Thermal Breakdown
• When an insulating material is subjected to an electric field,
the material gets heated up due to conduction current and
dielectric losses due to polarization.
• The conductivity of the material increases with increase in
temperature and a condition of instability is reached when the
heat generated exceeds the heat dissipated by the material and
the material breaks down.
Breakdown due to treeing and tracking
Suppose some gas pockets are trapped in a solid
material during manufacture, the gas has a
relative permittivity of unity and the solid
material εr, the electric field in the gas will be εr
times the field in the solid material.
As a result, the gas breaks down at a relatively
lower voltage.
Break down in gas → Higher charge concentration → more non uniform electric field
→ More charge in void → breakdown step by step
Tracking:
Formation of permanent conducting path on an insulation surface due to
conduction through moisture or dust
Chemical and Electrochemical Deterioration and Breakdown
-Oxidation: In the presence of air or oxygen, material such as rubber and
polyethylene undergo oxidation giving rise to surface cracks.
-Hydrolysis: When moisture or water vapor is present on the surface of a solid
dielectric, hydrolysis occurs and the material loses their electrical and
mechanical properties. Electrical properties of materials such as paper, cotton
tape, and other cellulose materials deteriorate very rapidly due to hydrolysis.
Plastics like polyethylene undergo changes, and their service life considerably
reduces.
-Chemical Action
• The main requirements of the insulating materials used for power
apparatus are:
1. High insulation resistance.
2. High dielectric strength.
3. Good mechanical properties i.e., tenacity and elasticity.
4. It should not be affected by chemicals around it.
5. It should be non-hygroscopic because the dielectric strength of
any material goes very much down with moisture content.
