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6 - Breakdown in Solid and Liquid Dielectric

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alamin shawon
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© © All Rights Reserved
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EEE 483 High Voltage Engineering

Breakdown in Solid and Liquid Dielectrics


A H Chowdhury, PhD
Professor, EEE, BUET

July 2023

1
Content
▪ Breakdown in solids

▪ Breakdown in liquids

▪ Static electrification in power transformers

2
Breakdown in Solids

3
Section Content
▪ Breakdown in solids
▪ Intrinsic breakdown

▪ Streamer breakdown

▪ Electromechanical breakdown

▪ Edge breakdown and treeing

▪ Thermal breakdown

▪ Erosion breakdown

▪ Tracking

4
Breakdown in Solids
• Transport of electricity in gases limited to positive and negative charge carriers
→ Insulation breakdown involves rapid growth of current through formation of electron avalanches
• Transport of electricity in solids involves electronic and ionic carriers, and currents due to slower
polarization processes
→ e.g. slow moving dipoles (orientation polarization) and interfacial polarization
• Electric polarization → slight relative shift of positive and negative electric charge in opposite
directions within an insulator or dielectric, induced by an external electric field
→ Polarization occurs when an electric field distorts negative cloud of
electrons around positive atomic nuclei in a direction opposite the field
→This slight separation of charge makes one side of atom somewhat
positive and opposite side somewhat negative
5
Breakdown in Solids
• Electrical methods are unable to distinguish between conduction currents and currents due to polarization
having a longer time constant than duration of a particular experiment
• At low stresses and normal temperatures conduction by free electrons and ions in solids is exceptional
• Conduction in glasses is believed to be of simple electrolytic type at room temperature and above
• Ceramics also develop a significant conductivity at higher temperatures that may be electronic or ionic

• As stress in solids approaches breakdown stress, current is found to increase exponentially, but does not
vary so markedly with time
1) Results from injection of carriers from an electrode or from electron multiplication in bulk of the material
or both
2) Impurities or structural defects may cause local allowed energy levels (traps) in forbidden band, and
electrons may pass through the insulator by jumping from one trap to another (hopping effect)
6
Breakdown in Solids
• From electrodes electrons ejected by ‘Schottky’s emission effect’ or ‘field emission effect’ (tunnelling)

〈 Once injected electron multiplication is thought to be analogous to that in a gas discharge 〉

• Under normal industrial conditions same solid materials exhibit a wide range of dielectric strength,
depending upon conditions of environment and method of testing

• Measured breakdown voltage influenced by external factors

〈 temperature, humidity, duration of test, whether a.c., d.c., or impulse voltage is applied, pressure
applied to electrodes, discharges in ambient medium, discharges in cavities and many other factors 〉

〈〈 Mechanisms of breakdown in solids are understood much less clearly than those in gases 〉〉

7
Breakdown in Solids
• Mechanism of failure and breakdown strength
changes with time of voltage application

• It is convenient to divide time scale of voltage


application into regions in which different
mechanisms operate

Mechanisms of failure and variation of breakdown


strength in solids with time of stressing
8
Intrinsic Breakdown
Intrinsic breakdown refers to the electric field which will cause breakdown of a “perfect” material in a
very short time, i.e., without the effects of high field aging

For pure and homogeneous material, With undervoltage applied for a short time electric
controlled temperature and environmental strength increases up to an upper limit called
conditions, and sample stressed such that 〈〈 intrinsic electric strength 〉〉 〈 intrinsic strength is
there are no external discharges property of material and temperature only 〉

• Experimentally intrinsic strength is rarely reached


• To achieve the highest strength sample is so designed
that there is high stress in center of solid under test and
Electrode arrangement used for
low stress at edges
measuring intrinsic breakdown in solids
Intrinsic Breakdown
Intrinsic breakdown accomplished in times of the order Stresses required for intrinsic
breakdown well in excess of 106 V/cm
of 10–8 sec 〉〉 therefore electronic in nature

Intrinsic strength assumed to be reached when electrons in insulator gain sufficient energy from applied
field to cross forbidden energy gap from valence to conduction band
▪ Criterion condition formulated by solving an equation for energy balance between gain of energy
by conduction electrons from applied field and its loss to lattice
▪ Several models have been proposed
→ Models differ on mechanisms of energy transfer from conduction electrons to lattice, and also by
assumptions made concerning distribution of conduction electrons
Intrinsic Breakdown
In pure homogeneous dielectric • at room temperature electrons cannot acquire sufficient
materials conduction and valence thermal energy to make transitions from valence to
bands separated by a large energy conduction band
• conductivity in perfect dielectrics should therefore be zero
gap

• All crystals contain some imperfections in their


structures due to missing atoms, and more
frequently due to presence of foreign atoms
(impurities)

〉〉 Impurity atoms may act as traps for free


electrons in energy levels that lie just below Schematic energy level diagram for an
conduction band amorphous dielectric
Intrinsic Breakdown
• At low temperatures trap levels mostly filled with
electrons caught there as crystal was cooled down
during its manufacture

• At room temperature some of the trapped


electrons thermally excited into conduction band
〈 because of small energy gap between trapping
Schematic energy level diagram for an levels and conduction level 〉
amorphous dielectric
• Amorphous crystal 〉or glassy solid〈 therefore have
some free conduction electrons
Intrinsic Breakdown
• When external is field applied to a crystal conduction • In amorphous dielectrics electron
electrons gain energy from it interactions predominate
〈 due to collisions between them energy is shared by 〈 external field raises energy of electrons
all electrons 〉 〈 for a stable condition this energy more rapidly than they can transfer it to
must be dissipated 〉 lattice, and Te exceeds T 〉

• Relatively few electrons in pure crystals → most of Higher number of trapped


the energy transferred to lattice by electron–lattice increased Te electrons reach conduction
interaction band → increases
material’s conduction
• In steady state conditions
Electron temperature (Te) ≅ Lattice temperature (T) And as electron temperature continues to
• Electron moving through lattice exerts an attractive force on increase a complete breakdown is eventually
nearby +ve ions reached 〈known as high-temperature breakdown〉
→ Cause lattice deformation and local concentration of +ve charges
Intrinsic Breakdown
• Rate of energy gained by electrons from field is function of field
Assuming electronic
strength E and lattice temperature T
conduction in solids, for an
• Rate of energy transfer from electrons to lattice depend only on T
applied field strength E
• Both rates depend on parameters 𝛼 describing conduction electrons

This Eq. can be physically satisfied for


Energy balance equation for conduction
values of E < Ec 〈critical field strength〉
electrons at steady state conditions

*Fröhlich’s high energy Breakdown occurs when electric field is sufficiently large that
breakdown criterion (1937) electrons in high energy tail of electron energy distribution, which
〈for a pure homogeneous have sufficient energy to cause impact ionization, gain more energy
dielectric〉
from field than they lose to phonon

*Herbert Fröhlich (1905 –1991), German physicist; worked in the UK since 1935
Intrinsic Breakdown
Fröhlich’s high energy Assumption Step 1 identify parameter 𝛼 with
breakdown criterion (1937) • dielectric is destroyed by an electron energy (We) such that balance
〈for a pure homogeneous infinitely large multiplication of equation is satisfied i.e.
dielectric〉 electrons in conduction band

Step 2 calculate critical field strength Ec

• From Fig. it is seen that for an


electron to remain accelerated and
Average rate of energy gain
thus lead to instability at any given
A(E, T, We) from an applied field field it should find itself with an
for various field strengths and energy which brings it above curve B
average rate of energy loss to so that it gains energy more rapidly
lattice B(WL,T) than it loses
Intrinsic Breakdown
For critical field criterion
Where,
I – ionization energy corresponding to transition of an
electron from a valence band to a conduction band

• This Eq. enables us to determine Ec that is


required to cause collision ionization from
valence to conduction band

• For E > Ec electrons gain energy more rapidly from field than they lose to lattice → breakdown will
result

• This mechanism applies to pure solids in which equilibrium is controlled by collisions between
electrons and lattice vibrations
Intrinsic Breakdown
• Fröhlich and Paranjape extended the • Curves A plotted for various values of E;
Fröhlich model for homogeneous materials represents l.h.s. of Eq.
to amorphous materials in which • Curve B represents r.h.s.
• Intersections give possible solutions for various
concentration of conduction (or trapped)
electron temperatures
electrons is high enough to make electron–
electron collisions the dominant factor

• In this case it is necessary to calculate Te


which will be higher than lattice Rate of energy gain
and loss for h.t.
temperature T intrinsic breakdown
model
• Energy balance Eq. in this case
Streamer Breakdown
• Under certain controlled conditions in strictly uniform fields with electrodes
embedded in specimen, breakdown may be accomplished after passage of a
single avalanche

• An electron entering conduction band of dielectric at cathode will drift towards anode under
influence of field gaining energy between collisions and losing it on collisions
• For a long enough free path the energy gain exceeds lattice ionization energy and an additional
electron is produced on collision
• Process is repeated and may lead to formation of an electron avalanche similar to gases
• Frederick Seitz suggested that breakdown will ensue if avalanche exceeds a certain critical size
and derived an expression for a single avalanche breakdown strength
Electromechanical Breakdown
Substances which can deform appreciably • Compression forces arise from electrostatic attraction
without fracture may collapse when electrostatic between surface charges which appear when voltage
compression forces on test specimen exceed its is applied
• Pressure exerted when field reaches about 106 V/cm
mechanical compressive strength
may be several kN/m2

• Let, d0 – initial thickness of a specimen of material of Young’s modulus Y, which decreases to a


thickness of d (m) under an applied voltage V, then electrically developed compressive stress is in
equilibrium with mechanical compressive strength if

Where ε0 – permittivity of free space


εr – relative permittivity of the dielectric
Edge Breakdown and Treeing
• In practical insulation systems, solid material is stressed in conjunction with one or
more other materials
• If one of the materials is a gas or a liquid, then measured breakdown voltage will
be influenced more by the weak medium than by the solid

d1, d2 – thickness of media 1 and 2 Spherical electrode

ε1, ε2 – permittivity of media 1 and 2

dielectric slab
between sphere-
Breakdown of solid specimen plane electrodes
due to ambient discharge-
edge effect Plane electrode
Edge Breakdown and Treeing
• Assuming homogeneous field, consider a cylindrical volume
of cross-section dA between electrodes at distance x
• On applying voltage V between electrodes, a fraction of
voltage, V1, appears across media 1 given by

• When a gaseous dielectric is in series with a solid dielectric stressed between two parallel plate
electrodes, stress in gaseous part will exceed that of solid by ratio of permittivities → E1 = εrE2
• Stress in gaseous part increases further as x decreased → reaches very high values as d1 becomes very
small (point B)
• Consequently the ambient breaks down at a relatively low applied voltage
Edge Breakdown and Treeing
• Charge at tip of discharge further disturb applied local field and transform arrangement to a
highly non-uniform system

• Charge concentration at tip of a discharge channel is sufficient to give a local field of the order of
10 MV/cm, which is higher than intrinsic breakdown field

• A local breakdown at tips of discharge is likely, and complete breakdown is result of many such
breakdown channels formed in solid and extending step by step through the whole thickness
Edge Breakdown and Treeing
• Breakdown event in solids in general is not accomplished
through formation of a single discharge channel, but
assumes a tree-like structure

• Not every impulse will produce a channel

• Time required for this type of breakdown under alternating


voltage will vary from a few seconds to a few minutes

Breakdown channels in plexiglass between point-plane electrodes


➢ Radius of point = 0.01 in; thickness 0.19 in
➢ Total number of impulses = 190
➢ Number of channels produced = 16 ; (n) point indicates end of nth
channel
➢ Radii of circles increase in units of 10–2 in
Thermal Breakdown
• When an insulation is stressed, because of conduction currents and dielectric Newton’s law of cooling –
rate of loss of heat from a
losses due to polarization, heat is continuously generated within dielectric body directly proportional
• Conductivity (𝜎) increases with temperature, conditions of instability reached to difference in temp. of
the body and its
when rate of heating > rate of cooling → may lead to thermal breakdown surroundings

• Cooling of specimen represented by straight line;


• Heating at various field strengths represented by
curves of increasing slope
• Field (1) in equilibrium at T1, field (2) in a state of
unstable equilibrium at T2, field (3) does not reach a
state of equilibrium at all

Thermal stability or instability under


different applied fields
Thermal Breakdown
Basic equation for thermal breakdown Consider a cube of face area A m2
within dielectric
(K-thermal conductivity)

Heat input into the block

Conservation of energy requires that,

Thermal capacity is the amount of heat


Cv – thermal capacity of dielectric
i.e. needed for a given mass of a material to
𝜎 – electrical conductivity produce a unit change in its temperature
Thermal Breakdown
• Calculation of critical thermal situation involves
the solution of the Eq.

• In solving it, it is assumed that a critical condition arises and insulation properties are lost, when
at some point in the dielectric temperature exceeds a critical temperature Tc

➢ Solution gives time required to reach Tc for a given field and boundary condition

• The Eq. cannot be solved analytically for the general case → since Cv, K and 𝜎 may be all
functions of T and may also depend upon applied field

➢ Two extreme cases are be considered here for solution of the Eq.
Thermal Breakdown
Case 1
Eq. reduces to
Assume a rapid build-up of heat so that heat lost to surroundings can be
neglected and all heat generated is used in raising temperature of solid
→ leading to ‘impulse thermal breakdown’

• To obtain critical field Ec, assume that a


and
ramp function field is applied, then
Substituting for 𝜎
• For the conductivity, assume and rearranging

𝜎0 – conductivity at ambient temperature T0


u – empirical constant
Thermal Breakdown

• For the case when u >> kT, and Tc > T0 (Tc – critical time)

solution of the r.h.s.

solution of the l.h.s.

• Reaching the critical condition requires a combination of critical time (Tc) and critical field (Ec)
• Ec independent of Tc due to fast rise in temperature
Thermal Breakdown
Case 2 Arrangement for testing a dielectric for minimum
This case concerns thermal breakdown voltage
minimum thermal voltage, • A thick dielectric slab that is constrained to
i.e. lowest voltage for ambient temperature at its surfaces by using
thermal breakdown sufficiently large electrodes

• On application of voltage, after some time, a temperature


distribution within dielectric established with highest temperature
at center (T1); surface remain at ambient temperature
• On increasing voltage to a new higher value, an equilibrium
established at a higher central temperature (T2)
• If the process is continued, a thermal runaway will eventually result
Thermal Breakdown
Calculation of the minimum thermal voltage
• Consider a point inside dielectric distance x from center having voltage Vx
and temperature Tx
• Assume that all heat generated in dielectric carried away to its surroundings
through electrodes
• Conservation of energy requires that,

Neglecting
i.e.
Cv(dT/dt)

𝜎E = j & E = ∂V/∂x
(j-current density)
Thermal Breakdown

• This Eq. gives critical thermal breakdown voltage


Tc – critical temperature at which material decomposes
Assumed that Tc corresponds to center of the slab
Thermal Breakdown

Critical thermal breakdown voltage

• Vc is independent of thickness of specimen


▪ but for thin specimens thermal breakdown voltage becomes thickness dependent and is proportional to
square root of thickness tending asymptotically to a constant value for thick specimens

• Under alternating fields losses are much greater than under direct fields
• Consequently thermal breakdown strength generally lower for alternating fields, and decreases with
increasing frequency of supply voltage
Erosion Breakdown
• Practical insulation systems often contain cavities or voids within dielectric material or on
boundaries between solid and electrodes

▪ These cavities are usually filled with a medium (gas or liquid) of lower breakdown
strength than the solid

▪ Moreover, permittivity of filling medium is frequently lower than that of solid


insulation → causes field intensity in cavity to be higher than in dielectric

▪ Hence, under normal working stress of insulation system voltage across cavity may
exceed breakdown value and may initiate breakdown in void
Erosion Breakdown
Figure shows a cross-section of a Electrical discharge in cavity and its equivalent circuit
dielectric of thickness d containing a
cavity in the form of a disc of thickness t
Cc – capacitance of cavity
Cb – capacitance of dielectric which is in
series with Cc
Ca – capacitance of rest of the dielectric

• For t << d, which is usually the case, and assuming that εr – relative permittivity
of dielectric
cavity is filled with gas, field strength across Cc is given by
Erosion Breakdown
Consider a disc-shaped dielectric in solid, discharge
inception voltage applied across dielectric can be
expressed in terms of cavity breakdown stress

• Cavity acts like a series • Voltage across the cavity


capacitance with healthy
part of dielectric, so

→ Therefore, voltage across dielectric Ecb– breakdown stress of


the gas-filled cavity
which will initiate discharge in cavity
Erosion Breakdown
• For nearly spherical cavity For εr >> εrc, under an applied voltage Va
[which is the practical case] when Vc reaches breakdown value V+ of gap
internal field strength is E – average stress in dielectric
t, cavity may break down

Voltage that would appear across cavity if it did


not break down • As Vc reaches V+, a discharge takes place, Vc collapses
and gap extinguishes
• Voltage across cavity then starts increasing again until
it reaches V+, when a new discharge occurs
• Several discharges may take place during rising part of
applied voltage
• Similarly, on decreasing applied voltage
→ Groups of discharges originate from a single cavity
Sequence of breakdowns under sinusoidal
alternating voltage and give rise to positive and negative current pulses
Erosion Breakdown
When gas in cavity breaks down, 1. Some of the electrons impinging upon anode are sufficiently
energetic to break chemical bonds of insulation surface
surfaces of insulation provide
2. Bombardment of cathode by positive ions may cause damage
instantaneous cathode and anode
by increasing surface temperature and produce local thermal
instability

• Also channels and pits are formed which elongate through insulation by ‘edge mechanism’
• Additional chemical degradation may result from active discharge products 〈O3 or NO2〉 formed in air
which may cause deterioration
• Net effect 〉〉 slow erosion of material, consequent reduction of breakdown strength of solid insulation
Erosion Breakdown
• Because of imperfect manufacture and/or poor design, dielectric strength (e.g. in cables) decreases
with time of voltage application (or life)

• In many cases decrease in dielectric strength (Eb) with


time (t) follows an empirical relationship

n – depends upon dielectric material, ambient


conditions, and quality of manufacture

Lifetime (t) stress relationship of polyethylene m.v. cables


determined by different manufacturers
Tracking
〈〈 Tracking is formation of a permanent conducting
path across a surface of insulation 〉〉
➢ in most cases conduction path results from
degradation of insulation
• In an outdoor environment insulation will in time become covered
with industrial or coastal contaminant • Moisture is not essential to
➢ In presence of moisture the contamination layer gives rise to leakage tracking
current which heats surface and causes interruption in moisture film;
• Conducting path may arise from
small sparks are drawn between separating moisture films → This process
acts effectively as an extension to electrodes metallic dust; for example, in oil-
immersed equipment with moving
• Heat resulting from the small sparks causes carbonization and
volatilization of insulation and leads to formation of permanent parts which gradually wear and
‘carbon track’ on surface deposit on the surface
Breakdown in Liquids

40
Section Content
▪ Breakdown in liquids
▪ Electronic breakdown

▪ Suspended solid particle mechanism

▪ Cavity breakdown

▪ Electroconvection and electrohydrodynamic model of dielectric breakdown

▪ Static electrification in power transformers


Breakdown in Liquids
Two schools of thought
a) Extension of gaseous breakdown → based on avalanche ionization of atoms caused by electron
collision in the applied field
➢ Electrons are assumed to be ejected from cathode into liquid by either a field emission (tunnel effect), or by
field enhanced thermionic (Schottky’s) effect
➢ This type of breakdown mechanism has been considered to apply to homogeneous liquids of extreme purity,
and does not apply to commercial liquid insulation

b) At low fields the conduction is largely ionic due to dissociation of impurities and increases linearly
with field strength
• This conduction saturates at intermediate fields
• At high field, nearing breakdown, conduction increases more rapidly and tends to be unstable
• Increased current due to electron emission at cathode by one or both of the above mechanisms,
and possibly by field aided dissociation of molecules in the liquid
Breakdown in Liquids
• Presence of foreign particles in liquid insulation has a profound effect on breakdown strength of
liquids
➢ Suspended particles are polarizable and are of higher permittivity than liquid → they experience an
electrical force directed towards place of maximum stress

➢ With uniform field electrodes movement of particles initiated by surface irregularities on electrodes,
which give rise to local field gradients

➢ Accumulation of particles continues and tends to form a bridge across gap which leads to initiation of
breakdown

• Impurities can also be gaseous bubbles of lower breakdown strength than liquid
Electronic Breakdown
Both field emission and field- • Most experimental data for current fit well Schottky-type
equation in which current is temperature dependent
enhanced thermionic emission
• Breakdown measurements carried out over a wide range of
mechanisms have been
temperatures show little temperature dependence
considered responsible for
→ cathode process is field emission rather than thermionic
current at cathode emission

• It is possible that return of positive • Once electron is injected into liquid it gains energy from applied
ions and positively charged foreign field

particles to cathode cause local field • Some electrons gain more energy from field than they lose in
collisions with molecules
enhancement and give rise to local
• These electrons are accelerated until they gain sufficient energy
electron emission to ionize molecules on collisions and initiate avalanche
Electronic Breakdown
• Condition for onset of electron avalanche is obtained by E – applied field
𝜆 – electron mean free path
equating gain in energy of an electron over its mean free h𝜐 – quantum of energy lost in
path to that required for ionization of molecule ionizing the molecule
c – an arbitrary constant

Electric strength of highly purified liquids

• Electronic theory satisfactorily predicts relative


magnitude of breakdown strength of liquids, but
observed formative time lags are much longer than
predicted by electronic theory
Suspended Solid Particle Mechanism
• Solid impurities may be present in liquid either as fibers or as dispersed solid particles

• Consider a spherical particle of radius r and permittivity ε to be suspended in dielectric liquid of


permittivity εliq
• In a field the particle become polarized and experiences a force

• The force is directed towards a place of maxm stress if ε > εliq


[for bubbles ε < εliq, the force has opposite direction]

• Force increases as permittivity of suspended


particle (ε) increases, and for a conducting Thus, force will urge the
particle for which ε →  force becomes particle to move to
strongest region of field
Suspended Solid Particle Mechanism
• In a uniform field gap or sphere gap of small spacing strongest field is in uniform region

→ grad E = zero → particle remains in equilibrium there

→ Accordingly, particles will be dragged into uniform field region

• If εparticle > εliq, then presence of particle in uniform field region will cause flux concentration at its
surface
→ Other particles will be attracted into region of higher flux concentration and in time will
become aligned head to tail to form a bridge across gap

• The field in liquid between particles will be enhanced, and if it reaches critical value breakdown
will follow
Suspended Solid Particle Mechanism
• Movement of particles by electrical force is opposed by viscous drag, and since particles are moving
into the region of high stress, diffusion must also be taken into account

• For a particle of radius r slowly moving with a velocity 𝜐 in a medium of


viscosity , drag force is given by Stokes relation

• Equating electrical force with drag force (Fe = Fdrag) 𝜐E – velocity of particle towards
region of maximum stress

• If diffusion process is included, drift velocity due to diffusion will be given

k – Boltzmann’s constant
• Equating vE with vd gives T – absolute temperature

Breakdown strength dependence in time on concentration of particles N, their radii and liquid viscosity
Cavity Breakdown
• Insulating liquids may contain gaseous inclusions in the form of bubbles

• Processes of bubbles formation:

i. gas pockets on electrode surface

ii. changes in temperature and pressure

iii. dissociation of products by electron collisions giving rise to gaseous products

iv. liquid vaporization by corona-type discharges from points and irregularities on electrodes
Cavity Breakdown
• Electric field in a spherical gas bubble which is immersed E0 – field in liquid in
in a liquid of permittivity εliq given by absence of bubble

• When field Eb becomes equal to gaseous ionization field, discharge takes place
which will lead to decomposition of liquid and breakdown may follow

• A more accurate expression for ‘bubble’ breakdown


field strength • This expression indicates that critical electric
field strength required for breakdown of liquid
depends upon initial size of bubble which is
affected by external pressure and temperature
𝜎 – surface tension of liquid
Vb – voltage drop in bubble • A strong dependence of liquid breakdown
ε1, ε2 – permittivity of liquid and bubble respectively strength upon applied hydrostatic pressure has
r - initial radius of bubble (initially spherical, assumed to
elongate under influence of field) been observed experimentally
Static Electrification in Power Transformers
• Static electrification (SE) in transformers is an interfacial
phenomenon, which involves oil, paper and transformer board
• Its physical mechanism involves a source of charge and region of
excessive charge accumulation
• Oil forced through tank and coolers → acquires electrostatic
charge (i.e., it contains equal number of +ve and –ve ions)
• When oil passes paper and solid insulation in windings, insulation
becomes negatively charged and oil positively charged with charge
separation occurring at oil-insulated interface

• Earliest reports on this phenomenon from Japan (1970s), where


number of h.v. large transformer failures occurred

Schematic of flow electrification density in transformers


Static Electrification in Power Transformers
• Transformers of large rating (e.g. >100MVA) are most likely affected by SE because they possess
greater amounts of insulation and require larger oil flow volumes than transformers of smaller ratings
• Solution to SE
➢ Oil additives – different oils have different electrostatic charging tendencies (ECT); oil additives
reduce oil ECT
➢ Oil regeneration – it is a process whereby oil is processed to achieve a significant condition
improvement, aimed at being as close to “as new” as possible, by removing aging products
➢ Operation practices
• SE incidents can be caused by poor operating practices e.g., increasing forced oil cooling capacity
beyond manufacturer’s recommendations
• Having more forced oil cooling in operation than load on transformer justifies

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