The Impact of Cavity Size on Electric Field Distribution and PD Inception Voltage in Epoxy-resin Insulation

Aliyu, B. D.; Rohani, Mohamad N. K. H.; Musa, U.; Jibril, Y.; Sulaiman, S. H.; Mas'ud, A. A.; Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus

Abstract

Cavities in insulation systems of active high voltage (HV) equipment affect their performance, reliability and useful life periods. Cavities serves as flash points for enhanced field activity leading to ageing from partial discharge (PD) events and subsequent breakdown of the insulation material. In this paper, the impact of cavity diameter on the electric field distribution as well as PD inception voltage is investigated in an Epoxy-resin insulation sample. A 3D adequate model of the sample with a spherical cavity was created and simulated in COMSOL for different cavity sizes and applied voltage stresses respectively. The simulation results indicate that the both field distribution and the PD inception voltages are strongly influenced by cavity size as well as the applied voltage magnitude. The electric field intensity was observed to be higher in cavities with smaller diameter relative to the insulation bulk, while the inception voltage decreases with increase in the cavity diameter and vice-versa.

Citation

Aliyu, B. D., Rohani, M. N. K. H., Musa, U., Jibril, Y., Sulaiman, S. H., Mas'ud, A. A., & Muhammad-Sukki, F. (2023, March). The Impact of Cavity Size on Electric Field Distribution and PD Inception Voltage in Epoxy-resin Insulation. Presented at 2023 IEEE 3rd International Conference in Power Engineering Applications (ICPEA), Putrajaya, Malaysia

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 2023 IEEE 3rd International Conference in Power Engineering Applications (ICPEA)
• Start Date: Mar 6, 2023
• End Date: Mar 7, 2023
• Acceptance Date: Jan 14, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Apr 10, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 16, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 10, 2023
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Book Title: 2023 IEEE 3rd International Conference in Power Engineering Applications (ICPEA)
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICPEA56918.2023.10093169
• Keywords: Electric Field; COMSOL Multi-physics; Finite Element Analysis; Inception Voltage; Epoxy-resin Insulation