Electrical Characterization of a New Crosslinked Copolymer Blend for DC Cable Insulation

Sarath Kumara, Xiangdong Xu, Thomas Hammarström, Yingwei Ouyang, Amir Masoud Pourrahimi, Christian Müller and Yuriy V. Serdyuk
Additional contact information
Sarath Kumara: Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
Xiangdong Xu: Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
Thomas Hammarström: Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
Yingwei Ouyang: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
Amir Masoud Pourrahimi: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
Christian Müller: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden
Yuriy V. Serdyuk: Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: To design reliable high voltage cables, clean materials with superior insulating properties capable of operating at high electric field levels at elevated temperatures are required. This study aims at the electrical characterization of a byproduct-free crosslinked copolymer blend, which is seen as a promising alternative to conventional peroxide crosslinked polyethylene currently used for high voltage direct current cable insulation. The characterization entails direct current (DC) conductivity, dielectric response and surface potential decay measurements at different temperatures and electric field levels. In order to quantify the insulating performance of the new material, the electrical properties of the copolymer blend are compared with those of two reference materials; i.e., low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and peroxide crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE). It is found that, for electric fields of 10–50 kV/mm and temperatures varying from 30 °C to 70 °C, the DC conductivity of the copolymer blend is in the range of 10 ?17 –10 ?13 S/m, which is close to the conductivity of crosslinked polyethylene. Furthermore, the loss tangent of the copolymer blend is about three to four times lower than that of crosslinked polyethylene and its magnitude is on the level of 0.01 at 50 °C and 0.12 at 70 °C (measured at 0.1 mHz and 6.66 kV/mm). The apparent conductivity and trap density distributions deduced from surface potential decay measurements also confirmed that the new material has electrical properties at least as good as currently used insulation materials based on XLPE (not byproduct-free). Thus, the proposed byproduct-free crosslinked copolymer blend has a high potential as a prospective insulation medium for extruded high voltage DC cables.

Keywords: copolymer; cable insulation; DC conductivity; dielectric response; surface potential decay; trap energy; low-density polyethylene (LDPE); crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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