The impact of electrode dielectric coating on the insulationintegrity of GIS/GITL with metallic particle contaminants

Coating the inside surface of gas insulated switchgear (GIS) enclosures with a dielectric film reduces the deleterious effect of electrode surface roughness, impedes the development of metallic particle initiated microdischarges, increases the field required to lift particles, and reduces the charge acquired by particles, all of which help alleviate the adverse effect of contaminating metallic particles on insulation withstand. The performance of particle-contaminated compressed gas systems with dielectric coated electrodes is analyzed. Two mechanisms for the transfer of charge from electrodes to contaminating particles are considered, namely, conduction through the coating layer and microdischarges in the surrounding gas. The paper presents an electrostatic study of the particle lifting fields with dielectric covered electrodes. The overall breakdown strength of the system is evaluated and the results are discussed in the light of experimental findings     

一起三工位隔离开关故障探讨

随着电力系统一次设备的全封闭化,越来越多的GIS设备投入系统运行,笔者针对一起220kVGIS三工位开关故障进行了细致分析,并结合变电检修中的解锁操作进行了总结,尤其提出了防范措施及注意事项。     

Development of 72‐kV high‐pressure air‐insulated GIS with vacuum circuit breaker

SF₆ gas has excellent dielectric strength and interruption performance. For these reasons, it has been widely used for gas‐insulated switchgear (GIS). However, use of SF₆ gas has become regulated under agreements set at the 1997 COP3. Thus, investigation and development for GIS with a lower amount of SF₆ gas are being carried out worldwide. Presently, SF₆‐free GIS has been commercialized for the 24‐kV class. Air or N₂ gas is used as the insulation gas for this GIS. On the other hand, SF₆‐free GIS has not been commercialized for the 72‐kV‐class GIS. The dielectric strengths of air and N₂ gas are approximately one‐third that of SF₆ gas. To enhance the insulation performance of air and N₂ we have investigated a hybrid gas insulation system which has the combined features of providing an insulation coating and suitable insulation gas. We have developed the world's first 72‐kV SF₆‐free GIS. This paper deals with key technologies for SF₆‐free GIS, such as the hybrid insulation structure, a bellows for the high‐pressure vacuum circuit breaker, a newly designed disconnector and spacer, and prevention of particle levitation. Test results of the 72‐kV high‐pressure air‐insulated GIS with the vacuum circuit breaker are described. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 157(4): 13–23, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20451     

SF6/N2混合气体绝缘特性的实验研究

目前绝大多数气体绝缘开关设备采用SF₆气体绝缘,SF₆泄漏导致严重的环保问题,人们迫切希望少采用或不采用SF₆气体,以降低对环境的污染。为此,试验研究SF₆和SF₆/N₂混合气体在不同混合比、不同压力以及在不同电场结构下的击穿特性,并与SF₆气体的绝缘性能进行比较,试验结果表明：在N₂中注入20%~30%的SF₆气体后,SF₆/N₂混合气体绝缘性能指标可以达到纯SF₆气体的80%左右,但若继续增加SF₆气体的配比,则其耐电强度上升的幅度明显变慢;此外,试验研究还发现,极不均匀电场会大大降低气体的耐击穿电压强度。试验研究证明了采用SF₆/N₂混合气体代替纯SF₆气体的技术方案的可行性。     

Blind Source Separation of Mixed PD Signals Produced by Multiple Insulation Defects in GIS

Partial discharge (PD) source signals concurring at different internal positions in gas insulated switchgear (GIS) may be mixed linearly or nonlinearly when they are propagating through GIS pipes. To identify the interior insulation defects in GIS, it is important and intricate to extract these individual PD source signals from the mixed PD signals. This paper applies the blind source separation (BSS) theory to acquire individual source signals assisted by complex wavelet transform. First, a maximizing signal-to-noise ratio (MSNR) BSS algorithm is introduced. Then simulated PD mixed signals are constructed from four individual ultra-high frequency theoretical PD signals and employed to implement BSS separation. Finally, two typical individual PD signals sampled from GIS model are adopted for testing. Both can produce satisfying result, which shows that it is feasible to apply BSS to separate the mixed PD signals in GIS.     

Characterization of Polyurethane Foam Dielectric Strength

Internal flashovers in hollow insulation systems can produce serious damage. Frequently, SF₆ or N₂ is used to eliminate this problem, but possible gas leakage may endanger the insulation. This paper proposes the use of polyurethane foams to fill the hollow spaces in insulation systems. Thus far, few publications deal with the dielectric properties of foams. This paper demonstrates the dielectric strength of three different foams which are investigated using ac and lightning impulse voltages under different humidity and temperature conditions. The results show that polyurethane foams have 2-3 times better dielectric strength than air. The breakdown strength decreases with the thickness of the foam; temperature and humidity have negligible effects on the breakdown voltage. The major parameter is the size of the voids in the foam. Reducing the size of the voids increases the breakdown strength. This can be achieved by improving the manufacturing technology.     

Classical Interpretation of Conduction Currents in Crosslinked Polyethylene (XLPE) and a Comparison with Ideal Polyethylene

Recent experimental conduction current data are numerically analyzed in terms of the established Richardson/Dushman-Schottky (1914) expression for electron emission rates, from a metal cathode, multiplied by the traditional Townsend (1915) derived electron avalanche sizes due to electron-molecule collision ionization in the bulk insulating dielectric for electric fields up to in excess of 1000 MV/m. Agreement between applied theory and experiment limited to 70 MV/m is excellent. Deduced Townsend primary ionization coefficients in ideal, low and high density polyethylene, in solid, liquid and gaseous ethylenes, air, solid Al₂O₃ and Nb₂O₅ are shown diagrammatically. From these it is postulated by calculation that 1.5 - 6% of the interelectrode gap distance in practical XLPE is occupied by air filled space rather than by total ideal polyethylene and that this free space is responsible for considerable ionization in the region of 30 MV/m which prevents 1000 MV/m to be attained. Such high dielectric strength should be achievable if in addition a low electron field emitter cathode such as ultra-pure aluminum is used. It is concluded from this and previous work that bonds between atoms/molecules in polymers are as important as the individual discrete particles by themselves in determining dielectric properties.     

Apparatus for Online Power Transformer Winding Monitoring Using Bushing Tap Injection

Online transformer condition monitoring techniques based on transfer function methods, such as transmission-line diagnostics and swept frequency-response analysis, require the injection of a known test signal into the transformer. On larger power transformers, a practical method is to use the available bushing tap connection. In this paper, we will discuss a custom high-power signal generator that injects high-frequency signals on the bushing tap of the transformer under investigation, as well as a circuit to replace the bushing tap short and allow online operation of the system. Finally, the system is demonstrated on a 650 kV transformer.      

Evaluation of Breakdown Characteristics of Gas Insulated Switchgears for Non-Standard Lightning Impulse Waveforms - Breakdown Characteristics for Non-Standard Lightning Impulse Waveforms Associated with Lightning Surges

To lower the insulation specifications (specifically, the lightning impulse withstand voltage) of a gas insulated switchgear (GIS) and thus cut the equipment cost while maintaining the high reliability of its insulation performance, it is necessary to define in an organized way the insulation characteristics for non-standard lightning impulse voltage waveforms that represent actual surge waveforms in the field and compare them with the characteristics for the standard lightning impulse waveform quantitatively. In the preceding paper, lightning surge waveforms and disconnector switching surge waveforms at UHV, 500 kV, and 275 kV substations were analyzed and five to six non-standard lightning surge waveforms with basic frequencies of 0.6 to 5.0 MHz were identified. In this paper, the dielectric breakdown voltage - time characteristics were measured under several different conditions mainly for the quasi-uniform SF₆ gas gaps that represent an insulation element of a GIS toward four kinds of non-standard lightning impulse waveforms associated with lightning surges. As a result, in the tested range, the dielectric breakdown values for nonstandard lightning impulse waveforms were higher than for the standard lightning impulse waveform by 3% to 32%.     

二滩水电站500kV GIS设备运行分析

笔者通过对二滩水电站500 kV GIS设备12年来发生的缺陷进行分类统计与分析,归纳出500 kVGIS设备缺陷发生的主要类型及发生率,并有针对性地提出了可行性预防措施,比如尽量采用技术成熟、免维护的设备,提高设备检修工艺和质量等。同时,对如何有效发现设备缺陷和减少设备缺陷发生率的方法进行了探讨,提出了开展群众性缺陷分析与研究等一些可行的办法,起到了指导检修和减少缺陷的作用。     

Motion behavior and deactivation method of free-conducting particle around spacer between diverging conducting plates under DC voltage in atmospheric air

This paper deals with free conducting particle motion around different shaped spacers between diverging conducting plates under DC voltage in atmospheric air. Spherical particle motion was observed experimentally and the results were discussed on the basis of the electrostatic force acting on the particle with and without spacer. The results show that a particle around a spacer tends to move laterally towards or away from the spacer towards higher field regions, depending on the spacer configuration. It lifts at higher field positions and sometimes adheres to the spacer. The effects of spacer angle and spacer material (permittivity) on free conducting particle motion are also discussed. For comparing the results obtained with a sphere, a wire particle motion around different shaped spacers is also investigated. The obtained results suggest one of the methods to prevent/suppress the conducting particle from approaching or adhering to spacers, is to reduce the field strength in the vicinity of the triple junction of gas, solid dielectric and electrode in gas insulated system (GIS).     

GIS支撑绝缘子内部放电缺陷综合诊断方法现场应用

介绍了基于特高频局部放电检测和X射线成像检测的气体绝缘金属封闭开关设备（GIS）支撑绝缘子内部放电缺陷综合诊断方法,并进行了分析和现场应用研究。以某110 kV GIS为例,利用特高频法对运行中的GIS进行局部放电检测,在检测到异常信号后,通过干扰排除和多通道信号时延定位确定缺陷位置、缺陷类型。对于支撑绝缘子内部放电缺陷,利用X射线成像检测技术对缺陷情况进行确认,从而实现缺陷综合诊断,指导设备检修。     

Calculation of the uniform breakdown field strength of SF6 gas

We calculated the uniform dielectric breakdown field strength of SF₆ gas over the temperature range of 300 to 3000 K. The local thermal equilibrium (ITE) composition of the dissociated gas is connected to the electron impact collision cross sections of the species SF₆, F₂, F and S. The critical reduced electric field strength of the composition is determined by a balancing electron generation and loss modeled by chemical reactions evaluated by the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) derived from the Boltzmann transport equation. At room temperature, pure SF₆ has a critical reduced electric field strength of 362 Td. With increasing temperature and decreasing density we found a small decrease of this value, whereas at temperatures higher than 1500 K, dissociation starts to decrease the dielectric strength of the composition. Furthermore, we found that generation of electrons by (associative) detachment from F ^- starts to play an important role at temperatures >2500 K, where the critical field strength still has a value of 118 Td. This value is found to decrease rapidly afterwards with increasing temperature to the value of 38 Td at 3000 K. The calculated results agree very well with independently predicted values and measured data     

预防性试验对电力变压器的有效性分析

通过对大型电力变压器试验，如绝缘、直流电阻测量，介质损耗因数，油中溶解气体分析，油中含水量等的分析，探讨了预防性试验的有效性，并对检测方法，故障诊断以及电力变压器状态检修的现状与发展提出建议。     

The influence of the dielectric strength of the N/sub 2//SF/sub 6/-insulation by conducting particle on the spacer surface

This paper investigates the dielectric properties of various N/sub 2//SF/sub 6/ gas mixtures based upon a cylindrical spacer model with adhering particle on the surface tinder homogeneous field conditions. The investigation involves a comparison with pure SF/sub 6/. The flashover field strength for clean and particle contaminated spacer surface under AC and LI stress is determined. The results of the investigations show the sensitivity of N/sub 2//SF/sub 6/ gas mixtures to conducting particles on spacer surfaces for gas pressures up to 800 kPa. Moreover, the correspondence between pure SF/sub 6/ at pressure range from 100 to 400 kPa and N/sub 2//SF/sub 6/ gas mixtures for AC and lightning impulse (LI) flashover field strength range from 50 to 178 kV/cm is determined. Conclusions are drawn about the ability of SF/sub 6/ gas mixtures to serve as technically efficient media for GIS/GITL. The results shed light on the issue of the SF/sub 6/ reduction and particle detectability in GIS/GITL.     

Development of an identification system for location of free metallic particles in GIS based on analysis of Lamb waves

We investigated propagation properties of Lamb waves in a gas‐insulated switchgear (GIS) tank to diagnose insulation performance of GIS. The acoustic signals excited by a free metallic particle colliding with the tank sheath were measured using AE sensors. The wavelet transform was applied to decompose the wave data into its time–frequency components. As a result, difference of propagation properties of Lamb waves is clearly seen with different sizes of GIS tank. Based on the characteristics of Lamb waves, algorithms for location identification of a free metallic particle were examined in model GIS using two AE sensors. Herein, we propose a new system for location identification of a free metallic particle in GIS. Moreover, it is verified that the new identification system is suitable as a diagnostic technique for GIS. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 167(3): 28–35, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20676     

Insulation resistance under DC stress and electrification characteristics of GIS epoxy insulator

Gas‐insulated switchgear (GIS) has widely been used for AC power distribution because of its high reliability and compactness. Recently, DC GIS has been developed with various investigations for dielectric breakdown characteristics of DC gas insulation. GIS insulation is composed of SF₆ gas and solid spacers, and it has been recognized that the dielectric performance of DC GIS is mainly influenced by solid spacers. Under DC stress, the electric field is directed one way, the effect of electrification for charges to be accumulated in the spacer must be taken into account and also the effect exists in AC GIS because the switching operations may leave the remnant DC charge on the AC GIS spacer. This paper first describes the effective resistivity (the bulk or the surface) of the solid spacer under the DC stress from the experimental investigation, and the critical factor on the solid spacer that causes reduced dielectric performance of the GIS insulation is studied. Second, the present paper deals with the electrification on the GIS with various levels of surface roughness of the epoxy insulator and metallic electrode. Finally, the DC insulation characteristics of GIS insulator are investigated based on the experimental results. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 168(4): 6–13, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20788     

Laser sensor for detection of SF6 leaks in high powerinsulated switchgear systems

A novel photoacoustic spectrometer (PA) has been developed for in-situ detection of SF₆ leaks in low concentrations. The developed system is equipped with a sound alarm system and has been tested in the laboratory for very minute SF₆ leaks. This newly developed SF₆ detection device utilizes a high quality factor resonant photoacoustic cell and continuous wave (CW) line tunable CO₂ laser at 10.55 μm wavelength. Whenever SF₆ is detected an acoustic signal is generated and no signal appears from ambient air if there is no leakage of SF₆. An electret microphone is used for the detection of these acoustic signals. The system is capable of detecting leaks of the order of 3.5 ppbv (parts per billion by volume) concentration. This device has been proved to have significant applications to industrial organizations that have electric power gas insulated systems (GIS). It could be also applied for other applications such as monitoring of environmental pollutants with minimal adjustments     

Dielectric strength coordination and generalized spacer design rules for HVAC/DC SF/sub 6/ gas insulated systems

The problems of HVAC/DC gas insulated systems (GIS) dielectric strength coordination and support spacers design criteria are discussed in this paper. The most important challenge is to protect the spacers against flashover and consequently exclude them from consideration when coordinating an insulation of GIS. Both experimental and numerical studies demonstrate that electric field formation mechanisms and insulation behavior at SF/sub 6//epoxy interface are substantially different for AC and DC voltage excitations. Nevertheless, in actual power systems, HVDC apparatus are frequently subjected to impulse and time-varying voltages, implying capacitive field grading, and vice versa, HVAC apparatus can actually be subjected to harmful pseudo-DC voltages occurring in certain operating modes. Therefore, the above-mentioned problem is considered in order to find generalized criteria which will provide a reliable spacer performance in both HVAC/DC gas insulated systems. To illustrate the specificity of SF/sub 6//epoxy insulation behavior at HVDC stress, static V-T characteristics for post-type spacer models were studied experimentally. Dielectric strength coordination requirements and constraints arising for AC/DC GIS conditions were discussed. Some design and technological alternatives directed to improve the DC spacer reliability were analyzed. Based on these results, generalized design criteria for AC/DC conical and post type spacers were formulated. For conventional range of GIS operating stress and insulation parameters, it has been shown that proposed design rules can be realizable with no additional enlargement of apparatus dimensions. Such an approach provides unification and interchangeability of support spacers in HVAC/DC SF/sub 6/ apparatus, which could be technologically worthwhile and economically beneficial for manufacturers and power utilities.     

机械缺陷对GIS外壳振动影响

气体绝缘开关(GIS)在运行过程中会发生振动。为了分析在GIS外壳连接处的螺栓松动和导杆不对中两种缺陷的振动信号分别与无缺陷正常运行时的差别,文中建立了252 kV三相分箱型GIS的三维模型,并在固体力学场中对模型进行模态分析,确定其固有频率,得到较有代表性的六阶模态振型。文中通过施加不同载荷及改变模型参数等方法,在固体力学场中分别求解无缺陷、不同数量螺栓松动和不同情况的导杆不对中状态下GIS外壳振动加速度的时域信号,并通过频谱分析得到其频域信号,通过比较分析几种情况下外壳振动加速度信号的差别,获得GIS出现螺栓松动缺陷和导杆不对中缺陷在GIS外壳振动加速度上的特征,得到出现以上缺陷时的判据。文中所得到的相关结论对于后续的GIS设备运行状态监测、机械缺陷判别和振动情况研究有一定的参考价值。