Determination of the streamers characteristics propagating in liquids using the electrical network computation

This work is devoted to the modeling of branching streamers propagating in transformer oil using an equivalent electrical network and the electrical network computation. The proposed model enables one to determine the different characteristics of the streamer (i.e., the associated current and the electrical charge, the power and the energy injected in the liquid, the local electric field at the streamer head, the streamer shape and its velocity, the mobility of the charge carriers within the streamer channels, the local viscosity and temperature). It's shown through the simulated values of the mobility of charge carriers, the local viscosity and temperature that both electronic and gaseous mechanisms are implicated in the streamer development. The gaseous nature of streamers and the role of the local electric field are evident. The influence of the conductivity and additives as well as the electrode gap on the propagation velocity of positive streamers is analyzed.     

考虑载流子密度扰动的植物绝缘油中初始流注放电仿真

在现有泊松方程及电流连续性方程的放电模型基础上,通过引入载流子密度波动源建立具有多分支流注形貌的放电改进模型;通过COMSOL软件仿真分析了雷电冲击电压为120kV、160kV和200kV时的放电结果。结果表明:改进模型的流注分支形貌比原模型更接近试验结果;最大场强主要分布在流注头部,且均超过2×108 V/m,其中200kV时由二次流注引起的场强和电荷变化最为明显。此外,3种电压下的z轴流注发展长度和速度还表明流注分支间电荷的相互排斥对流注有抑制作用。而对比电压上升沿时间分别为5ns、10ns、50ns和120ns时的流注形貌还发现:电压上升沿时间越短,流注半径越大,分支越多。该文的研究成果有助于分析放电过程中载流子密度波动对流注分支的影响机理。     

Streamer current in a three-electrode system

A study has been conducted on positive streamer discharges in air at atmospheric conditions for a three-electrode system, The electrode system consisted of two parallel planes (one grounded and one supplied with a negative dc voltage) and a small, insulated needle, sticking out from the center of the grounded plane. A triggering positive square impulse voltage of 5 μs duration was applied to the insulated needle and the currents associated with the streamer discharge were measured simultaneously on all three electrodes. During the streamer propagation, the current measured at the needle was the conduction current while the other two were the displacement (or capacitive) currents generated by the movement of charge in the electrode gap. The objective of this study is to identify the three currents and to investigate if simple representations of the streamer can reproduce the displacement currents measured at the plane electrodes. Two models for the streamer were applied: (1) a charged sphere moving in the background field and (2) a channel with a constant voltage gradient extending in the gap. In both models it was assumed that the streamer propagated with a constant velocity, which was estimated from the measurements. The motion of the streamer was simulated by a series of electrostatic calculations, using a field calculation program. Comparison of the measurements with the simulations indicates that the charge of the streamer is confined to a spherical region (i.e. streamer head) and it is increasing continuously during its advancement in the electrode gap. A discussion on advantages and disadvantages with the two investigated models (sphere vs. channel with potential gradient) is conducted, and a possible hybrid model is suggested. In the proposed model, features from both considered streamer representations are included     

Positive streamer propagation in large oil gaps: experimentalcharacterization of propagation modes

This paper presents an experimental study of positive streamer propagation in mineral oil, in large point-plane gaps under impulse voltage. A systematic investigation was done concerning the influence of gap distance (⩽35 cm), and voltage from streamer inception up to large overvoltages. The measurements presented concern breakdown voltage measurements, time to breakdown, visualization of streamers (streak and still photographs), electrical measurements (transient current, charge), light emission intensity. Streamers are characterized and then classified into different modes (2nd, 3rd and 4th modes) according to their propagation velocities up to more than 100 km/s. According to the applied voltage, transitions between modes are observed, and correlations are established between charge, shape, and streamer velocity. The physical mechanisms as well as practical consequences are then discussed     

Influence of molecular structure on propagation of positive streamer discharge in dielectric liquids

In this paper, streamer discharges in dielectric liquids which have various molecular structures, such as a double bond or a triple bond in the molecular formula, are observed in detail for positive point polarity under the application of an impulse voltage to the point electrode. As test liquids, four straight‐chain hydrocarbon liquids—n‐hexane, n‐heptane, n‐octane, and n‐decane—are selected and in addition the influence of a double or triple bond included in their molecular formula on the propagation of positive streamers is investigated in detail by simultaneously using a high‐speed schlieren method and an LED current measurement system. Some differences in the mean propagation velocity and the propagation shape of positive streamers are evident. Their shape is mainly filamentary in test liquids including a double or triple bond. Also, positive streamer propagation is promoted in these liquids. It is thought that this is due to the effect of π bonds which have smaller bond energies than σ bonds. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 149(1): 15–21, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10366     

Measurement of streamer charge distribution on an insulator in SF6 Gas

The charge density produced by streamers on an insulator surface in SF₆ has been investigated by using a probe method with a high-speed temporal resolution. Concentric circular probes, which also act as a plane electrode, are used in this probe method. Probe signals are observed oscilloscopically and converted into the charge densities through a numerical calculation. This method reveals the charge distribution before a disturbance caused by the “back discharge.” The charge density thus obtained ranges from several nC/cm² up to about 60 nC/cm². The density depends on the pressure, voltage height and the position of the streamer. The electric field on the insulator is analyzed numerically taking into account the surface charge. The internal electric field of the streamer is found to be 40 ～ 50 kV/cm · atm when the streamer ceases its propagation. However, it partly exceeds the critical one (89 kV/cm · atm) during the propagation.     

Positive streamer discharges along insulating surfaces

By measuring the currents associated with the streamer discharge along silicone rubber surfaces, parameters of streamer propagation such as the minimum field of streamer crossing, the field of stable streamer propagation, the mean velocity and the streamer charge distribution have been analyzed and compared to the streamer discharge in air alone. Clear differences were observed in the measured currents for the individual surfaces at low background fields (285 kV/m). For higher fields the streamer crosses the gap almost independently of the surface type. The minimum streamer field was found to be slightly increased compared to air. The field of stable streamer propagation also was higher than in air. It is ~ 570 kV/m, larger than that of the streamer discharge in air (~ 500), under the same conditions. The streamer speed was found slightly increased in the presence of the silicone rubber surface and the distinction between the individual surfaces was modest. A discussion on possible mechanisms for the observed differences in the streamer speed and currents with and without the insulator surfaces is presented. The net positive charge of the streamer along an insulating surface seems to be distributed along the streamer channel rather than localized in the front part of the channel as the case for the streamer in air     

大气中短空气间隙流注放电过程数值仿真

介绍了气体放电过程的流体数值模型,并将有限元(finite element,FE)和通量校正传输(flux-corrected-transport, FCT)法结合求解该模型。针对求解时间过长的问题,引入网格自适应剖分法和并行计算方法,提高了计算精度和效率。采用所提出方法仿真了棒板间隙流注放电过程,与实验结果吻合较好。基于仿真方法研究了电压大小、电极形状对放电的影响。基于气体放电现象的物理本质,从微观上研究了气体放电过程,得到了流注过程中空间电荷、电场分布等难以直接测量的微观参量。     

Study of the Development of Positive Streamers Along an Ice Surface

This paper presents the results of fundamental investigations on the inception and propagation of corona discharge on an ice surface stressed with a standard lightning impulse voltage. High-speed photography and photomultiplier techniques were used to observe and record the propagation of the streamers. The effects of several experimental parameters such as freezing water conductivity and HV rod electrode radius on the streamer inception parameters were investigated. Moreover, time to first streamer, inception voltage and corresponding field, as well as streamer propagation velocity and charge deposited by a streamer on ice surface were measured. The results are discussed and emphases are laid on the main factors influencing the development of positive streamers on ice surface.     

正极性雷电冲击电压下天然酯绝缘油油纸沿面流注动态变化规律研究

油纸绝缘复合电介质沿面放电是电力设备内绝缘的研究基础,其在雷电冲击电压下的绝缘特性是变压器绝缘设计的重要参数之一。为了获得油纸沿面流注传播与消散过程中电学、空间电荷分布演化规律及其关联关系,以交界面平行于施加电场方向的油纸系统为研究对象,通过构建适用于绝缘油油纸沿面流注动态变化特性的试验观测系统,可同步获得正极性雷电冲击电压下流注传播和消散过程中的电压、放电电流和放电通道流注阴影图像。利用该平台还测量了油纸沿面正极性雷电冲击击穿电压。试验结果表明,在正极性雷电冲击电压下天然酯绝缘油油纸绝缘相对介电常数差异并不会促进油纸沿面流注的传播过程,而粘度对于油纸沿面流注侧向分支影响显著。粘度越低,空间电荷在迁移过程中所受到的阻力越小,流注头部空间电荷在受到表面电荷的斥力后越容易往油中扩散,空间电荷在绝缘油中所形成的空间电场使得油纸沿面流注的主分支能够在绝缘油中传播,增加了油纸沿面流注传播距离,从而使低粘度天然酯绝缘油油纸沿面正极性雷电冲击击穿电压略高于其纯油击穿电压。     

Effects of additives on prebreakdown phenomena in n-hexane

Prebreakdown phenomena in n-hexane are observed in detail for positive and negative polarities by using simultaneously a high speed schlieren technique and an LED current measuring system, when an impulse voltage (1.1/225 μs) is applied to a point-to-plane electrode gap. Furthermore, the effects of several additives on the streamer propagation are investigated. Especially the effects of electron-trapping additives on negative streamer propagation and of low ionization potential additives on the positive streamer propagation, are examined, as is a correlation between the shape and the propagation velocity of the streamers     

Gas Heating and Formation of Single Linear Discharge Channel on Repetitive Branched Streamer Corona

Under a nonuniform field in an atmospheric short gap, a branched pulse streamer corona changes to a single filamentary discharge (SFD) for a split second just before sparkover occurs. This SFD is a pretransitional phenomenon of sparkover. Therefore, it is very important to study SFD for an understanding of the sparkover mechanism. In this work, the SFD was recreated well by applying a highly repetitive impulse voltage to a needle‐plane gap in synthetic air with dilute CO₂. The characteristics of the SFD, including the channel temperature, the propagation of the streamer head, and the formation process, were investigated by means of an intensified charge coupled‐device (ICCD) camera and a spectroscopic measurement system. It was found that the transition to SFD progresses with localized gas heating along the discharge channel. Furthermore, it was revealed that the SFD is a nonbranched positive streamer.     

High field conduction and prebreakdown phenomena in dielectric liquids

The present paper is mainly devoted to phenomena occurring in point-plane electrode geometry, where breakdown is the result of the initiation and propagation of prebreakdown phenomena called "streamers". In this configuration, an investigative study of the streamer initiation processes, requiring very high electric field strengths (/spl sim/ MV/cm), and of propagation (requiring low electric field, /spl sim/ kV/cm) can easily be carried out for negative streamer development as well as for the positive case. From analysis of experimental results in pure liquids the physical processes connected with streamer initiation and propagation, particularly the electronic ones, are presented and discussed. Estimations of the main parameters of slower subsonic streamers and of the faster filamentary ones (such as field strength at the streamer tip, field inside the channel, charge density, etc.) have been obtained from qualitative considerations and compared to experimental data.     

Thermal processes in a streamer discharge in water

The propagation features of a streamer discharge in water have been investigated. Based on the experimental data obtained in the study of water discharges in a nonuniform electric field, due propagation of streamers is explained as the evaporation of water at the tip of the streamer and around it. The energy balance in the process of the streamer propagation is calculated for a sub-microsecond discharge in distilled water. It is shown that the energy released in the pre-breakdown process is sufficient to evaporate the liquid in the streamer channels. Similar velocity of the streamer propagation in both tap and distilled water substantiates negligible effect of ionic current density onto the streamer propagation process. These estimations, based on experiment, have relevance to the discussion of the nature of the dielectric breakdown of water     

Positive streamer propagation in large oil gaps: electricalproperties of streamers

This paper presents experimental data and calculations concerning the electrical properties of positive streamers in mineral oil at large gaps and HV. The experiments concern the measurement of charge, electric field, and the determination of the potential drop along streamers, either in the liquid alone, or for streamers guided within insulating tubes. Calculations of charge and field distribution around streamers are carried out by charge simulation. To do this, streamers are represented by objects with simple shapes (spheres or cylinders) equivalent to their macroscopic aspect. These models lead to a correct agreement with measured streamer charge and field on the plane electrode. Qualitative correlations are established between calculated field distributions and streamer behavior such as velocity, transitions between propagation modes. It is also concluded that the potential drop in streamers and branching both act as regulating mechanisms that help to keep the streamer tip field, and hence the velocity, constant over a wide voltage range     

The dynamics of DC predisruption in liquid insulating media

Results of predisruptive current, light and electrical charge measurements are presented for the liquids tetraester, transformer oil and cyclohexane, under point-plane electrode arrangements with negative and positive high DC voltages. Observed current and light pulses existed both in the kHz and the MHz frequency ranges for both polarities of the point electrode. The electrical charge for the current pulses either increased or decreased sharply whenever these pulses occurred. In general, three pulse regimes were evident: (1) current pulses with no associated light pulses, (2) current pulses correlated with light pulses and (3) light pulses with no associated current pulses. Analysis of the results obtained suggests the occurrence of charge injection followed by processes of bubble formation and electronic avalanche multiplication in the liquid phase, and partial discharges in localized expanding bubbles. The steplike propagation of streamers is explained and streamer velocities were estimated. Involvement of both electronic and gaseous phenomena in predisruptive processes is also suggested     

基于分形理论的水中流注放电仿真

水中流注放电的特性及流注发展机理研究对于污水处理、杀菌消毒、水下声源和高压绝缘具有重要的意义。基于分形理论,构建了考虑气泡生长过程的水中流注放电仿真模型,并仿真研究了不同电压幅值和溶液电导率下的放电特性。结果表明,随着外施电压和溶液电导率的增大,通道电荷量和流注发展速度均增大,而放电预击穿延时减小。计算得到的流注发展速度、预击穿延迟时间随水溶液电导率的变化等与已报道的实验相符。     

Propagation and structure of streamers in liquid dielectrics

Our purpose is to present a critical review of the current understanding of streamer propagation in dielectric liquids in order to help define the direction of future research. We show that the molecular structure has a significant effect on streamer propagation. The main parameter affecting propagation is the electronic affinity of the liquid molecules     

Streamer propagation along profiled insulator surfaces

Experimental results on the propagation of positive streamers along contoured, axially symmetric, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) insulation surfaces are presented. A plane parallel electrode configuration provides a substantially uniform electric field for streamer propagation and a point electrode at the ground plane initiates the avalanche process. Basic streamer properties of velocity and propagation probability with field strength are measured and compared with the corresponding characteristics of air and cylindrical insulators. Several insulator profiles are investigated and the occurrence of multiple streamer paths is demonstrated, which are generally distinguishable as surface and air components with different propagation velocities. Comparative data of the breakdown fields for the various insulators is included     

Surface profile effect on streamer propagation and breakdown in air

In a uniform field arrangement, under direct voltage, positive streamer propagation and breakdown are investigated along cylindrical insulators with different profiles, inserted perpendicularly between two parallel plane electrodes. The basic properties of streamer propagation and breakdown, namely the electric field required for a stable propagation together with the associated velocity and the breakdown field together with time to breakdown, are measured as influenced by the pulse voltage amplitude used for the streamer initiation and by the insulator profile. It is shown that a strong relation between streamer propagation and breakdown exists, because the insulator profile exerts a similar influence on the breakdown and propagation fields. The effect of a shed on an insulating surface, forming an `obstruction' to streamer progress, is to increase the stability for propagation and breakdown fields, and to reduce the propagation velocity at all applied fields compared with those in the case of a smooth insulator. Along the surface of a smooth insulator, a streamer system propagates with a `surface' and an `air' component; however, a shed on an insulating surface modifies this system, resulting in only one component reaching the cathode