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