Partial Discharge Characteristics in LLDPE-Natural Rubber Blends: Correlating Electrical Quantities with Surface Degradation

Abstract

-Partial discharges (PD) lead to the degradation of high voltage cables and accessories. PD activities occur due to the existence of impurities, voids, contaminants, defects and protrusions during the manufacture and installation of power cables. Commonly, insulation failures occur at cable joints and terminations, caused by inhomogeneous electric field distributions. In this work, a blend of natural rubber (NR) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) was investigated, and the optimal formulation of the blend that could resist PD was discussed. The experiments were conducted under a constant high voltage stress test of 6.5 kV AC and the magnitude of partial discharge activities was recorded using the CIGRE method II. Pattern analysis of PD signals was performed along with the interpretation of morphological changes. The results showed that the addition of 10 wt% of NR and 5 wt% of Alumina Trihydrate (ATH) provided promising results in resisting PD activities. However, as the NR content increased, more micropores existed, thus resulting in increased PD activities within the samples.

A review of thermoplastic elastomeric nanocomposites for high voltage insulation applications

“…Many researchers are actively involved in studying various electrical characteristics of PE based TPEs for electrical insulation application . Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) for example, has attracted researcher's attention as the power cable industry has nowadays shifted over from linear density polyethylene (LPDE) to LLDPE in the manufacturing of HV cable insulating compounds.…”

“…In recent years, Aulia et al and Makmud et al investigated the insulating performance of LLDPE/NR by studying partial discharge characteristics under HV stress. Partial discharge, which is a pre‐breakdown phenomenon that arises due to the presence of imperfections in an insulator can lead to degradation of the HV cables.…”

Polyethylene Nanocomposites for Power Cable Insulations

“…The behavior of nanocomposites based on a blend of natural rubber (0–30 wt %) and LLDPE without or with 5 wt % of nanofillers of alumina trihydrate Al 2 O 3 ·3 H 2 O was investigated using the CIGRE method II by Aulia et al [152]. The results showed that the addition of natural rubber to LLDPE had positive effects on the PD resistance and that LLDPE blends with 20 wt % of natural rubber exhibited the highest PD resistance.…”

The Correlation of Statistical Image and Partial Discharge Pulse Count of LDPE-NR Composite

“…The use of statistical analysis to analyze the PD data is very useful to quantify the partial discharge parameters to enhance the PD pattern [5][6][7]. An analysis of the kurtosis and the skewness confirmed that positive and negative polarity had counterclockwise and clockwise clustering distribution, respectively.…”