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BREAKDOWN STRENGTH ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSFORMER INSULATION OIL

DUE TO DIFFERENT STANDARDS

Conference Paper · August 2013

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 BREAKDOWN STRENGTH ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSFORMER
INSULATION OIL DUE TO DIFFERENT STANDARDS
1* 1 1 1 1
H. Akca , O. Arikan , C. Kocatepe , C. F. Kumru and R. Ayaz
1
Yildiz Technical University, Department of Electrical Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey
*Email: < hakca@yildiz.edu.tr>

Abstract: There are many equipment such as transformers, high voltage cables,
insulators, breakers, etc., work in power systems under high voltages. The insulation oils
are used in such systems to provide the insulation and cooling respectively for high
voltages and temperature rises in conductors. These kinds of oils should be qualified in
terms of insulation and should have some certain features for power system stability.
Therefore, suitability of the physical, chemical and electrical properties of the insulation
oils is specified with standard tests. These tests are performed according to the IEC
60156, ASTM D1816 and ASTM D877 .In this study, breakdown voltage variation of
insulation oil which is used for high voltage equipment is investigated for particular
working conditions. In experimental study, there are two types of insulation oils which are
non-aged and aged insulating oils. Breakdown voltages of these insulation oils are
measured for different voltage rising speed mentioned in three related standards. In
addition, two types of electrodes, which are specified in standards, are used in all
breakdown voltage measurements. The results of this study showed that different types
of electrodes, rising speed of applied voltage and the quality of insulation oil have a
significant effect on the insulation breakdown voltage.

1 INTRODUCTION In a study where sphere-plane electrode system

Transformers and breakers on the power systems
are needed insulating materials for insulation and
cooling. Insulating oils must have some electrical,
physical and chemical properties for insulation.
Impurities in the insulating oils can change
breakdown resistance of oils. There are several
studies about these subjects in the literature.
Breakdown voltages of synthetic ester, natural
ester and mineral oils are investigated considering
the effect of moisture. Breakdown resistances of
esters are tried to estimate with weibull and gauss
statistical analyzes. Spherically shaped brass
electrodes which have 1 mm gap is used and
voltage increase rate is 0.5 kV/s for the tests [1].
In a study by Wang et al, they studied on three
different oil samples which are syntetic oil, ester-
based oil and mineral oil. Two different samples
are used as pure and refined. These tests were
made according to ASTM D1816 standard and 1
mm gap between the electrodes and changes of
breakdown voltage is examined according to rates
of impurity in samples [2].
Guerbas et al, made some tests according to IEC
156 with 2 kV/s increase rate of voltage. Point-
plane electrode in horizontal position is used for
tests. The gap between planes was changed from
1 mm to 12 mm. During this process, change of
breakdown voltage was examined depend on
position of barrier which is interposed between the
electrodes [3].
and standard lightning impulse voltage used
(positive, 1.2 / 50 µs), breakdown voltages of
silicone and ester basis oils are compared to
environmental friendly oils. The change of
breakdown voltage depends on temperature is
examined [4].
In the work made by H. Miyahara et al, they
investigated breakdown voltage of silicon oil which
contains filler particles in vertical sphere - plane
electrode arrangement and horizontal sphere -
sphere electrode. In the study, standard lightning
impulse voltage was used as test voltage [5].
Swarno and H. Sutikno introduced the temperature
effects on breakdown voltage of oil at 2 kV/s
voltage increasing rate. Sphere - sphere and
needle - plane electrode arrangements used in the
experimental study. Additionally, partial discharge
level is examined related to voltage polarity
according to IEC 60156 [6].
In the study by R. Sarathi and his friend,
breakdown voltage and partial disharge
measurements of insulation oil is carried out in
vertical sphere – sphere electrode arrangement
according to the temperature and frequency
changes [7].
J. Singh et al investigated the parameters of
insulation oil as breakdown voltage, moisture,
resistivity and interfacial tension during an ageing
process [8].
In the work made by Y. Lv et al, the effect of nano
fluid on breakdown strength of insulation oil is
examined. The measurements are performed
according to the IEC 60156 with standard lightning
impulse voltage [9].
There are some studies in literature which
examined breakdown voltage value according to
the breakdown time and number [10-11].
In this study, cylindrically and spherically shaped
electrode systems used horizontally. Voltage rate
of rise, voltage form and ambient conditions are
specified according to IEC 60156, ASTM D1816
and ASTM D877 standards. Measurement results
obtained are analyzed and discussed. The results
obtained from the experimental measurements are
analyzed to evaluate the breakdown quality of
insulation oil.
2 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Voltage rising rate and electrode types has to be
considered in the tests which are done to specify
the dielectric parameters of oils. For this reason,
tests have to be done within the scope of
standards. In IEC 60156 standard, sphere - sphere
and cylindrical electrodes are used in the tests
done to specify starting point of partial discharge
and disruptive voltage. Also, distance between
electrodes is 2.5 mm and rising rate of voltage is 2
kV/s [12]. For the same purpose, rising rate of the
voltage is 0.5 kV/s in ASTM D1816 standard and 3
kV/s in ASTM D877 standard [13-14].
Tests are performed by “HiPotronics” insulation oil
test device which is shown in Figure 1. This device
could supply three voltage rising rate according to
the IEC 60156, ASTM D1816 and ASTM D877
standards. Additionally, the device makes it
possible to perform test in different geometries as
cylindrical electrode (left) and spherically shaped
electrode (right) shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1: Insulation
Figure 2: Cylindrical and spherical electrodes
In the study, two types of oil samples are used as
follows.
Sample 1: Non-aged oil sample
Sample 2: Aged oil sample
The results obtained are given in section 3.
3 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND
ANALYSIS
Spherical and cylindrical electrode types are used
in all measurements. The gap between the
electrodes is set to 2.5 mm for all tests. Voltage
increasing rate was changed in each test.
Depending on the voltage increasing rate for a
fixed electrode gap, breakdown voltages are
compared for non-aged and aged oil sample. In
addition, breakdown strengths of insulating oils are
examined for the same electrode arrangements.
The measurements are realized under 0.5 kV/s, 2
kV/s and 3 kV/s voltage increasing rate.
The measurements are carried out 4.5 minutes
after filling the test cell with oil sample. Six
breakdown strength values are measured for each
voltage-raising rate and the average values are
calculated. Between the measurements, 1.5
minutes is waited.
3.1 Non-aged oil sample with sphere to sphere
electrode arrangement
In this study, a non-aged oil sample for testing
purposes is discussed. Sphere-sphere electrode
system was used to determine the breakdown
strength and voltage. Gap between the electrodes
during the measurements was fixed at 2.5 mm. Six
measurements are obtained for the 0.5 kV/s, 2
kV/s and 3 kV/s voltage-raising rate. These values
are given in Figure 3 and average values of results
are given in Table 1.
 Table 2: Average test results of non-aged oil for
cylindrical electrode system

Voltage Electrode VBreakdown EBreakdown

Rising Rate Gap at 2,5 mm strenght
(kV/s) (mm) (kV) (kV/mm)
0.5 2.5 51.17 20.47
2 2.5 57.65 23.06
3 2.5 56.28 22.51

It is seen from the results in Table 2 that the

breakdown voltage is influenced by the voltage
increasing rate. At 2 kV/s voltage increasing rate,
the breakdown voltage is increasing to 57.65 kV
Figure 3: The relation between breakdown voltage from 51.17 kV. However, at 3 kV/s voltage
and breakdown number increasing rate, the breakdown voltage value is
slightly decreasing.
Table 1: Average breakdown voltage and strength
results of non-aged oil for sphere-sphere electrode 3.3 Aged oil sample with sphere to sphere
system electrode arrangement
During this test, used transformer oil sample for
Voltage Electrode VBreakdown EBreakdown
Rising Rate Gap testing purposes is discussed. Sphere-sphere
at 2,5 mm strenght
(kV/s) (mm) (kV) (kV/mm) electrode system was used to determine the
0.5 2.5 60.37 34.42 breakdown strength and voltage. Gap between the
2 2.5 70.20 40.01 electrodes during the measurements was fixed at
3 2.5 74.42 42.42 2.5 mm. Six measurements are obtained for the
0.5 kV/s, 2 kV/s and 3 kV/s voltage-raising rate.
These values are given in Figure 5 and average
It can be easily seen from Table 1 that, breakdown values of results are given in Table 3.
voltage of oil is increased with the rising rate of
voltage.

3.2 Non-aged oil sample with cylindrical

electrode arrangement
In this test, a non-aged oil sample and cylindrical
electrode system is used to determine the
breakdown voltage. Between the electrodes, the
gap is fixed to 2.5 mm during the measurements.
Six measurements are obtained for the 0.5 kV/s, 2
kV/s and 3 kV/s voltage rising rate. These values
are given in Figure 4 and average values of results
are given in Table 2.

Figure 5: The relation between breakdown voltage

and breakdown number for aged oil sample

Table 3: Average test results of aged oil for

sphere-sphere electrode system

Voltage Electrode VBreakdown EBreakdown

Rising Rate Gap at 2,5 mm strenght
(kV/s) (mm) (kV) (kV/mm)
0.5 2.5 44,10 25.14
2 2.5 59,88 34.13
3 2.5 55,30 31.52

Figure 4: The relation between breakdown voltage

and breakdown number for non-aged oil sample As a result of this test is based on the average
values of Table 3, breakdown strength increases at
higher voltage rising rate than 0.5 kV/s rising rate.
3.4 Aged oil sample with cylindrical electrode Table 5: Comparison of aged and non-aged
arrangement transformer oil breakdown voltage
In this study, aged or non-aged oil sample for
Voltage
testing purposes is discussed. Cylindrical electrode Rising Rate
Sphere*Sphere Cylindrical
system is used to determine the breakdown Electrode Electrode
(kV/s)
strength and voltage. Gap between the electrodes 0.5 26.90 % 26.87 %
during the measurements is fixed at 2.5 mm. Six 2 14.70 % 21.30 %
measurements are made for the 0.5 kV/s, 2 kV/s 3 25.69 % 16.31 %
and 3 kV/s voltage-raising rate. These values are
given in Figure 6 and average values of results are
given in Table 4. 4 CONCLUSION

In this study, breakdown characteristic of non-aged

and aged transformer oils was investigated under
different voltage and electrode type conditions.
Results obtained from experimental study are
given in tables and figures.

Results are showed that the value of breakdown

voltage increases with increasing voltage rising
rate in general. When non-aged oil compared to
used oil, it is clearly seen that breakdown voltage
level of aged oil is lower.

Additionally, for cylindrical electrode geometry, the

breakdown voltage value is decreased for both
non-aged and aged insulation oil.
Figure 6: The relation between breakdown voltage
and breakdown number for aged oil sample When the breakdown voltages of non-aged and
aged oils are compared, there is difference
Table 4: Average test results of used oil for between observed values in excess of the 20%. It’s
cylindrical electrode system clear from the result that the aging has an essential
impact on the insulation level.
Voltage VBreakdown EBreakdown
Electrode Although the same experimental procedure was
Rising Rate at 2,5 mm strenght
Gap (mm) applied to the non-aged oil, breakdown strength
(kV/s) (kV) (kV/mm)
0.5 2.5 37.42 14.97 measurement data obtained from spherical
2 2.5 45.37 18.14 electrode are greater than the values obtained
3 2.5 47.10 18.84
from the cylindrical electrode. The reason of this
difference is that the different electrode types have
different electrical field. Therefore, even if the
According to the Table 4, the breakdown voltage sample and experimental procedure are same, the
value is increasing with the increased voltage breakdown voltages become different.
rising rate.
5 REFERENCES
3.5 Decreasing percentage of non-aged and
aged transformer oil
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are given in Table 5. Breakdown strength of No. 4, pp. 1044–1050, August 2008.
samples is decrease for each two different
[2] X. Wang and Z.D. Wang, “Particle Effect on
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Breakdown Voltage of Mineral and Ester
of oil reaches 27%.
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