Table of Contents

ABOUT THE BOOK........................................................................................................... 1

1 INTRODUCTION TO HIGH VOLTAGE POWER SYSTEMS .......................................... 2
1.1 Historical Overview ................................................................................................. 2
1.2 Power Network ....................................................................................................... 4
1.2.1 Energy sources and energy conversion ........................................................... 6
1.2.2 Generators....................................................................................................... 7
1.2.3 Substations ...................................................................................................... 8
1.2.4 Power lines and cables .................................................................................... 9
1.3 Basic Equipment ....................................................................................................10
1.3.1 Power lines: towers, conductors, metalware and insulators ............................10
1.3.2 Underground power cables .............................................................................12
1.3.3 Bushings .........................................................................................................12
1.3.4 Power transformers.........................................................................................13
1.3.5 Instrument transformers:) ................................................................................14
1.3.6 Line traps (LT’s) ..............................................................................................18
1.3.7 Circuit breakers and fuses ..............................................................................19
1.3.8 Isolators ..........................................................................................................23
1.4 Conclusion .............................................................................................................25
1.5 Review Questions ..................................................................................................25
2 FIELDS .........................................................................................................................26
2.1 Introduction: Field concepts ...................................................................................26
2.2 Electrostatic Fields .................................................................................................27
2.2.1 Uniform fields ..................................................................................................27
2.2.2 Non-uniform fields ...........................................................................................28
2.2.3 Bundle conductors and grading ......................................................................33
2.2.4 Mixed dielectrics .............................................................................................35
2.2.5 Capacitive coupling .........................................................................................37
2.2.6 Isolators ..........................................................................................................38
2.3 Magnetic Fields ......................................................................................................38
2.3.1 Magnetic induction: inductive coupling ............................................................39
2.4 Electrical Conduction Fields ...................................................................................39
2.5 Thermal Fields .......................................................................................................41
2.6 Health Effects ........................................................................................................41
2.7 Field Analysis Methods ..........................................................................................42
2.8 Review Questions ..................................................................................................43
3 HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATING MATERIALS ................................................................45
3.1 Gases ....................................................................................................................45
3.1.1 Ionization ........................................................................................................46
3.1.2 Electronegative gases, attachment and de-ionization .....................................47
3.1.3 Self-sustained gas discharges: Townsend discharges ....................................48
3.1.4 Self-sustained gas discharges, streamer discharges ......................................49
3.1.5 Flashover of uniform gaps: Paschen’s Law .....................................................50
3.1.6 Flashover of non-uniform gaps: the polarity effect ...........................................53
3.1.7 Flashover mechanism of long gaps: Leader mechanism .................................54
3.1.8 Flashover, sparks and arcs .............................................................................54
3.1.9 Corona discharges ..........................................................................................56
3.2 Solid and Liquid Insulating Materials ......................................................................61
3.2.1 Dielectric constant (ε)......................................................................................61
3.2.2 Losses in dielectrics (tan δ) .............................................................................62
3.2.3 Typical solid insulating materials .....................................................................62
3.2.4 Failure mechanisms of solid insulating materials ............................................64
3.2.5 Liquid insulating materials ...............................................................................67
3.2.6 Failure mechanisms of insulating liquids .........................................................67
3.3 The Performance of Combinations of Gases, Solids and Liquids in Insulation
Systems ...........................................................................................................................69
3.3.1 Parallel insulating materials ............................................................................70
3.3.2 Series insulating materials ..............................................................................70
3.4 Insulator pollution ...................................................................................................73
3.4.1 The dimensioning of insulators for polluted environments ...............................75
3.4.2 Form Factor Calculation ..................................................................................77
3.5 Summary of Properties of Typical Insulating Materials ...........................................78
3.6 Review Questions ..................................................................................................79
4 HIGH VOLTAGE TESTING AND MEASUREMENT ......................................................83
4.1 Generation of High Voltages ..................................................................................83
4.1.1 Power frequency voltage and current (AC) .....................................................83
4.1.2 DC Voltage .....................................................................................................85
4.1.3 Lightning and switching impulses ....................................................................86
4.2 Measurement .........................................................................................................88
4.2.1 Voltage dividers ..............................................................................................89
4.2.2 Peak and RMS voltmeters ..............................................................................91
4.2.3 Sphere gaps for voltage measurement ...........................................................91