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Procedia Engineering 192 (2017) 365 – 369

TRANSCOM 2017: International scientific conference on sustainable, modern and safe transport

Internal partial discharge in cavity of polyurethane

Emil Jahoda a*, Jozef Kúdelčík a
a
Department of Physics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Žilina, Univerzitná 1, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia

Abstract

Parameters and time development of internal partial discharges in insulation material - polyurethane were studied. The internal
defect was created by a needle, which was moved back by 1 mm in order to create an air filled cavity in addition to the micro-
cavity at the tip of the needle. In the experiment polyurethane pattern was stressed by high AC voltage and parameters of the partial
discharges until breakdown of insulation material were recorded. The discharge activity generated in the air cavity, the point of the
greatest stress degrades gradually the insulation. This degradation is connected with growth of an electrical tree, which parameters
are described. The apparent charge magnitude, voltage and the time of occurrence of each PD event were recorded by LDS- 6.
©2017
© 2017TheTheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier Ltd.is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Ltd. This
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of TRANSCOM 2017: International scientific conference on
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
sustainable,under
Peer-review responsibility
modern of the scientific committee of TRANSCOM 2017: International scientific conference on sustainable,
and safe transport.
modern and safe transport
Keywords: Partial discharge; charge; polyeurethane

1. Introduction

Polyurethanes, polyethylene, epoxy resins and other are new materials which have wide application as the
insulation materials in electrical equipment, medium voltage cables, a power electronic or compound transformers [1,
2, 3, 4]. Electrical properties of polyurethane foam are investigated and are considered as an insulation material to
replace SF6 and N2 inside hollow insulation systems to prevent internal flashover [5]. Healthy high-voltage insulation
between two electrodes keeps the charge of opposite polarities from passing through the material. During normal
operation, the electric field stress is uniformly distributed across the healthy insulation between the electrodes.
However, when it has some defects (impurity, small gaps, bubbles (void) and other), there occurs a non-uniform

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +421 41 513 2316; fax: +421 41 513 1516
E-mail address: jahoda@fyzika.uniza.sk

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of TRANSCOM 2017: International scientific conference on sustainable, modern and safe transport
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.06.063
366 Emil Jahoda and Jozef Kúdelčík / Procedia Engineering 192 (2017) 365 – 369

distribution of the electrical stress among the healthy and the defective insulation parts. This is due to different
dielectric properties of the healthy and defective parts of insulation. Depending on the size and type of the defect, the
partial discharge occurs at a certain level of the applied voltage. During this activity, the charges are able to penetrate
through the material with the force provided by the high electric field strength. As time passes by, the discharge causes
a significant degradation to the insulator [6, 7, 8, 9]
The partial discharge (PD) measurements have been widely used in the field of insulation diagnostics. The detection
and continuous monitoring of the PD data can provide useful information regarding the insulation condition. The
partial discharge measurements are performed with the help of Phase Resolved Partial Discharge Analyzer (PRPDA).
This technique is used to analyze PDs with respect to the phase angle of the applied voltage [10]. The PD pattern
recorded with the help of PRPDA can be used to recognize the insulation defects which are the root cause of partial
discharges. It is believed that each type of PD mechanism has a unique set of statistical parameters like skewness,
kurtosis and others parameters [10, 11, 12, 13]. The variations in PD pattern with respect to phase angle can be
reflected by change in these statistical quantities which allow predicting insulation degradation [14]. Thus, it’s quite
possible to devise an intelligent and automated insulation diagnostic system based on the quantification of the partial
discharge signals.

2. Experiment

In our measurements we used one of the most popular electrical methods for the detection of the partial discharges.
The measuring impedance LDM-5 (bandwidth 20 MHz, max. current 5 A, optional 50 A) was galvanic connected
with measured object. At this configuration we can direct sensing current pulses of PDs which are superimposed on
power supply. The test object (air cavity in polyurethane) presented as a Ca was parallel connected to the coupling
capacitor in series with the measuring impedance (Fig. 1a). PD pulses were recorded and analyzed by the PD detector
- LDS-6. The calibration process was done using LDC-5 before each new measurement. At applied voltage 22 kV the
maximum detectable PD level was 7 pC and this threshold level was used for rejection of background noises.

Ca

a)
b)

Fig. 1. (a) The electrical scheme of set-up for measurement of partial discharge (HV AC source, Ca – measured object, polyurethane with cavity,
CV –coupling capacitance, LDM-5 – measuring impedance, PD detector – LDS-6. (b) Scheme of cavity in polyurethane.

Polyurethane (PUR or PU) is a polymer composed of organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. These
plastic polymers are made by combining a di- or polyisocyanate and polyols. Polyurethanes are used in a wide variety
of applications to create all manner of consumer and industrial products that play a crucial role in making our lives
more convenient, comfortable and environmentally friendly. Polyurethanes are used in the manufacture of rigid
insulation panels, microcellular foam seals and gaskets, electrical potting compounds, high performance adhesives,
surface coatings and surface sealants, synthetic fibers (e.g., Spandex), hard-plastic parts (e.g., for electronic
instruments) etc. Because these materials are so versatile and known to be excellent insulators, they offer many
solutions to the challenges of energy conservation and eco-design [15, 16].
 Emil Jahoda and Jozef Kúdelčík / Procedia Engineering 192 (2017) 365 – 369 367

For production of polyurethane sample VUKOL 033 and as hardener agent VUKIT M were used [17]. VUKOL
033 is used for the compound production for the compound insulated transformers. VUKOL 033 and VUKIT M were
mixed in a ratio 100:23. Created mixture was poured into the cubic container of 4,2×4,2×4,2 cm dimensions. Two
needles were opposite each other in the center of the cubic walls (Fig. 1b). The distance between needle tips was
1 mm. Needles with 0,6 mm radius and 0,9 μm tip radius were used. Subsequently, we let the specimen 24 hours to
harden. After hardening one needle was moved back by 1 mm in order to create an air filled cavity.

3. Result and discussion

Primarily tests were carried out on specimens for estimating the average time to breakdown while keeping test
conditions the same. From phase resolved analysis of partial discharge many parameters can be determined which
help to characterize the aging process. Ten samples were prepared and various alternative high voltages were applied.
At voltage 8 kV partial discharges occurred, but their average charge of PD was like curve 3, 4 on Fig. 2. At this
magnitude of voltage or charge a degradation of sample was minimal and determination of time of breakdown is
useless.
Figure 2 also illustrates the PD intensity pattern (curve 1, 2) in terms of the average charge during 30 second every
1 hour over lifetime of the polyurethane with cavity (Fig. 1b) used in the experiment at applied voltage 10 kV. It can
be observed that the PD intensity pattern shows almost similar behavior for all presented samples. The discharge
pattern can be divided into stages; initiation of the PD, concentration of charge with insulation disruption (electrical
tree) and breakdown [18].
200

175
Avarage charge( pC )

10kV
150

125

100
1
2
75
3
4
50
8kV
25

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time ( hour )

Fig. 2. Behaviour of partial discharge intensity over the insulation ageing period at various voltage: curve 1, 2 – 10 kV and for 3,4 - 8 kV.

The first stage of initiation of the PDs was connected with application of voltage to the prepared samples. After
application of voltage immediately PDs in the space of cavity were generated. The phase-charge-number resolved
measurements indicated that in this stage of aging process internal discharges were distributed from phase 150o,
through the zero cross to the negative peak of the applied voltage were distributed. The average magnitude of charges
was 25 pC and PD pulse number was roughly 700. During this and next periods volume and surface charges were
generated. These charges continuously recharged the surrounded polyurethane until some type of local equilibrium
was created.
After start of the second stage (~5 hour) changes in distribution of partial discharges started and they occurred also
in positive past of applied voltage. During this phase magnitudes (Fig. 2) and numbers of positive and negative
discharges were similar. As it can be seen, the PD intensity (Fig. 2: curve 1,2) tends to increase initially in the range
of 30 to 120 ‫ܥ݌‬. This indicated the increase in surface conductivity of the cavity wall due to the erosion and chemical
reactions creating dissociation products of air. This results in roughness of the surface, formation of more localized
solid by-products and initiation of electrical trees. This phase can be described as charge concentration phase. Also,
as described earlier, the surface conductivity of cavity increased during initial few hours of PD exposure and then
tended to saturation point. This increase in surface conductivity was not necessarily be accompanied by increase of
discharge amplitude PD intensity. However, the PD intensity increased once the electrical treeing started, resulting in
severe degradation of the insulation.
368 Emil Jahoda and Jozef Kúdelčík / Procedia Engineering 192 (2017) 365 – 369

Partial discharges in the second stage also occurred around the zero cross of the applied voltage for both polarities,
what is characteristic for surface discharges – over surface of wall cavity and in branches. Discharges occurrences
were around zero cross until to peak of the applied voltage. From measurements it can be also seen that positive
discharges occurred at negative applied voltage (300 o – 360o) and negative discharge occurred at positive applied
voltage (120o – 180o). Similar results were presented in works [19, 20]. The number of discharge pulses was more
stable for positive half cycles (around 700±50) than for negative half cycles (around 700±100). Duration of this stage
depends on the various conditions, a size of cavity, and type of material or magnitude of applied voltage.

2,00 2,0

1,75 positive 1,5

1,50 1,0
skewness

kurtosis
1,25 0,5

1,00 0,0

0,75 -0,5

0,50 -1,0
Hqm(+I)
Hn(+I)
0,25 -1,5 Hqm(+I)
Hq(+I) positive Hn(+I)
Hq(+I)
0,00 -2,0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time ( hour ) Time ( hour )
2,0 2,0
negative
1,8
1,5

1,6
1,0
1,4
skewness

k u rt o s i s
0,5
1,2

1,0 0,0

0,8
-0,5
Hqm(-I)
0,6
Hn(-I)
-1,0
Hq(-I)
0,4 negative
Hqm(-I) -1,5
0,2 Hn(-I)
Hq(-I)
0,0 -2,0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time ( hour ) Time ( hour )

Fig. 3. Behaviour of skewness and kurtosis for different phase-position distributions over the insulation ageing for sample 1 at 10 kV, where + ϕ
and – ϕ means positive and negative half period.

Figure 3 illustrates the development of skewness and kurtosis parameters for Hn(ϕ), Hq(ϕ) and Hqm(ϕ) distribution
profiles. These distribution profiles represent Hn(ϕ)- the frequency of apparent charge magnitude, Hq(ϕ)- the peak of
apparent charge magnitude and Hqm(ϕ)- the mean of apparent charge magnitude versus the phase angle. The
parameters were calculated separately for positive half and negative half of voltage cycle in order to observe the
asymmetrical behaviour of the discharge patterns. Measured phase distribution profiles are characterized by
fluctuating values of statistical parameters during period of ageing time [21]. In the first stage of ageing time these
parameters decreased indicating the movement of charge symmetry from left to right along the phase axis. Skewness
with values greater than 0 indicates that the distribution profile is right skewed with its right tail longer. The kurtosis
parameter for Hn(ϕ) had negative values lower than -1, what was caused by high probability of occurrence of PDs
inside cavity and branches. This is effect of the electrical tree, which creates more branches or bushes in the form of
conducting channels or micro-cavities. The movement of charge symmetry can be connected with the increase in
statistical time lag between PDs. During the degradation of cavity surface, free electrons get trapped inside the
branches due to higher surface conduction and recombination. This phenomenon is known as surface charge decay.
The increase in statistical time lag and surface charge decay shift the PDs forward in phase at larger values. The
increases of these parameters increase the PD magnitude and the mean pulse height phase distributions. Skewness and
kurtosis for Hn(ϕ) distribution profile have shown rising behaviour after the onset of the electrical tree. This can be
effect of the charge concentration in bushes or micro-cavities which have higher repetition rate of PDs as compare to
the initial cavities.

4. Conclusion

This work studied the development of the insulation ageing period of the polyurethane by the influence of PD
sources and determination of the time to breakdown. From the measurement of average charge it is evident slowly
increase charge of partial discharges with time what is connected with charge concentration phase and surface charge
decay. The PD intensity depends on the time of application of voltage and changes in surface conductivity of the
cavity wall due to the erosion and chemical reactions. Statistical parameters such as skewness and kurtosis for various
 Emil Jahoda and Jozef Kúdelčík / Procedia Engineering 192 (2017) 365 – 369 369

patterns of phase or pulse height resolved distributions were calculated. They result that the distribution profile is right
skewed with its right tail longer, and combined with other parameters can provide more information to identify
discharge sources and monitor its development.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by VEGA project 1/0510/17 and the R&D operational program Centrum of excellence
of power electronics systems and materials for their components II, No. OPVaV-2009/2.1/02-SORO, ITMS
26220120046 funded by European Community.

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