Dispersion of Carbon Blacks and Their Influence on

the Properties of Semiconductive Materials use for

High-voltage Power Cables
Weikang Li 1, Chong Zhang 1,2, Junwei Zha 2, Zhimin Dang 3
1 The State key Laboratory of Advanced Transmission Technology, Global Energy Interconnection Research Institute Co. Ltd,
Changping District, Beijing, P. R. China
2 Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P. R. China
3 State Key Laboratory of Power System, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P. R.
China
zhajw@ustb.edu.cn

Abstract: The cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) extruded conductor and insulation. Besides, it can help suppress
cables have become one of the important equipments in the high- theinjection of space charge and the growth of electrical tree.
voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission. Recently, the Recently, the research on the preparation of supersmooth
semiconductive layers as the crucial materials in the XLPE cables
developed rapidly. In this study, the semiconductive composites
semiconductive compound in the filed of high-voltage cables
used for high-voltage cables were fabricated by melting blending has been focused on. The electrical properties and surface
method via a reciprocating single-screw extruder. The protrusions smoothness of the semiconductive layers play an important
on the surface of semiconductive layer were scanned through an role on the service life of XLPE cables. The semiconductive
optical control system (OCS). The influence of carbon black and materials are usually prepared by mixing the ethylene vinyl
matrix characteristic as well as the extruding process on the acetate (EVA) or ethylene-butyl acrylate (EBA) copolymer
smoothness and electrical properties of the semiconductive with the conductive particles. The specific surface area (oil
materials was discussed. It was found that the addition of lower
concentration of carbon black particles with larger oil absorption absorption No.) and structure (Iodine absorption No.) of the
and higher structure could easily make the formation of excellent carbon black (CB) mainly affect the electrical performance of
conductive networks, which gave rise to the super-smooth surface semiconductive materials. The structure of CB usually refers to
and better electrical properties. The proper extruding process the formation of chain structure between the CB particles. It
parameters including the screw configuration and speed as well as was found that the addition of CB particles with smaller
the feeding ratio played an important role on reducing the surface diameter and larger specific surface area resulted in better
impurities of the materials. The prepared semiconductive
electrical properties of the semiconductive materials [6].
materials have no protrusions larger than 50 m and the number
of protrusions (30 ~ 50 m) is less than 10 Num/m2. Besides, the Besides, the crystalline degree and polarity of the polymer
space charge behavior of the XLPE insulation and semiconductive matrix is considered to be of great importance for the electrical
materials were investigated. The results show that the prepared properties of the semiconductive materials. The matrix with
semiconductive materials could effectively suppress the injection lower polarity and higher crystalline degree could make larger
and accumulation of hetero-charges in the XLPE. conductivity. The CB particles are usually dispersed in the
matrix by the melting blending method. In addition, the
I. INTRODUCTION dispersion of CB is also closely related to the extruding
High-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission becomes parameters, such as the screw speed, the mixing time and
one ideal solution to realize the long-distance, large capacity temperature. This will have great effect on the formation of
and low loss of power transmission for energy interconnection conductive networks. However, the factors related to the
[1]. The direct current cables is considered to be one of the key surface smoothness of the semiconductive materials has been
equipments for the HVDC technology. Due to their advantages rarely reported.
of excellent insulation, convenient installation, easy processing, The space charge behaviors of XLPE insulation under DC
and low cost, the crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) extruded electrical field is one bottleneck for the development of XLPE
cables have developed rapidly in the DC transmission system. extruded cables. The generation and accumulation of space
With the development of the XLPE cables, the semiconductive charge is considered to be one major factor which induces the
materials have attracted great attention. Generally, the XLPE electric field distortion [7-9]. Under long-term operation, it will
insulation are closely surrounded by the internal and external deteriorate the aging of XLPE insulation and ultimately affect
semiconductive layers, which are prepared by three-layer co- the service life of the cables. Two kinds of technique regarding
extrusion technology [2-5]. The presence of semiconductive the XLPE insulation and the conductive electrodes have been
materials is usually used to make an electric field uniformly adopted to realize the suppression of space charge [10, 11].
distributed and prevent the partial discharge between the The supersmooth interface between the XLPE insulation and
semiconductive layers could prevent the concentration of
978-1-5386-5086-8/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
electrical stress in the insulation materials. It was reported that
the matching characteristics of the XLPE insulation and the
semiconductive compound was critical for the suppression of
space charge. It was found that the injection and accumulation
of space charge was greatly influenced by the cross-linkable
insulation and semiconductive compound interface [2].
In this paper, the CB particles and processing aids were
dispersed in the EBA or EVA copolymer through melting
blending method using one reciprocating single-screw extruder.
The effect of carbon black and polymer matrix and the
extruding parameters including the screw configuration and
speed, the feeding ratio as well as the production efficiency on
the supersoothness and electrical properties of semiconductive
materials was investigated. The protrusions on the surface of
semiconductive layers were scanned through optical control
systems (OCS). The dispersion of carbon black particles in the
compound was observed via scanning electron microscopy
(SEM). Their volume resistivity at different temperature was
measured. Besides, the space charge behavior of the XLPE
insulation and the semicon compound were discussed in order
to investigate their matching characteristic.
II. EXPERIMENT PROCEDURES
A. Raw materials
The EBA copolymer with different BA content and melt
index (MI) was provided by Arkema Group. Two kinds of
ultra-clean CB particles with ash content (<0.1%) and total
sulfur (<0.1%) were provided by Cabot Corporation and Akzo
Nobel. The cross-linking agent (dicumyl peroxide, DCP) was
bought from Hunan Yixiang Technology Corporation Ltd. The
antioxidant (4, 4'-thiobis(6-tert-butyl-3-methylphenol), 300#)
and polyethylene wax (PEW) dispersant were provided by
Hubei Jusheng Technolgy Co, Ltd.
B. Fabrication of the semiconductive materials
The CB particles, EBA copolymer matrix, antioxidant and
the dispersants was separately fed into one hopper from the
vacuum feeding device with one electronic scale metering to
well control the mass concentration of each component. And
then they were poured into reciprocating single-screw extruder.
The CB particles and the antioxidant are dispersed and the
materials are introduced in the plasticization, mixing, extrusion
and conveying zones under the temperature ranging from 130
o temperature.
C to 150 oC at given screw speed. Afterwards, the achieved
products were cooled and pelletized under the circulating water
of 65 oC. Then the DCP cross-linking agent was atomized and
absorbed into the collected pellets above with the help of a
tumble agitator and kept under 70-75 oC for 12 hours. Finally,
the precrosslinked semiconductive pellets were obtained.
The samples for electrical testing were prepared using hot
press via one flat vulcanizing machine. The semiconductive
pellets were preheated by at 130 oC under 5 MPa for 10 min
and pressed under 15 MPa for 5 min at 180 oC, followed by
cooling process. The samples with the thickness of 1.0 mm and
0.4 mm was used to test the volume resistivity and space
charge behavior, respectively. Prior to measurement, the
achieved samples were put in a vacuum oven at 80 oC for 7
days for degassing to remove the residual byproducts.
C. Characterization
For the observation of the protrusions or smoothness of the
semiconductive layers, the optical control system (OCS, FSA-
100) with a camera with high solution was used. The testing
principle of OCS is shown in Figure. 1. The precrosslinked
semiconductive pellets was plasticized and melted in one
single-screw extruder under 130oC at the speed of 12 rpm/min.
And the film with the thickness of 500f20 m was achieved
under a traction with the given rotation speed. The smoothness
is characterized by recording the number of protrusions
ranging from 50 m to 75 m or larger than 75 m along the
films with the total surface area of 1m2. The morphology of the
semiconductive materials was characterized by field emission
scanning electron microscope (FESEM, JEOL-7500F). The
sample surface was observed after the pretreatment of spray-
gold process.
Figure 1. The testing principle of OCS
The volume resistivity of the semiconductive compound was
tested at different temperature by an electrometer instrument
(Keithley 2400), in accordance with the standard of ASTM
D991. The space charge distribution and the electrical field
distortion in the samples were tested by pulsed electro-acoustic
(PEA) method. In this testing system, the upper electrode is the
prepared semiconductive materials and the lower one is the
aluminum. The injection and accumulation of space charge
inside the samples was discussed under 30 kV/mm at the room
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
A. The effect of carbon blacks on the smoothness and electrical
properties of the semiconductive materials
Two kinds of carbon blacks with different specific surface
area (Iodine number) and structures (Oil Absorption No., OAN)
was used. The CB-1 has the OAN of 115 cc/100g and Iodine
number of 46 mg/g. The CB-2 has the OAN of 148 cc/100g
and Iodine number of 74 mg/g. With the addition of same
concentration of antioxidant, PEW and DCP, the two carbon
blacks (35 wt%) were respectively dispersed in EBA matrix
with BA content of 16-19% and MI of 6.5-8.0 g/10 min. Two
kinds of semiconductive samples were prepared and their
volume resistivity and surface protrusions were discussed. ascribed to the lower polarity of EBA-1, which is helpful for
From the volume resistivity at different temperature shown in the dispersion of CB. Besides, the lower MI value of EBA-2
Figure. 2, it can be seen that the volume resistivity of CB-1 will make it difficult for the dispersion of CB. Some
sample is generally larger than that of CB-2. As listed in Table aggregation of CB will result in more protrusions.
1, the surface of CB-1 sample shows more protrusions with the TABLE II
size of 30-50 m and 50-75m. It is due to that the CB-2 SURFACE PROTRUSIONS OF THE SEMICONDUCTIVE MATERIALS
particles have the higher structure, the larger specific surface Protrusion (No./m2)
area and smaller diameter, which will facilitate the dispersion Sample
30-50 m 50-75 m >75 m
of CB and easily make the formation of conductive networks. EBA-1 22 0 0
EBA-2 36 2 0

C. The effect of processing parameters on the smoothness of the

semiconductive materials
It is known that the processing parameters play a key role on
the CB dispersion and surface smoothness of semiconductive
layers. The EBA-1 and CB-2 is used in this part. The surface
protrusions as function of the feeding ratio of EBA, CB and
antioxidant is listed in Table III. The screw structure of the
reciprocating single-screw extruder and feeding inlets are
Figure 2. The volume resistivity of the semiconductive shown in Figure. 4. The inlet X1 is for the EBA, CB and
materials with different CB at different temperature antioxidant and inlet X2 is for the EBA and CB. It can be seen
TABLE I from Table III that it shows better smoothness with no
SURFACE PROTRUSIONS OF THE SEMICONDUCTIVE MATERIALS protrusions larger than 50 m, when the feeding ratio of X1 and
Protrusion (No./m2) X2 is set as 7/3.
Sample
30-50 m 50-75 m >75 m
CB-1 34 3 0
CB-2 22 0 0

B. The effect of polymer matrix on the smoothness and electrical Figure 4. The screw structure with two feeding inlets (X1 and
properties of the semiconductive materials X 2)
The EBA copolymer (EBA-1) with the BA content of 16- TABLE III
19% and MI of 6.5-8.0 g/10 min and the EBA-2 with the BA SURFACE PROTRUSIONS AS FUNCTION OF THE FEEDING RATIO OF THE EBA, CB
content of 27-32% and MI of 1.5-2.5 g/10 min was used. The AND ANTIOXIDANT
CB-2 (35 wt%) were respectively dispersed into the two kinds Feeding Inlets Protrusion (No./m2)
of EBA matrix, with the addition of same concentration of
X1 X2
antioxidant, PEW and DCP. Under the same process conditions, 30-50m 50-75m >75m
two semiconductive samples were prepared and their volume EBA+CB+300# EBA+CB
resistivity and surface protrusions were also investigated. 9 1 23 10 1
Figure. 3 shows the volume resistivity at different temperature
of the two samples and Table 2 lists the surface protrusions on 8 2 17 5 0
the semiconductive layers. 7 3 7 0 0

6 4 10 1 0

D. Space charge behavior of the XLPE-semiconductive compound

Figure 3. The volume resistivity of the semiconductive
materials with different matrix at different temperature
It can be seen that the EBA-1 has the lower volume
resistivity and less protrusions, compared to the EBA-2. It is
For the preparation of semiconductive layers, the EBA-1 and
CB-2 is used at the screw rotation of 500 rad/min and the
feeding ratio (7/3) of X1 and X2. Figure. 6 shows the matching
space charge behaviors of the prepared seminconductive
materials with the XLPE. Figure. 7 displays the space charge
behaviors of the XLPE without the addition of semiconductive
materials. It can be seen from Figure. 6a and 6b that there is
almost no injection of space charge and no electrical field
variation under 20 kV/mm for 20min. With increasing the
electrical field to 30 kV/mm, there is also no space charge can
be observed inside the XLPE. However, as shown in Figure. 7,
there is obvious space charge injection inside the XLPE and
near the positive electrode. Besides, the large distortion of
electrical field could be found. And during the depolarization
process, the charges near the positive and negative electrodes
dissipate rapidly. However, no space charge dissipation can be
observed inside the XLPE (see Figure. 6c and 6d). Therefore,
the seminconductive materials show excellent suppression
characteristic for the space charge in the XLPE insulation.
Figure 6. Space charge behavior of the XLPE-semicon
compound under polarization and depolarization process (a)
space charge distribution under continuous applied field of 20
and 30 kV/mm for 20 min, respectively, (b) corresponding
electrical field variation, (c) and (d) space charge distribution
under depolarization process.
Figure 7. Space charge behavior of the XLPE under
polarization and depolarization process (a) space charge
distribution under continuous applied field of 20 and 30
kV/mm for 20 min, respectively, (b) corresponding electrical
field variation
IV. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the semiconductive materials used for high-
voltage cables were prepared through melting blending method
via the reciprocating single-screw extruder. The factors which
influence the volume resistivity and surface smoothness of the
semiconductive materials were discussed. The results show
that the addition of CB-2 with the higher structure and larger
specific surface area gave rise to lower volume resistivity and
less protrusions. The EBA-1 with lower polarity has the lower
volume resistivity and less protrusions, compared to the EBA-2.
When the feeding ratio of X1 and X2 is set as 7/3, it shows
better smoothness with no protrusions larger than 50 m.
Besides, the prepared semiconductive materials can effectively
suppress the injection and accumulation of hetero-charges in
the XLPE.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was financially supported by National Key R&D
Program of China (2016YFB0900701) and 2016 Science and
Technology Project of SGCC (SGRIDGKJ[2016]127).
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