Effect of moisture migration on surface discharge on oil-pressboard of power transformers under cooling

• Published in: IEEE transactions on dielectrics and electrical insulation Vol. 27; no. 5; pp. 1743 - 1751
• Main Authors: Jiang, J. P., Du, B. X., Cavallini, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.10.2020; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Cooling; Dielectric barrier discharge; ester oil; Insulation; mineral oil; Mineral oils; Moisture; Oils; paper insulation; Partial discharges; Power transformers; surface discharges; temperature; Temperature measurement; Water activity
• ISSN: 1070-9878; 1558-4135
• DOI: 10.1109/TDEI.2020.008965

In this paper, the PD properties of an ester oil/PB and a mineral oil/PB system undergoing a moisture transient are investigated using a needle-plane electrode under natural cooling. The temperature, moisture concentration and water activity of the oil are continuously monitored. Moreover, an improved moisture diffusion model is developed by using COMSOL Multiphysics to verify the experimental results. The measurement results show that there is a sharp reduction of partial discharge inception voltage (PDIV) or a sudden increase of PD intensity in the process of natural cooling for both ester oil and mineral oil system. However, the PDs extinguish gradually after the occurrence of the minimum of PDIV. For the cooling mode selected in this study, the minimum of PDIV for the ester oil system appears in the third hour after cooling begins, while it is about in the second hour for the mineral oil system. In addition, the simulation results are consistent with the experimental data.