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1998 IEEE hternational Conference on Conduction and Breakdown in Solid Dielectrics,June 2225,1998,VSsterh, Sweden

HIGH ENERGY DENSITY CAPACITOR DEVELOPMENT AT ABB POWER T & D.

J. CONNOLLY, M. D U " . Al3B Power T&D Ltd, Capacitor Division, Ellesmere Po$ South Wirral, UK.

PLBSTRACT

T h i s paper investigates the fundamentals involved in the manufacture of d.c. metallised film capacitors, namely the choice of base film, impregnant and metallisation pattern. Comparative testing of capacitors during production and on accelerated ageing under thermal and electrical stress enable capacitor life to be enhanced by two orders of magnitude from the optimum selection of film type, impregnant medium and electrode configuration. The relative life increases being: 10 x life time due to film selection; > 2 x theoretical life for low loss dielectric liquids; > 6 x life for the successful design of metallised film electrodes.
INTRODUCTION The advancement of power semiconductor devices has resulted in reductions in manufacturing cost, component count and maintenance enabling the production of cheaper, more compact, lighter and quieter equipment. Traction and power transmission systems have seized these advances resulting in significant mass and volume reductions over the past thirty years, Baker [11. The impetus behind capacitor evolution has been to follow the positive advances of other electronic components and ultimately reduce the final unit cost. This is reflected in the energy density (JA) of the capacitor. In recent years the limits of capacitor design have been extended to enable thin polymer films in the range of 5 15pm to be subjected to >200 V/pm at elevated temperatures for lifetimes of 20 years or more, giving energy densities in excess of 200Jfl. See figure 1, Peters [2].

Capacitors for medium voltage d.c. usage have undergone many iterations during the past fifty years. Traditional paper-foil constructions have been superseded by paper-film-foil and film-foil, Shaw et al, [3] to be ultimately replaced by metallised polymer film. Throughout this evolution impregnant materials have been radically changed from PCBs to inert gas, vegetable oils and environmentally conscious synthetic oils. Current capacitor technology utilises metallised polymer films, principally polypropylene (PP), containing a myriad of individual capacitor elements in specific mosaic patterns, with small fuse links connecting neighbouring elements together. This system allows the capacitor advanced "self-healing" properties to isolate a defective area from its neighburs thus "clearing" the fault. In this manner the capacitor can tolerate many thousands of clearings without the possibility of the device becoming short circuited. Electpde 1 Electrode 2
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Free margin Mosaic Elements Fig 2 Example of mosaic segmented electrodes deposited onto a base film.

Energy Density
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MATERIALS UNDER INVESTIGATION

Four commercially available polypropylene films were used for test purposes, the films being produced using a Tenter process and metallised with zindaluminium alloy segmentation patterns, the patterns are called 1 and 2. The films examined are labelled A, B, C and D.

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The four polypropylene films have subtle processing differences which are seen as Werent degrees of surface roughness or space factor (SF) of the film. The smooth films are A & D and rough films B & C. Many impregnating media are currently available, oils and gases. The oils principally fall into two categories; synthebc and vegetable. The dielectric oils examined in this investigation were silicone (synthetic) oil and rapeseed (vegetable) oil. S F , , gas filled capacitors were also examined during this investigation.

Whilst on ageing tests capacitance was regularly recorded on a Wayne Kerr Precision Component Analyser 6425 at 50Hz, 1V.

RESULTS A M ) DISCUSSION
Silicone oil exhibits lower dielectric losses than the rapeseed o i l even after processing, figure 3. This is an important consideration as ax. ripple voltages are seen by d.c. capacitors and results in additional heat being developed within the unit.
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Construction
Polymer films, principally polypropylene (PP), have a metallic layer of AI, Zn or an AI-Zn alloy vacuum deposited onto one side of the film. Two films were wound together a n d compressed to produce energy dense, flattened capacitors. The end electrodes were coated with zinc in a schooping process, and these individual capacito:r units stacked in series-parallel groups to gain the desired ratings. The capacitors were impregnated in oil or inert gas to quench the effect of partial discharges within the windings, Nucci et al [ 4 ] .Completed capacitors were subjected to routine testing to IEC 1071, part 1.
Accelerated Life Testing

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Figure 3. Dielectric losses of rapeseed and silicone oils at 200V, 50Hz. The finished capacitors exhibited dielectric losses as shown in figure 4. It is interesting to note that the dry units suffered higher losses than silicone impregnated u n i t s . Routine testing to IEC 1071 states that a d.c. overvoltage of 1SUn should be applied, although the dry units were de-rated to 1.1Un. The dry units suffered from an increase in losses by approx. 20% compared with values before the overvoltage test. T h i s increase in losses is due to the aggressive nature of the clearings occurring within the capacitors, in oil filled units the severity of the faults is quenched and thus limited.
Key : film Typc; A-D,impregnant D-Dry, Si=Silicom, RERapesecd.

Due to the long senice lives of components, typically 100,000 to >200,000 hours, it is essential to accelerate the life of capacitors under controlled conditions, IEC 98/49/CD[5]. The principal causes of capacitance degradation are voltage stress and operational temperature, Carlen et al [6]. It was therefore decided to accelerate both of these factors to obtain comparative test data. Due to the nature of the tests in progress, equivalent capacitors of the four film types were tested simultaneouslywithin the same thermal enclosure.
Measurement of ca.pacitorparameters

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Dielectric oils were vacuum processed to reduce the moisture content to <50 ppm as measured on a Mettler DL18 Karl Fischer titration system. The rapeseed oil was also filtered through an earth column to upgrad'e it to electrical quality. The dielectric losses in tihe oils were measured on a Tettex 2812 bridge at 200V, 50Hz. Throughout every stage of manufacture capacitance was recorded on a Beckman CM20A low voltage
capacitance meter. High voltage measurements of

capacitcs Identity

Figure 4. Dielectric losses measured at 300V a.c. 50Hz after d.c. overvoltage test. The oil filled capacitors showed marginal decreases in losses after the overvoltage test as any weaknesses within the dielectric had become isolated. Losses were proportionately higher in capacitors containing rapeseed o i l , with losses increasing with surface roughness. Silicone units showed significantly lower

capacitance and dielectric loss were carried out on a Tettex 2812 bridge ist 300V, 50Hz.

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dielectric losses which were approximately constant across the range of Nms used.

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Silicone Impregnant Metallisation Pattem 2

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as thinner f i l m s are pushed to greater thermal and electrical stresses. It has been reported for unsegmented metallised f i l m sthat defects will cause, over time, high stress points which will precipitate a dielectric breakdown. If the electrode material is too thick or the defect site large then a high resistance short will result rather than a safe clearing taking place, Reed and Cichanowski [SI. The use of segmented dielectrics allows areas of high stress to be quickly isolated from neighbouring segments. The action of clearing reduces the capacitance of the remaining device by a defined amount which depends upon the severity of the fault and the size of the segments. It is not uncommon to have many thousands of individually isolatable segments within a capacitor winding. This is a key area in improving the life of metallised film capacitors.
Dielectric Puncture

100

Time (ham)

Figure 5 . Accelerated ageing of polypropylenefilms. Results for rapeseed impregnated capacitors followed the same trend to figure 5, with slightly reduced life at an ambient temperature of 55OC, but at higher temperatures capacitor elements were liable to fail quickly with a rapid decrease in capacitance. Leakage current was monitored during testing and found to be higher in rapeseed impregnated units which in turn produced capacitors that operated at temperatures 6OC higher t h a n equivalent silicone units. Referring back to the principal causes for failure, increased temperature and voltage stress, the former effects the life of capacitors to the order of a decrease in life to (or 0.37) of life for approximately a decade increase in temperature, the latter contributes to a lesser extent. The equation describing life of a capacitor being, Carlen [7] : F i G e 6. Photograph of successfully cleared fault with numerous fuse gates evaporated. The dimensions and thickness of the fuse link are paramount in the successful operation of the capacitor. The fuse must be capable of withstanding the rapid current surges seen by the capacitor whilst evaporating selectively when a dielectric breakdown occurs. Our tests have compared the operation of different fuse sizes and metallisation resistivities, each fuse calculated to operate at energies in the I d to lOOpJ range. where larger fuses are used, dielectric punctures can propagate through many layers of film. The effect of this type of fault is for the self-healing, segmented dielectric to behave in a similar manner to unsegmented metallised films. The principal difference between the two segmentation patterns was the size of the fuse gates and hence the energy required to clear a fault. Pattem 2 had the larger fuse gates, the energy required to evaporate the metal being approximately I d per gate, Clearings occurring within these electrodes passed through several layers before fuse gates were able to evaporate prior to the fault

L = L o e - W +(E-ww

Equ. (1)

The application of this equation enables the service life of capacitor designs to be estimated and the relative life from using different film types. The factors within the above formula are unique to each capacitor manufacturers products and are therefore commercially sensitive. It is possible, however to state from figure 5 and other ageing tests performed on silicone impregnated units that the life of capacitors will vary from lo5 to >4 x lo hours for films A and B respectively. Rapeseed units will survive for a life of >2 x lo7 hours. SF6 gas capacitors were unable to survive at applied stresses. It is inevitable that defects such as microscopic faults and impurities will occur within the film, particularly

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propagating further. Pattern 1 was chosen to have fuse clearing energies around l00p.T. This design allowed the rapid evaporation of gates around a defect site, with only a single segment becoming isolated.

greater energy density to be achieved over a standard life time. We predict that designs approaching 400JA will be in production by the end of 1998.

Symbols used

E = Servicevoltage stress (v/p) E, = Standard voltage stress factor (v/p) L = Actual life of Capacitor in Service Lo = Maximum Life of Capacitor
T
CL

= Temperature (C)

= Temperature scale factor

= Voltage stress scale factor

p
Figure 7. Life of film C with different metallisation patterns under accelerated ageing conditions. Where the fuse comnections and mosaic segments are kept to a carefblly defined level, fuse links are seen to rupture at the onset of dielectric breakdown, thus safely isolating tlhe defective mosaic, and the capacitor continues to operate.

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank many people for their efforts in enabling this work to be completed:Dennis Young-Cannon, Kevin Rochford, Andy Blacklock, Steve Daly, Phil Higgins, Steve Vernon, Brian Fisher and Charlotte Jones.

References
1. Baker M.J., The use of IGBTs in auxiliary converters IEE Colloq. 1997/324, London, 1997. 2. Peters A., Power capacitors new developments

The result of carefully chosen polypropylene base film and the correct mosaic pattern for the specific application allows the design engineer to either prolong the life of the unit or offer enhanced operating conditions.
CONCLUSIONS

IEE Colloq. 19961054, London, 1996.

3. Shaw D.G., Cichanowski S.W., Yializis A. A Changing Capacitor Technology Failure Mechanisms and Design Innovations, IEEE Trans on Electrical Insulation, Vol. E1 16, No. 5, 1981.

The optimum comb.inationfor increased capacitor life

based on this investigation is film B with

segmentation pattern 1 impregnated in silicone oil. It is clear that the inherent properties of polypropylene film can be enhanced by different processing methods, which can subsequently be increased by the introduction of applied segmentation technology. At ABB we believe that the important factors that need controlling arc::

4. Nucci C.A., Tarroni F., Zanobetti D., Characteristics of Dielectric Fluids for MediumVoltage Power Capacitors, IEEE Trans. on Electrical Insulation, Vol E1 20, No. 2 1985.
5. IEC 98/49/CD Electrical Insulation Systems (EIS).

filmtype
0 0

dielectric losses metallisation pattern

6. Carlen, M.W., Bruesch, P., Gallay, R., cElectrical Endurance Characterisation of PP winding capacitors for Traction Applications: A new experimental method, 7th Int. Conf. on Dielectric Measurement and Applications, 1996. 7. Carlen, M.W., High Energy Density DC Capacitors from ABB-GBPTD Report 19/97 V4. ABB Corporate Research, Segelhof, 5405 BadenDaettwil, Switzerland, 1997.
Dielectrics and E l e c t r i c a l Insulation

The results of this work have enabled detailed life predictions to be estimated for future capacitor designs. Whilst the field of applied polymer dielectrics can be seen as mature, by continued research and the aidoption of novel techniques the
negative efFects of increased operating temperature

and voltage can be: minimised in capacitor designs. The commercial application of our research allows a

8. Reed, C.W., Cichanowski, S.W., IEEE Trans. on Vol.1, NO. 5 , 904 922, 1994.