EEPB463

HIGH VOLTAGE
TECHNOLOGY
Dr Azrul Mohd Ariffin
BN-3-017
azrula@uniten.edu.my
1
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Solid dielectric materials are primarily used to insulate
conductors from one another, in addition to provide
mechanical support
Solid dielectrics have higher dielectric breakdown
strength compared to liquids and gases
A good dielectric should have low dielectric loss, high
mechanical strength, should be free from gaseous
inclusions and moisture, and be resistant to thermal and
chemical deterioration
In gases, conduction is limited to positive and negative
charge carriers, and its rapid growth is due to formation
of electron avalanches
In solids however, conduction is not only due to charge
carriers but includes currents due to polarization
processes; thus the mechanism is much more complex



2
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Nevertheless several distinct mechanisms have been put
forward to explain quantitatively the breakdown
processes in solids
Mechanism of failure and breakdown strength changes
with the time of voltage application


3
Breakdown
strength
Time
intrinsic,
electromechanical t
h
e
r
m
a
l

erosion,
electrochemical
10
2
10
-8

BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS


4
Breakdown
in Solid
Dielectrics
Intrinsic
Electro-
mechanical
Thermal
Treeing Tracking
Internal
discharges
Electro-
chemical
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Intrinsic Breakdown
When voltages are applied for a very short period of time,
the electric strength of a solid dielectric increases up to an
upper limit which is called the intrinsic electric strength
However the material under test needs to be pure and
homogeneous, temperature and environmental
conditions are carefully controlled and sample is stressed
that there are no other external discharges; thus very rare
to accomplish experimentally
The stress required for intrinsic breakdown is very high;
in the order of several MV/cm
Intrinsic breakdown is obtained in times of the order 10
-8
s
and therefore has to be electronic in nature
This type of breakdown depends upon the presence of
free electrons capable of migration through the lattice of
the dielectric



5
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
In pure dielectric materials, conduction and valence
bands are separated by large energy gap
At room temperature electrons cannot acquire sufficient
thermal energy to cross this gap
In reality, materials contain imperfections and impurities
that may act as traps for free electrons




6
VALENCE BAND
Band gap
CONDUCTION BAND
Density
states, N(E)
Energy, E
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
When an electric field is applied, these trapped electrons
gain sufficient energy to move into the conduction band
As the applied field increases, more and more trapped
electrons are freed and therefore conduction increases
Moving electrons will collide with solid molecules to
cause ionization to some extent
As more and more moving electrons are produced,
electron avalanche occurs (similar to gases) and this will
eventually lead to complete breakdown


7
VALENCE BAND
Band gap
CONDUCTION BAND
Density
states, N(E)
Energy, E
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Electromechanical Breakdown
When solid dielectrics are subjected to high electric fields,
failure can occur when the electrostatic compressive
forces exceed its mechanical compressive strength
Compression forces arise from electrostatic attraction
between charges that appears when voltage is applied
Pressure exerted when the field reaches about MV/cm
may be several kN/m
2
If d
0
is the initial thickness of specimen material of
Youngs modulus Y, and is compressed to a thickness d
under applied voltage V, then the electrically developed
compressive stress is in equilibrium with the mechanical
compressive strength if



8
electrical
compression
mechanical
compression
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Re-arranging the equation gives


Mechanical instability occurs when d/d
0
= 0.6
Thus the highest apparent strength, E
max
prior to
breakdown is


The above equation however, ignores the possibility of
plastic deformation when the material is subjected to
high electrical stresses


9
can you work out on how
to get the last equation?
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Thermal Breakdown
Conduction current due to the application of high field
across a solid dielectric can cause heat to be continuously
generated
Equilibrium is reached when the heat generated becomes
equal to the heat dissipated
Breakdown occurs when generated heat exceeds
dissipated heat
Consider the following figure

10
Heat generated /
dissipated
Temperature
E
2

E
3

E
1

T
1
T
2

heat generated
heat dissipated
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Heat dissipated is represented as straight line and heat
generated at different fields are shown by curves
For field E
1
, thermal equilibrium is achieved at T
1
. Below
this value, heat generated exceeds heat dissipated thus
breakdown may occur. Beyond T
1
, heat loss is greater
than heat generated; thus breakdown will not occur
For field E
2
, thermal equilibrium is achieved at T
2
.
Breakdown may occur both below and beyond this value
as heat generated is higher than heat dissipated
11
Heat generated /
dissipated
Temperature
E
2

E
1

T
1
T
2

heat generated
heat dissipated
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
For field E
3
, thermal equilibrium is not achieved for any
temperature values so this level of field will almost likely
cause breakdown due to thermal
By identifying the thermal breakdown stress for a
particular material, a temperature limit can be set for
each operating stress level
12
Heat generated /
dissipated
Temperature
E
3

heat generated
heat dissipated
explain how temperature
limit is set to prevent
thermal breakdown?
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Breakdown due to Treeing
In practical insulation systems, solid material is stressed
together with one or more other materials
Thus breakdown voltage will be influenced more by the
weak medium than the solid
Consider the following figure
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d
2

d
1
V
1

V

2

dielectric
dielectric
electrode
electrode
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Relationship between the fields across the dielectrics, E
1

and E
2
is given by


Say the applied voltage at the electrodes is denoted as V


Substituting the equations will give



Thus the voltage across each dielectric can be written as
14
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Since
2
>
1
, field becomes very significant across d
1
;
sparking can occur in the gap and charge accumulation
takes place at the surface of solid insulation
As time passes, breakdown channels spread through the
solid insulation in an irregular tree like fashion leading
to formation of conducting channels
Eventually the conducting path will bridge the electrodes
and cause total failure of insulation
15
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Breakdown due to Tracking
Tracking is a formation of a permanent conducting path
(usually carbon) across the surface of an insulation
Leakage current passes through the solid insulation
surface and this leads to formation of spark
Heat resulting from the small sparks causes carbonization
and form permanent carbon track on the surface
This further increases the electric stress over the rest of the
insulating region
Insulation failure occurs when carbonized tracks bridge
the distance between electrodes
16
can you relate the design
of insulation strings and
bushings with tracking?
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Breakdown due to Internal Discharges (Erosion)
Solid insulating materials often contain cavities or voids
within the dielectric material or on boundaries between
the dielectric and electrodes
These voids are filled with a medium of lower dielectric
breakdown strength and permittivity than that of the
solid insulation
Thus electric field strength in the voids is higher than that
across the solid dielectric
The field in the voids may exceed their breakdown value
and thus breakdown may occur even under normal
working voltages
Consider the following figure

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BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
C
1
represents the capacitance of the void, C
2
is the
capacitance of the dielectric in series with the void and C
3

is the capacitance of the rest of the dielectric





The capacitance of the void and the dielectric in series
with the void are be given as


If V is the applied voltage, the voltage across void V
1
is


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V
1

C
1

C
2

C
3
V d
t
BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Under applied voltage V, V
1
also increases until it reaches
the breakdown value V
i
of the gap t and discharge occurs
V
i
is called the discharge inception voltage
V
1
decreases due to discharge and starts increasing again
until it reaches V
i
again
A new discharge then occurs



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V
i

-V
i

V
V
1

BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Several discharges may take place during the rising part
of applied voltage V
Similarly, cavity discharges also occur at the decreasing
part of the applied voltage
This group of discharges give rise to positive and negative
current pulses on raising and decreasing voltage applied



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V
i

-V
i

i
V
V
1

BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
These internal discharges (also called partial discharges,
or PD) can cause gradual erosion of the material, and
consequently decreases insulation s lifetime
Current pulses of PD can be observed and this will be
discussed in the next chapter

21
V
i

-V
i

i
V
V
1

BREAKDOWN IN SOLID DIELECTRICS
Breakdown due to Electrochemical Deterioration
Air and other gases may exist in dielectric solids, and thus
can lead to chemical changes under continuous
application of electrical stresses
Presence of oxygen in air can cause materials to undergo
oxidation
Presence of moisture or water vapour on the surface of a
solid dielectric can cause hydrolysis, which can cause the
material to lose its electrical and mechanical properties
Even in the absence of electric field, chemical reaction can
still occur due to the effects of temperature where
deterioration can occur rapidly leading to breakdown

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BREAKDOWN IN LIQUID DIELECTRICS
Liquid dielectrics are mainly used as impregnants in HV
cables, and for filling up of transformers, circuit breakers
In addition to insulation, liquid dielectrics also act as heat
transfer agent
Most commonly used liquid dielectrics are petroleum oils
(transformer oils), and for high temperature application,
silicone oils and fluorinated hydrocarbons are employed
Conduction and breakdown mechanisms in liquid
dielectrics can be explained based on the type of the
material


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pure liquids
electronic
breakdown
commercial
liquids
suspended
particles
cavity breakdown
breakdown
in
liquid
dielectrics
BREAKDOWN IN LIQUID DIELECTRICS
Electronic Breakdown
Impurities are not present in pure liquids, so their
breakdown mechanism must be electronic in nature
The process follows Townsend mechanism of current
growth where three distinct regions are identified
At very low fields, electrons are generated from cathode
by field emissions, and then achieve saturation due to
dissociation of ions
At high fields, electrons get multiplied and thus current
increases rapidly according to Townsends primary and
secondary ionization, before breakdown occurs







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voltage
current
BREAKDOWN IN LIQUID DIELECTRICS
Breakdown due to Suspended Particles
In commercial liquid dielectrics, solid impurities may be
present either as fibres or as dispersed solid particles
Permittivity of these particles will be different from the
permittivity of the liquid; thus they will become polarized
in the presence of a field
Assuming these impurities to be spherical particles of
radius r and the applied field is E, then each particle
experiences a force F


where
1
and
2
are the permittivity values of the liquid
and the particle respectively
In the case of
1
<
2
, such as paper, the force is directed
towards areas of maximum stress


25
BREAKDOWN IN LIQUID DIELECTRICS
If impurities are of gas bubbles for instance,
1
>
2
and
thus the force has an opposite direction
Under continuous application of voltage, these particles
become aligned due to the force exerted and thus form a
stable chain bridging the electrode gap
This will lead to breakdown between the electrodes
Breakdown strength of liquids containing impurities is
much less than that of pure liquids


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electrodes
liquid dielectric
aligned impurities
breakdown path
BREAKDOWN IN LIQUID DIELECTRICS
Breakdown due to Cavities (Gas Bubbles)
Insulating liquids may contain gaseous inclusions in the
form of bubbles
Bubbles are formed due to
-existence of gas pockets at the surface of the electrodes
-changes in temperature and pressure
-gaseous products due to dissociation of liquid molecules
by electron collisions
-liquid vaporization by corona-type discharges from
sharp points and irregularities on the electrode surface
Once a bubble is formed, it will be elongated in the
direction of electric field due to electrostatic forces
Breakdown occurs when the voltage drop along the
length of the bubble becomes equal to the field to ionize
the gas in the bubble

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BREAKDOWN IN LIQUID DIELECTRICS
Breakdown field is given as



where E
0
is the field in the liquid, is the surface tension
of the liquid,
1
and
2
are the permittivity values of the
liquid and bubble respectively, r is the initial radius of
spherical bubble and V
b
is the voltage drop in the bubble
This expression indicates that the critical field strength
required for breakdown of liquid depends upon the
initial size of the gas bubble which is affected by
hydrostatic pressure and temperature of the liquid
However, the theory does not take into account the initial
amount of bubble produced

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