ELECTRICAL INSULATIONS

AND DISCHARGES
Lecture 3 — Requirements, Basic concepts
Electrostatic field calculation
Introduction
¨ Department of Electric Power Engineering (Building V1 floor 3)
¨ Lectures:
¤ Normally:
n Wednesdays 8.15-9.45 bldg. E room 305c
n Thursdays 8.15-9.45 bldg. E room 305c
¨ Consultations on demand
¨ Lecturers:
¤ Prof. István Berta
¤ Zoltán Ádám, TAMUS tamus.adam@vet.bme.hu
¨ Mid-semester mark:
¤ 2 quick tests, multiple-choice test (on 5th and 11th weeks)
¤ 1 midterm test, open questions and calculations (on 13th week)
¨ Materials
¤ Lecture notes and supplementary materials
¤ https://edu.vik.bme.hu
Basic concepts
What is insulator?
¨ Insulator or dielectric: a material that resists the flow
of electric current. (Precise terms: insulating material
or dielectric material)
¨ Insulator: an insulation, which attach power lines to
poles and towers or support bus bars in a substation
or distribution board. (A type of insulation)
¨ Insulation: A part of electrical equipment to support
and separate electrical conductors without allowing
current through themselves.
Electric phenomena in insulator

Electric phenomena

In case of high electric field In case of low electric field

Breakdown, flashover Conduction Polarisation

Breakdown in insulator I.
¨ Perfect insulator does not exists:
¨ If the applied voltage on an insulation exceeds the
breakdown voltage (Vb) the insulator becomes
electrically conductive.
¨ Important property of insulating material is the
dielectric strength (Eb). Usually expressed in kV/cm
or V/mil.
Breakdown in insulator II.
¨ In the simplest case: Eb=Vb/d
¨ The dielectric strength depends on many factors:
¤ electrode arrangement
¤ applied voltage
n a.c.
n d.c.
n Pulse
¤ duration V d
¤ environmental factors
n temperature
n humidity
n aging
n etc.
Flashover
¨ At the boundary of two
insulating materials in
different state of matter
(e.g. gaseous, solid)
¨ weakest point of the
V insulation:
¨ Vbf‹‹Vba,Vbs !
¤ Vbs: brekdown voltage of
solid
¤ Vba: brekdown voltage of
air
¤ Vbf: flashover voltage
 Partial discharge
¨ Partial discharge

V
Conduction
¨ The term “insulator” refers to the low degree of
electrical conduction.
¨ The specific conductivity of the insulating materials is
very low.
¨ The conduction also dependent on many factors:
¤ electrode arrangement
¤ applied voltage (field strength)
¤ environmental factors
n temperature
n humidity
n aging
n etc.
Polarization
¨ Dielectric is an insulator which can be polarized.
¤ When dielectrics are placed in an electric field,
practically no current flows in them because, unlike
metals, they have no loosely bound, or free, electrons
that may drift through the material. Instead, electric
polarization occurs.
¤ Positive charges are displaced along the field and
negative charges shift in the opposite direction.
¤ This creates an internal electric field that partly
compensates the external field inside the dielectric.
Design types of insulation I.
Normal

Cable Binding in a transformer

¨ Embedded insulation
Design types of insulation II.

¨ Support insulation
Design types of insulation III.

¨ Partially embedded insulation

Practical insulation types
¨ Post insulation
¤ Pin type insulator

¤ Suspension insulator

¤ Strain insulator
¤ Post insulator
n Station post insulator
n Line post insulator
Practical insulation types
¨ Embedded insulation
¤ Cable insulation

¤ Cable joint

¤ Turn insulation
¤ Layer insulation in transformer
Practical insulation types
¨ Partially embedded insulation
¤ Bushing

¤ Cable termination

¤ Winding insulation in iron core

Aim of insulation design
¨ Ideal utilization of dielectric strength of materials:
Eoperation=Eallowed
in the total volume of the insulation
¨ Theoretically, it ensures the minimal insulation
volume
¨ It is impossible, but keep in mind this approach

¨ Problem: the physical properties of the insulating

materials are changing due to the stresses...
Electrostatic fields
Fields in homogeneous, isotropic
materials
¨ D = ε0εE (ε0—permittivity of free space, ε—relative
permittivity/dielectric constant)
¨ In isotropic material the field vector E and the displacement
D are parallel
¨ However insulating materials are composed of large
molecular structures forming crystalline and amorphous
regions the homogeneity of electrical properties are
assumed.
¨ The influence of electrical conductivity on field distribution
can be ignored in this stage
¤ It is justified for HV insulations, because they are sterssed by alternating
voltages at frequencies above some Hz
¨ But in case of direct or slowly alternating voltages the
effect of conduction phenomena can cot be neglected
¨ J = γE
The electrostatic Gauss’s law
¨ Simple cases can be solved by analytical method
¨ Maxwell-equation: div D = ρ

ò div D dV = ò ρ dV
V V

ò div D dV = ò D dA
V A
ò ρ dV = Q
V

ò D dA = Q
A
Energy and potential

A
VAB = W / q = − ∫ E dx
B

¨ E = - dV/dx = - grad V
¨ E = - (∂V/ ∂x i + ∂V/ ∂y j + ∂V/ ∂z k)

¨ [E] = V / m
Parallel plates-Plane capacitor
¨ Assumption: electric field occures only
V
between the plates. Hence:

¨ DA = Q

¨ E = Q / ε0ε A

¨ VAB = Q / (ε0εA) ∫ dx = Q a / ε0εA

¨ Q = ε0εA V / a
Capacitance of plain capacitor

εε 0 A
Q= V
V a

Q = CV

ee 0 A
C= [C] = As / V = F (farad)
a

E=V/a
Spherical fields
¨ Assuming that a point charge in the center of the
sphere:

V
 Field of a point charge
Using Gauss’s law:
¨
!∫ D dA = Q
A

D 4 x2 p = Q
Q 1
V E=
4 p ee 0 x 2
x R
Q dx
V = − ∫ E dx = ∫
R 4 π εε 0 x x2

Q "1 1 % 1 Q
V= $ − ' R→∞ V (x) =
4 π εε 0 # x R & 4 π εεo x
 mentals
Concentric spheres
¨ Based on the field of point
R2
charge: V = Q "$ 1 − 1 %'
Emax
4 π εε 0 # x R&
R1
¨ E, if R1‹x‹R2
x

E (x)

(b)
Q "1 1% Q = 4 π εε 0
R2 R1
V (Q = C V )
V = spheres (b)$ − '
a) and concentric
4 π εε 0 # R1 R2 & R2 − R1
er to inner and outer radii respectively. The
field distributions is the much faster decrease
Q 1
e x in the three-dimensional case. RR 1 1 R2 V
ies E(r1=D R1 ; r2 D R2 )2 Emax E(x) = V be2 1
will always E max = V =
on. As Emax 4 pis ee 0 x for x D r1 or x DR
reached R21 − R1 x2 R2 − R1 R1 R1 (1− R1 / R2 )
 Field of infinite long line charge
¨ Assuming: line charge in the axis of the arrangement

V
 Field of infinite long line charge
¨ Using Gauss’s law:
ò D dA = Q
A
V

D 2p x l =Q

Q 1
E=
2 p ee 0 l x
x x
Q dx Q R
V = − ∫ E dx V= − ∫ = ln
R 2 π εε 0 l R x 2 π εε 0 l x

R→∞ Nonsense!
 Coaxial cylinders
210 High Voltage Engineering: Fundamentals

¨ Based on the field of infinite

line charge:
R2 Q R
r2 V= ln
2 π εε 0 l x
Emax
Emax r
1
R1 ¨ E, if R1‹x‹R2
x
x
E (x)
E (x)

Q (a)
" R R% (b)
1
V Figure
= 4.4 Coaxial cylinders $ ln (a) and− ln Q = V 2 π εε 0 l
' spheres (b)
concentric (Q = C V )
2 π εε 0 l # r1 r2 & r2
where the subscripts 1 and 2 refer to inner and outer radii respectively. The
ln
main difference between the two field distributions is the much faster decrease r1
Q 1 V
of the field strength with distance x in the three-dimensional case.
V
E(x) =
Therefore, for equal geometries (r D R ; r D R ) E
higher in the sphere configuration. As E
1 1 2 will always be
= is reached for x D r or x D R
2 max
E max =
respectively, we 2 π εε
obtain for: 0 l x
max
r2 1 1
r2
x ln r1 ln
ž Coaxial cylinders: r1 r1
V
 210
Optimal radii of coaxial cylinders
High Voltage Engineering: Fundamentals

V
E max =
r2 R2 r2
r1 ln
Emax
r1
Emax r R1
1 r2
x
x V = E max r1 ln
E (x) r1
E (x)

0,4

0,35
(a)
¨
(b)
r2=constant V=max ?
Figure 4.4 Coaxial cylinders (a) and concentric spheres (b)
0,3

0,25
V/Emax
where the subscripts 1 and 2 refer to inner and outer radii respectively. The
0,2
(r2=1)main difference between the two field distributions is the much faster decrease
of 0,15
the field strength with distance x in the three-dimensional case.
2 r E max r2
Therefore,
0,1 =e
for equal geometries (r1 D R1 ; r2 D R2 ) Emax will always be = =e
r
higher in the sphere configuration. As Emax is reached for x D r1 or x D R1
0,05
respectively, we obtain for: 1 E min r1
0
ž Coaxial
1 cylinders: 10
r2/r1
Practical examples
¨ Cable insulation
¤ V0= 120 kV, d1=16 mm, Eb=225 kV/cm, s=6

Home Work:
¨ Designing of simple insulation arrangement,

¨ Calculate and compare the maximum fields of three

arrangements
¤ Embedded insulation
¤ Comparison (100 kV, d=100 mm: r1=50 mm, r2=150 mm):
n Plane
n Cylinder
n Sphere
Practical examples: cable insulation
Practical example: cable termination