Determination method of equivalent insulation test voltage at room temperature for high temperature superconducting power apparatus with coil structure Original Research Article

This paper deals with the determination method of the equivalent insulation test voltage at room temperature that secures the reliability of the cryogenic electrical insulation of the high temperature superconducting (HTS) power apparatus. The high voltage test is related to the apparatus with coil structure at the stages of its development, manufacturing and shipment. In the test method, the equivalent insulation test voltage at room temperature is derived from the standard test voltage at cryogenic temperature, based on the idea that the HTS power apparatus should be operated without partial discharges (PDs). The conversion factor between the two voltages is given by the product of the two medium factors, i.e. the one relating to the potential distribution along the coil winding and the other relating to the PD inception condition at the weakest part in the electrical insulation system. In order to determine the latter factor concerned with the non-linear phenomena against electrical stresses, the PD inception voltages at cryogenic and room temperatures are theoretically and experimentally estimated for modeled turn-to-turn insulation system. The results show that both estimated and measured values are in fairly good agreement and the proposed method is useful for the equivalent high voltage test at room temperature for the HTS power apparatus.