Medium voltage cable defects revealed by off-line partial discharge testing at power frequency

Author

Mashikian, M.S. ; Szarkowski, A.

Author_Institution

IMCORP, Storrs, CT

Volume

22

Issue

4

fYear

2006

Firstpage

24

Lastpage

32

Abstract

This paper describes typical cable defects uncovered while testing over 9,000 km of medium voltage XLPE insulated cables. After a brief review of the testing method, the procedure that led to the identification, localization, and characterization of typical defects found in operating cables is described. The paper also discusses the "conversion" of water trees (WT) to electrical trees (ET) which are associated with partial discharge (PD) activity in the context of laboratory research. Based on actual service performance of cables, several cases in which ETs associated with WTs did not lead to cable failure even after several years of service in very harsh operating environments are cited

Keywords

XLPE insulation; partial discharges; power cable insulation; power cable testing; trees (electrical); electrical trees; medium voltage XLPE cable insulation; medium voltage cable defects; off-line partial discharge testing; power frequency; water trees; Cable insulation; Communication cables; Delamination; Dielectrics and electrical insulation; Frequency; Medium voltage; Partial discharges; Semiconductivity; System testing; Trees - insulation;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electrical Insulation Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0883-7554

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MEI.2006.1678355

Filename

1678355