Experimental studies of influence of DC and AC electric fields on bridging in contaminated transformer oil

Analysis of real operating condition revealed that HVDC transformers experience combined effect of DC biased AC electric field. The dynamics of pressboard particle in contaminated transformer oil under the influence of DC, AC and DC biased AC electric field has been investigated in this paper. Different levels of particle concentrations are tested at different applied voltages. Optical images of the particles accumulation together with conduction current have been recorded during the experiments. A complete bridge between the electrodes of cellulose particles were observed for all the tests carried out under DC and DC biased AC electric field. Opposite to that, for AC experiments, pressboard particles accumulated on surfaces of both electrodes but did not create a full bridge between the electrodes. It is concluded that a combination of DC and AC voltages in a HVDC transformer could lead to a bridge formation within the equipment which could cause failure.