Thermoluminescence in XLPE cable insulation

Crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) has been employed in underground transmission and distribution cables because of its excellent electrical and mechanical properties, such as low permittivity and dielectric loss, high degree of toughness, and good flexibility. An underground power cable operates at temperatures above ambient and the polymeric insulation is usually crosslinked to provide mechanical strength to withstand the high temperatures. Chemical crosslinking is commonly employed; however, chemical crosslinking creates byproducts such as acetophenone, α-methylene styrene, and cumyl alcohol. The general practice is to decrease the concentration of the volatile crosslinking byproducts from the newly manufactured transmission class cables before they are commissioned into service. The concentration of the byproducts is decreased by treating the cables at a high temperature in a vacuum oven. At present, to determine the residual concentration of the byproducts, the treatment has to be stopped, a sample of the polymer has to be cut from the treated cable and the byproducts have to be extracted for several hours from the polymer before they can be analyzed. This paper describes a novel, non-destructive optical method for determining the concentration of the byproducts in XLPE prior to cable installation. The method involves in situ detection and measurement of thermoluminescence emitted by the crosslinking byproducts during the pretreatment of the cable, It is shown that the measurement of the intensity of thermoluminescence provides a direct indication of the concentration of the byproducts and that it is more sensitive than mass spectrometry