Effect of temperature on the partial discharge initiation voltage of capacitors

The paper describes a novel test arrangement to characterize the temperature dependence of partial discharge (PD) inception voltage in capacitors. The test arrangement consist of a temperature chamber, HV supply and PD detection circuit. The corona free operation voltage is 0 to 3.8 kV, temperature range is -50 to 200°C. Different type of capacitor PD inception voltage were measured at different temperatures. It was found that most commercial capacitor PD was lower than the rated voltage and increased with the temperature. In contrast, the higher quality chip type ceramic capacitor PD was above the rated voltage and decreased with the temperature. The paper concludes that the prediction of capacitor performance requires the measurement of PD at different temperatures