Applications of Insulating Materials (Chapter 5 of Naidus book) All electrical systems require some kind of insulation to prevent short

circuits and leaking currents. 3 forms of insulators: solid, liquid and gaseous Performance of these insulators depend on the temperature Classification according to their temperature rating: Class Temerature Limit materials O 90C A 105C B 130C C No limit

Various organic materials w/ Various inorganic materials or w/o impregnation w/ or w/o a binder

Impregnation: Letting the solid material absorb some liquid With the advent of new materials, the classification has been modified by International Electrotechnical Commission:

Class Y A E B F H C

Temperature Limit 90C 105C 120C

Materials
Paper, cotton, silk, natural rubber, polyvinyl chloride, etc. without impregnation. as class Y but impregnated, plus nylon

Polythylene terephthalate (terylene fibre, melinex film), cellulose triacetate, polyurethanes, polyvinyl acetate enamel 130C Mica, fibreglass (alkali free alumino borosilicate), bitumenized asbestos, bakelite, polyester enamel 155C As class B but with alkyd and epoxy based resins 180C As class B with silicone resin binder, silicone rubber, aromatic polyamide (nomex paper and fibre), polymide film (enamel, varnish and film) and estermide enamel Above 180C As class B but with suitable non-organic binders; teflon (polytetraflouroethylene).

The transformer insulation: (a) conductor or turn-to-turn insulation, (b) coil-to-coil insulation, (c) low voltage coil-to-earth insulation, (d) high voltage coil-to-low voltage coil insulation, and (e) high voltage coil-to-ground insulation.

The low voltage coil-to-ground the high voltage coil-to-low voltage coil inter-turn insulation

solid tubes combined with liquid or gas filled spaces

The liquid or gas in the spaces help to remove the heat from the core and coil structure and also help to improve the insulation strengths Paper and its products absorb moisture very rapidly from the atmosphere, and hence this type of insulation should be kept free of moisture during its life in a transformer.

organic enamel in smaller rating transformers paper or glass tape is wrapped on the rectangular conductors in larger transformers Kraft paper is used in smaller transformers thick radial spacers made of pressboard, glass fabric, or porcelain are used in the case of higher rating transformers

layer to layer coil-to-coil coil-to-ground

Transformer oil -- provides the required dielectric strength and insulation -- cools the transformer by circulating itself through the core and the coil structure. -- should be in the liquid state over the complete operating range of temperatures between -40C and+50C. -- gets oxidized when exposed to oxygen at high temperatures -- formation of peroxides, water, organic acids and sludge. -- chemical deterioration of the paper insulation and the metal parts of the transformer. -- sludge being heavy, reduces the heat transfer capabilities of the oil, and also forms as a heat insulating layer on the coil structure, the core and the tank walls. -- the effects of oxidation are minimized by designing them such that access to oxygen itself is limited. -- sealed transformers -- filling with nitrogen gas, -- providing oxygen absorbers like activated clay or alumina -- arc discharge inside a transformer decomposes the oil and causes explosions

Application in Rotating machines -- low voltage machines: up to 6,600 V , class E or F insulation -- high voltage machines: 6,600 V and up, Class F insulation -- machines above 22 kV rating are not built except under special conditions.

Application in Circuit Breakers A circuit breaker: a switch which automatically opens the circuit when a critical current or voltage rating is exceeded. -- AC currents are considerably easier to interrupt than DC currents. -- AC current interruption sequence: 1) an arc for part of the metallic circuit 2) its deionization when the current goes through zero, so that the arc will not form again. Circuit breakers categories: the low voltage and high voltage types. Low voltage breakers -- use synthetic resin moldings to carry the metallic parts. -- for higher temperatures ceramic parts are used. -- if the arc is likely to come into contact with molded parts, melanine or some special kind of alkyd resins are used because of their greater arc resistance. High voltage breakers: air circuit breakers and oil circuit breakers. -- many insulating fluids are suitable for arc extinction -- the choice depends on the rating and type of the circuit breaker. -- commonly used insulating fluids: -- atmospheric air, -- compressed air, -- high vacuum, -- SF6 and -- oil (transformer oil) (interrupts the arc) -- Askarels produce large quantities of toxic and corrosive products. The circuit breaker bushings of lower voltage ratings may consist of solid cylinders of porcelain and shellac or resin treated paper wrapped on the current carrying electrode. High voltage bushings of voltages of 66 kV and above are filled with oil. The constructional details vary widely. Table 5.2 Insulating in High Voltage Switchgear
Materials Epoxy resins Epoxy resin bonded glassfibre Polyester resins Porcelain Vulcanized Fibre Synthetic resin bonded paper Nylon Silicone rubber Butyl rubber Chloro-sulphonated polyethylene Applications Low pressure castings for bushings, switchgear orifices, bus-bars, instrument transformers. Fluidized bed dip coating for bus-bar insulation and dough moulding for bus-bar barriers and secondary terminals For components such as arc control devices,circuit breaker operating rod and high pressure feed pipes for air blast circuit breakers. Insulating lever for circuit breaker and phasebarrier plate in switch board Insulators and bushings of power transformers,circuit breakers and instrument transformers Arc chamber segments Bushings, arc chambers, etc Injunction moldings for arc control devices in circuit breakers Filling for molded joint boxes in air insulated circuit breakers Pressure molding of current transformers Cable insulation for use in air or oil

Application in Cables -- Synthetic rubbers and plastics are used as cable insulation. -- The insulator should have -- good elongation and tensile strength and toughness to withstand handling during installation and service. -- low dielectric constant and power factor -- high dielectric strength and insulation resistance. -- excellent resistance to ageing at high temperatures. -- resistance to long exposure to sunlight and various chemicals. -- High voltage cables also give rise to ozone and the insulation will deteriorate in its presence. This is particularly severe for the insulation near the conductors. --Underwater applications require very low water absorption for the insulator. --At low temperature the insulation should not become stiff and brittle. --The partial discharges in the cable insulation should also be kept as low as possible.

Table 5.3 Cable Insulations

Insulation (a) Impregnated Paper Solid type Oil-filled Gas-filled Varnished cloth (b) Rubber Natural Synthetic-latex Synthetic-neoprene Synthetic-silicone Synthetic-butyl (c) Plastics P.V.C. Polyethylene Teflon Fluorothenes

Maximum cable operating voltage A.C. (kV) 95.0 400.0 400.0 28.0

Range of operating temperature (C)

10 to 85 20 to 70 20 to 70 10 to 80

3.0 0.6 0.6 5.0 28.0 0.6 15.0 5.0 5.0

40 to 70 40 ro 75 30 to 90 40 to 150 40 to 80 30 to 105 60 to 80 54 to 250 54 to 150

Applications in Power Capacitors power capacitors are used for -- voltage regulation of power transmission systems -- the improvement of power factor of power distribution networks -- power factor correction in high frequency heaters and induction furnaces 4

also used in -- DC applications such as -- impulse voltage generators -- energy storage -- welding -- high intensity flash x-ray and light photography. Power capacitors: -- voltage ratings from 220 to 13800 V -- power ratings from 0.5 to 25 kVAR. Power capacitors are made of -- several layers of insulation paper of adequate thickness -- aluminium foil of 6 microns thickness as electrodes interleaved and wound. -- single units are connected in parallel to increase capacity -- placed in containers hermetically sealed, thoroughly dried, and then impregnated with insulating oil: -- mineral oil (high cost) -- chlorinated diphenyl oil (low cost, non-inflammable; hence, preferred) Properties required for the insulation paper: -- high dielectric strength -- low dielectric loss -- high dielectric constant -- uniform thickness, and -- minimum conducting particles. Compared to paper, polypropylene film has considerable power dielectric loss and higher operating voltage. However, paper is still widely used partly, mainly due to the reason that paper after impregnation offers many desirable properties required for use at high voltages in addition to economy.

Arrhenius Equation Temperature is important in the performance of insulators because certain reaction rates (for chemical reactions that degrade the insulation) are strong functions of temperature. The dependence of some chemical reactions on temperature can be modeled by the Arrhenius Equation:

RR = Ce Eth /( kT ) where C is a constant with no or a weak dependence on temperature, Eth is the threshold energy fort he reaction, k is the Boltzmans constant, T is the temperature in K
In the Arrhenius equation, note that when T is small, the exponential term is small and when T is large the exponential term is large. Note also that the threshold energy for the reaction determines the meaning of "small" and "large" temperature. Thus we see that degradation of insulation by chemical reactions can be controlled to some extent by controlling the operating temperature range. Loss Tangent Since temperature is very important for electrical insulation, it is important that electrical losses within the insulation be quantified. This is done with the loss tangent. In the notes shown below, a tilde (~) is used to indicate phasor voltage and phasor current. Phasors allow us to represent sinusoidal quantities with complex quantities. To treat losses in a dielectric, consider that we construct a parallel plate capacitor from the dielectric and energize it with ac voltage: 5

If all the losses are represented with a paralel resistor, we have the equivalent circuit below:

Phasor Diagram:

Note that tan gives the ratio of the resistive (conduction) current to the capacitive current:
tan =
~ ~

I A d 1/ R = = = conduction C d A I capacitive

The power is P =| V || I | cos , and for small , tan cos = the power factor of the capacitor P | V || I | tan for small , so that tan indicates the power loss.
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