Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426

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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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Charge distribution measurement of solid insulator materials: A review and

new approach
crossmark
⁎ ⁎
N.A. Othmana, , M.A.M. Piahb, , Z. Adzisb
a
Department of Electrical Power Engineering, Faculty of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), 86400 Batu
Pahat, Malaysia
b
Institute of High Voltage & High Current, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: A reliability of electrical energy supply could be disrupted by the build-up of space charge distribution within or
Space charge on the surface of insulator. Preventive measures have been carried out since the earliest days of power
Polymers transmission network invented till today to alleviate the space charge effect on electrical energy systems.
Glass insulators Although the preventive measures have been taken greatly, there are inevitable factors especially environmental
String insulators
conditions that lead to the accumulation of space charge. Space charge which carries energy such as kinetic, heat
Charge measurement
and other forms is believed released these energies during the space charge accumulation process and
subsequently distort the local electric field. Despite the numerous papers published on space charge
investigation in polymeric insulation, there is an absence of thorough review papers on this topic as well as
space charge effects on glass insulation. Hence, this paper provides a summary of charge distribution
measurement within and on the surface of insulators along with a new approach to measure the space charge
distribution on the surface of glass insulator strings. This knowledge will provide a contribution to the
development of a new online space charge distribution measurement system for glass insulator string that will
be more efficient, by utilizing the available technology for data transmission. This new approach also has the
capability to monitor the condition of the insulator while energized and in service, thus the faulty insulators can
be replaced without disrupting the distribution of electrical energy around the world.

1. Introduction insulators is strongly affected by environmental conditions in which it

Demand on the electricity has increased nearly exponentially since
the discovery of electricity in the early 19th century. The discovery of
electricity has led to the development of electric power transmission
system which consists of stages of generation, transmission and
distribution systems. The electricity is often generated within a large
geographical area that is far from the residential area at the generation
stage. The generated electricity, carrying current of radio frequency
(50 Hz) is being transported over long distances to customers via
transmission stage using overhead lines. Finally, the electrical energy
will be delivered to residential or industrial customers located in urban
areas via the distribution stage. However, both transmission and
distribution stages together are typically exposed to electrical, mechan-
ical and environmental stress that will affect the condition of high
voltage (HV) transmission line insulators [1].
HV transmission line insulators provide insulation and mechanical
support between the transmission line and the poles/tower that are
often exposed to the atmosphere. Therefore, the performance of these
is exposed, shape and the intrinsic properties of the insulator. This
condition has led to the accumulation of contamination sources such as
salt, dust, sand and fly-ashes on the surface of insulator. The
accumulation of contamination source may attract space charge that
will produce many types of energy and hence modify the local field
distribution [2].
The presence of space charges that tends to distort the local electric
field distribution in HV insulation materials has become a major
concern of researchers worldwide when studied the energy efficiency.
Generally, space charges known as excess of electron or free electron
that form a charge density in a space due to the dominance of either
negative or positive ions within any region of space. As aforemen-
tioned, space charge is a manifestation of certain types of matter in
particular electrons that carry energy. Therefore, space charge when
accumulates at a certain region with the presence of stress may
enhance energy owned by these charges which finally lead to an electric
field distortion. This situation after a long period of time may result in
enhancement of local electric fields and ultimately lead to premature

⁎
Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: ndiana@uthm.edu.my (N.A. Othman), fendi@fke.utm.my (M.A.M. Piah).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.237
Received 26 July 2015; Received in revised form 26 July 2016; Accepted 21 November 2016
1364-0321/ © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
N.A. Othman et al.
failure of insulators [3].
Extensive study shows that space charge has been associated with
breakdown [4–6], aging [7–10], electrical treeing [11,12], water
treeing [13–15], conductivity [16–18] and temperature [19–22] with
varying level of success. However, due to the lack of physical back-
ground it remains a question if space charge is the cause or the
consequence of the breakdown and aging phenomena. Many experi-
mental methods have been developed to quantify space charge in solid
dielectrics; and to the best of authors’ knowledge, space charge
measurement has become a common tool to investigate the internal
behavior of solid insulating material under high electric field. These
experimental methods are conveniently divided into two groups,
namely acoustic and thermal. The thermal group includes Laser
Intensity Modulation Method (LIMM), Thermal Step Methods (TSM)
and Thermal Pulse Method (TPM) which were thoroughly described in
[23–25]. Meanwhile, the acoustic group comprises Pressure Wave
Propagation (PWP) method and Pulsed Electro-Acoustic (PEA) meth-
od. Aforementioned methods had gained the confidence of researchers
to use it in various applications [26] as it has non-destructive nature.
The inherent nature of space charge that tends to accumulate
within the insulation material particularly polymer [27] has been
widely investigated around the world by many researchers. However,
space charge nature on the insulator surface receive less attention
despite apparent possibility of space charge accumulating on the
surface of the material [28]. This situation has provided a substantial
area for researchers to investigate the distribution of space charge on
the insulator surfaces particularly the glass insulator string. The shape
of these insulators exposed to the environmental eases the contamina-
tion particle accumulation which may attract and trap the space charge.
The presence of space charge and contamination source on the
insulator surface may modify the original electric field and lead to
prolonged aging and premature electrical breakdown of dielectric
surface, resulting in transmission line failure. Therefore, an early
monitoring system of insulator surface condition is crucial for increas-
ing the reliability of power system network.
The main objective of this paper is to cater to a wide audience
regarding the charge distribution measurement applied in HV applica-
tion. The information collected from various works around the world
will be very useful for researchers who require a wide overview on
charge distribution measurement system. In addition, the review of the
concepts should provide an excellent starting point for researchers who
are looking for a one-stop reference that provides good fundamental
knowledge to jump-start their own research. To complement all these,
a meticulous list of references is provided for those interested in
probing the issues raised in this paper further. Finally, a new approach
to measure the charge distribution on the surface of glass insulator at
different contamination level is also explained in depth in this paper.
2. Overview on space charge polarity
Good insulators have very tightly-bound electrons that completely
resist the flow of free electron. However, insulator performance may
reduce due to the existence of excess electron in the insulating material.
Fig. 1. (a) Homocharge (b) Heterocharge.
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426
This free electron can form charge density in a space due to the
dominance of either negative or positive ions within any region of the
space and referred as space charge. All charged carriers including
electrons, holes, charged particles or ions, which can exist within the
dielectric material, trapped by or transported through the material
under the application of external field are also known as space charge
[29].
Homocharges and heterocharges are terms that are often used to
describe the polarities of the space charges. According to [30–32],
homocharges and heterocharges are two types of space-charge dis-
tributions that determined by the charge trapped in the vicinity of the
electrodes. Homocharges refer to the charges with the same polarity of
the neighboring electrode while heterocharges is vice versa as illu-
strated in Fig. 1.
The polarity of space charge compared to the polarity of the
adjacent electrode is an important parameter for the evaluation of
insulating materials. When a voltage is applied across the insulation
material especially polymer, small molecules may become ionized and
drift towards the electrode with opposite polarity which eventually
produce heterocharges. The presence of heterocharges will increase the
stress at the electrode-insulator interface but reduce the electric stress
in the bulk [33]. Meanwhile, homocharges are usually formed from the
charge injection or charge extraction near the electrode [34]. Stress in
the vicinity of the electrode interface will decrease due to the presence
of homocharge, at the same time enhance the bulk stress.
Over the years, numerous literatures have been published on the
effect of space charge polarity in the insulation materials. It has been
reported in [35,36] that as-degassed and as-received sample of cross-
linked polyethylene (XLPE) is dominated by homocharges and hetero-
charge, respectively. Referring to [37], homocharge seems to accumu-
late at the anode when DC voltage is applied at temperature less than
50 °C to low-density polyethylene (LDPE) sample. But when tempera-
ture is more than 50 °C, heterocharge appears to accumulate near the
cathode. Further, investigation on the effect of electrical aging on
polycarbonate sample in [38] shows that there is homocharge and
heterocharge for new and aged polycarbonate, respectively.
3. Space charge effects on high voltage insulator
Space charge exists due to an inherent nature of insulator that tends
to accumulate the trapped electrical charges within the insulation
material. The presence of space charge at any region of insulator will
distort the original electric field distribution by creating zone of high
stress over a long period of time. This situation would then lead to the
premature failure of insulating material due to degradation process
which can lead to electrical breakdowns and electrostatic discharges
[39].
The formation of space charge occurs when the rate of charge
accumulation is different from the rate of charge removal. The
application of electric field may cause imbalance charge rate due to
the moving charges or trapped charges occurs under charge transfer
mechanism. Three main processes that cause the formation of space
charge in the insulating material under an electric field can be
N.A. Othman et al.
described based on Fig. 2[40]:
a) The external electric field applied in homogenous materials orient
the dipole charges inside the insulation bulk and the related space
charges occurs near both electrodes as a sharp step function of
peaks as illustrated in Fig. 2(a).
b) Fig. 2(b) shows the migration of ions due to the applied electric
field. It can be seen that the positive charges migrate to the negative
charges and vice versa. This situation resulted in an accumulation
of positive space charge near ground (GND) electrode while
negative space charge accumulates near the HV electrode due to
imbalanced mobility of the charge. This type of space charge is
basically known as hetero charges.
c) Charge generated at the electrodes may also contribute to the
formation of space charge especially when the mobility of charges is
low. This type of space charge which also known as homocharges
will appear immediately near the electrode that is of same polarity
as depicted in Fig. 2(c).
The formation of space charge may also be due to various
phenomena, but the most fundamental are the combination of a
current density and spatially inhomogeneous resistivity; or ionization
of impurities in the insulation bulk to form heterocharge; or charge
injection from the electrodes driven by a DC field not less than
approximately 10 kV/mm; or polarization in structures such as water
trees [27,41].
The role played by space charge greatly influences the electric field
distribution especially in the polymeric cable occurs either at the
insulation bulk, dielectric interfaces or interfaces of electrode and
semiconducting material (semicon-electrode) or even near the electro-
des. The formation of space charge in the insulation bulk occurs when
there is a temperature gradient across the insulation. Meanwhile,
conductivity and permittivity differences of the dielectric material lead
to the formation of space charge at the dielectric interfaces. The
semicon-electrode interfaces can be considered as the weakest part of
Fig. 2. Development of charge distribution in the dielectric material subjected to an electric field (Reproduced from Lewiner [40]).
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426
cable since it may provide a further impact on space charge buildup due
to inhomogeneous interfaces. Thus, the properties of the semicon-
insulation interface and dielectric interfaces face critical consideration
when designing the HVDC cable [42,43].
It is well known that the presence of space charge resulted in
enhancement of local electric fields which may be high enough to
initiate a local insulation breakdown, not to mention aging phenomena,
under nominal voltage. However, the process of breakdown or aging
does not occur immediately but occur after prolonged periods. Indeed,
space charge may contribute both breakdown and aging processes, but
whether the space charge affects the aging or breakdown phenomena in
advance still remain uncertain [41]. Therefore, relationship between
space charge and both phenomena will be discussed in depth in the
next two sections.
3.1. Relation between space charge and breakdown
It is now an accepted fact that the breakdown of cable insulation
may be associated with the formation of space charge [4]. This is true,
but the process of insulation breakdown due to the space charge
formation consumes long time to occur under applied electric stress.
The existence of space charge will first cause the enhancement of local
electric field distribution subsequently may cause the growth of
electrical treeing through the insulation and ultimately lead to the
insulator breakdown.
An evidence which relates the space charge formation with the
growth of electrical trees and breakdown was found in XLPE sample
under DC stress [5]. The magnitude of electric field stress increases five
times for the cable outer interfaces while eight times for the cable inner
interfaces due to the presence of space charge in the sample. It is also
found that the breakdown occurred from one of the trees that growth
through the insulation sample. However, it is important to emphasis
that this situation does not apply to all samples of commercial XLPE
cables. Therefore, suitable materials selection especially XLPE and
semiconductive at the cable manufacturing process is suggested to
N.A. Othman et al.
improve the performance of XLPE cable.
Highly reproducible experiment conducted by [4] exposed a
significant positive charge propagating into LDPE sample immediately
before breakdown. The propagating of this positive charge from anode
to cathode distorts the space charge profile and finally leads to the
breakdown of sample. A similar phenomenon also occurred in [6]
where hetero space charges was found in polyimide film particularly
Kapton® before breakdown occurs. This discovery was the result of
continuous enhancement of heterocharges after the appearance of
homocharges shortly after the applied voltage. They also found that
time of breakdown occurs is inversely proportional to the electric field
and temperature applied to the sample. Their findings show that the
formation of space charge might cause the degradation of insulation
sample which finally led to the breakdown.
It must be pointed out that the presence of space charge does not
affect the reliability of insulation system immediately but governed by
the space charge dynamics and neutralization as discovered in [44].
3.2. Relation between space charge and aging
The understanding of space charge effect on HV insulation aging
can be considered as poorly understood although extensive research in
this area has been investigated in the past few decades [45]. Literature
tends to show that in some cases, space charge phenomena causes
aging and sometimes aging cause's space charge accumulation, and
sometimes even both.
The reduction in electromechanical energy has inverse relationship
with aging rate that found in [7] corroborates the relationship between
space charge and aging process in polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
sample under DC stress. Unaged and electrically aged sample of XLPE
was examined for both polarization and space charge build up DC
threshold in [8]. Their finding shows that the reduction of positive ions
occurred in both electrode and redistribution of negative ions occurred
in the XLPE bulk in the aged sample. It is also found that the
magnitude of DC threshold for aged and unaged sample is 10 kV/
mm and 12 kV/mm, respectively. Besides that, heterocharge was found
to accumulate at the aged sample and may turns into homocharge for
the field more than 70 kV/mm.
The dynamics of space charge were observed after AC aging for
LDPE sample with a thickness of 200 µm in [9]. They discover
symmetric and stable charge distributions in the aged sample, while
the formation of negative charge near adjacent cathode was found in an
unaged sample. The trapping characteristics also has been modified
after AC aging which cause shallow and deep traps occur in an unaged
and aged sample, respectively. These traps will be filled by charges
through the insulation material towards opposite electrodes which
certainly may enhance the local electric field and eventually reduce the
insulation performance. The presence of homocharge and heterocharge
is found in the new and aged sample of polycarbonate (PC), respec-
tively [10]. Therefore, it can be concluded that the polarity of space
charge also affects the electrical aging of the insulation samples.
3.3. Relation between space charge and electrical treeing
Electrical treeing is generally a visible damaging process that forms
degradation path in a solid dielectric due to partial discharge existence
and high electric stress. However, during this process, charge injection
is believed may be trapped in the damaged generated region. This
trapped charges will accumulate forming charge density which if high
enough, may contribute to non-uniform electric field distribution
which can lead to the growth of electrical treeing. The generation of
electrical treeing in [11] is found to be due to the drift back of space
charge propagation towards needle when the sample is disconnected
from the supplied voltage. This drift back process may cause charges to
de-trap in the insulation bulk and when the charge density is high
enough, it might lead to the occurrence of local breakdown.
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426
Although homocharges and heterocharges are discovered near to
the electrodes of gamma-irradiated XLPE cable in [12], heterocharges
is considered has more impact in electrical treeing formation. The
existence of heterocharges contributes to the enhancement of non-
uniform electric field which finally leads to an early insulation failure.
An inverse relationship is also found between space charge density in
insulating material and insulation lifetime.
3.4. Relation between space charge and water treeing
The weakness of ceramic insulators had been replaced by the
ultimate advantage offered by polymeric insulators [46]. Yet, the
properties of polymeric insulators especially low hydrophobicity, leads
to water trees problems when exposed to the combination of electrical
stress and moisture. Indeed, the detection of water trees in earlier stage
has become strong demand in dielectric industry since it causes serious
degradation problem that eventually leads to breakdown. The relation-
ship between water trees existence and space charge distribution was
investigated under DC [13], AC [14], and both [15] voltage application.
A strong correlation between space charge distribution and water-
tree location in 4.5 mm aged XLPE radial sample under DC stress is
reported in [13]. Their result appears to indicate that different angle of
the XLPE radial sample gives different types of charge; but it is certain
that is no sign of space charge accumulation at the angle of 0° and 30°.
Investigation on the space charge formation in water-treed XLPE
cable conducted in [14,15] reveals that the space charges are like to be
formed in the region between treed and non-treed sample. The
variance in conductivity at this interface region is believed has led to
the occurrence of interfacial polarization and encouraged the accumu-
lation of space charge.
3.5. Relation between space charge and conductivity
The formation of space charge is indeed related with the presence of
difference conductivity in the insulation material as discussed in the
previous section. Electromagnetic theory predicts that the flow of DC
current density in the insulation material that possesses a ratio of
permittivity to conductivity which varies with position, given the value
of space charge density as [47]:
⎛ε ε ⎞
ρ = J ⋅∇ ⎜ 0 r ⎟
⎝ σ ⎠ (1)
J = σE (2)
where
ρis the space charge density
Jis current density
ε0is the permittivity of free space
εr is the relative permittivity of material
σis the conductivity of the material
Eis electric field
The presence of conductivity in Eq. (1) will absolutely affect the
space charge density value in Eq. (1) when the conductivity value is
varied. the conductivity and permittivity for water treed and non-treed
region in the XLPE sample with 0.5 mm thickness that examined in
[48] verify a significant influence of conductivity on the space charge
formation; where the conductivity value in the treed region becomes
more than 1010 from the original non-treed region. On the contrary,
the permittivity value increased at most twice for the same sample.
The electrical conductivity is influenced by nano-sized and micro-
sized TiO2 particles of LDPE sample in [16] where LDPE sample
containing micro-sized TiO2 particles increased the space charge
density in the bulk and increased the electrical conductivity. While
for LDPE containing nano-sized TiO2, electrical conductivity decreases
N.A. Othman et al.
due to the reduction in charge injection coupled with injected charge
recombination.
A different approach using numerical simulations was done by [17]
to compare the effect of space charge at the semicon-dielectric interface
on conductivity and electric field distribution with the actual measure-
ments. It is found that the distortion in electric field occurs due to the
interdiffusion of charge occurs between semiconducting electrode and
the dielectric, which causes the variation of conductivity.
An attempt to investigate the space charge induced by the tem-
perature affected conductivity value of LDPE and oil-impregnated
paper are introduced by [18] using simple model. Without considering
the nature of trapping and recombination charge in addition to
temperature accelerated charge injection and extraction rates in their
model, a similar trend of conductivity affected space charge was
obtained for both samples. Quantity of space charge for both samples,
however, has a significant difference in which space charge quantity in
oil-impregnated paper is larger than LDPE approximately 8 times.
3.6. Relation between space charge and temperature
Most HV outdoor insulators are exposed to an erratic weather
conditions during service operation. Underground cable that is used in
the transmission stage of power system network experienced an
inconsistent temperature caused by Joule heating that arises from
the current flow in the HV cable conductor. This temperature gradient
may distort the charge migration which eventually leads to the
formation of conductivity and electric field gradient. Researches on
temperature effect on space charge profile has been widely studied
throughout the world for underground cable [19–22] but not overhead
cable. This is because it is difficult to have a temperature difference
inside the overhead cable owing to higher thermal resistivity possessed
by air [49]. Therefore, review on overhead cable in relation to
temperature effect will not be discussed here.
Space charge dynamics of 1.2 mm as-received and degassed XLPE
samples under four different level of temperature was investigated in
[19]. The test indicates that DC threshold voltage is much higher in
degassed sample compared with as-received sample which possibly due
to the elimination of crosslink byproducts. Similar trend of space
charge profile is possess by both samples; as the testing temperature
increases, the trapped and fast charges is decreases and increases,
respectively. At the same time, the enhancement of positive charge
propagation in both samples can be considered as directly proportional
to the increment of temperature.
A constant temperature circulating bath with hollow upper and
lower electrodes was introduced by [20] to investigate space charge
effect on LDPE films under DC stress for temperature difference i.e. 0–
40 °C. Their finding shows that the interface charges at high tempera-
ture electrode are inversely proportional to the increase of temperature
or DC stress.
The temperature effect on space charge distribution in relation to
threshold characteristics and charge mobility was studied in [21] for
XLPE sample subjected to DC stress at temperatures up to 90 °C. It is
found that the threshold field of space charge accumulation is inversely
proportional with the temperature rise. While for charge mobility, an
exponential relationship is obtained with the increasing temperature.
Their finding also shows that negative charge is apparently dominant in
the sample under electric field strength of 50 kV/mm. Finally, they
found that space charge formation rate increased much slower than the
charge de-trapping as the temperature increases.
The temperature effect on space charge formation in LDPE sample
with and without the presence of antioxidant was studied in [22]. The
role of antioxidant in their study seems to affect the activation energy
for conduction current mainly on the negative charge. They also
reported that there is an increase in charge de-trapping and negative
charge injection occurs at about 45 °C in virgin LDPE; while the
polarity reversal of retained charge occurs at 35 °C for LDPE with
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426
antioxidant.
The existence of space charge in the insulator, or on the insulator
surface, greatly influences the electric field distribution of the material,
resulting in enhancement of local electric fields which may lead to
breakdown of insulation under nominal voltage. The capability of space
charge measurement to provide researchers with means to detect the
magnitude, polarity and location of trapped charges in a dielectric have
made it the most precious tool in charge measurement systems.
Space charge measurement is a reliable non-destructive method
that has become a major concern of the electrical industry to
investigate solid insulating material under high electric field. The
measurement of space charge usually performed within the insulating
material but not limited to the surface of insulation material. Charge
measurement method for insulation material based on [50,51] is
summarized in Fig. 3.
4. Space charge measurements in the insulator material
Studies carried out in the field and laboratories have suggested that
the existence of space charge in the insulation material may degrade
the insulating material, which finally can lead to accelerated aging and
electrical breakdown. It is therefore essential to study charge build-up
in order to design insulating materials in which excessive charge does
not accumulate and to ensure the stability of that charge in sufficient
time for insulation lifetime. Space charge measuring techniques
whether direct or indirect has been widely developed to monitor these
changes. However, direct techniques that employs non-destructive
nature is more favored and has been comprehensively reviewed by
[50]. This technique is divided into three major groups, according on
how charge perturbation is incurred, which are (i) thermal methods,
(ii) pressure wave methods, and (iii) electro-acoustic methods [52].
Table 1 reports a summary on the space charge measurement methods
in solid insulation.
4.1. Thermal methods
Thermal method uses thermal diffusion to perturb the charges and
induces an electrical response. The electrical response can be either a
current between the electrodes in short-circuit or a voltage between the
electrodes in open-circuit conditions. Different techniques have been
developed based on method used to generate heat diffusion. Thermal
Pulse Method (TPM), Laser Intensity Modulation Method (LIMM) and
Thermal Step Method (TSM) were respectively use pulsed laser,
modulated lasers and temperature steps to generate heat diffusion on
the tested sample. TPM was developed by Collins [53,56–58] while
LIMM was developed by Lang and Das-Gupta [54,59–61] to study
pyroelectric current in the time and frequency domain, respectively.
Meanwhile, TSM that developed by Toureille [62] allows the determi-
nation of the remnant electric field and charge density within the
insulator.
Drawbacks of TPM especially the need of deconvolution of non-
uniqueness results have been comprehensively reported in [63]. With
the complicated calibration procedure owned by conventional TPM,
improvement was made in [64,65] for HV application purpose with a
supplemental circuit to observe charge distribution mapping in thin
dielectric films under an applied field.
The validations of TSM using numerical analysis and experimental
works were described in details by [55]. Their finding shows that TSM
is applicable to study charge distribution in thick insulating material
without affecting the properties of sample or the electrode.
Studies show that complex numerical analysis to obtain the distribu-
tion of space charge in the sample is a major drawback of TSM. However,
improvements has been made on this weakness by using the inverse
matrix technique to analyze signals obtained from a sample of XLPE in
[66]. They found that by using this new technique, the time taken to
analyze the data can be reduced and better resolution is obtained.
N.A. Othman et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426

Fig. 3. Charge measurement method for insulation material.

An attempt to study the distribution of space charge in three
dimensional (3D) mapping for thin sample was performed by [67]. Two
techniques which are frequency-domain Focused Laser Intensity
Modulation Method (FLIMM) and time-domain Thermal-Pulse
Tomography (TPT) were adopted in their research to obtain high
resolution 3D distributions. Although both techniques have different
domain technique, their finding shows that both techniques seem
complement each other especially for polarization studies on thin
insulator films.
4.2. Pressure wave propagation (PWP) method
PWP method was developed in Europe in the late 70's [68] and has
been widely evolved until today to measure the space charge distribu-
tion. The utilization of PWP to perturb the charges is introduced in this
method instead of displacing the charges in the material by thermal
diffusion. An electrical signal can be a voltage, a current or both of
them generates during the propagation of pressure wave through the
insulator. PWP is further divided into two techniques based on the

Table 1
Summary on the space charge measurement methods in solid insulations.

Method Description

Thermal pulse method (TPM)[53] • One side of a flat test object is exposed to a temperature pulse.
• Ainduced
thermal wave propagates through the insulation sample and displaces the space charge. Thus, an electrical signal is
at the external electrodes.
• The space charge distribution can be obtained from the electric signal measured from the electrode by using deconvolution
techniques.
Laser intensity modulation method (LIMM) • Insulation samples are prepared as thin plates or sheets with flat surfaces.
[54] • AThus,
sinusoidal-modulated laser-induced heating is produced at both sides of insulation sample.
• temperature
the temperature waves that propagates through the insulation sample produces non-uniform time-varying
distribution that interacts with the space charge resulting in a pyroelectric current.
Thermal step method (TSM)[55] • This method is similar to the thermal pulse method.
• AA thermal step is applied to the insulation sample instead of a thermal pulse.
Pressure wave propagation (PWP) • Thepressure pulse or step is applied to the insulation sample.
• The charges in the insulation sample are perturbed in turn as the generated acoustic waves propagate through the material.
• An electric
induced electrical signal can be measured at the external electrodes.
Pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) • The space charges
pulse is applied to the insulation sample.
• and thus, an acoustic at the electrodes experience the electrostatic force which causes slightly movement of charge in the sample
wave is generated.
• This acoustic wave is sensed by a piezoelectric sensor attached to the electrode.
• The piezoelectric sensor acts as a converter which converts the acoustic signal to a voltage signal that carries the space charge
information.

418
N.A. Othman et al.
Fig. 4. Schematic of PWP space charge measurement.
generation principles of the narrow acoustic wave. The technique is
referred as Laser Induces Pressure Pulse (LIPP) when a laser is used to
generate pressure pulse. When piezoelectric materials are used, the
technique is referred as Piezoelectric Induced Pressure Pulse (PIPP)
and Piezoelectric Induced Pressure Step (PIPS) if a pressure pulse and
pressure step is generated, respectively. A schematic diagram of PWP
method is illustrated in Fig. 4 while the basic principle of this method is
thoroughly explained in [69].
LDPE sample with thickness of 1 mm was tested under DC
excitation in [70] to find a correlation between space charge existence
and dielectric strength of the insulator using PWP method. The
simulation using thermal breakdown model that used in their research
is evidently support the experimental findings.
The employment of new acoustic generator that reported by [71]
allowed the measurement of space charge distributions within insula-
tors under rapidly varying voltages by means of PWP method. The
system was designed to measure the space charge distribution at high
rate. The usage of interface card that connected to the digitizer and to a
PC has made this system able to save the data for online measurement.
The measurement of space charge in XLPE plaques insulation
under 50 Hz AC stress with the utilization of LIPP technique was
reported in [72]. Their result indicates that under AC application, the
formation of fast charge is more significant when compared with slow
charge.
4.3. Pulse electro-acoustic (PEA) method
PEA method was developed in Japan during the 80's and has gained
wide attention among researchers compared to the other two methods
for space charge measurement. The principle of PEA is generally
known as the inversion of the PWP method. A schematic diagram of
PEA method is illustrated in Fig. 5 with the principle is thoroughly
explained in [69]. PEA uses voltage pulse to perturb the charges and
induces an acoustic wave signal which will be converted into an
electrical signal using piezoelectric device. Crystals, ceramics and
polymers are three main families of piezoelectric material. Of these
families, piezoelectric polymers are widely used in PEA due to their
acoustic impedance that very close to the insulating polymers and have
the ability to be curved according to the outer surface of cable to be
analyzed [73].
A temporary displacement of space charge can be seen more
preferable under DC stressing condition in HV application [74–77].
Generally, the flow of charge that maintains in the same direction
allows a build-up of charge. This will significantly affect the electric
field distribution inside the insulation. Whereas, the flow of charges
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426
Fig. 5. Schematic of PEA space charge measurement.
inverts its direction rapidly in the AC situation prevent the growth of
space charge at the insulation in-homogeneities. This means that the
space charge field can be neglected, which in turn caused in the early
introduction of PEA measurements, only the DC voltage used in most
studies However, the measurement of space charge distribution under
AC stress arose due to the development of increasingly sophisticated
measuring technology.
PEA was applied by [14] to observe the effect of space charge
formation to water trees degradation mechanism under AC excitation
in polyethylene (PE) samples. Their finding shows that the space
charge distribution can be measured by the developed system at any
phase angle of the applied voltage.
Improvement has been made to the existing PEA in [78] by
applying narrow pulse at phase angle of 0° until 360° with the steps
of 10° of AC source. The ability of the system to determine the field at
which charges are injected without require any complex mathematical
analysis could be benefited to the new user of PEA.
An attempt to investigate the dynamics of space charge under
combined AC and DC voltages by means of PEA was recently done by
[79] in additive-free LDPE film of 100 ± 5 µm thickness. Their results
reveal that under combination of AC and DC supply, the build-up of
space charge is prior to DC component while AC contribute to a
significant impact on the charge accumulation at the electrodes. It is
also found that the combination of voltage able to enhance the space
charge accumulation in polyethylene insulation material.
Apart from that, the combination of PWP and PEA method in one
system by [80] has contributed to a cheaper measurement system.
Though the system has the same resolution for both methods, the
sensitivity of the system is much higher in PEA compared to PWP.
In the author's opinion, apparently PEA method offers more
advantages over methods PWP despite this method is simple and
robust equipment [86]. The simplicity of PEA method has contributed
to the lower cost of measurement system. The PEA method provides a
safe system because the HV circuit and signal detection circuit is
completely separated, preventing damage to the detection system in
case of an electric breakdown occurs. Furthermore, the detection
circuit that is electrically shielded has contribute to less noisy output
signal [87]. The interest on PEA also arises because of the presence of
space charge is easy to be measured. The density of the space charge
distribution can be estimated directly from the amplitude of the peaks
where space charge exists, without requiring complex mathematical
treatment or deconvolution process [88].
Of all aforementioned advantages, the conventional PEA method
still has its own limitations including two dimensions measurement in
N.A. Othman et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426

Table 2
Improvements have been made on the conventional PEA method.

Author Ref Features Remarks

T. Maeno [81] Three Dimensional (3D) By attaching the acoustic lens to the detector in the conventional PEA, the measurement time was reduced to 2 s
and the resolution was significantly improved.
Fukuhama et al. [82] High repetition rate (time The employment of recent digitizing oscilloscope and a semiconductor switch in PEA enables the recording of space
resolution) charge profile performed every 10 µs up to maximum of 1 ms under DC stress.
Tanaka et al. [83] High resolution The resolution has been improved in the lateral direction to approximately 100 µm.
T. Maeno [84] Portable The space charge profile can be directly observed and calibrated on a portable oscilloscope without deconvolution
process.
Mini-PEA Unit The small size of mini-PEA unit proves that it can be mounted on various apparatus such as high vacuum chamber.
Miyauchi et al. [85] Extremely high and low The development of PEA system equipped with cooling facility allows the observation of space charge in polyimide
temperature sample under high temperature up to 250 °C.

which it measures only the amplitude and spatial location along the
thickness of the sample. Thus, the non-uniformities of surface sample
are not taken into account. However, some 3D techniques have been
developed as listed in Table 2 to address this question. Apart from that,
PEA faces problem when dealing with cables that have different radius.
The modification of aluminum block electrode, acoustic sensor and
PMMA absorber is required before changing the cable radius which
contributes to the time consuming [87].
5. Space charge measurements on the insulator surface
The accumulation of charge on the insulator surfaces conceived
may result in changes to pre-breakdown conditions. This is because the
existence of charge accumulation on the insulator surface can cause
field distortion which may eventually initiate flashover; thus, detection
of charge accumulation on the insulation surface is crucial. There are
various techniques used for surface charge measurement but research-
ers in [51] divided those techniques based on macroscopic probes and
microscopic probes.
The usage of Kelvin probe first introduced by Kelvin in 1898 [89] to
measure the surface potential distribution has encouraged many
researchers to improve the performance of the probe up to now.
Scanning Kelvin probe microscope was applied by [90] to study the
deposition of surface charges on polyimide sample of 60 µm thickness.
Their result indicates that the positive charge accumulates on the
insulator surface and the similar result was found by using the very old
method of Lichtenberg figures.
The space charge distribution on the surface of polyethylene oxide
(PEO) under DC stress was evaluated by [91]. Their findings revealed
that the negatives charges possess mobile nature which contributes to
the space charge buildup at the electrodes, in both experimental and
simulation analysis.
A new surface potential probe was developed by [92] based on
Pockels sensing technique that able to be placed closely to the
measured sample. The study on 2 mm shows thick PMMA plate has
minimum sensitivity that reaches 10 V after applying the modulation
techniques. A good agreement with a Lichtenberg figure obtained by
color-photocopy toner technique was found in the charge density
pattern.
The problem faced by conventional capacitive probe in the measur-
ing system due to charge leakage was improved in [93] by installing a
grounded metal shutter as probe head. In addition to increase the
charge leakage time constant, they increase the distance between probe
needles to the shielding along the insulator surface. The results
obtained from their study on surface of Teflon insulator of GIS (gas
insulated switchgear) under DC voltage demonstrate an improvement
in the probe sensitivity and lower charge leakage.
Recent studies show that the surface discharge practically occurs
due to the presence of electrostatic charge on the insulator surface.
Therefore, different approach to measure the electrostatic potential
caused by the distributed charge on the insulator surface with different
roughness was conducted by [94] using a scanning electrostatic
voltmeter. The study conducted in vacuum shows that the increase in
the local electric field occurs at the surface of a flat insulator due to the
collision process electron from the triple junction and the cathode
make the insulator surface positively charged. While for rough surface
of the insulator, the electric field distribution is uniform due to the
neutralization process by trapped electrons on the positive charge on
the surface of insulator.
The development of high resolution scanning electrostatic probe
was carried out by [95] to overcome the limitation of traditional
electrostatic probe. The new system is able to monitor the insulator
surface in three-dimensional (3D) without any limitation of sample
thickness. By owing the nature of easy handling, the distribution of
surface charge can be obtained accurately and the scanning mechanism
can be used for practical geometry of the insulator.
Scanning electric potential microscopy (SEPM) also known as
Kelvin force microscopy (KFM) since the technique is based on the
Kelvin method. Researchers [96] presented results on topography and
electric potential images of thermoplastic insulators namely propylene
(PP) and polyethylene (PE) using SEPM that is modified with a
standard non-contact atomic force microscope (AFM) instrument.
Their SEPM results show that different types of insulator give different
information on electrical potential distribution across the polymer
surfaces.
Another topographic imaging system based on electric force
microscopy (EFM) was used by [97] to characterize the charge
distribution between tip and sample for both large and small charge
packet scales. Although EFM has advantages to perform localized
charge deposits, their findings show that the experimental conditions
especially distance between tip and tested insulator surface and work-
ing process of EFM are the main factors affecting the charge distribu-
tion image.
The advantages of high spatial resolution and nondestructive
technique in microscopic methods especially scanning electron micro-
scopy mirror (SEMM) was investigated by [98] to study insulators
properties based on charge trapping nature under high electric field
stress application. The outcomes indicate that the measurement of
GND current and SEMM image give information about the rate of
charge trapping and condition of surface distribution, respectively.
They also found that, the mirror measurement may be improved by
complementing them with Monte Carlo calculations. Therefore, full
understanding on the process of charge trapping and de-trapping
under high electric field can be obtained.
Literature tends to show that the dynamics of space charge
accumulation are material dependent and usually occurs inside the
polymeric insulation. Though a lot of studies have been done on the
accumulation of space charge inside the polymeric insulation material
[27] and in insulator surfaces [51,99], the exploration of space charge
in glass as insulating material is still limited despite the apparent
possibility of space charge accumulation on the surface of the material
[28,100]. The insufficiency of study is also particularly on the charge

420
N.A. Othman et al.
Table 3
Contamination level according to salt solution.
Salt weight (g) ESDD (mg/cm2) Contamination level[102]
0 0.00 Clean
10 0.05 Light
50 0.07 Medium
100 0.13 Heavy
profile along the string insulator under AC excitation. However, the
introduction of online charge measurement on the surface of glass
insulators using stainless steel mesh by [101] can be considered as the
kick-start for surface charge measurement of string insulator under AC
excitation. The surface of glass insulator in the string that exposed to
the environment gives high probability to be contaminated by the
contamination source. This contamination may trap the space charge
which may lead to breakdown of insulator in a long period of time.
6. Measurement method approach
6.1. Insulators sample
Four units of cap and pin glass insulators that removed from the
132 kV transmission lines of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia
were selected in this study. These insulators were investigated in clean
and contaminated conditions. Three different weights of ammonium
chloride listed in Table 3 were dissolved in 1 l of distilled water to form
salt solution. These salt solutions are subsequently tested for contam-
ination levels using Equivalent Salt Deposit Density (ESDD) method.
The levels of contamination according to an application guide for
contaminated insulators proposed by CIGRE [102] are presented in
Table 3. The insulators were subsequently sprayed with these solutions
and were completely dried for 24 h at room temperature before
entering the test chamber for voltage injection. The picture of sample
insulators in clean and contaminated conditions is depicted in Fig. 6.
6.2. Mesh design
A radially shaped stainless steel mesh with hole size of
1.25 cmx1.25 cm was used to capture charge distribution on glass
insulators surface. The design of mesh is illustrated in Fig. 7(a) with
height and diameter is 5 cm and 26 cm, respectively for insulator 1, 2
and 3; however, the size of mesh diameter was modified to 30 cm for
insulator 4 (located near to HV terminal) to prevent the occurrence of
discharge especially in contaminated conditions. The mesh was placed
surrounding the glass insulator as shown in Fig. 7(b).
Fig. 6. Sample insulators in (a) clean and (b) contaminated condition.
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426
6.3. Charge measurement setup
The measurement of charge distribution on the glass insulators
surface was carried out with the attachment of a mesh surrounding
each of the insulators as depicted in Fig. 8(a). The red and black probe
wires from the charge sensor were connected to this mesh and ground
electrode, respectively as illustrated in Fig. 8(b). The mesh was placed
axially at a radial distance of 2 cm from circumference of insulator 1, 2,
and 3; while the distance of mesh located near to HV electrode was
changed to 4 cm to prevent the occurrence of discharge from the edge
of glass.
6.4. Full measurement setup
In this study, the distribution of charge across each glass insulator
is measured simultaneously during the conducted experiment. Full
measurement setup of online charge measurement system which is
modified from [103] is illustrated in Fig. 9. A radially shaped stainless
steel mesh that is attached at each insulator is connected to four units
of charge sensors and each sensors is connected to data logger namely
Labquest2; thus, allowing the collected data is transmitted to computer
online. The operating voltage of 33 kV was applied when the contam-
ination layer is completely wetted and the relative humidity was in the
range of 80–100%. This humidity range was chosen by taking into
account the fact that the surface conductivity often increases when the
relative humidity exceeds 75% [104]. It is worth to mention that the
measurements were carried out for at least 3 times in each condition
and the charge distribution measurement was accomplished in dura-
tion of 30 min to assure the charge achieved the equilibrium state.
7. Validation using finite element software
The simulation is modeled in free space, according to the size of
chamber (50 cmx50 cmx75 cm) used in the experiment. A 33 kV of AC
stress is applied to the pin at the bottom of string insulator while top
insulator cap is grounded. Considering that the insulator has a
symmetrical shape, this simulation work was performed in an axisym-
metric 2D model class. In this class, cross-section of the insulator that
shown in Fig. 10 is adequate to represent the 3D modeling model in
QuickField™ professional software [105]. It is worth noting that the
grading ring, supporting structures, conductors and other accessories
are to be neglected in this study.
It was decided to use problem type of ‘electrostatic’ to measure the
distribution of charge on the surface of each insulator. It is worth to
state that the measurement of charge using this software is made by
placing the contour along creepage distance of each glass insulator. The
value of charge is then obtained from the calculator window.
N.A. Othman et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426

Fig. 7. Stainless Steel Mesh Design: (a) Mesh size, and (b) Location of the mesh.

Fig. 8. Charge measurement setup. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 9. Full measurement setup for charge measurement.

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N.A. Othman et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426

1 2 3 4
0
-5
-10
-15
Clean

Charge (nC)
-20
Light
-25
Medium
-30
-35 Heavy
-40
-45
-50
Insulator position

Fig. 11. Experimental results of charge distribution with different contamination levels.

AC voltage. The charge value is then added together to obtain the final
value of charge which will presented in the next section.

8. Results and discussion

8.1. Experimental results

Fig. 10. Schematic of the modeling insulator adopted for study.

Fig. 11 shows the result obtained from the proposed experimental

Table 4
works for charge distribution on the surface of each glass insulator,
Material Properties [71].
subjected to different contamination levels. As revealed by the graph,
Types of material Relative electric permittivity, εr there is a clear trend of negative charge distribution for all four
insulators in all conditions. Interestingly, the distribution of charge
Glass 4.2
for clean and contaminated insulators is much different; the amplitude
Cement Grout 15
Air 1
of charge for insulator 4 is much smaller for the clean insulators while
Cast Iron 1000 the distribution of charge is much higher for insulator 1 for contami-
Contamination (Sea water) 81 nated insulators.
The presented result can be explained by considering that electron
injection occurs at the interface of HV electrode and dielectric [107].
Table 5 The injection process in clean insulators after a certain time is believed
Contamination layer thickness according to contamination level [106].
can cause slowly migration of electron to the next insulator surface
Contamination Level Contamination Layer Thickness (mm) through the atmosphere; thus the surfaces of glass at position 2 and 3
have more negative charges.
Clean None Meanwhile, for contaminated insulators, the amplitude of charge
Light 1.0
increase gradually as the contamination level is varied from light to
Medium 1.5
Heavy 2.0 heavy at all four insulator positions. A possible explanation for this
distribution trend might be due to the enhancement in conductivity
and humidity causes the space charge attached to air molecule and
The‘electrostatic’ problem type in this software is applying Gauss migrates to the next insulator.
theorem to measure the charge. According to the Gauss theorem, total Though this work shows negative distribution pattern for charge, it
electric charge in a particular volume can be calculated as a flux of is important to articulate that if there is positive charge distribution
electric displacement over its closed boundary which is represented in trend, it represents the breakdown of insulator [4] In other cases,
Eq. (3) in this simulation; positive and negative charge distribution trend is found in [101,103]
which suggests that the polarity of charge swinging occurs at the center
q= ∮S (D⋅n) ds (3)

where 1 2 3 4
0

q is the electric charge, and -10

D is the electric displacement. -20
Clean
Charge (nC)

-30
The insulator properties listed in Table 4 is transferred manually to Light
the computer for simulation purpose. A thin film with different -40
Medium
thickness of contamination layer listed in Table 5 is modeled as -50
Heavy
uniform layer on the entire surface of the insulator. This thin layer is -60
modeled by adopting the properties of sea water as the contamination
-70
source.
It is noteworthy to emphasize that the charge reading was taken on -80
Insulator position
positive and negative supply voltage in this simulation works to fulfill
the experimental condition which HV terminal was supplied with 33 kV Fig. 12. Simulation results of charge distribution with different contamination levels.

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N.A. Othman et al. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 70 (2017) 413–426

of the suspension string insulator in their study. Table 6

The results in this section indicate that the presence of contamina- Addition factor according to contamination level.
tion affects the charge amplitude of all insulators. The next section
Contamination Level Difference between simulation and experiment
discusses the measurement of charge distribution in the simulation
works with and without the presence of contamination to further Clean −34.8
support the experimental results. Light −11.5
Medium −23.3
Heavy −41.9

8.2. Simulation results

Fig. 12 displays the simulation results of charge distribution on the
surface of each glass insulator with different contamination levels. The
graph reveals that the charge is negatively distributed for all four
insulators and all conditions. However, the amplitude of charge at
insulator 1 and 4 are much lower compared to insulator 2 and 3 for
clean condition. But for contaminated insulator, the amplitude of
charge on insulator surface increases accordingly from insulator 4 to 1.
According to the result, it can be considered that the distribution of
charge is uneven; this uneven distribution pattern of charge is believed
influenced by the injection and extraction process occurring at both
electrodes [107]. For contaminated insulators, the amplitude of charge
increase steadily with the contamination level from light to heavy. This
observation maybe true since the LC pattern extracted from [108] also
increases when the insulator becomes more contaminated.
Interestingly from Fig. 12 is that the charge distribution on the
insulator 1 is quite unstable in which the amplitude of charge reduced
in clean condition, while increase with the presence of contamination
when viewed from insulator 4 to 1. It is believed that the electron
injection that occurs at the high voltage electrode may cause slow
migration of electron to insulator at insulator 3, 2 and 1. It is also
believed that extraction process that occurs at ground electrode may
affect the charge distribution on the insulator 1. However, due to the
presence of contamination, the charge migration is believed trapped in
the contamination layer and blocks the extraction process to occur [2].
8.3. Comparison between experimental and simulation results
The comparison results obtained from both experimental and
simulation works for charge distribution on the surface of each glass
insulator, subjected to different contamination levels is presented in
Fig. 13. It is obvious from this figure that the amplitude of charge
distribution from experiment is quite similar to simulation results.
Since QuickField software unable to consider several conditions in
the experimental such as relative humidity and non-uniform contam-
ination layer, there are differences in the amplitude of charges between
simulation and experiment as listed in Table 6. Thus, the final value of
charge presented in Fig. 13 is obtained by adding the measured charge
from experiment with this difference value. It is important to highlight
that the addition factor listed in Table 6 is valid only for a 4 unit glass
insulator I-string, contaminated with ammonium chloride with relative
humidity between 80 and 100%.
9. Conclusion
This paper reviews and summarizes charge distribution measure-
ment of solid insulator materials based on various academic journals.
The effect of space charge existence and accumulation on high voltage
insulators was also thoroughly discusses. Non-destructive methods that
widely used to investigate the existence of space charge within the

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
0 0
-10 -10
-20 -20
Charge (nC)

Charge (nC)

-30 -30
-40 -40
-50 -50
-60 -60
-70 -70
-80 -80
Insulator position Insulator position

Experimental Simulation Experimental Simulation

(a) (b)
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
0 0
-10 -10
-20 -20
Charge (nC)

Charge (nC)

-30 -30
-40 -40
-50 -50
-60 -60
-70 -70
-80 -80
Insulator position Insulator position

Experimental Simulation Experimental Simulation

(c) (d)
Fig. 13. Comparison of charge distribution between the simulation and the experimental results for (a) clean, (b) light, (c) medium, and (d) heavy conditions.

424
N.A. Othman et al.
materials are described in details including the description on basic
operation principle, advantages and disadvantages. However, it is
difficult to discuss the details of each method since each method has
their own benchmarking. This paper also presents a comprehensive
overview of existing studies on space charge measurement on the
surface of insulator. Not only that, a new approach to measure the
charge distribution on the surface of glass insulator at different
contamination level using stainless steel mesh was also explained in
depth [103,109]. The implementation of this approach seems convin-
cing as both experimental and simulation results are in good agree-
ment.
Acknowledgements
The authors express their sincere gratitude to Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia (UTM) for the use of facilities and by awarding a research
grants under vote number 03H86 and 12H07 from the Research
Management Centre UTM, as well as 4L133 and 4F751 of Malaysia
Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE).
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