First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, ICIIS 2006, 8 - 11 August 2006, Sri Lanka
LOCALIZATION OF INSULATION DEGRADATION IN
MEDIUM VOLTAGE DISTRIBUTION CABLES
R. Eriksson, Ruslan Papazyan, Gavita Mugala
Department of Electrical Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden
roland.eriksson@ee.kth. se, ruslan@kth. se, gavitagkth. se
Abstract - The paper presents a methodology for successful
localization of degraded insulation in medium voltage cables.
Extensive work has been performed on development of cable
models and characterization of new and degraded cable material
to support the diagnostic technique. A non-destructive technique
has been developed using differential Time Domain
Reflecometry (TDR) measurements. The main application has
been localization of water treed sections of XLPE cables where
the voltage dependence of the permittivity of water treed
insulation has been used as diagnostic criteria.
I. INTRODUCTION
The cables in distribution systems for electricity constitute
an important asset of the power companies. Cable failures are
also normally responsible for a major part of interruptions of
electric power deliveries. The incentive is therefore strong to
develop methods that can detect and localize degradation
before a failure occurs. Diagnostic techniques can also help
to prioritize exchange of cables or parts of cables within a
distribution company.
Fundamental studies of insulation degradation in medium
voltage cables and methods for diagnosis and localization of
degradation have been studied in a number of Ph.D. projects
at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), [1-4]. The
studies summarized in [5] show that water trees in medium
voltage XLPE cables can be detected and the technique is
now commercially available. This technique give average
information of the status of the whole cable but it cannot
detect which parts along the cable that is most degraded. This
was motivation behind the Ph.D. projects, [3-4].
This paper presents the methodology necessary for
successful localization of degraded insulation of medium
voltage cables based upon the experiences gained from the
research at the department of Electrical Engineering at KTH.
Three essential development steps are necessary:
- Modelling of wave propagation in medium voltage cables
of different designs
- Characterization of new and degraded cable materials
- Development of Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR)
measuring technique
The paper also presents some of the basic results obtained
and analyses the applicability of the diagnostic method.
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II. CABLE MODELLING
The precision in localization of parameter variations along
a cable is dependant upon the frequency of the measuring
signals. Signal frequencies of tenths of MHz and above are
required to localize defected areas within 10 m accuracy.
Certain types of degradation, e.g. voids in mass impregnated
cables, can produce partial discharge transients which can be
detected at the cable terminations. However, water tree
degraded parts of XLPE cables or humidity in mass
impregnated cables does not normally generate any signals.
The diagnosis of the degradation needs therefore be based
upon injection of signals from the cable terminations
followed by measurements of the response from the cable.
The concept of localization of insulation degradation in this
paper is to inject a high frequency pulse at the cable
termination and to analyze how the pulse travels along the
cable based upon measurements at the cable terminations.
The analysis requires a detailed understanding of the
traveling wave phenomena in cables and how the cable
design and degradation affects this. The basis is the
representation of the cable as a transmission line as shown in
Figure 1.
Z (x + Ax, t)
z (x,t)
+ Ax, t)
*d- AX P.
Fig. 1. Equivalent circuit of a two-conductor transmission line.
The propagation along the cable is determined by the
traveling wave equations (1) where the propagation constant
y in (2) is of fundamental importance for the analysis of the
degradation. The series impedance z and the shunt admittance
y both can have a considerable influence on attenuation but
also on velocity of pulses traveling along the cable.
First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, ICIIS 2006, 8 - 11 August 2006, Sri Lanka
screen and the external (geometrical) inductance. The wires
V(x) V+e >' + VO eS'
T()VOe~+¼~
=
(1) in the metallic screen have been included in the model. The
I(x) =Ie-> +I1eS< internal impedance can be found in text books. The external
impedance has been based upon [9].
y(co)=ca+ j8= (R+=jL)(G+ )= y (2)
100 Conductor screen
-. - Insulation screen
Figure 2 shows one of the designs of the medium voltage Screen bed
cables investigated in which the dielectric is composed of 80 XLPE insulation
thin layers of semi-conducting screens and the main
insulation. 60

Oversheath Insulation screen Conductor screen

.........1.....
0

104 105 106 107 108

Metallic screen XLPE insulation Aluminium Frequency (Hz)
(copper wire) conductor
Fig. 4. Relative contributions (%) of the semi-conducting screens and
Fig. 2. Typical power cable design for medium voltages XLPE insulation to the losses in the dielectric system. In this case, the cable
under investigation has a third semi-conducting layer above the insulation
screen called the screen bed.
Figure 3 shows an example on the relative influence upon
the attenuation from the conductors (z) and dielectrics (y).
The modeling of the insulation and the semi-conducting
screens has been based upon characterizations made in
laboratory as described below.
1001
80 III. MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION
Experimental characterization of the semi-conducting
screen material is a demanding task due to low currents and
semi- Con ductoin high frequencies and in particular for the XLPE insulation
40 ,"- very low losses. Considerable efforts have been made to
develop the test cell and to find the appropriate preparation
20 -________- ~< of the test samples. Also the effects of temperature and
inD(
pressure have been investigated. A two-port test cell
hiele ct r ic

connected to a network analyzer or LCR meter has been used,

104 105 106 107 108 Figure 5. Using the network analyzer, scattering parameters
Frequency (Hz)
are measured from which the complex permittivity is
Fig. 3. Relative contributions (%) of the dielectric system and conductors extracted.
to the attenuation of cables.
7 mm diameter of inner device N-type 50 Ohm
conductor with 6 mm under female connector
diameter end plate test 16 mm diameter
The semi-conducting screens dominate the attenuation in
the frequency range of interest for localization, see examples
in Figure 4. Variations of the insulation properties due to ALO
to Network
degradation will only marginally affect the traveling wave Analyzer or *

properties. It is essential for the development of the LCR meter

-
degradation localization technique to determine this effect
and to separate it from other variations due to geometrical .4 --
60
variations, variations in semi-conducting material, etc. 100

The modeling of the series impedance of the cable includes Fig. 5. The two-port test cell. All dimensions are in mm.
the internal impedances of the conductor and the metallic

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First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, ICIIS 2006, 8 11 August 2006, Sri Lanka
Figure 6 shows the complex permittivities of the three semi-
conducting screen materials of a cable. This complex
permittivity is represented by a dielectric function, which is
fitted to the complex permittivity obtained from the
measurements. The dielectric function (3) is described by two
Cole-Cole functions, a dc conductivity term and a high
frequency permittivity term.

A2vA2a) (3)
1+()A+T a +1
= )
+I J +F

0
10
Conductor screen
Insulation screen
104 105 106
Frequency (Hz)
107 108
-Screen bed
06
i<1 1
I
>1 I 3.1
3
a)
CL 1 11 2.9
£L 102 2.8
LI. 11 2.7
10 2.6
104 10S 108 2.5
Frequency (Hz) 2.4
2.3
I I I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
104 1 F0q5 (6 107 108
I Frequency (z)
.t103
t:0
Fig. 7. Complex permittivity. Model and measurement results for an ex-
E service aged XLPE medium voltage cable called ServI s3. The model
(U 2 ----------
assumes spheroids or ellipsoids filled with water distributed in the water
treed region.
CL 1 0

U)

IV. CABLE CHARACTERIZATION

1u1 Parameter extraction technique has been developed both in
104 1F 0
Frequency (Hz)
100 time and frequency domain. Figure 8 shows a schematic
drawing for the time domain measurements and Figure 9
Fig. 6. Complex permittivity of the semi-conducting screen materials of shows the basic parameters of the system where the impulse
an XLPE medium voltage cable.
is applied to 1, the measuring instrument is connected to 3
and DUT is the device under test.
The characterization of water-treed XLPE have been done
both for laboratory aged samples and for degraded XLPE Pulse PowerI
cable taken from the field. Based upon an effective medium
theory, expressions for the average permittivity of XLPE --------------------, ---
connection
insulation including water trees have been derived. Following
measurements of both real and imaginary permittivities, the
water content and the water conductivity can be estimated. A
MEASURING SYSTEM
first order model that agrees with measurements for loss peak
and corresponding frequency has been derived, see example
in Figure 7. Fig. 8. Schematic drawing of the measurement set-up.

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First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, ICIIS 2006, 8 - 11 August 2006, Sri Lanka
been developed. The principle is to compare the propagation
properties for different applied voltages on the cable. Figure
11 shows the TDR system where pulses are injected at
various phase positions of the applied voltage.
DUT
-10. TDR measurements (xlOO probe)

01/1..

Fig. 9. Basic elements of the TDR measuring system.

The propagation constant can be calculated using (4) where DC

V-3 is the measured impulse entering to 3. The indices short
and m indicates calibration measurement and the mismatch
reflection at the DUT connection.
Synchronized
H7(co)
H(a))=
=ee -r2l =
)2-T,3bo/
(vmT7-3
v) (vs034or t
)2
(4)
Fig. 11. TDR system for phase-resolved measurements during the
application of high AC voltages.
Figure 10 gives an example of extraction of the propagation
constant using time domain and frequency domain (S- It is well established that water trees give a voltage
parameters method) technique [7]. Apparently the extraction dependant permittivity at low frequency dielectric
agrees very well with the cable model based upon the spectroscopy measurements, being the basis for low
material properties. frequency (average) water tree diagnosis. A similar non-
linear effect was sought for in the high frequency range and
1 0a;
Fk
Model
in laboratory investigations small variations of the real part of
S paramiete[s me-thod the permittivity could be seen as function of applied voltage.
Fk o TDR method This effect would lead to variations of the pulse velocity (v)
I

along the cable depending upon the water tree content. This
FA

C was confirmed by measurements on field aged cables where it

was noted that the velocity of degraded cables increased after
(a
0
OA I
t_i
t voltage application, see Figure 12.
0
m_
t A ~ ~~~.
lo I
20
_ eore aipiplcation Of HV
at
ion of HV

1 V 10
I 1o 10t 300
Frequenicy (MHz
Fig. 10. Comparison of attenuation constant obtained by different
methods. 0 O5 1 15 25 3
Time (Vs)
V. DEGRADATION LOCALIZATION
21G
Extensive analysis shows that effect of insulation changes
due degradation have small influence upon the electrical
properties of the cable [3,4]. These changes can hardly be
detected using direct absolute measurements bearing in mind 0 O.15 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
that variation in semi-conducting material and geometry may Time t,,
have greater effects on the propagation properties. To
Fig. 12. TDR measurements from both sides of an originally installed
distinguish between the effects of insulation degradation and cable (A) which included a replaced section (B), See also Figure 12.
other influences a differential TDR measuring technique has

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First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, ICIIS 2006, 8 - 11 August 2006, Sri Lanka
By using reflections from small irregularities along the
cable a technique could be developed for characterization of
the propagation velocity along the cable. As shown in Figure
13 the voltage influence upon the velocity is greater for the
degraded part of the cable (A) than for the new cable (B).
(1)Q II) A- 105 m p) B-35 m
155
E Velocity after HV
4, 150
0
Reference velocity before HV
145 L
C 0.5 1.5
Time (gs)
155
/Q
Velocity at
I~ ~ ~ Fig. 14. Development of the TDR respons from a paper oil cable with a
E small hole in the lead sheath, placed in humid environment. The figure
.
> 150
0
U1) ---------L----------L---------- ----------
Reference velocity at O0
145L1
0 0.5 1 1.5
Time (gs)
Fig. 13. Local velocity profiles based on measurements before, after and
at 00 and 90° of the applied HV. The interval from 0.7 to 2.5 is is measured
from side I and the interval from 0 to 0.7 is is measured from side II.
VI. DIscusssIoN
The study on water treed XLPE cables verifies that
localization of water treed sections is feasible. The effect of
water treeing is however much smaller than the effect of
cable design, variation of material characteristics etc. Using
the voltage dependence of the water treed insulation response
a differential measurement with sufficient accuracy is
possible. Geometrical variations, material variations, etc will
give a response independent of the voltage level and their
effect will be leveled out in the differential measurement
while the water tree voltage dependant response will remain.
The mapping of the velocity variation along the cable uses
small reflections due to irregularities which normally exist
along the cable length. The propagation velocity variation
determined from the reflections at the cable terminals also
gives an overall indication of the average deterioration of the
insulation.
Further studies are encouraged on the modeling of the water
trees and water treed insulation. The development of the
diagnostic criteria also needs further continued collection of
measurements from deteriorated cables in the field correlated
to the actual condition of the cable.
Differential TDR measurements can also be a powerful tool
for diagnosis of other types of cables. The studies in [8] show
that the process of water ingress in paper oil impregnated
medium voltage cables can be followed by TDR
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measurements. Figure 14 shows the development of the TDR
response from a section where water is entering into the
insulation through a small hole in the lead sheath in a 500
hours experiment.
(Al-30m (11)
2 2.5
presents a close view on the part of the reflectogram where the changes
----------
caused by the water ingress occur.
2 2 .5
VII. CONCLUSION
Extensive work has been performed on development of
high frequency cable models including characterization of the
properties of semi-conducting screens and new and water tree
degraded XLPE insulation. The model development has been
necessary to understand how cable deterioration is reflected
in measurable changes in wave propagation properties.
Nondestructive diagnostic techniques have been developed
for the localization of insulation deterioration along medium-
voltage power cables. The technique referred to as
Differential TDR compares the TDR measurements at
different voltage levels or compares TDR measurements
before and after a possible development of ageing. The
signals from the deteriorated insulation can then be
distinguished from other reflections.
The measurement technique is based on the effects of
voltage application on the insulation permittivity (E) in the
water-treed region. It has also been found that the v(cw)
variations, caused by the '' change, are least susceptible to
measurement artifacts. For relatively long water-tree
deteriorated sections the effect of v(cw) is observed as a shift
in time of the reflection from the far cable end. Using signal
processing it can be investigated if the shift is caused by local
water tree degradation and the degradation position can be
localized.
Localization of impedance changes related to water ingress
in mass-impregnated paper insulated cables has also been
achieved using the Differential TDR approach.
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First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, ICIIS 2006, 8 11 August 2006, Sri Lanka
REFERENCES
[1] P. Werelius, "Development and application of high voltage dielectric
spectroscopy for diagnosis of medium voltage XLPE cables", Ph.D. thesis,
KTH Electrical Engineering, 2001.
[2] R. Neimanis, "On estimation of moisture content in mass impregnated
distribution cables", Ph.D. thesis, KTH Electrical Engineering, 2001.
[3] G. Mugala, "High frequency characteristics of medium voltage XLPE
cables", Ph.D. thesis, KTH Electrical Engineering, 2005.
[4] R. Papazyan, "Techniques for localization of insulation degradation
along medium-voltage power cables", Ph.D. thesis, KTH Electrical
Engineering, 2005.
[5] P. Werelius, P. Tharning, R. Eriksson, U. Gafvert, "Dielectric
spectroscopy for diagnosis of water tree deterioration in XLPE cables",
IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation, vol 8, pp27-42, Feb. 2001.
[6] G. Mugala, R. Eriksson, P. Pettersson, "Comparing two measuring
techniques for high frequency characterization of power cable semi-
conducting and insulating materials", paper accepted for publication in
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical insulation.
[7] R. Papazyan, P. Pettersson, H. Edin, U. Gafvert, "Extraction of the
high frequency power cable characteristics from S-parameter measurements,
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and electrical insulation, vol 11, pp 461-
470, June 2004
[8] R. Neimanis, R. Eriksson, R. Papazyan, " Diagnosis of moisture in
oil/paper distribution cables. Part II: Water penetration in cable insulation-
Experiment and modeling", IEEE Transaction on Power delivery, vol. 19,
pp 15-20, Jan 2004.
[9] P. Pettersson, "Wave propagation in cables for communication"
Vattenfall report 99:15.
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172
Roland Eriksson (SM'83) received the M.Sc. and
Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Royal
Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden in
1969 and 1975, respectively. Since 1988 he has been a
professor and Head of the Department of Electrical
Engineering at KTH. His research interests include
diagnostics of electrical insulation, insulation
co-ordination, modeling of electrotechnical equipment
and reliability assessment of distribution systems.
Gavita Mugala received the B.Eng degree in
electrical engineering from the University of Zambia,
Lusaka, Zambia in 1986 and the M.Sc. and Technical
Ph.D. degree from the Royal Institute of Technology
(KTH), Stockholm, Sweden in 1999 and 2005,
respectively.
Ruslan Papazyan received his M.Sc. degree from
the Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria in 2000
and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Royal
Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden, in 2005. His
research interests include cable and cable accessories
design, cable diagnostics and high frequency
properties of electric power equipment.