1054 IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 8 No.

6, December 2001

Streamer/Leaders from a Metallic Particle

between Parallel Plane Electrodes
in Transformer Oil
L. E. Lundgaard, D. Linhjell, G. Berg
SINTEF Energy Research
Trondheim, Norway

ABSTRACT
Prebreakdown channels initiated at, and propagating from, an electrically floating wire par­
ticle located between two parallel electrodes under impulse voltage have been studied. The
propagation characteristics do to some degree resemble what has been found in point to plane
gaps. Channels will, when they meet a barrier or an electrode covering perpendicular to the
field, stop and spread out on the surface leaving charge that may form Lichtenberg figures.
Charge measurements and registration of the size of Lichtenberg figures do support a capaci­
tance based model of the propagation.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 BACKGROUND

HE majority of prebreakdown studies in transformer oil and other

T
Several studies on channel propagation in long point to plane gaps
dielectric liquids have been made with point to plane gaps and with have been published during recent years [1-4]. The main focus has been
bare electrodes. However, in a transformer the fields are much more on positive channels.
homogeneously distributed (e,g. gap between HV and LV winding), the
During the prebreakdown process discharge channels propagate
electrodes (i.e. winding and grounded parts) are covered, and barriers
through the liquid. The channels often spread out in bush-like or tree­
are placed along equipotential lines. High inhomogeneity is normally
like structures. The branching tendency is therefore an important char ­
attributed to metallic contaminants, which will be at an electrically
acteristic [2,4,5]. There seems to be general agreement that the fila­
floating potential. If a discharge is initiated within the insulation system
ments are high pressure channels filled with an imperfect plasma. The
it will propagate more or less along the field. When it meets an insulat­
channels are established by evaporation of the liquid due to heating by
ing barrier it will (hopefully) be stopped. Then it will start to propagate
electron avalanches. At low voltages, the channel may stop after hav­
along the barrier and the ,associated charge will be distributed over a
ing propagated a: certain distance. The stopping length is determined
large area resulting in a more evenly distributed field. The field at the
by the field at the channel tips. This field is limited by the space charge
tips of the discharge channels will drop and propagation finally stop. If
distribution of the envelope of the whole channel structure, and is fur­
the barrier can withstand the stress (and no long creepage results) this
ther determined by the voltage drop along the channel, the shape of
is often considered a self-healing discharge, as long as the discharges
the channel tip and finally by the screening effect from charges located
do not repeat.
at neighboring channel tips. Because stopping length depends on the
Here we present results from a study of prebreakdown phenomena
applied voltage and the screening from neighboring charges, this natu­
in pOillt to plane gaps and in long homogeneous gaps. The experimental rally results in a model for the propagation based on capacitance co�­
work can be divided in, and is presented in three parts: siderations [2, 4, 6]. Charge fed into these structures therefore becomes
1. Studies of prebreakdown phenomena in a point to plane setup where interesting.
breakdown was avoided by an electrode covering or a midgap barrier. At increased voltages breakdown will eventually occur. By rais­
The injected charge and the channel spread area over the electrode cov­
ing the voltage above the breakdown voltage new faster propagation
erings and midgap barriers were studied.
modes will occur. The positive streamers have 4 distinct modes (sep­
2. Discharge channel propagation from an electrically floating metallic
arable by e.g. propagation velocity), while the negative ones change
particle was studied for an inhomogeneous open gap, and in a homoge­
more continuously with voltage. The lowest velocities both for nega­
neous composite gap with both electrode covering and barriers in the
middle of the gap. tive and positive channels are � 100 m/s. This is a bubble type cavity
3. Studies of the areas over which the discharge channels from the particle (or channel) that will not be able to cross a long gap. The higher ve­
spread over insulating barriers and electrode covering in the composite locity propagation modes are more filamentary and re-illumination of
gap are reported. long filaments and current peaks can be seen during the propagation in

1070-9878/1/ $3.00 © 2001 IEEE

IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation
point plane gaps. The ionization potential and electron affinity of the
liquid, influences the propagation [7,8].
On barriers where the propagation is stopped a channel pattern has
been seen to form [9, 101 and injected charge increases with voltage [11].
The diameter of such patterns has been used for voltage measurement
in early impulse measuring devices (clydonographs) based on detection
of Lichtenberg figures [12-14]. The Lichtenberg figures were created by
exposing the surface where the discharges had occurred to a fine (Ly­
copodium) powder that adhered to the locations charged or polarized
by the surface discharges.
3
TEST SETUP AND
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
The tests were performed in a 600 I steel test cell equipped with a
1050 kV transformer bushing. Between the experiments the oil (Nvnas
NYTRO lOX) was kept under vacuum, degassed, dried and filt�red.
Voltage was supplied from a 1200 kV Marx generator coupled to mini­
mize the rise time and to reduce voltage decay after voltage application
(i.e. produce a step voltage). The voltage was measured with a capaci­
tive divider, mounted in the test celL The time constant of the divider
was <5 ns. The impulse had a front time of 1 p,s, and at 1800 p,s the
voltage has dropped to 50%.
Figure 1. (a) Sketches of electrode configurations with floating par­
ticle in open gap. (b) Sketch of composite gap. (c) Sketch of point to
plane gap. The gaps are axially located in a test cell with diameter of
700mm.
The tested configurations are outlined in Figure 1. A plane to plane
gap where a metallic particle was placed in the homogeneous part was
used without barriers (open gap) and with barriers (composite gap).
The particles were placed in the gap by using a polypropylene rod,
which was permittivity matched to the oil, perpendicular to the gap
axis. The particles were made of a tungsten wire of 190 p,m diameter
and their ends were electrochemically etched to sharp points. A com­
posite point plane gap also was used to allow for current and charge
measurements in a model that resembled the conditions between the
particle's end and the barrier (or the electrode cover).
Vol. 8 NO.6, December 2001 1055
For the open homogeneous gap the electrode separation was either
150 mm (12 mm particle) or 96 mm (6 mm particle). In the 150 mm
gap most studies were made with the particle in the middle of the gap.
In the 96 mm gap the particle was centered 16 mm from the ground
electrode. For the composite homogeneous gap only 96 mm electrode
separation was used. In the composite gap 1 mm pressboard plates
were used as barriers placed in the open oil and as electrode coverings.
The particle was placed between the electrode covering and the barrier
(in the same position as studied in the 96 mm open gap).
The ground electrode could be fitted with a point electrode protrud­
ing from the plane. To reduce capacitive current the point was isolated _
from the plane (now acting as a guard). In this point to plane setup
pressboard sheets were introduced. These are called 'barriers' when
located in a midgap position. When located directly on the opposite
plane BV electrode they are called 'electrode covering'. The distances
between the point and the electrode covering and the barriers respec­
tively were chosen to be similar to those from the particle ends in the
composite setup (i.e. 12 mm from the point to the surface of the bar­
'"
rier or electrode covering). The thickness of the pressboard used in the
point to plane setup was 1 mm, except for some cases when a 5 mm
board was used for electrode covering.
The ground electrode was, through a coaxial arrangement, con­
nected to a 50n system for measurement of current. In the point to
plane setup both current and charge injected into the streamer/leader
structure were measured Simultaneously using a specially deSigned in­
tegrator [15]. A photomultiplier was used to measure light emission
from the gap. To depict the channels several different systems were
used:
1. Imacon 790 image converter camera in streak mode to view the tempo­
ral development of luminosity connected with channel propagation.
2. Imacon 790 image converter camera in frame mode to look at tempo­
ral development of the structure of luminous phenomena seen during
propagation.
3. Proxitronic intensified gated video camera with shadowgraph setup to
look at details in the channel structures.
4. Proxitronic intensified gated video camera in high sensitivity mode to
look at details in light emission.
The boards that had stopped the streamer/leader channels were as
quickly as possible (,..., 10 min) removed from the test setup and put
into a 'developer' bath with a mixture of oil and Xerox powder. Here a
Lichtenberg figure was created where the surface had been charged. To
get stable figures we had to use textured pressboard. On smooth press­
board or paper the figures quickly smeared out and vanished. These
figures were photographed and the dimensions noted. The envelope
area of the Lichtenberg figure was calculated from a circle having a di­
ameter equal to the average of the maximum length of the Lichtenberg
figure and the width perpendicular to this length. For particle in the
plane-to-plane setup all non breakdown shots were done with the same
particle. Waiting time between shots was", 20 min.
4 RESULTS FROM POINT PLANE
EXPERIMENTS
The channels observed in the point to plane gap can be seen on Fig­
ure 2. The positive channels spread in a fanlike manner covering a
1056 Lundgaard et at.: Streamer/Leaders from a Metallic Particle between Electrodes
hemisphere, like the second mode propagation known from point plane
gaps. For the negative ones one could in some cases see a higher order
propagation (v;;;:;l km/s) grow out of the lower order bush or bubble
type event (v;;;:;50 to 250 m/s). Both for positive and negative channels,
re-illuminations were only seen for some of the filaments and these fil­
aments would grow thicker than the rest. Channel thickness eventually
exceeding 1 mm has been observed. This was observed even if other
channels could be equally long. Figure 3 shows photos of integrated
light emission over a 1 p,s interval during the propagation period. The
thicker 'ends' is caused by the propagation of the tip during the expo­
sure time.
Figure 2. Shadowgraph images of positive (a) and negative (b) chan­
nels propagating a from point electrode towards a barrier. Below, the
corresp onding oscillograms showing voltage light emission, current
and charge are shown.
Figure 3. Light emission from positive channels 6.6 p,s after initia­
tion. Image taken with 1 p,s exposure time.
The voltage was increased gradually until it was observed that the
filaments reached the insulating board, either being a barrier or an elec­
trode covering. Thereafter, at increasing voltage levels, experiments
were made where the injected charge was measured and the area of
the Lichtenberg figure on the board checked. This was done for both
Figure 4. Lichtenberg figures llf positive streamer (349 kV) at barrier
and negative streamer (87 kV) at electrode covering.
polarities. Typically, the Lichtenberg figure would be larger and more
filamentary at the barrier than at the electrode covering as indicated in
Figure 4. Individual channels were not resolved on the electrode cov­
erings. On the barriers there was little difference between positive and
negative figures, except for possibly narrower channels in the positive
figures. The 'developing' copy machine powder adhered less well to the
positive figures than to the negative figures. This applies for both elec­
trode covers and barriers. The observed differences may be caused by
this effect. On the electrode covering one could see figures developed
at both sides. At the electrode covering there usually was an inner dark
'disc' with a lighter ring around it. Often a gel-like substance could
be found at this Lichtenberg figure before putting it into the developer
bath. Increasing the thickness of the electrode covering from 1 to 5 mm
resulted in more details in the Lichtenberg figure.
The size of the Lichtenberg figures increased with voltage as shown
in Figure 5. However, the scatter was significant. Figure Ii shows how
the envelope areas of the Lichtenberg figures were correlated with the
injected charge. For the point-plane gap with a barrier it was seen that
the injected charge was some 50 nC for channels just touching the board.
Similar observations could not be made for the channels towards the
electrode covering.
Or the barriers one could resolve the starting 'hit points' of the sur-
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol.8 No.6, December 2001 1057

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Figure 5. Envelope area of Lichtenberg figures vs. voltage; (a) Chan­

nels on electrode covering and (b) Channels on barrier.

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Figure 6. Envelope area of Lichtenberg figures vs. charge, (a) Pos­
comparatively large number of close-lying 'hit points' on the board (2 to
itive figure on electrode covering, (b) positive figures on barrier, (c)
3x the number of main channels, sometimes more). In addition toiliese
negative figures on electrode covering, (d) negative figu res on barrier.
branches, each channel may have a large number of very short branches
along its path, and even some longer ones that may grow in directions
5 CHANNEL PROPAGATION
more or l ess vertical to the applied field, never coming near the press­
board before collapsing. Despite the hit area increasing with increasing
FROM AN ELECTRICALLY
voltage or charge, most observed negative channels hit within a circle FLOATING PAR TICLE
with a diameter only slightly larger than the gap length. The channels from the particle looked much the same as those from
On the other hand, positive structures have a large number of chan­ point protrusions (Figure 7). With the floating particle and an open gap,
nels crossing the gap, with an opening angle at the point electrode of the general picture is that the propagation first starts on the positive
100 to 1300. Each channel generally branches less than each negative side, and that these propagating channels will have a limited velocity
channeL but sometimes there is some fine branching close to the press­ (1.5 to ;;:::2.8 km/s). Light emission first occurs at the negative tip (Fig­
board. Above the minimum crossing voltage, it seems that all positive ure 8). After the positive channels have started, one can see negative
channels, including all branches, hit the pressboard. Only few .of these channels propagate. At low overvoltages when the particle is close to
leave any impression in the Lichtenberg figures, with resu lti ng appar­ the cathode this occurs only after the positive channels have crossed
ent number of hit points similar to negative figures. With increasing the partial gap. At low voltages, a positive channel structure from a
voltage, the hit area has been observed to increase to >3x the area of particle in this position may even cross its partial gap without causing
the circle with radius equal to the gap length. negative channel growth, while a propagating negative channel from
10S8 Lundgaard et al.: Streamer/Leaders from a Metallic Particle between Blectrodes

a pa r ticle in any position almost always causes a later breakdown. (A

few exceptions were seen when the particle was centered at 16% of the
gap length from the cathode). Re-illuminations rarely occur until the
negative channel propagation starts. Unless the particle is close to the
anode, the negative channel propagation event ually switches mode to
'fast event' (50 to 70 km/s) and quickly crosses its remaining gap as
sketched in Figure 9. If the positive channels have not already reached
the ca th o de when this happens a fast positive event will occur also.
(Some limited evidence indicates that this happens only after the nega­
tive channel has reached the anode.) Figures 10 and 11 show how chan­
nels propagate and breakdown (BD) occurs when voltage is i ncreas ed. .,.---""""
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Light (arb. units)
The lowest voltages for occurrence of light, channel growt h, and break­
down are found with the pa r ticle close to the anode, while the highest
are found with the particle at mi d-ga p.

Voltage (600 kV)

-.-/' Current (2 fJJdiv)

I _J..--LLl.ill ...._
.

4 f.Lsldiv

Figure 9. Sketches of typical streak image from bipolar channel

propagation with oscillogram of same time scale (150 mm gap, blank
electrodes) .

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Figure 7. Shadowgraph image from bipolar channel growth from :g 0.6
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electrically floating 6 mm particle in a composite gap. (Image covers
32 mm of a 96 mm' gap. In this case the positive channel has been
£ 0.4
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stopped by an electrode covering.) 0.2 t o Pos. ch. propagation
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o 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Voltage [kV]
Figure 10. Observed p rob abiliti es of l ight emission, start of positive
channel and start of negative channel (with BD) for midgap located
12 mm particle in 150mm gap.

One can by looking at the overall picture see that what occurs from
a particle in a gap, which fits well with what has been seen from point­
plane gaps both in this and other investigati on s [2-4]:
1. The basic structures of the positive and the negative channels are quite
similar in both geometries.
2. Also the speeds for the positive and the negative channel prop agation
are within the same ranges, the positive ones being the faster o nes .
3. The negative channel speeds are more dependent all applied voltage
than the positive ones.
Figure 8. Light emission from bipolar channel g rowth from an elec­ 4. For both channel polarities the tips of the propagatin � 'bush' are more
trically floating particle in a composite gap. Exposure time was illuminated than the channels. This is most pronounced for the positive
100 f-Ls. channels.
5. Initiation (first l uminosity) starts at the negative end of the particle.
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 8 No.6, December 2001 1059

80 Further, there also was a volt ag e range where propagating negative

C Stop titTlE! of pes, non-8o channels

6. Stan lime of neg. propagation

channels usually did not reach the pressboard, contrary to the open-gap
+ Light duration of non-BD situation where propagating negative channels (almost) always led to
60 x Time to SO
breakdown (i.e. bri dged the gap). There were also more cases without
fii' + re-illumination. In many cases, both channel structures bridged their
2: + + *
+ + partial gap from the particle to the pressboard, and grew out along
Q) 40
E these surfaces without any re-illumination occurring.
i=
x
In the composite gap with floating particle, the space angle filled
x
20 X
X
with the positive channels of the positive structure from the particle
� � was smaller than from a positive p oint in point-plane experiments. The
opening angle rarely was more than 45 to 60°, which is about half, or
0
even a little less, compared to point-plane experiments with or without
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 barriers.
Voltage [kV]
From a floatin g pa rtic le, the negative channels usually started prop­
Figure 11. Temporal development of bipolar channel event parame­ agating in the slow, 'bubble shaped' mode having a speed in the 50 to
ters with voltage (non-Bo and BO channels). 12 mm midgap particle 250 mls range. These slow channels might grow considerably lo ng er
in 150 mm gap.
than the 1 to 2 mm observ ed in point-plane gaps before switching to a
faster 1 to 2 km/s mode. In fact, over a voltage range, the slow mode
6. The negative structures need a higher field to propagate than the posi­ would usually totally or almost totally bridge its part-gap to the rel­
tive ones. evant pr es sboar d. Note that this on ly a p pl ies to t he compos it e gap,
7. Clear mode shifts have been seen from the negative channels in both
where the positive channels were stopped by a pressboard, thus limit­
cases.
ing the supply of negative charge. Like in point-plane gaps, this faster
The most striking differences are: mode was cons idera bly more filamentary and less 'space-filling' than
the slow mode.
1. The velocities are, even if they are in the same range, somewhat lower
for channels from a floating particle than from a point electrode. 6 LICHTENBERG FIGURES IN
2. From the el ectri cally floating particle we have not seen the fast positive HOMOGENEOUS COMPOSITE
mode (i.e. � 10 km/s; also denoted 3rd mode). It seems that the pos­
GAP
itive channels may switch directly to the very fast mode (>100 km/s:
also denoted fast event or 4th mode), but only after the negative chan­ As for the point to plane gap, it was found that the sizes of the
nel has made contact with the anode. In our open point-plane gaps
Lich te nber g figures incr eased· with voltage,
even if the scatter was large.
'fast events' have always started out of a channel with a 10 to 20 km/s The typ ical shapes were pretty similar to what is shown in Figure 4.
velocitv.
Figure 12 shows how the area increases with voltage. Also notice the
�
3. The po itive channels do fill a much smaller space angle from the float­
ing particle than from a point electrode.
very large scatter for the area of the positive Lichtenberg figure on the
4. Re-illuminations are very rarely seen in the positive channel during its
barrier.
propagation in the oil volume (until the negative channel starts). The hit areas were analy zed both by findin g apparent hit points in
the Lich tenberg figures (on the barrier only, individual channels are
The still p ho tos taken wit h t he s ha do wgrap h method show that
usually not resolved on the electrode cover) and by measuring the hit
there is a number of channels for both polarities. However only one
width by re-illumination in streak photographs. These have consider­
or a few of these become thicker than the others; recognized as the re­
ably lo wer resolution than the Proxitronic shado wgrap h images and do
illuminating ones in the streak photos and in the light sensitive still
not resolve fine branching very close to the pressboard, if any. However,
images (Figure 8). Re-il luminat io ns occur after the negati ve channel
the advantage of the streak images is that these give a better indica­
has started to propagate. Usually, there are other equally long negative
tion of re-illumination. There probably is a finer branching, because
and positive branches. .
Lichtenberg figur es usually seem to have a conSiderably higher num­
In the experiments, we have not been able to observe channel prop­ ber of hit points than the number of re-illuminating channels in the
agationor even light from a moist cellulose fiber even at 3x the break­ streak images, and with hit areas generally somewhat larger than what
down voltage for a similar metallic particle. is found from the re-illuminating channels. It was found to be 2 to 7x
The experiments in the composite gap with the electrically floating as many hit points as the number of observed re-illuminating channels
particle showed some differences from the open gap. Some of the dif­ (usually 1 to 5). The largest number of hit points found on a barrier
ferences can be attributed to the fact that the positive channels were was 14. At vol tag es where Lich tenberg figures a r e found on both the
hindered from getting in contact with the negative electrode (by ei­ barrier and the electrode covering, the Lichtenberg figures usually in­
the r the barrier or the electrode cover, depending on i mp ulse polarity). dicate b a rrier hit areas that are larger by a fac tor 2 to 3 than hit areas
There was a v olt ag e range where positive channels reaching the press­ found from the re-illuminating channels. A channel does not have to
board did not result in any start of propagation of negative channels. be re-illuminating to contribute to a Lichtenberg figure, because there
1060 Lundgaard et al.: Streamer/Leaders from a Metallic Particle between Electrodes

70 Simply considering the area of the Lichtenberg figure as a thin metal

o PO$. channels on e!octrode ..
60 .. Neg. Channels on barrier
plate and disregarding all edge phenomena and stray capacitances will,
_ 50
for charges like those measured in the needle to plane gap, give areas

1m
40
.. of the channel structure as shown in the estimates included in Figure
The areas of the observed structures are, in three out of four cases,
6.
30
fI! 130% of the expected ones. This deviation may be explained in sev­
<t. 20
�

eral ways:
10

0
1. The area associated with the Lichtenberg figures are only partly filled
a) o 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
with channels.
Voltage [kV] 2, There is a voltage drop in the channels along the surface 11 n
200 3. Charge penetrates into the pressboard.
� Neg channels on electrode
• Pos. channles on barrier 4. The modeling of the plate capacitor is too simple, particularly in the
150 case of the barrier, where also the effect of the other plane electrode
should be included.
E
'-' •
•

5. A worrisome observation is that the current pulses contributing to the

- 100
m
measured charge are seen together with light flashes in some channels,
� . ,
« and that apparently more channels than those with the re-illuminations
50
do contribute to the Lichtenberg figures.

a
Assigning a radius of curvature to the edge of the 'metal plate'
b) 0 200 400 600 800 1000
would allow for analysis of how the field at the channel tip depends
Voltage [kV]
on the size of the channel structure and its 'radius'. For example, for
Figure 12. Area of Lichtenberg figures vs. voltage in composite gap a certain size (area) of the Lichtenberg figure on the electrode covering
for (a) positive impulse and (b) negative impulse. the capacitance towards the HV electrode is higher than the capacitance
between a similar figure on the barrier and the HV electrode. Therefore;
are numerous examples of Lichtenberg figures from branches without for a certain charge and size the voltage between the structure on the
any proper re-illuminating channel. Generally, there does not seem to barrier and the opposite polarity electrode will be higher than the volt­
be any polarity dependence in the hit area size (on a given pressboard age between the electrode covering and the electrode. Consequently
position, either the barrier or the electrode cover), provided the volt­ the channel growth becomes shorter along the surface of the electrode
age is sufficiently h igh for the channels to reach the board under both cover than along the surface of the barrier,
'
polarities.

7 APPLICABILITY OF A
CAPACITANCE BASED MODEL

A capacitance based model has been proposed previously [2, 4,6,16] +

for explaining some aspects of prebreakdown channel propagation in
addition to the physical and electrochemical models of the processes in
the channels themselves and at their tips. The validity of such a model
for point to plane gaps has been demonstrated clearly by comparing
measured injected charge with the charge of a metallic body enveloping HV
the channel structure [2].
A similar capacitance based model does to some extent explain the
observed correlation between the areas of the Lichtenberg figures and
the injected charges in the paint to plane experiments shown in Figure 6.
The channels spreading over the surface (depicted by the Lichtenberg
Ground '--______-=...."-
.::
figure) are considered to be conductive. The propagation of the tips
continues until the field falls below a certain value. The curvature at Figure 13. Sketched potential distribution before (dotted) and after
the circumference and the potential of the channel structure determine (full drawn) start of propagation of positive channels.

this field. The potential is assumed to be equal to the point potential

minus the voltage drop along the discharge channel in oil, the latter
in the range of 20 kVIcrn [17]. The radius of curvature of the lichten­
berg figure determines the shielding effect between the multiple tips.
The channels will, at a certain voltage, grow until the limiting field is
reached. Therefore, the higher the voltage the larger the area and cur­
vature will be.
For the bipolar channel structures from the electrically floating par­
ticle we assume that, as long as the channels can be considered con­
ductive, there will be a charge balance between the opposite polarity
ends of the structure [18,19]. Nothing in our results opposes the gen­
eral picture that the propagation is governed by the field at the channel
tips, and thereby also from the screening effect of charge at neighboring
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 8 No.6, December 2001 1061

tips. As for point electrodes, the chanpel tips from the floating particle
represent a apace charge, which influences the macro- and microscopic
fields. Charge separation takes place at the positive channel tips and the
negative charge is moved to the particle, pulling its potential towards
the cathode. This may for low voltages be sufficient to initiate negative
channel propagation. At higher voltages, where the negative channel
has started its propagation this may be what triggers the negative fast
mode channel. As a consequence of the particle potential being pulled
towards the cathode one, the driving potential for positive channels is
reduced (see Figure 13). Likewise, when there is a board on the cathode
this may reduce access to charge for the negative channel, thus sup­
pressing initiation of faster mode channels. The behavior of slow and
fast negative channels is similar to that from a point electrode.
We see that even if the propagation velocities of the channels from
the particles are in the same range as a point plane gap, they are con­
Sistently somewhat lower. Likewise, the re-illumination seen from the
channels of propagating positive structures in the point-plane gap is
not seen for positive channels from the particle. This may be explained
by limitations in charge access, which will reduce the currents in the
channels resulting in a larger voltage drop along the plasma channels.
\3' 800 ,------,
E-
m
.�
600
.c
c •
o 400
I.
. . .
-
- a . • •
•
impulse the charge on the negative Lichtenberg figure on the barrier
is only 23% of the positive Lichtenberg figures on the electrode cover.
However the correlation is quite good, For the negative impulse we see
that the correlation is poor. The best one can say is that the charges at
least end up within the same order of magnitude.
Possibly, the deviation from the expected one-to-one correlation can
be explained from a large scatter and a low number of experiments. The
deviation is neither large enough for rejecting our hypothesis, nor is it
low enough to confirm it.
8 PROPAGATION MECHANISMS
FOR POSIT IVE AND NEGAT IVE
CHANNELS
One main feature of the bipolar channel images is the fact that the
diameter of the negative channels is larger than that of the positive
ones. We can state this even though our resolution (40 to 50 pm per
pixel) is insufficient to give a proper image of the positive channels
(considered to be in the 10 f.lm range), because the negative channels
do give a much more solid appearance than the positive ones. Also, the
tendency to branch sideways during propagation is much higher for the
negative than for the positive channels. This may be explained by the
• difference in the electronic processes occurring at the tips of the positive
y -O.23X /,' and the negative channels (as sketched in Figure 15). The dimensions
of the channel tip will also play a role. For a larger tip radius the field
enhancement will be lower. To reach a stress in the liquid above the
critical field for ionization, a higher voltage is required for propagation,
as has been observed for negative channel propagation [4] .

- +
+
500 1000 1500 2000 2500
+ -
Pos. charge on electrode cover [nC] +
+
+
IT 4000 +
+ -
oS •
+ +
�
'C:: 3000 +
+
rn +
.c •
• +
§ 2000
'" • +
e' •
'"
n 1000 • . . --_.- .� • •
•
<Ii • . -- - •
. .-. • • •
&. �:"'."' ... . �--.-. . . _ .. -. ---�-�.
SOD 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Neg. charge on electrode cover [nC]

Figure 14. Comparison between positive and negative charges of

Lichtenberg figures resulting from bipolar prebreakdown events from
a particle located between a barrier and an ground side electrode cov­ Figure 15. Sketches of corona region for negative and positive chan­
ering. (a) Positive impulse, (b) negative impulse. nels.

The charge for the Lichtenberg figures observed during the particle
experiments in the composite gap could not be measured. However,
assuming that the charge vs. area correlations found for the lichten­
berg figures from the point to plane experiments are valid also for the
particle experiment, will allow for a comparison of the charge for the
figures for the two opposite polarities. We would expect the charges to
pe equal, but Figure 14 shows that this is not the case. For the positive
For channel growth to occur, electron avalanches have to form in
. front of the channel tips. This means that the local field must be higher
than a critical (threshold) field for ionization. But this is not sufficient.
The field should be higher than the critical field even at some distance
in front of the channel tips, otherwise the avalanches will not grow
large enough to really propagate the channels. This is particularly im­
portant for the positive channels, which have to rely on some feedback
 1062 Lundgaard et al.: Streamer/Leaders from a Metallic Particle between Eilectrodes
mechanism to the volume in front of the tips to create initiating elec­
trons for the avalanches. A rough calculation was done assuming that
a propagating channel has the critical field a fixed distance from the
tip, independent of other aspects of the channel. This actual distance is
not known, but 1 or 5 JJ.m were used in the calculation. In both cases,
the volume of the ionization zone showed �15x increase for a tenfold
incrE'ase in channel tip radius, from5 to 50 JJ.m (i.e. from positive to
negative channels). Further, as indicated on Figure 15, the avalanches
of the positive channels have their maximum size at the tips while for
negative channels the maximum is at the far end of the ionization zone.
Thus the energy input into the avalanches are dispersed over a consid­
erably larger volume for negative than for positive channels, making
-heating and thus propagation less efficient. At the same time the larger
(and more irregular?) ionization zone for the negative channels more
easily allows for branching. '
We have in the previous Section intentionally omitted the term
'stre.�mer'. It is a frequently used descriptor for the channels/structures
seen. However, we think that by now so many similarities with gas
discharges have been pOinted on in the literature [1,4,9] that the term
'streamer' now gives confusing associations. We think that the streamer/
leader concept from gas discharges [20J gives a better context for a
deeper understanding of the mechanisms involved in the channel prop­
agalion in a liquid. The channel stems shows many similarities with
what characterizes leader propagation in gases (i.e. stepping character­
istic for negative channel, re-illumination during propagation and high
conductivity).
As pointed out above and earlier [8,21J there is circumstantial evi­
dence that the propagation is governed by electronic interactions with
the liquid in front of the propagating channel (i.e. in the streamer re­
gion). The general idea is that within the high field region in front of
the propagating, conducting channel, electron avalanches are initiated
resulting in heating and evaporation of the liqUid, thus extending the
channel length. For a negative channel electrons are injected from the
plasma. Despite reducing the effective net ionization, high electron
affinity additives may make the propagation more efficient because the
energy will be deposited within a more confined volume [8]. For a
positive channel where the electrons have to be available in the liquid,
addition of low ionization constituencies is seen to increase propaga­
tion efficiency [8). Either an increase in the number of starting electrons
or more favorable conditions for avalanches may explain this. At the
same time it is seen that the transition voltage to very fast events is
raised [5], which is explained by the observed increased branching and
'field-grading' by the channel structure. Photo-ionization in combina­
tion with increased field stress is proposed as an important mechanism
in the propagation of the fast positive events [4].
However, knowledge about basic parameters (e.g. free path of elec­
trons and photons, ionization cross sections) lacks. This opens for spec­
ulations about the processes involved in the channel propagation, but
constitutes a barrier for verification of any proposed hypothesis. During
impulse, only metal particles will be harmful. This may be explained by
the fact that polarization is instantaneous for metal particles. For fiber
particle polarization takes time. This results in a slow increase of the
field at the fiber tips, which allows for charge injection and space charge
limitation of the field so that initiation condition never occurs. (How-
ever, under ac the polarization processes can, at increased moisture
levels, be fast enough to follow the voltage. Hence, cellulose particles
may be harmful under ac.)
9 CONCLUSIONS
may be initiated by electrically floating particles. The
B potential needed for channel propagation through the oil is cre­
REAKDOWN
ated from charge separation in the channel head. The propagation of
streamerIleader channels from electrically floating particles seems to be
frustrated from lack of access to energy input to the channels or charge
at the channel tips.
Capacitance based models offer a possibility for analyzing the macro­
scopic fields and stresses in composite insulation. Electronic processes
can explain differences between positive and negative prebreakdown
channels. Models from gas discharge physics do in a qualitative way
seem to be valid for prebreakdown phenomena in long oil gaps.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We thank ABB Transformer for their financial support, which made
the project possible. Discussions with and ideas from Gwmar Jorendal,
John Bjarne Sund and Torsten Schutte have helped us forwards along
the road.
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Manuscript was received on 13 March 2001, in revised fonn 17 June 2001.

[19J A. Castellani. A. Bondiou, P Lalande, A. Bonamy and I. GaIimberti, "Laboratory