IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation Vol. 23 No.

6, December 1988 941

Streamer Generation and

Propagation in Transformer Oil
under ac Divergent Field Conditions

0. Lesaint and R. Tobazhon

Laboratoire d’Electrostatique et
de MatCriaux DiClectriques C.N.R.S.,and USTMG,
Grenoble, France

ABSTRACT
Prebreakdown phenomena in transformer oil are studied under
ac voltage in different field configurations, ranging from very
divergent point-plane geometry to quasi-uniform with rods or
spheres. A detailed study of phenomena in both polarities is
presented, and the minimum conditions required for streamer
propagation and generation are checked. Correlations with
breakdown voltage measurements under ac are established and
discussed according to these results. The main results obtained
about streamer mechanisms are the following. In negative po-
larity, it is observed that the generation of a microscopic gas
bubble (- 10 pm in diameter) immediately precedes the devel-
opment of streamers. In the case of bush-like streamers, it is
concluded from energetic considerations that the vaporization
of the liquid constitutes the main process of streamer growth.
In positive polarity, similar conclusions are made for slow bush-
like streamers, whereas in the case of fast filamentary, it is
observed that the conductivity of filaments determines their
propagation.

INTRODUCTION The extension of such mechanisms to the general

case of liquid breakdown is much more difficult, and the
actual knowledge of prebreakdown phenomena still fails
P to now, Prebreakdown Phenomena in liquids have to explain many well-established facts, such as the fol-
U been studied mainly with Pulsed voltage waves, which lowing. Neither scale effects (known as volume or elec-
are the more convenient experimental conditions for their trode surface effects [3]), nor the influence of particles or
observation. Since the first observation of the genera- moisture can be explained. There frequently exists no
tion and development of streamers in liquids [I], a large correlations, even qualitative, between breakdown mea-
number of data obtained in similar conditions has been surements of liquids performed in different experimental
published, in which the i n f l ~ n c eof several parame- configurations, as can be shown with a few examples.
ters, e.g. polarity, nature of the liquid, additives, was
studied. In point-plane geometry, a good reproducibil-
EFFECT O F ELECTRODE GEOMETRY
ity of events is generally observed, and fair correlations
between streamer phenomena and breakdown measure-
ments are established [2]. The classification of different liquids by their break-

@ 1988 IEEE
0018-9367/88/1200-941$1~00
042 Lesaint et al.: Streamer generation and propagation under ac divergent field conditions
down voltage V g can be completely different when mea-
sured in divergent or uniform fields [4];
EFFECT OF APPLIED VOLTAGE SHAPE
In negative point-plane geometry, the addition of
electron scavengers (halogens, aromatics) to saturated
hydrocarbons produces a spectacular decrease of V g
with pulsed voltages [5], (due to speeding-up of stream-
ers [61], whereas an increase is generally measured with
dc [7].
POLARITY OF STREAMERS IN UNIFORM
FIELDS
Owing to a greater ability t o propagate, positive
streamers are generally considered to be more ‘danger-
ous’ than negative ones, and their study has received the
major attention, Significantly lower breakdown voltage
are as a rule measured with positive points [5]. However,
in uniform fields under dc or ac, factors known t o affect
only negative streamers (electron scavengers, low gauge
pressures [6,8,9]), are found to have a great influence,
indicating that not positive but negative streamers are
responsible for breakdown in these cases (representative
of most industrial applications of liquids).
These examples show that more experimental d a t a
about prebreakdown phenomena are needed for a bet-
ter understanding of breakdown mechanisms in a wide
range of experimental conditions, including long dura-
tion of ac or dc voltage application, and quasi-uniform
fields. The aim of this paper is to present some results
dealing with streamer phenomena under ac voltage in
transformer oil. Most of the results have been obtained
in divergent geometries, which were the most favorable
conditions for the construction and test of the experi-
mental set-up, and represent the first step of our study.
Very few studies of streamer phenomena in liquids
under ac or dc voltage were previously undertaken, and
the results already obtained in this field are the following
HIGH FIELD CONDUCTION MECHANISMS
Field emission and field ionization, were identified
by the use of very sharp points and highly purified liq-
uid, liquids, including liquefied rare gases [lo] and a few
hydrocarbons [11,12];
ELECT ROL U M IN ESCENCE
In highly stressed liquids this was frequently ob-
served [13];
GENERATION OF GAS BUBBLES
Although frequently hypothesized [lo, 14,151, this
has been evidenced in very few cases in hydrocarbons
[11,16,17] and liquid N2 [18];
GENERATION OF STREAMERS
This was detected by the detection of shock waves
[17] or prebreakdown transient currents [19], but their
visualization was previously never made.
EX PER IM ENTA L TE C HN IQUES
HE experimental set up allowing the detection and
T visualization of prebreakdown phenomena under ac
voltage was previously described in [20]. The occurrence
of a prebreakdown event is detected via the associated
current or light emission signal, either of these being
used to trigger the single-shot high speed visualization
device. The main features and characteristics are the
following.
Different sets of electrodes were used, in order to
study field configurations ranging from very divergent
point-plane to quasi-uniform sphere-plane ones. Point
tip radii ro were varied between 3 and 400 pm, and inter-
electrode distances d 5 25 m m were used. In most ex-
periments, the plane electrode was covered with a poly-
mer sheet (thickness 0.5 t o 3 mm) in order to prevent the
actual breakdown from occurring, except for breakdown
voltage measurements made with bare electrodes.
All results presented were obtained in a paraffinic
transformer oil (BP-T2), previously dired, outgassed (<
0.1 Pa) and filtered (1 p m porosity filter).
Prebreakdown transient current measurements were
made with particular attention paid to preserve maxi-
mum bandwidth (> 100 MHz) and high sensitivity. Cur-
rents down to 0.1 mA were measured with a 50 R resis-
tor matching a coaxial cable, and a greater sensitivity
(- 3pA) was achieved when necessary by the use of a
specially developed field effect transistor (FET) probe,
with a low input capacitance (4 pF).
IEEE !lkansactions on Electrical Insulation
Light emission signals were detected with a pho-
tomultiplier (RCA 1P21) via a collecting optical fiber,
immersed in the liquid close to the point.
Transient electrical signals were stored and display-
ed on high-speed memory oscilloscopes (Tektronix 7834).
The oscilloscopes were triggered by these signals, and
additional delay lines (350 ns) offered the possibility of
looking back a t the information present a t the oscillo-
scope inputs up to 400 ns before the instant of trigger-
ing. This feature was very useful for recording the very
early stages of streamer appearance, or even preceding
this appearance.
The single-shot visualization device produces a pho-
tographic recording of events with a 50 ns exposure time,
and can be triggered after a preselected delay t d with re-
spect to the initial instant of streamer appearance. In
order to visualize the initial steps of streamer develop-
ment, the minimum delay of the device has to be very
short. Thanks to high speed triggering electronics, this
delay was lowered to about 30 ns. Black spots visible
on some of the photographs presented are not particles
in the liquid but defects of the video tube target.
All voltage values in this paper refer to the maxi-
mum or crest value of the ac voltage wave.
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
G EN ERATION T H RES H 0 LDS
N divergent ac fields, streamers always appear a t the
I top of the sinewave, they are randomly distributed in
time, and the inception probability grows exponentially
with the applied voltage. In Figure 1 is shown, in var-
ious experimental conditions, the increase in streamer
number per unit time vs applied voltage. This measure-
ment was performed with a digital counter connected to
the oscilloscope; it takes into account all prebreakdown
phenomena, whatever their polarity and behavior (they
may or may not propagate).
The number of discharges increases exponentially
with voltage, as shown in Figure 1. The slopes are
comparable in all cases, but at low applied voltages a
threshold is observed (except with r g = 100 pm), and
the probability of streamer inception drops drastically
when the applied voltage is reduced below this thresh-
old. Thus, there probably is a minimum voltage below
which no streamer can be generated, or at least is not
Vol. 23 No. 6 , December 1988 943
measurable in our experiments, which are of course lim-
ited in time. The arrows in Figure 1 indicate thresh-
old values, and mean that no prebreakdown phenomena
were detected during 1 h of voltage application.
At low applied voltages, only negative streamers are
detected. Above a certain threshold, positive stream-
ers start to appear, and their number per unit time in-
creases exponentially vs applied voltage with the same
slope as negative ones. The ratio of positive vs nega-
tive streamers generated tends then to be constant; at a
given voltage, 3 x more negative than positive streamers
are generated.
When d or P" are varied, all these features are still
observed and we can conclude that under ac, the stream-
er inception for both polarities probably follows the same
variation laws with the experimental parameters P O , d,
V, but positive streamers require slightly higher volt-
ages (- 20%) t o appear with the same probability as
the negative streamer.
In a given electrode configuration with r() and d
fixed, we can see on Figure 1 that, above the genera-
tion threshold, the number of discharges increases very
steeply with the applied voltage V. If V is raised at a
too high level, many streamers are generated per unit
time, causing a rapid pollution of the liquid by evolved
gases and decomposition products. This explains why
V cannot be varied over a large range with a given set of
electrodes, and that specific studies, e.g. the influence
of the applied voltage a t a given distance, are possible
only by changing the point radius r g . The higher ro,
the higher the generation threshold.
PREBREAKDOWN PHENOMENA WHEN
T H E POINT IS NEGATIVE
GENERATION PHASE
In the negative polarity case, the first visible event
is the generation of a microscopic bubble, observed in all
experiments performed with point electrodes (Figures 2
and 3). The associated current consists of a very fast
current burst of about 10 pA, correlated with a light
pulse.
The rise and fall times of the measured current
pulse x 5 ns, see Figure 2), are those of the measur-
ing device, and we can conclude that they are in fact
shorter, probably in the lo-'" s range as testified by
944 Lesaint e t al.: Streamer generation and propagation under ac divergent field conditions
10 20 20
Figure 1.
Streamer appearance frequency vs applied voltage +++ : d=5 mm; o o 0 : d= 8 mm; x x x: d=13
mm
a few measurements performed with a 400 MHz band-
width oscilloscope plug-in (Tektronix 7A19).
Since the visualization is always made with a some-
times very short delay, the chronology of events remains
questionable. Is the observed bubble a consequence of
the current pulse, or conversely does the bubble precede
this current peak, which could then be interpreted as a
discharge in a gaseous phase? The response t o this im-
portant question was given experimentally by an optical
time-resolved study of the bubble generation and growth
[21]. A sharp laser beam is focused on the point, and the
occurrence and development of the bubble are studied
by measuring the transmitted light intensity variations,
due to scattering in the bubble. The synchronous mea-
surement of current peaks and optical signals shows that
the bubble appearance always takes place after the de-
tection of a current pulse (results t o be published in a
later paper).
PROPAGATION PHASE
The events following this initial phase are strongly
dependent on the electrode configuration. All results
20 30 30 40
obtained within the investigated range indicate that the
mean field E = V / d , with V the applied voltage, is the
more appropriate parameter to characterize our obser-
vat ions.
With a low mean field E x 20 kV/cm, obtained
with sharp points ( T =~ 3 pm), no propagation phase is
-
observed. T h e bubble expands slightly during the next
400 ns (Figure 4), detaches from the point and is
swept into the liquid with a velocity of 10 m/s (no more
current is detectable during this phase).
With a high mean field E 5 100 kV/cm, obtained
with large tip radii ( T =
~ 100 pm), a reproducible prop-
agation phase is observed (Figure 5 ) , a t a well-defined
constant velocity of 1 km/s (Figure 6 ) . Streamers are
filamentary, and associated currents constituted of fast
current peaks of rapidly growing intensity, starting a
few hundreds of ns after the initial bubble generation
(Figure 3). There is a definite correlation between the
streamer length and the intensity of current pulses.
In all intermediate experimental situations, the neg-
ative streamer behavior shows a large dispersion, and
the following general features are observed.
I E E E Transactions on Electrical Insulation
100ns/div. -1OpAldiv.
100ns:'div. -arb .unit
Figure 2.
(a) Bubble generation in negative polarity with
a sharp tip 70 = 3 pm; V=16 kV; (b) associated
current pulse; (c) light emission signal.
Many streamers don't cross the whole gap. The
- -
propagation stops below 40 kV/cm, no streamer can
cross the gap, above 80 kV/cm, all of them reach the
plane electrode.
As the mean field E is reduced, the recurrence fre-
quency as well as the intensity of current peaks de-
-
creases, the shape of streamers becomes more and more
bulky, their velocity decreases down to 300 m/s.
A typical example of negative streamer observed in
such conditions is shown in Figure 7. The repetition rate
Vol. 23 No. 6, December 1988 945
Figure 3.
Bubble generation in negative polarity with a
rounded tip T O = 100 pm; V=35 kV and associ-
ated current trace.
of current pulses is here very low, and we can observe
that each one is correlated with a light pulse. The decay
time of light pulses (about 200 ns) is much longer than
that of current pulses. When the repetition rate is high
(such as in Figure 5), the light pulses overlap makes that
a quasi continuous light emission signal is observed.
PREBREAKDOWN PHENOMENA WHEN
T H E POINT IS POSITIVE
N positive polarity, two different kind of streamers
I
with definitely different characteristics have been ob-
served. Fast filamentary streamers are observed in all
the experimental configurations studied and slow, bush-
like positive streamers, resembling negative ones, have
been observed, but these are exceptional and occur in
very divergent fields.
FI L AM E NTAR Y ST R EA M ERS
With this type of streamers, a good reproducibility
of events is observed, which can be described by a few
simple rules.
 846 Lesaint et al.: Streamer generation aind propagation under ac divergent field conditions

-I.I. L I . .

Figure 4. Figure 5 .
Bubble growth, detachment and motion in the Propagation of a negative filamentary streamer,
liquid T O = 3 pm; V=16 kV. T~ = 100 pm; V=35 kV and associated typical
current trace.

Positive streamer velocity is well defined and con-

5- s t rw n r r length ( m m )
stant throughout the gap (Figure 6) and whatever the
electrode configuration used, within the limits of our ex-
periments, positive streamer propagation is found to be 4-
strtamcrs
only dependent on the applied voltage V I which deter-
mines the length at which it will stop (Figure 8). In 3-
the investigated range, the average length grows quasi-
linearly with V I the slope being about 35 kV/cm. V =42kV
2-

Streamers are always composed of thin filaments

(Figures 9, lo), and two characteristic behaviors are ob-
served. Filaments can subdivide and form trees when time ( p s )
conditions are such that their stopping will occur soon 1 1 I 1 I
afterwards. This occurs close to the point when the ap- 0 1 2 3 4 5
plied voltage is low (Figure lo), and a t the extremity
of stopped streamers when the applied voltage is high Figure 6.
(Figure 9). When experimental conditions broadly ex- Propagation of positive and negative streamers.
ceed the minimum required for streamer propagation,
i.e. close to the point at high voltage, filaments grow
with a regular shape without branching (Figure 9). rent is steady as the streamer proceeds. The recorded
trace remains smooth for about 1 ps, after which sharp
In contrast to the case of negative polarity, the cur- superimposed discontinuities generally appear. An im-
IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation Vol. 23 No. 6, December 1988
200ns/ d i v . -arb. u n i t
Figure 7.
(a) Propagation of a slow negative streamer,
T O = 10 pm; V=20 kV; (b,c) typical current
and light emission signals recorded. Synchro-
nized measurements.
portant feature is that currents don’t always increase
as the streamer grows. With large distances and high
applied voltages, only a few (- 10) filaments are still
propagating, and a constant current of about 1 mA is
recorded (Figure 9).
BUSH-LIKE STREAMERS
With highly divergent fields, ro = 3 pm, and com-
paratively low applied voltages, a second regime appears
94 7
*1
10
20 30 40
applied voltage ( k V )
I
SO
Figure 8.
Stopping distance of positive
streamers vs applied voltage.
I
60
I
70
filamentary
randomly (Figure 11). It is characterized by its cur-
rent trace which consists of discrete pulses similar to
those observed in negative polarity, and the shape of the
streamer is also very comparable. These slow stream-
does not exceed -
ers never propagate very far, their maximum extension
100 pm, after which they quickly
disappear in the liquid, the same way as in Figure 4.
MODERATELY DlVERG ENT FIELDS
ITH moderately divergent fields, tip radii > 400
W pm, the detection of current or light pulses was
always correlated with the presence of particles on the
high-field electrode; this was never observed with sharper
electrodes. In spite of filtering, particles were always
present in the liquid. Due to the low visual magnifica-
tion imposed by the large electrode dimensions, it was
not possible to ascertain that each current pulse was cor-
related with an optically observable phenomena, which
size could be a few pm, as in Figure 2. However, when
streamers appear (Figure 12), their characteristics were
very similar to those previously described, and trigger-
ing particles touching the electrode were always seen.
948 Lesaint et al.: Streamer generation and propagation under ac divergent field conditions
Figure 9.
Stopped positive filamentary streamer, T O = 40
pm; V=45 kV and typical recorded current
trace.
C 0R R ELAT IONS WITH
BREAKDOWN MEASUREMENTS
GEN ERA L CO NSID €RATIO NS
NDER ac, breakdown is due to the first streamer
U independent of polarity, that can be generated and
propagate. From the preceding results, no simple scheme
of electrical breakdown in transformer oil under ac volt-
age emerges, since negative streamers are generated a t
lower voltages than positive streamers, but their prop-
agation is more difficult. In the investigated range, no
propagation of negative streamer was observed below 40
kV/cm, whereas the length/voltage relationship found
for positive streamers (Figure 8) leads to an apparent
-
propagation field of 35 kV/cm.
A large scatter is observed for the propagation of
negative streamers. The propagation probability in-
creases from 0 to 1 when the mean field E varies from
40 t o 80 kV/cm.
Nevertheless, two extreme cases can be distinguished. is high and all breakdowns occur when the point is
With moderately divergent geometries, the mean field is negative; (B) In the intermediate zone, the situation
Figure 10.
Stopped positive filamentary streamer, T O = 3
pm; V=17 kV and typical recorded current
trace.
high E > 80 kV/cm, all streamers can propagate, and
breakdown is controlled by the generation and essen-
tially is due t o negative streamers which are the first
generated. In highly divergent geometries, when the
mean field is low E < 40 kV/cm, breakdown is con-
trolled by the propagation of streamers and is due main-
ly to positive streamers which propagate more easily.
BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE M EASU REM ENTS
IN DIVERGENT FIELDS
good agreement with this description was found
A 13.in breakdown voltage measurements shown in Fig-
ure The polarity of the point was noted for each
breakdown.
At q ,= 400 pm, three distinct zones are observable
on this curve.
(A) At short distances ( d 5 3 mm), the mean field
IEEE fiansactions on Electrical Insula tion Vol. 23 N o . 6 , December 1988 949

Figure 11.
Bush-like positive streamer, T O = 3 pm; V=17
kV and typical recorded current trace.

moves from a generation-controlled to a propagation-

controlled regime. Breakdown can occur in both po-
larities, the probability of having a negative breakdown
regularly decreases as the distance is increased; (C) At
long distances ( d L 30 mm), the mean field is low (< 40
kV/cm), no negative streamer can propagate, break-
down occurs only when the point is positive.
At ro = 100 pm, similar characteristics are found,
the transition from the B to C regime is observed when
E drops < 40 kV/cm, a t a lower distance since genera-
tion voltages, a t a given distance, decrease when point
radii are reduced.
Figure 12.
Negative streamer generated by a particle, neg-
ative and positive streamers with moderately di-
vergent fields. T O = 400 pm; d=2.5mm; V=40
kV.
negative streamers t o propagate. Thus the slope of the
voltage ramp determines the extent of zones A and B in
Figure 13.

INFLUENCE OF VOLTAGE RATE OF RISE

low voltages only negative streamers are gener- GENERAL CASE OF TRANSFORMER OIL
A T
ated, but their repetition rate is very low, < 1 per
minute. Therefore if the voltage ramp is fast enough,
BREAKDOWN UNDER AC

1 kV/s in our case the level at which positive stream-
ers appear can be reached without generating negative
streamers. For this reason, positive streamers can be
observed on the left of the transition zone (B) on Fig-
ure 13, in a region where the field is high enough for
As concerns correlations with breakdown data, we
note that
Extrapolation to other liquids have to be made with
great care, since characteristics of streamers (generation
950 Lesaint et al.: Streamer generation and propagation under ac divergent field conditions
brtrkdown voltrgr (kV)
+-to positive streamers
I cation of negative streamer phenomena, not observed in
YI
0
I
1
point t o plane d i s t a n c e (cm)
1
2
I
3
I
a
Figure 13.
ac Breakdown voltage of transformer oil in diver-
gent fields vs inter-electrode distance (average of
10 measurements).
and propagation thresholds) can change widely with the
molecular structure;
At large distances with divergent fields, the break-
down voltage variations V , vs distance are thought to
reflect the propagation of positive streamers. The avail-
able data [22-241 as well as our measurements (Fig-
ure 13) shows that in such conditions, V B increases
linearly vs distance 5 50 cm, with a slope close to 10
kV/cm, this slope being lower at very long distances 5 1
m. This value is somewhat higher than the 35 kV/cm
measured on Figure 8, for two reasons.
Under ac, many streamers can be generated, and
the length to be considered is not the average one (Fig-
ure 8), but the maximum recorded within the scatter of
measurements. We can see on Figure 8 that this scat-
ter tends to grow as distance and applied voltage are
increased. Under impulse voltage, only one streamer
is generated at each shot, and the breakdown voltage
vs gap should reflect the statistical average value of
streamer length. An excellent agreement with this is
found in the measurements published by Devins et al.
[23], who derived a minimum propagation field of 33
kV/cm from impulse breakdown measurement.
The length-voltage relationship derived within our
experimental limits (Figure 8) may not be applicable a t
large distances. A tendency of lowering of the slope is
in fact observed on the right of Figure 8, and impulse
breakdown data [22-241 indicate that values a t large dis-
tance are in the 10 to 20 kV/cm range.
In negative polarity, impulse breakdown voltages vs
distance generally increase with a slope of the order of
60 kV/cm or higher for distances of a few cm [5], consis-
tent with the propagation field observed in our experi-
ments under ac. However, at large distances and high
applied voltages [24], we can observe a large decrease of
this slope which then becomes comparable to the one
observed at positive polarity. This indicates a modifi-
our experiments, switching to a more easily propagated
mode, probably due to a change of conductivity.
In uniform fields, the dominant influence of parti-
cles on streamer generation is evidenced by the obser-
vations made with large point radii (Figure 12). This
effect is an illustration that long durations of voltage ap-
plication and quasi-uniform fields are the more sensitive
experimental conditions regarding the influence of pollu-
tion from particles and water, which has been known for
a long time. The influence of negative streamers, coher-
ent with the measured effect of a few factors (see above),
is an important feature that requires further studies in
uniform fields to be fully evidenced.
CHARACTER1ZATION OF
STREAMER PHENOMENA UNDER
ac
NDER ac, the streamer phenomena observed in trans-
U former oil are very comparable to those already de-
scribed under impulse voltage, and the main difference
between these two types of experimental conditions ap-
pears to be the comparatively lower voltages applied
under ac.
In positive polarity, two distinct regimes have been
observed, similar to those previously described in satu-
rated hydrocarbons [25].
In negative polarity, the situation is less clear. The
existence of two distinct regimes in transformer oil has
been previously postulated (bush-type or tree-type [26]).
However, from our own results; it appears that a con-
tinuous tendency of bush-like streamers to become fil-
amentary under high field is observed, rather than the
existence of two distinct modes. No transition in cur-
rent shape is observed (it is always constituted of fast
pulses), and branches can be also observed on bush-like
XEEE "kansactions on Electrical Insulation
streamers (also visible on light emission patterns pub-
lished in [ZS]).
From the experimental results presented above, the
following hypotheses can be made, regarding the mech-
anisms involved in streamer phenomena.
BUSH-LIKE STREAMERS
bush- like streamers of both polarities, their
W ITH
shape is regular and quasi-spheric as in Figure 11,
and it is possible to get an evaluation of their volume. In
Figure 14, we have plotted this apparent volume vs the
injected charge, which was measured with an integrating
capacitor (33 pF) placed in series with the test cell. We
see that the ratio of injected charge q to the apparent
volume is the same in both polarities and 21 20 C/m3.
This leads to an upper limit of energy density, estimated
as qV = 4 x l o 5 J/m3, consistent with that required to
create a gaseous pocket by vaporization of the liquid,
which requires x lo6 J/m3 of vapor phase. This indi-
cates that the vaporization of the liquid is the dominant
process involved in the growth of bush-like streamers,
since the other possible mechanisms that could give rise
to an observable pattern, either by Schlieren or shadow-
graphic methods, need much more energy.
Approximately 1'C temperature rise of a liquid vol-
ume corresponding to the observed value is expected
with the available energy; decomposition of the liquid
requires a few eV per molecule, and leads to energies
exceeding those measured by more than one order of
magnitude.
The inner pressure in the gas phase must be of the
order of the atmospheric pressure since low applied pres-
sures are sufficient to inhibit the development of such
slow streamers [8,9], as we have also verified.
Light and current pulses, always observed with slow
streamers, are then supposed to be due to partial dis-
charges occurring in the expanding gas phase, and con-
stituting the main process of energy injection. From
the above energetic considerations, it follows that most
of the energy dissipated in gaseous discharges must be
converted into heat used to vaporize the liquid. This
assumption seems not unrealistic since, in gaseous coro-
nas, studies of the energetic balance [27] show that more
than half of the injected electrical energy is used to heat
the medium through deactivation processes.
According to this description, the energy input will
be limited by the frequency of internal discharges. The
Vol. 23 No. 6, December 1988 951
1
p.= 3pm
'1I
d s 3,Srnm
' O :16kV
0 1
integrated charge ( p C 1
0- I I 1
0 a3 a6 0.9
Figure 14.
Apparent volume of quasi-spherical bush-like
streamers of both polarities vs injected charge.
period of discharges represents the time needed to sweep
the charges accumulated at the liquid/gas interface, in
order t o re-establish the field in the bubble and allow
a subsequent discharge to take place. This time will be
determined by the mobility of charges in both liquid and
gas phases, and we observe that the time between pulses
increases regularly as the streamer grows (Figure 11).
Electrostatic forces acting of the gas phase, that
should be a strong destabilizing factor if the charge den-
sity in the bubble is large enough [28], seem not to be de-
terminant in this regime. When current pulses cease, the
expansion is stopped, no deformation of the bubble is
observed until it detaches from the point and disappears
in the liquid with close to the electrohydrodynamic ve-
locity [20]. As a matter of fact, an electroconvective
transport of charges is always observed in point-plane
geometry, the mobility, deduced from space-charge plots
of conduction currents, being always of the order of
( ~ / p ) ' / ' ( E permittivity, p density) [lo-12,15,18]. This
accounts for the three-dimensional growth of slow stream-
ers observed a t low applied voltages (as in Figure l l ) ,
irrespective of the initial field distribution ahead of the
tip.
NEGATIVE STREAMERS
nature of the first current pulse giving rise to a
T HE
microscopic bubble (Figures 2 and 3), still remains
952 Lesaint et al.: Streamer generation and propagation under ac divergent field conditions
a puzzling problem. In recent studies in cyclohexane
[ll],very similar phenomena have been observed, and it
has been shown that an applied pressure of 5x106 Pa has
a negligible influence on this current pulse, indicating
that phenomena occurring in the liquid phase are in fact
involved.
When the mean field is increased, branches start to
appear, streamers become filamentary, while currents
remain constituted of discrete pulses. In this case, there
is no doubt that the processes leading to the streamer
growth are concentrated at its tip. The necessary tip
charge needed to create a high field at the tip in order
to maintain the propagation processes still active may be
supplied by the successive partial discharges occurring
in the gas phase, giving a ‘two-step’ propagation mode,
as previously suggested [6,29].
Current measurements also support the hypothesis
of fast gaseous discharges in an elongated cavity. The
quasi-linear relationship between the streamer length
and the intensity of current pulses (Figure 5) suggests
that each current pulse reflects a phenomenon involving
the whole length of the streamer as a partial discharge,
rather than being concentrated at its tip. The order
of magnitude of currents is much higher than could be
given by the simple motion of a conductive tip: ahead
of the tip, the continuity of the current i is insured by
capacitive coupling with the plane, this current is
dC dV
i = V(-) + C ( - )
dt dt
where C denotes the streamer tip-plane capacity, and
V the potential present on this capacitor. As previ-
ously shown in [30], the simple motion of a fully con-
ductive tip gives a continuous current arising from the
term V(dC/dt) N lop6 A, much lower than the mea-
sured one. Conversely, very fast variations of the tip
potential occurring from gaseous discharges can lead to
much higher transient currents due to the contribution
of the C(dV/dt) term, which are of a comparable order
of magnitude of streamer currents in gases.
FILAMENTARY POSITIVE STREAMERS
particular feature encountered under ac with this
A regime is the voltage dependence of streamer prop-
agation (Figure 8). This effect is probably attributable
to the voltage drop in the filaments, as suggested ear-
lier by Devins et al. [6]: the field E, present at the
streamer tip, in the absence of space charges [31], as a
hyperboloidal approximation, is
2(V - V,)
E -
’- T, ln[4(d - l , ) / ~ , ]
with V , the voltage drop in the streamer, r , the streamer
tip radius, and I, the streamer length. When the streamer
length reaches a certain value, the field E, drops below
a minimum critical value Epcritand the propagation
stops. Since E, varies very slowly with ( d - Z,), the
stopping of the streamer is essentially determined by
V , , which can be deduced from Figure 8
(3)
With streamer tip radii T , of about 2 to 3 pm ob-
served on high magnification photographs (Figure lo),
the minimum propagation field Epcrit can be evaluated
from Figure 8 to be about 15 to 20 MV/cm, values at
which a direct field ionization of the liquid is likely to
occur a field ionization regime following Halpern and
Gomer’s model [lo] has been recently identified in a liq-
uid hydrocarbon, with a tip field of 20 MV/cm [ll].
As pointed out in [6], the voltage drop in filaments may
provide an efficient regulatory mechanism which can ex-
plain the constancy of positive streamers velocity. Every
increase of the ionization rate at the tip, correlated with
a higher current flowing in the filament, will produce an
additional voltage drop in the filament, which will tend
to decrease the tip field, and thus the ionization.
At large distances, only a few filaments still prop-
agate without branching (Figure 9), while a constant
current of about 1 mA is recorded. The shape of this
current is in good agreement with the hypothesis of con-
of magnitude, -
ducting filaments proceeding in the liquid, but its order
2 x lo-’ A per filament, is once again
higher than the calculated value, N A per filament,
using a spherical approximation [30].
Whatever the origin of this discrepancy, we must
remark that with such values of the currents, the dis-
sipated energy within the filaments per unit length is
of the order of 3 W/cm, taking into account the mea-
sured voltage drop V,. Due to the small diameter of
filaments, this value is very high and must produce a
vigorous evaporation of the adjacent liquid. A growing
diameter from the tip to the other extremity is in fact
observed, as well as strings of bubbles when the streamer
dies out [32]. The influence of the applied pressure [8],
which tends to shrink the filaments without affecting
their propagation, also indicates that a gas phase is a
posteriori involved in this regime.
IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation
CONCLUSION
H A N K S to high-speed optical and electrical mea-
T surement techniques, prebreakdown phenomena in
transformer oil under ac voltage have been studied in
both polarities. A large range of experimental condi-
tions has been investigated, applied voltages from 7 to
140 kV, distances up to 25 mm, point radii from 3 to
400 pm, which has permitted us to check the conditions
necessary for the propagation of streamers.
In negative polarity, a large variety in behavior has
been observed depending on experimental conditions,
ranging from the initial step, generation of a micro-
scopic gas phase, to the final development of a streamer,
whose propagation has been found to be dependent on
the mean field present in the liquid gap rather than any
other factor.
In positive polarity, two different regimes have been
observed, bush-like and filamentary, and evidence for a
voltage dependence of filamentary streamers has been
found.
On the basis of these results, correlations with break-
down voltage characteristics under ac in divergent fields
are established and discussed. The main conclusions are
the following. In uniform or moderately divergent fields,
breakdown is controlled by the generation of streamers
and is due mainly to negative streamers which appear
a t lower voltages; in very divergent fields, breakdown is
controlled by the propagation of streamers, and occurs
when the point is positive, the propagation being easier
in this polarity.
AC voltage has been found to be a favorable exper-
imental condition to perform current and charge mea-
surements with high sensitivity, because under impulse
conditions sensitivity is limited by the displacement cur-
rent. Based on energetic considerations, it is concluded
that evaporation of the liquid constitutes the main pro-
cess involved in bush-like streamers of both polarities,
the energy being supplied by successive partial discharges
occurring in a gaseous phase. In positive polarity, the
voltage drop in filaments is evidenced by the voltage
dependence of their propagation, the calculated propa-
gation tip field is shown to be consistent with a direct
field ionization mechanism of the liquid.
Vol. 23 No. 6, December 1988 Q53
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
study was supported by the Jeumont-Schneider
T HIS
Company. The authors are greatly indebted to Mrs.
J. Delhaye and P. Vuarchex, members of the engineering
staff of Jeumont-Schneider, for their technical and finan-
cial assistance, and Mrs. R. Riva and C. Marteau who
greatly contributed to the building of the experimental
set-up.
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This paper is based on a presentation given at the ninth
International Conference on Conduction and Breakdown in
Dielectric Liquids, held in Salford, England, from 27-31 J u l y
1987
Manuscript was received on 28 Feb 1988