Investigation of compression

and temperature effect on the

dielectric properties of high
voltage Polymer insulators
Supervisor:
Sir Dr. Abraiz Khatak
Introduction
 Polymeric insulators found rapid growth in their construction, design, and
types, as they have a lot of advantages over ceramic insulators, such as
light weight, flexibility, easy installation, better dielectric strength and
one-unit construction.
 My research is basically on the investigation of dielectric properties of
high voltage insulators by applying compressive and temperature stress on
them.
 In this research, by experiment, we shall apply compressive force and
thermal stress by putting them in an oven and change different
temperature and will observe their dielectric characteristics.
Polymer Materials used in H.V Insulators
Most polymeric materials used for insulators are following:
 RTV Silicon Rubber
 Ethylene propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM)
 Crosslinked Polyethylene (XLPE)
 Epoxy Resin
Dielectric Properties of Insulators
An insulator must have following dielectric characteristics:

 Dielectric strength/Breakdown Voltage

 Relative Permittivity
 Dissipation Factor/Tan delta
 Volume Resistivity
 Surface Resistivity
Relative Permittivity
Permittivity determines the charge storage capacity of a dielectric material as
well as dictates the electric field distribution in a composite insulation.
Generally, permittivity is constant but varies but varies with temperature,
frequency and molecular structure of insulating material.
Relative permittivity is defined as:

εr = C/C0
Dissipation Factor/Tan Delta
Dissipation factor quantifies a dielectric material’s inherent dissipation of
electromagnetic energy (e.g. heat).It can be parameterized in terms of either
the loss angle δ or the corresponding loss tangent tan δ. Tan delta value indicate the
dielectric losses possible in an insulating material. For an efficient insulation system,
tan delta loss must be as low as possible.

Complex Permittivity
Effect on temperature on dielectric
properties
Temperature affect dielectric properties. As the temperature is increased the
intermolecular forces between polymer chains is broken which enhances thermal agitation.
The polar group will be more free to orient allowing it to keep up with the changing
electric field. At lower temperature, the segmental motion of the chain is practically freeze
and this will reduce the dielectric constant. At sufficiently higher temperature, the dielectric
constant is again reduced due to strong thermal motion which disturb the orientation of the
dipoles. At this latter stage the polarization effectively contribute minimal dielectric constant.

Effect on Relative Permittivity/Capacitance

Effect on relative permittivity of heat is different for different polymer materials.
Silicon Rubber
Heat resistance of silicone rubber was the one of its most excellent properties and provides
the basis for its creation. Silicone rubber was far better than organic rubbers in terms of
heat resistance. At 150 °C, almost no alterations of properties take place that it may be used
semi permanently. Furthermore, silicone rubber withstands use for over 10,000 consecutive
hours even at 200 °C and, if used for a shorter term, it may also be used at 300 °C as well.
Effect on Relative Permittivity/Capacitance

As from a research paper “The dielectric behavior of outdoor high-voltage

polymeric insulation due to environmental aging”, dielectric spectroscopy is done
on the blend of silicon rubber and EPDM. Thermal aging was performed at 100○C for
350 hours (thickness of samples was 1 mm).
Figure shows that the capacitance of sample C (Blend of SiR and EPDM) increase
more than other samples after heat aging. It can be the result of chain scission and
the formation of polar groups that cause rise of interfacial polarization.

EPDM
EPDM has almost same behavior as SiR, but , its properties are not as good as
SiR. As we can see from above graph SiR has high capacitance than EPDM after
thermal aging.

Crosslinked Polyethylene (XLPE)

For studying about the behavior of XLPE a research paper “Effect of Thermal Aging on
the Electrical Properties of Crosslinked Polyethylene” is used. In this paper, experiments
are done on the XLPE insulation. circular samples of 7.5-cm diameter and 2mm thick
were elaborated and exposed in regulated and ventilated ovens to several
temperatures: 80, 100, 120, and 140○C. And for each temperature variations of loss
factor and relative permittivity are studied.
Effect on relative permittivity

Fig: Variation of the dielectric permittivity versus the aging

time at different temperatures.
Effect on relative permittivity
Figure 3 presents the variation of the dielectric permittivity (er) versus the aging
time (t).
At 80○C, er is practically constant during the aging.
At 100○C, er increases lightly during the first 500 h, then remains constant.
At 120○C, er is practically invariable during the first 1000 h. Beyond 1000 h,
the curve decreases up to a minimum corresponding to t ¼ 1500 h, er 1.81 from
which it grows
At 140○C, during the first 800 h, the curve decreases up to a minimum at t
¼ 810 h and er ¼ 1.78. Beyond this minimum, er grows quickly and reaches a
value of 2.2.
Effect on relative permittivity

Epoxy based Insulators :

According to the research paper “Dielectric Properties of Epoxy based
Nanocomposites for High Voltage Insulation” dielectric spectroscopy has been
used to measure real and imaginary permittivity over a frequency range (1 mHz –
1 MHz). Tests performed at three different temperatures:
At room temperature: Relative permittivity did not so affect, it remained
almost constant at nearly 3.45 .
At 233K (-40 °C) : Permittivity decreased to 3.3 and continually decreased.
At 333K (60 °C) : Permittivity did not change and result remained as at
room temperature.
Effect on relative permittivity
According to paper “Influence of Temperature on Mechanical and Insulation
Properties of Epoxy-Layered Silicate Nanocomposite” a thermostatic oven used to
vary the temperature 0 -180 °C and the relative permittivity (er) of the
specimens at the same temperatures were measured on a GR bridge (GR1616,
General Radio Co.), set at a measurement frequency of 60Hz, according to JIS-
K6911.
 Effect on relative permittivity
As it can be seen from above image that, at 0 – 140 °C , permittivity remained
unchanged and after 150 °C it increased.

Comparison b/w SiR and Epoxy

It is evident from above slides, that, SiR and epoxy resin is highly resistant to
temperature change and their relative permittivity do not much affected by
temperature. So, they both have good candidates for high voltage outdoor
applications.
 Effect on Dissipation Factor/ Tan delta
Dissipation factor is defined as the ratio of the real power generated by losses in
a dielectric divided by the total voltage applied to the dielectric times the
magnitude of the current flowing through it. For the perfect and efficient
insulation, dielectric losses or value of tan delta must be lower.
Tan delta is depended on frequency, but it also affects by temperature. Usually,
as mention in research papers, tan delta increases by increasing temperature.
But, in this context, different polymer materials have different behavior for tan
delta variation
Silicon Rubber/EPDM or blend of them
According to research paper, “The dielectric behavior of outdoor high-voltage
polymeric insulation due to environmental aging”, thermal aging performed on
the silicon rubber , EPDM and their blend . Thermal aging was performed at 100
°C for 350 hours and results show that silicon rubber shows lower loss with heat
aging.
 Epoxy Based Insulation
According to the paper, “Dielectric Properties of Epoxy based Nanocomposites for
High Voltage Insulation”, by using dielectric spectroscopy dielectric losses are
measured and results shows that tan delta value of pure epoxy increases by
increasing temperature but by adding inorganic fillers and make it
nanocomposites, tan delta losses will decrease.

Comparison b/w SiR and Epoxy

By reading thoroughly the research papers, it observed that dielectric properties
of SiR and EPDM are better than epoxy resins. Tan delta value of SiR is also less
affected by temperature variation.
Measurement Techniques

Dielectric Spectroscopy
Dielectric spectroscopy is technique for real and imaginary measurements, over a
frequency range (e.g. 1mHz -1 MHz), as a function of temperature. permittivity and
tan delta of dielectric material. Its principle consists in the measurement of the
response of both permanent and induced dipoles to the application of an external
electric field either in the time domain or more often in the frequency domain.

Impedance Analyzer
An Agilent impedance/Material analyzer (4291B) is also used to measure the dielectric permittivity
and tan delta over the frequency range of 1 MHz – 1 GHz.
Schering Bridge

 The Schering Bridge is an electrical circuit used for measuring the

insulating properties of electrical cables and equipment.

 Accurate value of capacitance can be measured by using Schering

bridge.

 It is used to measure insulation properties such as dielectric loss and

loss angle.
Schering Bridge
 We can able to find the Unknown capacitance by using Schering bridge , ie
C1=C2R4/R3 R1=R3C4/C2

 Loss angle

tan δ= wR1C1