WELCOME

TO THE
PRESENTATION
BY
ANILKUMAR.C
ASSISTANT EXE. ENGINEER
TESTING OF
HIGH VOLTAGE
EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
 TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
Some Important Definitions
 Ageing
Refers to passage of time and is only linked to changes
of properties in presence of influencing factor ( stress )
 Degradation
Any temporary reduction of property which disappears
with the removal of the influencing factor/ stress ( eg -
Pollution)
 Deterioration
Any permanent reduction of property ( physical /
Chemical) by the application of the influencing
factor /stress during that time ( eg - tracking )
 TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
3 Dimensional Analysis
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS

External
Monitoring
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS

Insulation
Monitoring
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE
EQUIPMENTS

The condition of the

insulation is essential for
secure and reliable operation
of the equipment
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
Cause of insulation failure
Electrical stress : Mainly linked to over
voltages and under voltages
Mechanical stress : Frequent start up and
shutdown sequences, balancing problems in
rotating machinery and any direct stress to
the cables and installations.
Chemical stress : Proximity of chemicals, oils,
corrosive vapours and dust affect the
insulation property of materials.
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS
Cause of insulation failure
Stresses linked with temperature variations :
When combined with the mechanical stresses
caused by the start up and shutdown
sequences, expansion and contraction stresses
affect the properties of insulating materials.
Operation at extreme temperatures also leads
to aging of materials.
Environmental contamination : The build up of
mold and particulate deposits in warm, moist
environments also contributes to the
deterioration of installations insulation
properties.
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE
EQUIPMENTS
Before conducting any electrical tests,
the safety of the equipments under tests,
instruments used and operator has to be
assured and necessary precautions has to
be taken for the safe conduct of test. All
the test has to be done with the
equipment under test completely isolated
from power system network with its
terminals disconnected from live parts.
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE
EQUIPMENTS
The test voltage has to be decided after
studying the specification of the
equipment and considering its ageing. It
should be borne in mind that power
frequency HV ac/dc can be destructive
and proper selection of the test voltage
is very important for the safety of the
equipment
TESTING ARE GENERALLY
CLASIFIED AS
Pre -Commissioning/ Re-
Commissioning Testing
Routing Testing
Trouble shooting/ Breakdown
Testing
(The Test procedure is same for all the three.)
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENTS

1. Insulation
Resistance (IR ) &
Polarization Index
(PI )Test
TESTING OF HIGH VOLTAGE
EQUIPMENTS
 Insulation Resistance (IR ) &
Polarization Index (PI )Test
 IR Value test is conducted on HV electrical
machine to determine the service condition
of the insulation.
R = V/I
 PI Test is conducted especially to determine
the dryness and cleanliness of the insulation.
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI )MEASUREMENT
As all electrical insulators are
dielectric in nature, they always
have a capacitive property. Hence it
is recommended to measure
insulation resistance at least after
one minute (some times 15 sec) from
the instant of application of voltage
across the insulator.
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT

Test setup for insulation resistance measurement

INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
 Only measuring insulation resistance
may not always give the reliable result.
 The resistance value of an electrical
insulator may also very with
temperature
This difficulty is partially solved by
introducing Polarity index test or
Polarization index test.
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
When applying a Voltage across an
insulator, there will be a current
through it. The current has mainly four
components.
1. Capacitive component.
2. Conductive component.
3. Surface leakage component.
4. Polarization component.
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
Capacitive component
Due to dielectric nature, there will be
an initial high charging current. This
current decays exponentially and
become zero after some time. It exists
for initial 10 sec of the test. But it takes
nearly 60 sec to decay totally.
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
Conductive component
This current is purely conductive in
nature flow through the insulator as if
the insulator is purely resistive. This
current remains constant throughout
the test
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
Surface leakage component
Due to dust, moisture and other
contaminants on the surface of solid
insulator, there is small component of
current flow through the outer surface
of the insulator.
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) & POLARIZATION INDEX (PI )
MEASUREMENT
Polarization component
Every insulator is hygroscopic in nature.
Some contaminant molecules like
moisture in the insulator are very polar.
When an electric field is applied across
the insulator the polar molecules align
themselves along the direction of the
electric field. The current required for
this is called Polarization current. It
takes around 10 minutes to decay.
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
Polarization Index
It is the ratio of megger value taken
for 10 min to the megger value taken
for 1 min
R 10 min
PI = --------------
R 1 min
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
Significance of Polarization index
I = Ic + Ir + Is + Ip
R1 = V/(Ir + Is + Ip) R10 = V/(Ir + Is)
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
Dielectric Absorption Ratio (DAR)
The insulation materials in which the
absorption current decreases quickly,
insulation measurements after 30 sec and
60 sec may be sufficient to qualify the
insulation.

R 60 sec
DAR = --------------
R 30 sec
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) & POLARIZATION
INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) & POLARIZATION INDEX
(PI ) MEASUREMENT
IR values for electrical apparatus and systems
 INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
IR value for Transformer
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) & POLARIZATION
INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) &
POLARIZATION INDEX (PI ) MEASUREMENT
Sample calculation for minimum
insulation for Transformer
INSULATION RESISTANCE (IR ) & POLARIZATION INDEX
(PI ) MEASUREMENT
Minimum IR values for Transformer