Analysis and Disposal of Typical Breakdown Failure for Resin Impregnated Paper Bushing in the Valve Side of HVDC Converter Transformer

Abstract

This paper presents analysis, diagnosis and disposal with a typical internal breakdown failure of the resin impregnated paper (RIP) valve side bushing in high voltage direct current (HVDC) converter transformer. Based on the analysis of fault current characteristics at the time of the RIP valve side bushing failure, and field test results of insulation parameters, a method of diagnosing typical breakdown failures of valve side bushings is proposed. Through disassembly inspection of the internal overheating and arcing traces on the failure bushing, the root cause of this typical breakdown failure is found, which is upper axial flashover along the RIP condenser/SF6 interface caused by the abnormal contact of two current-carrying conductive tubes. Temperature distribution inside the bushing with an abnormal contact resistance between the copper conductive tube and aluminum conductive tube under different load current is simulated by using the finite element method. An special device is also developed for repairing defective bushing on-site, and 75 bushings with conductive contact defects have been repaired on the premise of not pushing converter transformers away from the valve hall and even without pulling out defective bushings.