Effect of Cooling Medium on LDPE Dielectric Properties

Abstract

Polyethylene, with its excellent mechanical and dielectric properties is used as an insulator for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission. In ultra-high-voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission, the ageing of insulation materials caused by space charge under high DC voltage becomes serious. Therefore, restraining the space charge and improving the dielectric properties of HVDC cables is important. In this study, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) was used as the raw material and combined with cooling media in a vulcanizing press. A polarizing microscope was used to observe the samples’ crystal morphologies. The space charge accumulation and dispersion were detected using pulsed electro-acoustic. Additionally, dielectric properties such as electrical conductivity and dielectric frequency spectrum were tested. The grain size in the air-cooled LDPE samples was found to be large and unevenly dispersed. However, the grain sizes in the water and oil cooling LDPE samples were small. The mean charge density of the oil cooling samples was the lowest. Under a short circuit measurement, more space charges were found in the natural and rapid air cooling samples. The mean charge densities of these two samples were high, with a fast decay rate. With an 8 and 50 kV/mm electric field strength, the oil cooling samples’ conductivity was the highest and lowest, respectively.