Electrical characteristics of insulating materials for HTS bushing immersed in <TEX>$LN_2$</TEX>

Abstract

For the operation of high temperature superconducting (HTS) power equipments, it is necessary to develop insulating materials and high voltage (HV) insulation technology at cryogenic temperature of bushing. In this paper, the surface flashover characteristics of various insulating materials in <TEX>$LN_2$</TEX> are studied. These results are studied at both AC and impulse voltage under a non-uniform field. The negative impulse breakdown voltage of GFRP is slightly higher than the positive impulse breakdown voltage. The use of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, Teflon) as insulation body for HTS bushing should be much desirable. Especially, GFRP is excellent material not only surface flashover characteristics but also mechanical characteristics at cryogenic temperature. The surface flashover is most serious problem for the shed design in <TEX>$LN_2$</TEX> and operation of superconducting equipment.