On the frequency dependence of the PDIV in twisted pair magnet wire analogy in humid air

Abstract

The partial discharge inception voltage (PDIV) of low-voltage induction motor turn-turn insulation analogy is investigated for variable relative humidity (RH) of the surrounding air (temperature and pressure are kept constant close to their ambient values). Three materials, perfluoralkoxy alkane, sealed and unsealed alumina (UA), are employed as the dielectric coating (insulation) of test samples. Each material’s dielectric properties change differently with RH—of these, relative permittivity is regarded as the most crucial, as it was previously proven to be, along with the coating’s thickness, the key factor in determining the PDIV in dry air conditions. To further vary the value of permittivity and thus provide larger data sets for the verification study, the frequency of the excitation voltage is also varied between 1 Hz and 50 kHz. The obtained experimental data are compared against the PDIV predictions obtained by a breakdown model based on the reduced thickness of the coating (ratio of the coating thickness to its relative permittivity). Satisfying agreement between the measured and predicted PDIV are obtained for the first two materials, whereas significant discrepancies are seen for the UA material. For this case, surface conductivity is introduced into the prediction model and much better fits to the experimental data are obtained for a suitable value of surface resistance. It is hence demonstrated that the model is able to satisfactorily predict the PDIV for three substantially different materials when the RH of the surrounding air is varied between 10% – 80% .