PPPS-2013: Abstract electrodynamic analysis and characterisation of void discharge using PIC magic code

Abstract

Summary form only given. Partial Discharge (PD) is the localized breakdown which does not completely bridge the gap between the electrodes. PD is the major cause of insulation degradation and eventually leads towards breakdown of the high voltage insulation system. Ionization of gas is the basic process which occurs inside the dielectric bound cavities during the discharge. Many particles like electrons, ions, photons etc are generated in the process of PD. When the avalanche of electrons becomes much larger and the potential across the dielectric is higher than the critical value then the void breaks down. The PD phenomenon is highly stochastic in nature. The availability of initiatory electrons, probability of initial electron generation etc. are the parameters which are responsible for such stochastic behavior. The PDs occurring inside the dielectric bound cavities are experimentally measured using the LDS6 (Lemke Diagnostics) PD detector and obtained in the form of Phase Resolved PD (PRPD) patterns. Initial work has been carried on the analysis of PRPD patterns taking into consideration different parameters like energy, frequency spectrum etc. Further to this it is proposed to analyze the dynamics of PD which aids to improve the diagnosis of the type of PD. This paper makes an attempt to understand the dynamics of PD breakdown phenomena with the help of 3D Particle-in-cell based simulation for a void discharge.