Depolarization Current Measurements Research Articles

Oxygen vacancy migration and impact on high voltage DC polarization in 0.8BaTiO3–0.2BiZn0.5Ti0.5O3

AbstractElectrical polarization and defect transport are examined in 0.8BaTiO3–0.2BiZn0.5Ti0.5O3, an attractive capacitor material for high power electronics. Oxygen vacancies are suggested to be the majority charge carrier at or below 250°C with a grain conduction hopping activation energy of 0.97 eV and 0.92 eV for thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) and impedance spectroscopy measurements, respectively. At higher temperature, thermally generated electronic conduction with an activation energy of 1.6 eV is dominant. Significant oxygen vacancy concentration is indicated (up to ∼1%) due to cation vacancy formation (i.e., acceptor defects) from observed Bi (and likely Zn) volatility. Oxygen vacancy diffusivity is estimated to be 10−12.8 cm2/s at 250°C. Low diffusivity and high activation energies are indicative of significant defect interactions. Dipolar oxygen vacancy defects are also indicated, with an activation energy of 0.59 eV from TSDC measurements. The large oxygen vacancy content leads to a short lifetime during high voltage (30 kV/cm), high temperature (250°C) direct current (DC) electrical measurements.

Research on the Thermal Aging Characteristics of Crosslinked Polyethylene Cables Based on Polarization and Depolarization Current Measurement

Although XLPE cables are widely used in power transmission and distribution systems, their insulating properties are susceptible to degradation due to thermal aging. In order to clarify the influence law of the thermal aging process on the structural and dielectric properties of XLPE cables, this paper investigates the thermal aging characteristics of XLPE cables by using polarization and depolarization current measurement. Results show that when the XLPE cable is aged at 140 °C, the crystallinity of the insulation layer appears to increase and then decrease. With the increase in aging time, micron-sized microvoids appear on the surface of the XLPE. At the same time, the DC conductivity and 0.1 Hz dielectric loss factor of the insulating layer increase with the aging time. The average DC conductivity increased from 2.26 × 10−16 S/m for new cables to 4.47 × 10−16 S/m after aging for 432 h, while the dielectric loss increased from 0.11% to 0.42%. The polarization characteristics of thermal-aged cables were further analyzed using the extended Debye model. Results indicate that the time constant of the third branch of the model increased significantly with increasing aging time. A correspondence between this parameter and the thermal aging time of the cable was established. Thermal aging can damage the crystalline structure of XLPE, so that the number of interfaces between the crystalline and amorphous regions of the material increases, resulting in structural damages and a decline in the dielectric properties of the cable insulation.

Understanding thermal depolarization via thermally stimulated depolarization current measurement

Understanding thermal depolarization via thermally stimulated depolarization current measurement

Enhancing energy storage performance of polyethylene via passivation with oxygen atoms through C–H vacancy carbonylation

Low energy density of polymer film capacitors is regarded as one of the most serious drawbacks facing growing demands for equipment integration and miniaturization. Herein, ultraviolet light and ozone (UVO) surface modification is utilized to simultaneously improve dielectric constant and breakdown strength of polyethylene (PE) films. As a result, after 3 min of UVO treatment, an enhanced recoverable energy density of 4.79 J/cm3 with a charge-discharge efficiency of >95% is obtained under 650 MV/m at room temperature (RT). Significantly, stable energy storage performance under 200 MV/m is maintained throughout a broad temperature range from −90 °C to 90 °C and during 20,000 cycles of charge-discharge procedures. According to first-principles calculations and thermally stimulated depolarization current measurements, formation of carbonyl groups (C=O) after UVO treatment could effectively passivate initial deep-level defect states caused by H vacancies, which explains the improvement in capacitive energy storage. Moreover, the metalized UVO-modified PE exhibits valuable breakdown self-clearing ability, and the self-cleared specimen maintains stable energy storage performance over 20,000 cycles at 200 MV/m and RT. This work offers an effective and user-friendly method for enhancing comprehensive dielectric characteristics of PE-based materials and potential for applications in modern power systems and electronic devices.

Polyimide composites crosslinked by aromatic molecules for high-temperature capacitive energy storage

High-temperature polymer-based dielectric capacitors are crucial for application in electronic power systems. However, the storage performance of conventional dielectrics polymer dramatically deteriorates due to the thermal breakdown under concurrent high temperatures and electric fields, and there are hardly reports on the causes of thermal breakdown from the aspects of the high-temperature conduction loss and Joule heat dissipation. Herein, a combined strategy of crosslinking and compositing for polyimide-based composites is proposed, which minimizes the thermal breakdown by significantly inhibiting the high-temperature conduction loss and enhancing the thermal conductivity. Furthermore, the rationale of the strategy was theoretically and experimentally verified from multiple perspectives. The charge-trapping effect is directly observed by Kelvin probe force microscopy probed (KPFM) with nano-level resolution and quantitatively by thermally stimulated depolarization current measurements, indicating that the crosslinking network introduces local deep traps and effectively suppresses the charge transport. The thermal conductivity of the composites inhibits the high-temperature thermal breakdown, which is confirmed by phase-field simulations. Consequently, the optimized composites possess an ultra-high discharge energy density (Ud) of 5.45 J/cm3 and 3.54 J/cm3 with a charge–discharge efficiency (η) of 80 % at 150 and 200 °C, respectively, which outperforms the reported polyimide-based dielectric composites. This work provides a scalable direction for high-temperature polymer-based capacitors with excellent performance.

Residual LSTM-based short duration forecasting of polarization current for effective assessment of transformers insulation

The empirical application of polarization and depolarization current (PDC) measurement of transformers facilitates the extraction of critical insulation-sensitive parameters. This technique, rooted in time-domain dielectric response analysis, forms the bedrock for parameterization and insulation modeling. However, the inherently time-consuming nature of polarization current measurements renders them susceptible to data corruption. This article explores deep-learning-based short-duration techniques for forecasting polarization current to address this limitation. By incorporating spatial shortcuts, the residual long short-term memory (LSTM) network facilitates the seamless propagation of spatial and temporal gradients. Furthermore, the relative forecasting assessment of the proposed residual LSTM model’s performance is made against traditional LSTM, attention LSTM, gated recurrent units (GRU), and convolutional neural network (CNN) models. Thus, optimal model selection strategies are evaluated based on their capability to capture extended dependencies and short-term information present in the data. In addition, the Monte Carlo dropout prediction is employed to estimate uncertainty in polarization current forecasts. The findings demonstrate that the proposed residual LSTM network model for polarization current forecasting yields the lowest error metrics and maintains prediction consistency over the testing duration. Thus, the proposed approach significantly reduces PDC measurement time, providing an effective means to develop proactive maintenance strategies for evaluating the insulation condition of transformers.

Determination of Dielectric Models Based on Effective Multi-Exponential Fittings

In high-voltage (HV) transmission and distribution systems, HV apparatuses are subjected to electrical, thermal, and mechanical stresses that deteriorate the insulation performance. The polarization and depolarization current (PDC) measurement is an effective tool used for evaluating insulation performances. The depolarization current represented by the summation of the discharge currents with the different time constants can be utilized for the development of the dielectric model based on the extended Debye’s model (EDM). This paper presents effective techniques for determining the dielectric model. Iterative approaches with predetermination of the time constants and least squares methods (either linear ordinary or percentage ones) were utilized to fit the depolarization current in the form of multi-exponential functions. The fitting parameters determined by the proposed method with the linear ordinary least squares (OLLS) method and provided by commercial software agree very well only in the high current and beginning range. Application of the linear percentage least squares (PLLS) method shows better accuracy than that of the OLLS method, and the deviation from the measured one in the low current range and the late measuring time were reduced significantly. The fitted current by this proposed technique with the PLLS method agrees well with the measured current throughout the whole recording time, even in the low current and late time range. From the accurately fitted currents, the dielectric model and the dielectric loss factors can be determined precisely, and the insulation condition of HV equipment can be evaluated properly.

Assessment of the Power Equipment State by Measuring Dielectric Absorption Currents

The need to operate electrical devices the design capabilities of which have been exhausted almost completely under the conditions of more stringent reliability requirements gives rise to increased attention to the development and research of methods for diagnosing the power equipment state. This problem acquires not only a scientific interest, but also practical significance, which follows, in particular, from the mass-scale use of power transformers for operating voltages above 35 kV. One of promising development lines is the method of constructing dielectric absorption spectra, which is based on using the capabilities of isothermal depolarization current measurements. In this case, the information that accumulates as a result of the insulation system’s dielectric medium polarization as a certain number of loosely coupled charges displaced from their locations is adequate (equivalent) to the information obtained as a result of depolarization when measuring the return voltage (RV) value. Owing to the above-mentioned adequacy, it is possible to use the quantity tI(t) as a parameter for monitoring the state of the power equipment insulation system. The spectrum construction algorithm presented in the article is similar to the algorithm for constructing the RV spectrum, but is produced in the course of computer-aided processing of measurement results using the time windows that specify the insulation gap polarization time interval. As a result, it becomes possible not only to produce the dielectric absorption spectrum, but also to calculate the values of the main parameters characterizing the gap state.

具有分级界面的纳米纤维增强聚合物复合材料: 用于高温介电储能应用

Flexible polymer nanocomposites reinforced by high-dielectric-constant ceramic nanofillers have shown great potential for dielectric energy storage applications in advanced electronic and electrical systems. However, it remains a challenge to improve their energy density and energy efficiency at high temperatures above 150°C. Here, we report a nanofiber-reinforced polyetherimide nanocomposite employing BN-BaTiO3 heterogeneous nanofibers as fillers, where the BN nanoparticles were embedded inside BaTiO3 nanofibers to create BN/BaTiO3/PEI hierarchical interfaces. The high dielectric constant and the geometric large aspect ratio of the BN-BaTiO3 heterogeneous nanofibers lead to simultaneously increased dielectric constant and breakdown strength of the nanocomposite over a broad temperature range. In particular, the emerging hierarchical BN/BaTiO3/PEI interfaces enable promoted density and energy level of traps for the mobile charges, which further suppresses the conduction loss and improves the breakdown strength under high temperatures, as confirmed by a combination of thermally stimulated depolarization current measurement and phase-field simulation. Finally, the nanocomposite with hierarchical interfaces boosts an ultrahigh energy density of 5.23 J cm−3 with an energy efficiency of > 90% at 150°C, which is the highest energy density reported so far in nanofiber-reinforced polymer nanocomposites and also outperforms most nanocomposites counterparts dispersed with nanoparticles and nanosheets. Our work demonstrates hierarchical interface engineering as an effective strategy to promote the high-temperature energy storage performance of fiber-reinforced polymer nanocomposites, which is of significance for their applications in high-temperature harsh conditions.

Thermal Aging-Based Degradation Parameters Determination for Grid-Aged Oil Paper Insulation

Elevated thermal stress-related aging is significant on the oil-impregnated paper (OIP) used as insulation in high-pressure gas cables (HPGCs). The aim of this article is to develop a cheap alternative for lab dielectric measuring and characterizing temperature-dependent parameters for OIP. First, this article derives the operating thermal conditions of the grid-aged cable based on IEC standards after analyzing the loading data using machine learning techniques to determine the elevated temperature levels for the experiments. Second, a novel lab-fabricated inexpensive electronics circuit is developed for polarization and depolarization current (PDC) measurements which can be adapted for such measurements over expensive commercial devices. From the measured parameters, an extended three-branch Debye model is optimized using a developed error function approach based on the Akaike information criterion (AIC) and goodness of fit. The model indicated a reduction in the branch resistance with temperature elevation and aging, whereas the branch capacitance revealed an increasing trend. The resultant relaxation time (RC) showed a decrease overall. Last, a short-duration frequency domain spectrum was analyzed and extrapolated to obtain parameters for a wide range of frequencies and fit in a Cole–Cole model, derived for oil-paper insulation. The time constants obtained from this model also confirmed a reducing trend across the temperature and aging variations and the model parameter, the alpha coefficient showed a decreasing trend. Last, the effect of the measured dielectric parameters is reflected with breakdown values to investigate the effect of temperature on the electrical life of insulation.

On Surface Resistivity Measurements of Thin Insulation Materials

Surface resistivity measurements are frequently used for material characterization. However, the influence of sample thickness is not covered sufficiently in ASTM D257 and IEC 62631-3-2 standards. In this work, electric field simulations and polarization–depolarization current (PDC) measurements are used to study the thickness dependence of such measurements. It is found that measurements according to the standards are not reasonable for low thickness (<1 mm) and high surface resistivity (>1013– <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10^{{14}}~ {\Omega } $ </tex-math></inline-formula> ). The dependence on thickness is shown to be mainly due to the different tangential electric field stress along the measured surface. Furthermore, indications for charge injection at high electric field stress inside the sample volume are found by a positive polarity of the depolarization currents. A novel electrode configuration for more accurate (more than one order of magnitude) and much less thickness-dependent surface resistivity measurements is proposed in this work and its benefits are demonstrated. It is also shown how the parasitic influence of an electrode holder can be effectively reduced by more than one order of magnitude when measuring surface resistivities. In addition, it is found that polarization times for steady-state surface resistivity values should be at least several minutes instead of the suggested 60 s from standards.

Assessing Aging Status and Type of XLPE Cable Insulation With a Graphic Approach Based on PDC Measurement

The polarization and depolarization current (PDC) measurement has been widely used to assess the aging degree of cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables. However, the aging type identification of XLPE cables has not been fully considered. In this study we conduct PDC measurement on thermal-aged and water tree-aged XLPE cable samples respectively, upon which a graphical approach to assess the insulation condition and distinguish the aging type of XLPE cables is proposed. First, to designate the evaluation indexes of the insulation condition, multiple PDC measurement based dielectric parameters are considered. Then, to reflect the sensitivity of each evaluation index to the condition of XLPE cable, a combined weighting method based on the group fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (GFAHP) and entropy method (EM) is introduced. Furthermore, the improved radar chart method (RCM) based graphical approach is proposed to comprehensively and intuitively characterize the evaluation indexes. Finally, the aging degree of the XLPE cable samples is quantitatively assessed by calculating the area of the polygon in the chart. Simultaneously, utilizing the position of the areal coordinate and the shape characteristic parameter of the polygon, the thermal-aged and water tree-aged samples are effectively distinguished.

Effect of Mg-doping and Fe-doping in lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films on electrical reliability

Uniformly acceptor doped Pb(Zr0.48Ti0.52)O3 (PZT) films with 2 mol. % Mg or Fe prepared by chemical solution deposition exhibited decreased dielectric constants and remanent polarizations relative to undoped PZT. For highly accelerated lifetime testing (HALT) at 200 °C and an electric field of 300 kV/cm in the field up direction, the HALT lifetimes (t50) for undoped, Mg-doped, and Fe-doped PZT films were shortened from 2.81 ± 0.1 to 0.21 ± 0.1 and 0.54 ± 0.04 h, respectively. Through thermally stimulated depolarization current measurement, significant VO∙∙ electromigration was found in homogeneously Mg-doped PZT thin films, a major factor in their short HALT lifetime. Because the concentration of oxygen vacancies increases with uniform acceptor doping, the lifetime decreases. In contrast, when a thin layer of Mg-doped or Fe-doped PZT was deposited on undoped PZT or Nb-doped PZT (PNZT), the HALT lifetimes were longer than those of pure PZT or PNZT films. This confirms prior work on PNZT films with a Mn-doped top layer, demonstrating that the HALT lifetime increases for composite films when a layer with multivalent acceptors is present near the negative electrode during HALT. In that case, the compensating electrons are trapped, presumably on the multivalent acceptors, thus increasing the lifetime.

Resistance degradation in sputtered sodium potassium niobate thin films and its relationship to point defects

The reliability of piezoelectric thin films is crucial for piezoelectric micro-electromechanical system applications. The understanding of resistance degradation in piezoelectric thin films requires knowledge about point defects. Here, we show the resistance degradation mechanism in the lead-free alternative sodium potassium niobate (KNN) thin films and the relationship to point defects in both field-up and field-down polarities. The conduction mechanism of KNN thin films is found to be Schottky-limited. Furthermore, a reduction in Schottky barrier height accompanies the resistance degradation resulting from interfacial accumulation of additional charged defects. We use thermally stimulated depolarization current measurements and charge-based deep level transient spectroscopy to characterize the defects in KNN thin films. Our results show that oxygen vacancies accumulate at the interface in field-up polarity, and multiple defects accumulate in field-down polarity, potentially oxygen vacancies and holes trapped by potassium vacancies. We use wafer deposition variation to create samples with different film properties. Measurement results from these samples correlate resistance degradation with the defect concentration. We find the natural logarithm of leakage current to be linearly proportional to the defect concentration to the power of 0.25. The demonstrated analysis provides a precise and meaningful process assessment for optimizing KNN thin films.

Comparison of pulsed electroacoustic and thermally stimulated depolarization current measurements of thermally poled PET electrets

We have compared measurements of a set of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) electret samples by means of pulsed electroacoustic method (PEA) and thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) techniques. Samples where the α or the ρ relaxation is activated show uniform polarization and image charge at the electrodes. Different electrode configurations have been tested when external charge carriers are injected into the sample. In these experiments, differences in TSDC spectra are explained by the different blocking behavior of the electrodes. All in all, PEA in combination with TSDC turns out to be a useful technique in the study of thermally poled electrets.

Modulating mechanism on the temperature dependent resistivity of ceramic dielectrics and its advantage over polymer insulation

Volume resistivity of polymer dielectrics reduces significantly with the increase of temperature. As a result, in direct current (DC) power apparatus or electronic device, temperature gradient over the material can result in considerable electric field distortion which greatly threats the polymer insulation. Advanced ceramic dielectrics are promising to be alternative to polymer insulation to deal with this issue. In this paper, Al2O3 and Si3N4 ceramic materials with different ion doping concentrations have been manufactured. Temperature dependent resistivity characteristics of the ceramics are obtained and compared with typical polymer dielectrics. Conduction models of the ceramic dielectrics are applied to understand their temperature dependent resistivity and its modulating mechanism. Effect of ion doping on the temperature dependent resistivity has been obtained and analyzed which agrees well with their charge trapping property acquired by thermal stimulation depolarization current measurement, based on which the method to modulate the temperature stability of material resistivity have been proposed. Finally, a comprehensive comparison between ceramics and polymers in high voltage DC applications have been made which further proves the advantage of ceramic dielectrics.

Prediction of Insulation Sensitive Parameters of Power Transformer Using Detrended Fluctuation Analysis Based Method

Utilities prefer to perform a condition-based assessment of power transformer insulation in the least possible shutdown time. It is essential to estimate the values of various insulation condition sensitive performance parameters with higher accuracy. In the present work, a technique for the estimation of performance parameters, moisture content of paper, dissipation factor of the entire oil-paper insulation, paper conductivity, and activation energy is proposed. The evaluation of these parameters using reported techniques requires complete measurement of polarization and depolarization current profile, which requires around 20000 s of measurement time. The present method uses a forecasted polarization current profile obtained from 600 s of measured polarization current data. Detrended Fluctuation Analysis is applied to the forecasted polarization current data obtained from various in-service power transformers to obtain a suitable parameter. It is shown that this parameter maintains well-defined relationships with parameters; moisture content of paper, dissipation factor of oil-paper insulation, paper conductivity, and activation energy. The proposed technique is beneficial for utilities as it eliminates the requirement of measuring depolarization current and return voltage measurement for estimating activation energy.

Improving the polarisation and depolarisation current measuring method to avoid ground wire interference

The ground wire is significantly interfered by the current above 1 μA in the industrial field during the traditional polarisation and depolarisation current (PDC) measurement. This paper explains a method to test PDC from high-voltage wire using a principle of equipotential picoammeter, which is completely isolated from the ground wire and connected in series with the high voltage wire. In this method, a device is designed with a multi-range automatic switching function. The device can automatically switch the test range current from 1 pA to 10 mA with a resolution of 1 pA. To demonstrate the device and effectiveness of this new method, the traditional and the proposed new device are used to test the PDC of cable samples in the laboratory as well as in an industrial environment. It is worth noting that there is almost no interference on the Earth wire in the laboratory environment but massive interference in the industrial environment using a traditional method of PDC measurement from ground or Earth wire. The new method of high-voltage testing can efficiently eliminate the interference and accurately measure PDC in a strong industrial interference environment. Furthermore, the wiring of this new method and device is relatively simple, which is convenient for industrial applications.

Effect of phenyl side groups on the dielectric properties and dielectric behavior of polysiloxane

Over the past decades, polysiloxane-based dielectric elastomers (DEs) have attracted significant research attention; however, the low dielectric constant and poor breakdown strength of polysiloxane limit its application in DEs. In this study, the effect of phenyl side groups on the dielectric properties and unique dielectric relaxation behavior of polymethyl phenyl siloxane (PMPS) was investigated. The dielectric constant of PMPS was slightly improved from 3.45 to 3.60 by introducing appropriate amount of the phenyl side groups into polysiloxane. Moreover, the electrical breakdown strength of PMPS increased from 31.70 to 35.91 kV mm−1. The contribution of the α- and β-relaxations significantly increased the dielectric loss of PMPS. To better understand the effect of the phenyl side groups on these properties, the dielectric relaxation behavior of copolymers with different phenyl contents was studied in detail via broadband dielectric spectroscopy and thermally stimulated depolarization current measurements. This study paves a new path to design and prepare polysiloxane-based soft materials with high dielectric constant and improved electrical breakdown strength.

Microwave dielectric properties of Al-doped Ba4(Sm,Nd)9.33Ti18O54 ceramics added with TiO2 and sintered in oxygen

TiO2-added Ba4(Sm0.65Nd0.35)9.33Ti17.75Al0.33O54 (BSNTA) ceramics were fabricated with a solid-state reaction method. Slight TiO2 addition increased the dielectric constant (εr) of BSNTA ceramics and brought about a near-zero temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (τf). Sintering in oxygen increased the density of TiO2-added BSNTA ceramics and surprisingly concurrently improved the εr and Q × f value. Thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) measurements indicated that TiO2 addition introduced oxygen vacancies (VO..) and TiTi'−VO.. defect dipoles and that an oxygen-sufficient sintering atmosphere decreased the concentration of these defects and thus increased Q × f values. From the viewpoint of defect behaviors, this observation offered original insight into the mechanism by which the sintering atmosphere had impacts on the Q × f value of titanate ceramics. Satisfying dielectric properties (εr = 79.5, Q × f = 14,840 GHz, τf = 0 ppm/°C) were attained in oxygen-sintered BSNTA-0.6%TiO2 ceramics that might be suitable for the manufacture of miniature microwave devices such as filters and antennas.