Electrical signatures and water absorptivity of a new insulation material for high voltage applications

Abstract

Polymer composite material has been widely used as an outdoor insulation material due to its advantages such as low surface energy, light weight, good pollution performance (hydrophobicity properties) and shorter processing time. Nevertheless, most researchers are concerned about polymeric long-term performance. By optimizing the material formulation and design, long-term performance of polymeric insulation can be improved. Thus, to develop better insulation, it is important to determine the ageing performance, electrical characteristics and also physical characteristics of the polymeric material. In this research, new filler called Boehmite, AlO(OH) is added to the existing Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) as a new polymer insulation material. The PVC is used as the base matrix. The effects of Silane Coupling Agent (SCA) were also studied. The polymer material was exposed to ageing process by conducting surface tracking and erosion resistance tests in accordance with BS EN 60587:2007. Surface flashover tests were conducted before and after the ageing test according to BS EN 60243-1:1998. Then, the material was further tested through permittivity and capacitance test before and after ageing tests. Water absorption test was also conducted in order to observe the hydrophobicity characteristics of the insulation material. The water absorption test is based on ASTM D570-98.A comparison was then made between the PVC with filler and PVC without filler based on the result obtained from the experiment. Results reveal that the formulations of 65% PVC and 35% filler and SCA 5g give the most promising results. It is a proof that the proposed material has the potential to be used as insulation material for high voltage application.