Low frequency loss angle measuring instrument for high voltage testing

High Voltage Stack & Control Unit- the high voltage stack is operated from
the control unit through fibre optic cables, providing total isolation from the high voltage circuit under test.

Advanced Technology for Industry

Danger - High Voltage

This equipment is designed to be connected to high voltage systems, and must only be operated under the supervision of persons accredited to operate high voltage equipment. Lethal voltages (up to 60kV) can be found in normal operation of this equipment. Some safety notes are made below.

1.

The control unit of the equipment is isolated from the high voltage using fibre optic cables, and is safe from any high voltages used in the high voltage unit. It is still connected to the mains, and the usual precautions taken in operation of any mains powered equipment should be taken. There are no operator serviceable parts inside the control unit.

2. Under no circumstances should the battery be charged or changed whilst the high voltage is applied to the high voltage unit. Always earth the high voltage system before making any connections or changes
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Following any accident or flashover, the high voltage system should be checked that it is safe to operate at the full rated voltage. If in doubt, return to the manufacturer for calibration and repair. The high voltage unit is not designed to operate in wet or damp conditions. DO NOT USE IN WET CONDITIONS. For safety reasons, at all times, always earth the high voltage unit when the system is not being used for making measurements. Never apply more than the rated voltage to the high voltage unit. This is 60kV peak DC. (42kV rms) All high voltage safety rules must be adhered to when operating this equipment.

Measurement of Loss Angle (Tan ) at low frequencies.

General
This Instrument measures the loss angle of high voltage insulation at low frequencies. In practice low frequency means below 0.2Hz for this device. It is designed as an add-on to a high voltage low frequency (VLF) power supply), and as such will measure the tan (loss angle) of the insulation in cables and capacitors at low frequency and high voltage. The instrument is designed for use with high voltage cables, to measure the tan of the insulation. This can help with the diagnosis of the cable ageing. Changes in the tan at low frequencies can indicate degradation of the insulation, which can be used to make engineering decisions about the service life of the cables. The instrument consists of two parts. A high voltage part must be connected to the high voltage system, and measures current and applied system voltage. The second part of the instrument is an analysis unit which shows the voltage, and current (in the high voltage circuit), and computes the tan (loss angle) of the cable or capacitor. The high voltage unit is connected to the analysis unit using only two optical fibres. Full isolation of the voltage is thus maintained. The length of the fibres is not limited, although a 5m pair of fibres is supplied as standard. As the voltage can be slowly changing, the anaylsis unit is provided with an indicator, which shows the applied voltage to the sample. A calculation of tan is carried out for each period, and displayed in real time at the end of each period. In the medium and extended modes (set on the front panel) the unit computes the tan from more than one cycle of data. In all modes, the unit bleeps when a new reading is available.

Measurement Circuit.
The measurement circuit is simple and easy to connect. The circuit diagram in Figure 1, shows the VLF power supply, connections to the high voltage unit, and the cable under test.

VLF High Voltage Power Supply High Voltage Unit

To Cable under test Fibre optic links

Control Unit

Figure 1 Circuit diagram of measurement of tan at low frequencies

The connections for the fibre optics are colour coded, so that red and blue must be connected to the same colour on both the analysis unit and high voltage unit. The high voltage output from the VLF generator, must be attached to the top of the high voltage unit. The output to the cable under test, is the copper tube at the side of the high voltage unit. Do not mix up the input and output of the high voltage unit. The base of the high voltage unit must always be earthed to the earth used for the VLF generator high voltage power supply. This is for safety reasons, and also for correct calibration of the high voltage measurement. The analysis unit will automatically adjust to the HV generator amplitude and frequency, so no operator intervention is necessary beyond setting the analysis mode to normal, medium or extended.

Tips for good measurements

The low frequency tan measurement is made on all the capacitance on the output side of the high voltage unit. Hence if a connecting cable is used to connect the VLF generator to the cable under test, the connecting cable will be a part of the cable under test. The effect of this cable can be corrected for in a calculation of the loss angle. However, if the loss angle and capacitance of the connecting cable is to be eliminated, the user may wish to place the high voltage unit next to the cable under test, with no connecting cable between the high voltage unit and the actual cable being tested. The display of the analysis unit, shows the voltage and current measured in the high voltage circuit. It shows the values of the current and voltage at the end of each period. Where the periods are long, the display may not show the actual values of voltage and current until the end of the next period. At say 0.05Hz, this could be several minutes. These periods are still longer when medium or extended mode is selected. This is the reason for the unit to bleep, indicating a new reading is available. The loss angle is also calculated at the end of each period, and the same applies to the updating of the display. Also bear in mind that following a change in frequency or magnitude setting, there will be a transient which whilst small, may still leave errors of a few percent due to this transient. Hence when making accurate measurements, make sure that a number of cycles have passed, and that the reading of tan is stable before using it as an accurate value. At switch on, and after mode change, ???? appears for a while on the display, showing answers are not yet valid. The high voltage unit measures voltage using a resistor. This resistor also has a capacitance associated with it. Whilst this capacitance is small (typically 5 10 pFarads), it can change the loss angle measurements for higher frequencies. There will be an error due to this capacitance, but at frequencies of 0.1Hz and 0.05 Hz, this does not change the accuracy of the measurement. The losses and capacitances of external cables etc. can be compensated for using calculation, knowing the value of the capacitance and loss for each component to be included. In the same way as small changes can be affected by the capacitance of the resistor, so to can any stray capacitance of the high voltage unit. To keep this to a minimum, do not allow any earthed metalwork to get close to the high voltage unit. If this becomes unavoidable, such as in confined spaces in a laboratory or van, then measure the effect of the stray capacitances, (i.e. measure loss angles of a standard with and without the strays present) and remove the effect by calculation. The current is measured by a shunt, which has a value of around 900ohms. This resistor can also have an effect on the measurement of loss angle near the resolution of the device. In most cases this resistor will represent a very small value of extra loss. Most measurements can happily ignore this small effect. For example, it could introduce small errors at high frequencies with very lossless cables. Again this effect could simply be compensated for using calculation, by taking into account the effect of 900ohms in series with the cable under test. The high voltage unit measures current by using two resistor tappings to make more sensitive measurements still at high accuracy. This is automatic, and

the range is indicated on the display. The value of the shunt resistor does not change with the changes in low and high sensitivity. The analysis unit monitors the HV output of the VLF generator and learns the frequency by timing consecutive positive zero crossings. At least 1kV must be available for reliable operation, and it takes several complete cycles following start-up before full accuracy is obtained. Hence allow several valid readings to pass before making reliable measurements following initial switch-on The battery is a lead acid type, and can be recharged with the supplied charger. The battery life of the high voltage unit is designed to be at least 8 hours, to allow for a full days operation. However, the actual battery life is much larger than this, and anywhere between 20 and 40 hours continuos use can be expected. Charging the battery must be done with the charger, and the green light shows when the charging is complete. There is no memory effect with this battery. Take great care to change the battery safely when the system is a part of a high voltage setup. ALWAYS EARTH THE SYSTEM BEFORE MAKING ANY ALERATIONS TO THE HV UNIT.

Features of the low frequency tan measurement

Frequency range up to 0.2Hz In line measurement of current and voltage, so no changes to VLF power supply required. Automatic readout of frequency and loss angle Automatically adjusts to VLF generator frequency. Magnitude and frequency display Readout of high voltage and current in real time. Connection to HV measurement module is via fibre optics. Hence no high voltage safety hazards from the controller. Real time readout of loss angle Audible beep when new reading is available The loss angle of high voltage insulation is measured by comparison of the phase between voltage and current waveforms at low frequency

Applications & Uses

Cable manufacture for quality assurance Testing high voltage cables in service for degradation Replacement programmes for HV cable networks Research for high voltage cable investigations. Commission testing for new and repaired cables Can be used for high voltage insulation for condition monitoring with transformers, switchgear bushings etc.

Specifications
VLF current Range Frequency Range Working Voltage Resolution of Tan . Absolute Accuracy Display Displayed data 0 50mA 0.01Hz 0.2Hz 1kV - 40kV rms 0.0005 2% + 0.005 zero error 128 x 64 Backlit Liquid crystal Loss angle in radians Frequency (Hz) System Voltage magnitude (kV) Current at HV (rms) Low battery indicator No data indicator Averaging Mode Normal, Medium, Extended (1 cycle) (5 cycles) (20 cycles) Fibre optic communication to HV unit using 5 metre duplex cable 110 220V, 50 / 60Hz 70W Charging unit for battery (HV Unit)

Controls Outputs Power requirements Control box High Voltage module

Battery Charging
The High Voltage stack is powered from a 6V lead acid sealed battery allowing the HV unit to float at the high voltage test supply with respect to ground. The battery is charged using the small power connector provided, The battery should only be used with the charger and cable provided. The output voltage of the charger is a nominal 6 Volts. Connection of the charger to the HV stack must only be done when the equipment is not in use with the high voltage supply. To charge the battery plug the small power plug into the socket provided on the side of the HV stack marked, this automatically disconnects the internal circuits from the battery whilst charging is taking place. A full overnight charge should give approximately 8 hours full operation.

M&B Systems (Power Instrumentation) LTD, 308/310 Slade Lane, Levenshulme Manchester M19 2BY Tel 0161 248 4090, Fax 0161 248 4099

Tan Delta HVS Software installation and operation manual

Installation
The software is designed as a single stand alone executable file which will run under Win9X, and Win NT. The software can be run simply by double clicking on the filename (TanDelta.exe) which appears in Windows Explorer. However, it is probably best to create a new folder (eg Tan Delta measurements) and copy the file TanDelta.exe to the folder. To run the program, double click on the file, or make a shortcut to the file. (to make shortcuts on the desktop, right click on the desktop, choose new and then shortcut and follow instructions to create the shortcut on the desktop).

Operation
When the program runs, a small window gives a choice for the COM port which can communicate with the Tan Delta device. Choose COM1 unless this is not available. If the program is to be run without communication with the measuring instrument (e.g. viewing previous data. Printing etc) then choose any port which is free.

Port Selection program window The main window will appear as shown below. The window is shown with some data loaded, to give a demonstration of the data displays. The operation of the program is simple and automatic. When attached with the serial cable to the Tan Delta instrument, the program displays the data on the instrument as soon as it becomes available. New data is indicated by the instrument beeping. The program displays these data in real time. The software will perform the following functions

Real time data display

When connected to the Instrument by the serial cable, the program will always show the newest data in the boxes, when it becomes ready. The same boxes can be used to display the data in a stored record in a file. Note that the fact that the computer displays the real time data, does not mean that a record is being made of the data. To record the data in a file, the start monitoring button should be clicked.

Data recording
The data can be recorded by the program. To do this, fill the edit boxes with the appropriate information (it is emphasised that this data should always be entered, as data is vital in reviewing the data later) and click the start Monitor button. A file dialog box appears, and invites you to enter a filename in which the data to be recorded, will be saved. Once this is done, the program records the real time data as a sequence of measurements. Each measurement is time stamped, and so data at different voltages and frequency should simply be recorded for each circuit. If data for separate cable phases is required, these should be stored in a separate file.

Tan Delta program window

Drawing graphs of Tan Delta against time, Voltage and frequency

When the data is stored using the Start monitor button, all the records are kept until the Stop monitor button is clicked. The order of the data is preserved for the Tan delta versus time graphs, but the other radiobutton options in the graphics control panel will draw the data of tan delta versus frequency, and tan delta versus voltage in the correct way whatever the order of data entry. Provided the system is in start monitor mode, a complete set of data can be recorded as required, for different frequencies and voltages.

Hence an entire days testing can be recorded in a single file, and the data will be correctly processed to be able to view the data in the three available ways Tan delta versus time Tan delta versus voltage Tan delta versus frequency

In addition to the three graph types available above, when the system is set to Graphs in Time mode in the graphics control panel, there are three options allowed in this mode. These are Tan delta versus time, Voltage versus time, and frequency verus time. These will all display the data as recorded in during the measurements.

Printing the results

The results of the graphs, along with data recorded in the edit boxes, can be printed out on a single sheet using the print preview option in the Graph menu. When the print preview page is viewed, click on print to print the preview page. The device will print to the current system printer. Whatever graph is currently chosen will be used in the print preview page.

Copying the graphs to the clipboard for use with other programs
For using results with other programs, the graphs can be copied to the windows clipboard using the copy to clipboard item in the file menu. Simply click this menu item, and the graph will be copied. It can then be pasted into other applications which can use windows metafile clipboard data. This gives a simple way of copying graphs to Microsoft WORD for example.

Viewing the data records

When a set of data has been recorded, the individual records can be viewed simply by clicking the record number slider in the cursor control panel. This allows the record data to be viewed for each individual record in the data set.

Entering data & comments

When recording a set of data, it is essential to put as much detail of the experimental details as possible. The data entry boxes in the Current file panel can be used for this. Fill in the data, and then click on the enter details above button. The data is not stored after simple entry of data in the edit boxes, so to do this, the enter details above button has to be used. This method can be used to alter the data in a stored file. However, if this is done, the file must be re-saved. (see re-save in the file menu).

Operation of the new Tan software

(01-07-05)

The new facilities allow the removal of unwanted data from the Tan v Time graph. A cursor is provided to help in identifying the points. The marked points can be plotted or removed by using the new functions in the Select Cursor Control box. The marked points can also be unmarked if required. The cursor is controlled by the Record Number Selection facility which also gives the numerical value in the loss angle results table. To remove spikes from the graph tick the box marked Remove marked graph points from graphs in the Graphics Control box. The spike is selected using the cursor control. The graph scaling will be automatically changed to suit the new tan results.The scaling for plotting tan is now displayed in milli-radians. All of the data can be saved to disc, so that the files can be viewed correctly when you recall them. A further improvement allows the graph scaling to be manually changed by the operator A box is provided labeled Graph Scale, just click on the required scale which is selected from the following Auto, 10mRad, 50mRad.

Measurement Circuit.
The measurement circuit is simple and easy to connect. The circuit diagram in Figure 1, shows the VLF power supply, connections to the high voltage unit, and the cable under test.

VLF High Voltage Power Supply High Voltage Unit

To Cable under test Fibre optic links

Control Unit

Figure 1 Circuit diagram of measurement of tan at low frequencies

Specifications
VLF current Range Frequency Range Working Voltage Resolution of Tan . Absolute Accuracy Display Displayed data 0 50mA 0.01Hz 0.2Hz 1kV - 40kV rms 0.0005 2% + 0.005 zero error 128 x 64 Backlit Liquid crystal Loss angle in radians Frequency (Hz) System Voltage magnitude (kV) Current at HV (rms) Low battery indicator No data indicator Averaging Mode Normal, Medium, Extended (1 cycle) (5 cycles ) (20 cycles ) Fibre optic communication to HV unit. 5 metre duplex cable 110 220V,50/ 60Hz 70W Charging unit for batteries (HV Unit)

Controls Outputs Power requirements Control box High Voltage module

M&B Systems Power Instrumentation Ltd Manchester England

VLF loss factor (tan) measuring instrument Model HVS 1000/TD

Brief operating instruction
This equipment comprises a measuring instrument and high voltage stack. The maximum working voltage is 40kV rms (60kVpeak) which must not be exceeded. DANGER High Voltage: This equipment is designed to be connected to high voltage systems. It must be operated only under the supervision of persons accredited to operate high voltage networks. Always discharge and ground the high voltage side before making any connections. Always disconnect completely from high voltage before attempting to change or charge the battery in the HV stack. Ensure that the sealed lead-acid battery in the HV stack is fully charged before use. Battery life should be 8 hours under normal working conditions. Position the HV stack on a level surface as close as possible to the terminal of the test object. Connect a good ground conductor from the ground terminal on the base of the HV stack to the common ground terminal on the test voltage generator. Connect the high voltage output socket of the HV stack by a suitable corona-free conductor to the test object. Nominal 1 aluminum or copper tubing is ideal. Note that the connection between the HV stack and the test object will feature in the measurement of the overall tan value; if this connection is by cable. It should be kept as short as possible. Connect the high voltage output of a very low frequency (VLF) test voltage generator having a sinusoidal output waveform and frequency in the range 0.01-0.2Hz to the top terminal on the HV stack. Locate the measuring instrument on a suitable bench or other surface. Connect a good ground conductor from the ground terminal on the rear of the instrument direct to the ground terminal of the test voltage generator. Connect the HV stack to the measuring instrument by means of the two supplied fiberoptic cables, observing the red and blue colour coding. Connect the measuring instrument to a 110 / 220V* 60Hz supply using the line cord provided. Power up the measuring instrument using the rocker switch on the rear panel. The front panel LCD display should light up and indicate the parameters that will be measured. *(Check voltage selector switch is selected to the correct voltage, this is located on the Rear Panel of the control unit) Set the three-position rotary switch to the right hand side of the front panel to normal medium or extended as desired. This selects the number of measurement taken and will greatly affect the measurement time. In normal setting one measurement of tan is made for each full test voltage cycle; in medium and extended settings the instrument computes the tan value from 5 cycles or 20 cycles of data respectively. When a valid reading is completed the instrument issues a bleeping sound. The LCD display will indicate which measurement mode is selected. Set the three position rotary switch on the HV stack to remote The red on lamp should light and the red data lamp should flicker to indicate that a data string is being sent to the stack. The bar graph >100%100%< at the bottom of the LCD display indicates that data is being exchanged. Until a valid measurement of tan is achieved, and after switch on or any mode change, the tan value is shown as ????. The LCD display indicates test voltage, load current and frequency measured at the high voltage terminal. It may take several minutes for the first valid measurements to be obtained after any mode change.

Before making any adjustments to the test circuit, or before charging the battery, always switch off the high voltage test supply and allow a few seconds for the voltage to decay to zero. Then disconnect high voltage and solidly ground all parts before handling.

Tan Delta Testing With The High Voltage Inc. VLF Voltage Generator Set up the VLF Voltage Generator and the Tan Delta test set in accordance with the instructions outlined in the operators manuals. (See Diagram below)

VLF High Voltage Generator

To Cable under test High Voltage Stack Fiber optic links

Tan Delta Control Unit Circuit diagram for measurement of tan at low frequencies There are two options for recording data from the tan delta test set. Option one is to simply read and record the data points from the LCD of the tan delta control unit. The recommended option is to connect a notebook computer to the serial port on the rear panel of the tan delta and use the included software to record all data. Quick Basic Instructions: Turn on the Tan Delta control Switch the high voltage stack to the remote position Open the Tan Delta software on the computer and enter file details, circuit name, etc. Turn on main power of the VLF control Set the output frequency to 0.1Hz Turn on high voltage and set the output to Uo of the cable you are testing The LCD will update (beep) every cycle and you should see the live data displayed on the computer Wait for a stable Tan Delta reading. This may take up to five cycles When you receive a satisfactory reading, click the start monitor button on the computer screen You may then increase the voltage incrementally to a maximum of 2Uo At the conclusion of the test click the stop monitoring button on the computer and save the data NOTE: You are looking for a relatively flat line graph of Tan Delta vs. Voltage, if the Tan Delta reading is increasing exponentially when you increase voltage, stop testing you may cause a failure in the test cable. For best results increase voltage following the zero crossing (the voltmeter reads zero) after the unit beeps and the data is updated.

Example Graphs

The above result is a representation of the results when testing moderately aged cable

The above result is what you may see when an Arrestor or another accessory is mistakenly left connected to the cable under test. The Tan Delta Measurement increases exponentially above 15 kV.

The spike shown above is the result of the Tan Delta unit auto-ranging the current metering circuit from low to high. The unit switches from low to high range at approximately 1.5mA. Spikes like these are common after increasing voltage. The Tan Delta unit just needs a few cycles to get back in sync. The spikes will be marked as bad events and can be edited from your final report.

Tan Delta Error Codes

READING

MODE

CURRRENT RANGE HIGH

STATUS

VALID

NORMAL

VALID

NORMAL

LOW

NOT VALID

NORMAL

HIGH

NOT VALID

NORMAL

LOW

VALID

MEDIUM

HIGH

VALID

MEDIUM

LOW

NOT VALID

MEDIUM

HIGH

NOT VALID

MEDIUM

LOW

VALID

EXTENDED

HIGH

VALID

EXTENDED

LOW

NOT VALID

EXTENDED

HIGH

10

NOT VALID

EXTENDED

LOW

11

TAN CABLE TESTING OVERVIEW AND ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What Is Tan , Or Tan Delta? Tan Delta, also called Loss Angle or Dissipation Factor testing, is a diagnostic method of testing cables to determine the quality of the cable insulation. This is done to try to predict the remaining life expectancy and in order to prioritize cable replacement. How Does It Work? If the insulation of a cable is free from defects, like water trees, electrical trees, moisture and air pockets, etc., the cable acts as a perfect capacitor. It is very similar to a parallel plate capacitor with the conductor and the neutral being the two plates separated by the insulation material. In a perfect capacitor, the voltage and current are phase shifted 90 degrees. If there are impurities in the insulation, like those mentioned above, a resistive element is introduced into the insulation. It is no longer a perfect capacitor. The current and voltage will no longer be shifted 90 degrees. It will be something less than 90 degrees. The extent to which the phase shift is less than 90 degrees is indicative of the level of insulation contamination, hence quality/reliability. This Loss Angle is measured and analyzed. Below is a representation of a cable. The tangent of the angle is measured. This will indicate the level of resistance in the insulation. By measuring IR/IC, we can determine the quality of the cable insulation. In a perfect cable, the angle would be nearly zero. The greater the angle, the worse the cable.
I

C Cable

R IC Circuit

IR

IC + I R V

What Are Water Trees? Water trees are small tree shaped channels found within the insulation of a cable, caused by the presence of moisture. They are very prevalent in service aged XLPE and other solid dielectric cables, like PE and EPR cables. These tree shaped moisture channels, in the presence of an electrical field, eventually lead to the inception of partial discharge (pd), which eventually leads to the formation of electrical trees, which grow to a point where insulation failure occurs. The tan delta test shows the extent of water tree damage in a cable. What Hardware Is Necessary? The tan delta unit consists of a high voltage divider and a fiber optically linked measurement box. The high voltage divider measures the voltage and current input to the cable, sends this information to the controller, which analyzes the voltage and current waveforms and calculates the tan delta number. A connected laptop computer displays and stores the results.

A voltage source is needed to energize the cable. What is typically used is a Very Low Frequency (VLF) AC Hipot. The VLF equipment supplied by High Voltage Inc. is a 40 kV (peak) unit that is capable of testing from 1.1 uF of cable load at 0.1 Hz, up to 5.5uF at 0.02 Hz. Other models offer an output frequency of 0.01 Hz, used to test very long cables.

How Is The Test Performed? The cable to be tested must be de-energized and each end isolated. Using a VLF AC Hipot, the test voltage is applied to the cable while the tan delta controller takes measurements. Typically, the applied test voltage is raised to 1Uo, or normal line to ground operating voltage. If the tan delta numbers indicate good cable insulation, the test voltage is raised up to 1.5 2 Uo. The tan delta numbers at the higher voltages are compared to those at lower voltages and an analysis is made. Below is the test setup.
nder Te Cable U st

VLF Control

V L F

Measuring Unit

Loss Angle Analyzer

Fiber Optic Cables

How Are The Test Results Interpreted, And, Is It Necessary To Have A Benchmark, Or Standard, Result To Compare To? While it is beneficial to have a standard or previous test to compare to for trending purposes, like with many diagnostic methods of testing, it is not necessary. The very first test on a cable yields valuable information about the insulation. If a cables insulation is perfect, the loss factor (tan delta) will not change as the applied voltage is increased. The capacitance and loss will be similar with 1 kV or 10kV applied to the cable. If the cable has water tree contamination, thus introducing a resistive element to the insulation, then the tan delta numbers will be higher at higher voltages. Rather than a flat curve for the loss number versus voltage, the curve will be non linear. See the below graph.
New and Aged 15 kV XLPE Cable (Nov 2000) 0.06 Aged Cable 0.05 Loss Angle (Tan Delta)

Measurements are voltage dependent in an old cable.

0.04

0.03

0.02 New Cable 0.01

Measurements are not voltage dependent in new cable.

10

0 0 2.5 5 VLF Voltage (kV rms) 7.5

From this graph, we can see that the aged cable has extensive water tree damage. The Loss Angle increases with increasing voltage, indicating a high resistive element to the insulation. These results can be compared to other cables tested to determine which cables are in need of immediate replacement and which can wait a bit longer. Also, many tests are measured on a comparative basis. Many of the same type of cables may be tested, with the results compared against each other. An average value for the tan delta can be calculated and possibly used as a future benchmark. Might The Cable Fail During The Testing? Since test voltages of up to 2Uo are used, there is a possibility of a cable failing during the few minutes needed to perform the test. This can usually be avoided if tan delta numbers are measured at several voltages up to 1Uo and an inspection of the tan delta versus voltage curve is made. If the curve is flat, continue the test. If the curve shows that as the test voltage is raised, the loss angle increases, then it is known that the cable has water tree contamination. Perhaps compare numerous test results to help determine which cables are good, marginal, or bad. Remember, the point of the test is to help prioritize cable replacement, so absolute numbers are less important than test results comparing many cables. Also, since the test takes only one or two minutes, the cable is not voltage stressed for a long enough period of time for breakdown to occur, unlike a VLF AC hipot test where 2 - 3 times normal voltage is applied for 15 minutes. How Long Of A Cable Can I Test? That depends on the AC voltage source used. The standard VLF unit from High Voltage, Inc. can test up to 3-4 miles of cable: one model can test 30 miles. It is generally advantageous to test shorter lengths rather than a long cable, only because the more sections a cable is broken down to for testing, the more precise we can be in determining where the cable is good or bad. Can The Test Find The Locations Of Cable Defects? No. Tan delta tests the cable from point A to point B and gives an assessment of the insulation quality between those points. A determination can then be made about if and when to replace the cable. For any value of tan delta, there could be many minor defects or a few major defects: it cannot discriminate. When you are tan delta testing, you are only after how good a cable is between two points. Again, its not a faultfinding tool. It is a tool to permit a utility to make educated decisions regarding cable replacement. This assumes the cable being tested is in conduit and entire lengths will be replaced. In direct buried situations, a better test is to use the VLF unit as an AC hipot and apply the IEEE recommended 3 times normal voltage for up to 15 minutes. Any defect severe enough that cant hold 2 3 times normal voltage will fail. Find the fault and repair it. Isnt This The Same As A Power Factor Test? Not quite, although is essentially provides the same qualitative assessment as a power factor test. With power factor, the cosine of the angle between the voltage and current is measured, yielding the power factor. With tan delta, we are measuring the tangent of the complimentary angle, and

it is measured in radians, not degrees as power factor is done. For slight angles, the tan delta readings will be the same as power factor. As the angle, hence loss, increases, the tan delta numbers and the power factor numbers will not be the same. Why Is A VLF Hipot Used Instead Of A Regular 60 Hz Model. Two reasons. First, to test a cable with 60 Hz power requires a very high power supply. It is not practical, nearly impossible, to test a cable of several thousand feet with a 60 Hz supply. At a typical VLF frequency of 0.1Hz, it takes 600 times less power to test the same cable compared to 60 Hz. Secondly, the magnitude of the tan delta numbers increase as the frequency decreases, making measurement easier. As the below equation shows, the lower the frequency (f), the higher the tan delta number.

Tan Delta () = IR/ IC = 1/(2pfCR) (tan delta is measured in radians)

Are There Any Limitations To Using Tan Delta Testing? Since we are measuring the loss angle of an insulating material, and making an analysis about the test results possibly based on historical data, it is not advisable to test a cable length that contains more than one type of cable. Different cables have different loss characteristics. It is not a good test to test a cable length with 300 of XLPE insulation spliced to an EPR or PILC cable. The only way in which this is meaningful is when many tests are done on the same cable length over time and the results are carefully trended. Concentric Neutral Since we are measuring the loss angle between the conductor and the outer shield, the outer shield must be intact. It is advisable to test the integrity of the concentric neutral before performing the test. (This is a worthwhile test anyway for several reasons, whether or not a tan delta test is being performed.) If there are large gaps in the neutral, the tan delta numbers will not be as meaningful if there were no gaps. There are easy ways to test the neutral integrity and we can help with that.

How Long Does The Whole Test Take? The test itself can take less than a minute, depending upon the settings of the instrument. It is only necessary to capture a few cycles of the voltage and current waveform to make the analysis. At 0.1 Hz, the period of the sine wave is 10 seconds, so it takes 20 30 seconds for a reading to be made. At .02 Hz, the period is 50 seconds, requiring perhaps 3 minutes of test time.