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D1-203

Session 2004
CIGR

Factors affecting the choice of Insulation system for extruded HVDC Power
Cables.
E. ILDSTAD* Norwegian University of Science and Technology
J. SLETBAK Norwegian University of Science and Technology
B.R. NYBERG SINTEF Energy Research
J.E.LARSEN Statnett
Norway

Summary.
This report summarises results of research related the study of field distribution under DC stress of
extruded polymeric insulation. The effect of temperature gradient and electric stress on DC
conductivity, space charge formation and electrical treeing has been examined. The most important
findings were that:
i) Provided a maximum conductor loss of 30 W/m all thermoplastic polyethylene materials (e.g.
LDPE and HDPE) can endure the temperatures to be expected in HVDC cables.
ii) Assuming a homogeneous insulation the steady state electric field distribution can be calculated by
means of empirically based formulae for the conductivity as a function of temperature.
iii) Experimental results indicate that this presumption is reasonably well satisfied even under nonisothermal conditions.
Keywords:
Power cables - HVDC - Polymeric insulation -Temperature -Electric field strength ConductivitySpace charge -Impurities.
1. Introduction.
Until recently most high voltage DC cables used in high capacity power transmission have utilised
mass impregnated paper as insulation. These cables have shown very high service reliability. A better
understanding of their vulnerability to load cycling [1] has opened up for even higher transmission
capacity. Due to the rather complex and expensive manufacturing process of such insulation there is,
however, an incentive for use of polymeric insulation for HVDC power cables with higher
transmission capacity. Since the early 1970`s many attempts have been made to introduce extruded
insulation, but until recently unsuccessfully. As a result of steady improvements of material
technology and extrusion methods for AC cables the situation is now changed. Furthermore, new
experimental methods to study the field distribution under DC stress combined with a better
theoretical understanding have cleared the way for development of HVDC extruded cables. The
present report aims at summarising results of our own research in this area supplemented by
information from other sources. The literature referred to does not, however, represent a
comprehensive survey.

*erling.ildstad@elkraft.ntnu.no

2. Temperature requirements.
The maximum electric field strength of HVDC cable insulation depends not only of the applied
voltage, but also upon the conductor temperature and the resulting maximum temperature difference
across the insulation wall. Before entering into a discussion of the properties of possible insulation
systems, we will therefore discuss design parameters related to maximum expected temperatures.
The temperature difference across the insulation wall is given by the following equation provided
cylindrical symmetry in the heat transfer:
T=(P/2i)ln(b/a)
(1)
Here b and a are the outer and inner radius of the insulation wall respectively, P is the conductor
losses per unit length of the cable [W/m] and i is the heat conductivity of the insulating material
which is 0.29W/Km for polyethylene.
It is common practice that cables are designed for maximum conductor losses, P, lower than 30 W/m
and that the value of b/a hardly ever exceed 2.5. With these upper limits it is found that T15K. - In
most practical cases the cable will have to be designed for a lower temperature difference across the
insulation wall, perhaps closer to 10K.
The maximum temperature of the insulation will in addition depend on the temperature drop to the
surroundings. Considering a buried cable the temperature drop in the soil is then given by:
Ts=(P/2s)ln(2H/c)
(2)
where s is the heat conductivity of the soil, typically 1W/Km or higher, H the burial depth and c is
the outer radius of the cable. The value of ln(2H/c) will hardly ever exceed 4. It is then found that the
temperature drop, Ts , in the soil is 19K.
With reasonable assumptions concerning the temperature drop in the different layers of the cable and
the temperature of the surroundings, it seems clear that the maximum temperature of the cable
insulation will be in the range of 55-65 C. Thus all thermoplastic polyethylene materials (e.g. LDPE
and HDPE) can endure the temperatures to be expected in HVDC cables. Such materials offer certain
advantages as crosslinking by-products as well as scorch formation in the extruder are avoided.
3.Conduction and space charge formation.
In general the following equation can be used to calculate the field distribution in a dielectric:
div D=div(0E)=
(3)
When a DC voltage is applied to a specimen, the insulation is initially free of space charges (=0) and
the initial field distribution is determined by the variation of the permittivity inside the insulation.
When a DC voltage has been applied for a long time, no space charge accumulation take place and the
following equation is valid:
divj=div(E)=0
(4)
This means that the field distribution is determined by the variation of the conductivity inside the
insulation. -Consequently, if the permittivity and the conductivity vary differently, a space charge
must be established in order that both equations are satisfied. This manifests itself as a transient
current (polarisation current) in the external circuit, which lasts until both equations are satisfied. The
current is thereafter assumed to attain a constant (steady state) value denoted the leakage current.
In the special case that both the permittivity and the conductivity are constant throughout the
insulation, no polarisation current will flow in the external circuit (except for a short duration current
caused by polarisation of the particles constituting the insulating material). The current will then
immediately attain the steady state value.
In a homogenous medium the permittivity is usually constant. This means that if a polarisation current
of some duration is measured, it is an indication of the conductivity not being constant. On the other

hand, the absence of a polarisation current indicates that the conductivity is constant throughout the
insulation.
The polarisation current may either be caused by a separation of charge formed inside the insulation,
i.e. without any supply of charge carriers from the electrodes, or by charge carriers injected from the
electrodes. The longer distance charge carriers need to be transported, the longer will the transient
current last. Thus a space charge close to one of the electrodes, formed by injection of charge carriers,
may give rise to a polarisation current of relatively short duration even when the conductivity is low.
As no comprehensive theoretical model exists for conduction in polymeric materials we have here
used the following common empirically based mathematical model to describe the field and
temperature dependency of the conductivity:
=0exp[(T-T0)(E/E0) ]
(5)
where is the electric conductivity, T the temperature and E the field strength, and are constants
characterising the material in question, while T0, E0 and 0 are reference values.
The advantage of this relation is that the field distribution can be found analytically for both planar
and concentric cylinder configurations [2], assuming a homogeneous insulation. For cable insulation
with inner and outer radius a and b respectively, the following equations can be used to determine the
steady state field distribution: The field strength at the conductor is:
E a=

kU
a (b / a ) k 1

and at radius r:
E(r)=Ea(r/a)k-1 where

k=

+ (Ta Tb ) / ln(b / a )
+1

(6)

(7)

For a planar configuration the following equations apply:

E(x)= E(0)exp[-(/(+1))(T(x)-T(0)]
(8)
The field strength Eh at the hot side of the insulation then becomes
(9)
Eh=Ecexp[-(/(+1))Ti]
Where Ec is the field strength at the cold side of the insulation and Ti is the temperature difference
across the insulation.
It can be seen from the equations above that the steady state field distribution in cable insulation is
uniquely determined by the temperature difference, assuming that the conductivity is a function of
temperature and field strength only. If it is also a function of the position, a calculation of the field
distribution requires a knowledge that is not easily obtained experimentally. To get an impression of
the sensitivity to such variation it may be assumed that is constant throughout the insulation, while
0 is a function of the position, equation (9) is modified to:
E(x)= (0(0)/ 0 (x))1/+1E(0)exp[-(/(+1))Ti]
(9b)
To determine E(0) in this equation, 0(x) must be known from either theory or experiments. This is
not an easy task, but if the variation in conductivity is confined to a small part of the electrode gap,
equation (9b) can be used to judge the field enhancement caused by a local change in conductivity.
4. Experimental.
The results presented here are obtained in our laboratories over a number of years. Some of the
measurements are made on test specimens with a planar configuration. The insulation was made by
first extruding a tape which was subsequently formed in a hot hydraulic press. Some of the specimens
were equipped with electrodes of cable screen material (semiconductor) and some with metallic
electrodes. The semiconductive electrodes were made by tape extrusion and hot pressing. The
specimens were then assembled by hot pressing and crosslinking in the press when this was required.
Metallic electrodes were made by vacuum deposition of evaporated material. One of the electrodes
had a Rogowski profile to avoid field enhancement at the edge of the electrodes. In the case of

conductivity measurements, guard electrodes were applied to avoid the effect of parasitic currents.
Most objects were made with Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), either thermoplastic with and
without antioxidant (Santanox) or crosslinked. The crosslinked specimens could be heat treated to
remove volatile reaction products prior to the measurements.
Conductivity measurements were also performed on five cable specimens made of different
polyethylene based materials with semiconducting screens as electrodes. They are denoted cable 1-5.
Space charge measurements were performed using the pulsed electro-acoustic method (PEA) where a
narrow voltage pulse is applied to the test object. The resulting electric field exerts a pulsed force on
charges that may exist in the insulation creating an acoustic wave that can be detected at the
electrodes. A detailed description of this method can be found in the literature, e.g. in [3].
4.1. Results from conductivity measurement.
The general experience is that the results of conductivity measurements are dependent on electrode
material, thickness of the insulation, morphology etc. Results published in the literature are often
obtained under different test conditions, which make it difficult to make use of them for comparisons
and to draw conclusions. The same is to some extent true for some results obtained in our own
laboratories.
4.1.1. Time variation of the transient current.
Figure 1 shows the polarisation current for a cable 1-5 at 60 C The results for cable 1 are published
in [4], while the results for cables 2-4 are not published elsewhere. Cable 4 has a very low
conductivity, and due to noise problems the low leakage current could not be recorded. Cable 2 shows
a low and nearly constant dc current. Cable 3 exhibits a decay that lasts about 100 seconds followed
by a variation that indicates the beginning of a slow fluctuation of the current, probably reflecting a
slow redistribution of space charge inside the specimen. Cable 5 shows a similar feature except for a
shorter decaying transient immediately after voltage application.
cable2
cable3
cable4
cable5
cable1

P olarization current at 60C , E av =4kV /m m

current [A]

1,00E -07

1,00E -08

1,00E -09

1,00E -10
1

10

100

1000
tim e [s]

10000

100000

1000000

Figure1. Polarisation current of

cables 1-5 at 60C and average field
strength of 4 kV/mm.

This general trend of leakage currents that rapidly attaining nearly stable values has also been
confirmed by other measurements at higher electric stress using planar objects made of ordinary
XLPE cable materials [3]. The absence of a long lasting polarisation current is an indication that
conductivity variations may be moderate, except for regions close to the electrodes where space
charge is injected during the first few seconds after voltage application.
4.1.2. Variation with temperature and field strength under isothermal conditions.
Figure 2 and 3 show the conductivity of cables 1 to 5 as a function of temperature and field strength
respectively with an applied voltage of 20 kV. In the figures are also shown the strait lines that give a
best fit to equation (3). As can be seen, the -values lay mostly between 0.1 and 0.158 except for
cable 5 that at 25C has given a current value that deviates from a straight line which may be drawn
through the remaining measured values. Measurements on planar objects have usually given values
within the same region. It should be noted, however, that the observed values of are different for
different electrode materials. An example of this is given in figure 4 [5]. The tests were carried out on

the same insulating material, but with different electrode materials. Semiconductive electrodes gave
0.14, while aluminium electrodes gave 0.09. An effect, which can be due to different voltage
drop close to the electrodes or to different densities of injected charge from the electrodes. The
materials used in these tests is the same as that used in cable 2, figure 2 and 3. Even if the results are
corrected for being performed at different field strengths, it is clear that the thin planar objects give
conductivity about one order of magnitude higher than that of the cable. The reason for this is not
clear, but may be due to differences in morphology that is known to have a strong influence upon the
conductivity. As can be seen from figure 3 the variation with the field strength was nearly the same
for all the examined cables. The values were found to be between 1.18 and 1.3.

Figure. 2. Conductivity of cables 1-5 as a

function of temperature at the average field
strength of 4 kV/ mm.

Figure.3. Conductivity of cables 1-5 as a

function of the average field strength at a
temperature of 60C.

Figure 4. Conductivity as a function of

temperature for planar specimens made of a
crosslinked polyethylene. i) Semiconductive
electrodes, 0.9 mm thick insulation.
ii)
Vacuum deposited Al electrode, 0.4 mm thick
insulation. Measurements made at 19kV/mm
and 12,5 kV/mm, respectively

4.2. Results from space charge measurements.

Most published results of space charge densities are made under isothermal conditions. In this report
we will also present results from space charge measurements with the purpose of determining what
field enhancements space charge may give rise to in case of a temperature gradient across the
insulation.
4.2.1. Field enhancement due to space charge formation under isothermal conditions.
Sanden [3] used the PEA method to show that the space charge formation in planar XLPE specimens
under isothermal conditions depends considerably on electrode material, voltage poling time and on
whether the specimen is degassed to remove volatile reaction products from the crosslinking process.
From a practical point of view the question is if the space charges lead to substantial field
enhancements, particularly near the electrodes. The PEA method allows measurement of the field
strength at the electrode/insulation interfaces. This is done by first poling the specimen and measure
the space charge profile immediately after short-circuiting. In addition to the space charges in the bulk
of the insulation, a surface charge is formed at the electrode/insulation interface to compensate for the
effect of space charges in the insulation, often denoted a mirror charge. Due to limited geometrical
resolution this surface charge will appear as a distributed space charge. By applying a voltage of

opposite polarity the surface charge can be made to disappear. The field strength at which this
happens is then equal to the field enhancement at the electrode that is caused by the remaining space
charges in the bulk of the insulation.
Figure 5 show that the field enhancement depends on the poling field, but even at 70 kV/mm it does
not exceed 20% neither at the cathode nor at the anode. From a practical point of view this is rather
moderate and confirms that the conductivity close to these semiconductive electrodes does not deviate
much from that of the bulk of the insulation. The space charge measurements also confirm that the
conductivity variation within the bulk of the insulation is moderate.

Figure 5. Field enhancement at the electrodes of 1

mm thick planar XLPE objects with
semiconductive electrodes at 40C. Poling time
24 hours.

Figure 6. Measured space charge profile in a

planar specimen of crosslinked polyethylene 0.9
mm thick with semiconductive electrodes, and
with a temperature difference across the
insulation of approximately 13.5C.

4.2.2 Field enhancement due to a temperature difference across the insulation gap.
Tests were made using a planar specimen of the same materials as in figure 4 to measure the space
charge profile and the electrode field strengths with an anode temperature of 30.5 C and a cathode
temperature of 44C, resulting in a temperature difference of 13.5C across the insulation. It should be
noted, however, that the temperature measurements are encumbered with considerable uncertainty.
The space charge profile is shown in figure 6 for a poling time of 24 hours. The electrode field
strengths were found to be Ean=1.3*Eav at the cold anode and Eca =0.8*Eav at the warm cathode.
The test arrangement used for these measurements is shown in [5]. The test procedure has, however
been modified to improve the measurement of the temperature difference across the insulation, which
is complicated by poor thermal contact between the semiconducting and the metallic electrodes.
With =0.13 and =1.6 as measured under isothermal conditions, the field strengths were calculated
by means of equation (8) to be 1.37*Eav and 0.7*Eav respectively. Even though the numerical
agreement could have been better, it appears that the calculations based on conductivity measurements
give a reasonably good picture of the steady state field distribution in the presence of a temperature
gradient in the insulation. But it must be kept in mind that there are several sources of error,
particularly in the temperature measurements, and as pointed out previously, the calculated values are
based upon an assumption of constant material properties across the insulation. Our results are not in
agreement with results published in [6] where no effect of the temperature difference was found. The
reason for this disagreement is not clear.
5. Calculated values of electrode field strengths in cables.
As stated earlier the field distribution (and the space charge density) can be calculated when the
conductivity is known (as a function of temperature and field strength), provided that the conductivity
does not vary substantially across the electrode gap. Results presented above show that , and T

vary within the following approximate limits: 0.1-0.15, 1.0-1.6 and T10-15K. - The maximum
electric field relative to the average field strength are then calculated for the most unfavourable and
the most favourable combination of these values. The results are presented in figure 7 with the ratio of
the inner and outer radius of the insulation, b/a, as the variable.
Figure7.Calculated maximum field strengths,
shown as multiples of the average applied
stress versus the dimension ratio b/a.
Curve 1. Initial field at the conductor.
Curve 2. Steady state field strength at the
outer electrode (=0.15, =1.0 and T=15K)
Curve 3. The field strength at the conductor
immediately after a polarity reversal (=0.15,
=1.0 and T=15K)
Curve 4. Steady state field strength at the
outer electrode, (=0.1, =1.6 and T=10K)
Curve 5. The field strength at the conductor
immediately after a polarity reversal (=0.1,
=1.6 and T=10K)
If Voltage Source Converters (VSC) are used the direction of the power flow may be changed without
polarity reversal of the service voltage. Then the slowly decaying field strength Ear will not appear.
The steady state field strength at the outer electrode (curve 2 and 4) as well as the Poisson field
strength (curve 1) are quite moderate and should represent no problem.
In long distance HVDC transmission systems utilising thyristors and Line Commutated Converter
(LCC) technology, polarity reversal is required to change the direction of the power flow. The DC
stresses associated with polarity reversal must then be taken into account (curve 3 and 5). Knowledge
of the long term DC withstand voltage of extruded insulation is limited, but tests in [7] indicate very
high values. The importance of the DC stress may therefore be rather indirect; meaning for instance
that the insulation becomes more vulnerable to impurities, that the design of joints and terminations
may cause greater problems etc.
6. The influence of irregularities in the insulation.
Irregularities are hard to avoid completely in extruded insulation. They may appear as particle
contaminants or cavities. To improve the longevity of AC cables considerable effort has been made to
avoid conductive particles and cavities. Insulating particles are less serious in AC cables as long as
they are well bonded to the surrounding insulation. In DC cables even insulating particles may cause
local field enhancement as they are likely to have a different conductivity/permittivity ratio than that
of the surrounding insulation.
Ieda et al [8] used a needle-plane arrangement with metallic needles inserted in LDPE to simulate the
effect of conductive contaminants in practical insulation systems. By applying a DC ramp voltage, it
was found that tree inception took place at a voltage that increased with decreasing rate of voltage
rise. The calculated field strength at the needle tip exceeded by far expected values of the intrinsic
breakdown strength of LDPE. This behaviour was explained as a result of homocharge injection into
the region surrounding the needle tip. When given enough time to develop, this charge reduces the
maximum field strength sufficiently to prevent treeing. This was further supported by experiments
where the voltage polarity was reversed by applying an impulse voltage of opposite polarity to the
applied DC field. It was then found that tree growth started at a much lower voltage. The effect of the
voltage reversal was more marked the faster the reversal took place. It was even demonstrated that
simply short-circuiting the test specimen after DC poling was sufficient to cause treeing at a voltage
lower than the DC tree inception voltage. The reason for this is supposed to be that the injected charge
needs time to be removed when the test specimen is short-circuited, and that the field originating from
the injected charge alone is sufficient to cause treeing. Observations, which have been qualitatively,
confirmed by Oldervoll [9] and others. In addition to needle experiments Oldervoll also made

experiments with conductive particles imbedded in the insulation to better simulate particles, as they
are likely to appear in a practical insulation. The time to breakdown in long term ageing experiments
at average field strength of 100 kV/mm was not influenced by the particles, even though their size
amounted to 15-20% of the insulation thickness.
Thus it is qualitatively well documented that conductive inclusions are particularly harmful in case of
polarity reversals and rapid voltage transient. Such transients may occur during faults, even in
installations with VSC technology. It is therefore of great importance that material handling and the
manufacturing process is kept extremely clean, and that routine test procedures are available that can
detect dangerous inclusion and defects in cable insulation.
7.Conclusions.
When typical value of losses and heat transfer is taken into account, the temperature
difference across the insulation wall is typically limited to 10-15K and the maximum
conductor temperature hardly exceeds 55-65 C. A temperature which can be endured by any
thermoplastic polyethylene based materials.
Provided the properties of the insulation material are constant across the insulation wall, the
steady state field distribution can be calculated by means of empirically based formulae for
the conductivity as a function of temperature. Experimental results indicate that this
presumption is reasonably well satisfied. This turns out to be the case even under nonisothermal conditions as verified by comparison with space charge measurements of
specimens with and without a temperature gradient.
The modification of the DC stresses caused by space charge formation is moderate and can
probably be endured by insulation without harmful irregularities, even when the polarity must
be changed to reverse the direction of the power flow.

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