The Influence of Material Modification and Residues on Space Charge Accumulation in XLPE for DC Power Cable Application

Abstract

The effects of material modification and cross-linking by-products (residues) quantity on space charge accumulation and decay in XLPE have been investigated using the pulsed electro-acoustic technique. The threshold stress for space charge generation during voltage-ramping was found to show considerable variation and to depend upon the material and the amount of residue present. However, the modified XLPE material was found to exhibit a higher threshold for space charge accumulation than the reference XLPE whatever the conditions. De-gassed samples were found to exhibit the highest threshold stress, with that of the modified de-gassed XLPE accumulating no space charge at all even after 24 hours stressing at 70kV. In general heterocharge regions were formed when the residues were present and homocharge or no charge was formed when the residues were removed by degassing. Differences were also found in the space charge decay following short-circuit (volts-off), with the decay of heterocharge being rapid, whereas that of homocharge was slow. A tentative explanation is offered to explain these features