Ageing of PILC Cables

Ageing of Paper Insulated Lead-Covered
(PILC) Cables
Farhan Hameed Malik

[email protected]
Agenda:
PILC Cables
Ageing
Factors Affecting The Ageing of PILC Cables
Effects on the performance of PILC Cables due
to ageing
Monitoring of PILC Cables

Conclusion & Future Work
Discussion
Paper Insulated Lead-Covered

(PILC) Cables
Internal Structure of PILC Cables::

Conductor
Conductor Shield
Paper Insulation
Insulation Shield
Paper and Copper Tape Core Binder
Lead-Alloy Sheath
PVC Outer Jacket
Ageing
Bitter reality of universe!!!
Its the matter of time
Accumulation of changes over time
Changes = (time)
Constructional
Deficiencies
Operational
Effects
Environmental
Effects
Time
Ageing
Performance
Age
Factors Affecting The Ageing of

PILC Cables:
Environmental Effects

Moisture
Soil Thermal Resistivity
Vibrations
Electrochemical Reactions
Thermal Degradation
Excessive Conductor Current
Electrical Stress
PD and Overvoltage
Mechanical Damage
(Moisture)
The
moisture
content
of
the
atmosphere does not play a significant
role unless the protective lead sheet is
damaged mechanically
Installation
~ Tens of years
Sheath damage
(from dig up or animals)
~ Months
Moisture Penetrates
Insulation
(conductivity of insulation)
~ Weeks
Low Level PDs
Occur
(current reaches ~10 mA)
~ Days
Sporadic Arcs
(current reaches ~100 mA)
~ Days
Intermittent Arcs
~ Hours
Continuous Arcs
Failure!
(Moisture)
Current through full cable insulation with time for penetrated sheath immersed in tap water, and cores heated to 75c
The max. arc conductance is plotted against the max. Current during each successive half cycle for seq. of arcs
Soil Thermal Resistivity:

May cause inappropriate heat transfer
Temperature rise and boost up further degradation processes
(Electrochemical Reactions)
Due to high dielectric strength of cellulose it is
employed as Paper Insulation in PILC Cables
Degradation occurs due:

Hydrolysis
Oxidation
Decarboxylation
Depolymerization
Tensile Strength of Paper:
Ts = (1/Fb + 1/Fs) -1
Where, Ts is tensile strength, Fb is fiber-fiber boding strength and Fs is fiber strength
Fb increases with ageing due to cross-linking reactions
Fs decreases due to depolymerization reactions
(Electrochemical Reactions)
Wet-tensile strength after ageing EHV 5.5 mil kraft paper under 200 psig
Thermal Degradation
Paper is mostly degraded by thermal effects!
Overloading
Transient Overcurrents
Continuous Overcurernts
Inappropriate heat transfer

Soil Thermal Resistivity
Increased Heat
Overheating
Breakdown of Polymers
Deformation of Insulation
Layer
Thermal Degradation
Electrical Stress
(Partial Discharge (PD))
A discharge which doesnt bridge the electrodes
Major Causes of PD in PILC Cables:
Due to small mechanical damage of insulation
Or Insulators have voids due to manufacturing faults
Once the voids withstand voltage is exceeded, partial discharge
occurs
This produces a rapid rate of change of current
Positive ions and electrons released by the discharge collide with
the void wall causing slow erosion
PD is a symptom of insulation weakness
This phenomenon occurs in PILC Cables but is generally less destructive to them as they
exhibit a unique self-healing property due to the mobile impregnated compound
Electrical Stress
(PD , tan () and ageing)
Electrical Stress
(Overvoltage)
Any voltage level above the rated voltage

Over voltages are dangerous for the insulation material

Some are momentary whereas others are sustained
Increase the rate of PD in the insulation
Increases dielectric losses
May become the cause of complete failure of the cable
in the long run as every transient phenomenon in the
Power System leave some permanent effects
Mechanical Damage
Damage is usually attributed to activities during or after installation
Due to some accident
Other causes may be insect and rodent attack, vibration, soil
erosion etc
Most severe type of damage and may cause immediate failure of
cable
One of the major causes that support other breakdown mechanisms
which are slow (e:g PD, corrosion, moisture etc)
Vibrations:
Contraction and Expansion
Conductor & Insulation displace from their original position
May also cause some severe damage to the outer insulation
Effects on the performance of

PILC Cables due to ageing
The electrical losses are directly responsible for the
heating of the insulation & also affect the residual life of
PILC Cables:
Conductor Losses
Dielectric Losses
Additional Losses due to Harmonic Content

(Partial Discharge Online System)
Intelligence is being introduced in the cable connection itself
A self health check
Prevent outages and thereby increasing the reliability of the (smart)
grid
Have constant insight in the risk on failure of each cable connection
and thereby insight in the derived operational risks
Have better insight in the remaining life of the cable connections and
thereby determine optimal time for replacement
System can be applied to newly installed cable connection as a
method of performing a prolonged field acceptance test
Conclusion & Future Work

Ageing is a natural process and cant be stopped
completely but rate of ageing can be slowed down with
proper techniques
Damage to the insulation means the failure of PILC
Cable
Some formulation should be made for estimating ageing
rate and the remaining life span of PILC Cables by
considering all the major affecting constituents
simultaneously
Questions and Discussion
Thank You!

Ageing of PILC Cables

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Ageing of Paper Insulated Lead-Covered

Farhan Hameed Malik

Monitoring of PILC Cables

Paper Insulated Lead-Covered

Factors Affecting The Ageing of

(from dig up or animals)

(current reaches ~10 mA)

(current reaches ~100 mA)

Soil Thermal Resistivity:

Degradation occurs due:

Tensile Strength of Paper:

Inappropriate heat transfer

Any voltage level above the rated voltage

Over voltages are dangerous for the insulation material

Effects on the performance of

Monitoring of PILC Cables

Monitoring of PILC Cables

Conclusion & Future Work

Questions and Discussion

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