Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Transient Overvoltages on XLPE-insulated HVDC Cables

HVDC cables are subject to several types of impulses superimposed on the rated DC voltage during their service lifetime. Temporary Overvoltages (TOVs) and Superimposed Switching impulses (SSIs) are considered some of the most challenging due to the relatively long impulse duration. This paper aims at investigating experimentally the effect of TOVs and SSIs on XLPE insulation for extruded HVDC cables. 0.15-mm-thick DC-XLPE specimens, aged by applying TOVs and SSIs, are characterized using dielectric analyzer and Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy (FTIR) to detect the aging effects on the insulation. Results show an increase in the imaginary part of permittivity, ε", accompanied with the appearance of additional dipolar polarization losses peaks. The amplitude and frequency of the aforementioned peaks vary with the amplitude and the number of applied TOVs and SSIs. An increase in electrical conductivity is also noticed with aging. FTIR results show absorbance peaks in the aged specimens likely due to the intramolecular bonds rupture accompanied with the formation of aging products. In summary, SSIs and TOVs cause a noticeable reduction of insulating properties in XLPE specimens. The higher the peak of the transient, the greater the aging effect.