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THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WATERTREERETARDANTXLPE INSULATION

G. Matey and].D Umpleby BP Chemicals (Suisse) S.A. Presented at the ETG/CIGRE "Long term performance of high voltage insulations" ConferenceBerlin, September 9-11,1985 Presented at the technical session "Advances in mate rial technology for the electrical wire and cable industry" of the Interwire Exposition Atlanta, November 5-8 1985

Summary It is the purpose of this paper to present the development of a water tree retardant (WTR) XLPE medium and high voltage insulation compound and to compare its performance to that of XLPE from the previous generation. The new WTR XLPE compound combines the benefits of a suitable polymer modification and effective water tree retardant additive selection. Laboratory tests have demonstrated the increased resistance to water trees (vented or bow ties) as well as the compatibility with conventional semiconductive shielding material. Full size cable testing is now under way and results will be reported in due course. The new compound has been shown to process under very similar extrusion and curing conditions to the previous generation, and has been satisfactorily scaled-up to full manufacturing status. Introduction The excellent electrical and physical properties of XLPE medium and high voltage power cable construction have stimulated steady growth in recent years. Although the low density polyethylene used today is similar to that developed many years ago, a number of small but progressive modifications have been made to its physical, chemical and electrical properties in order to optimise the performance in medium and high voltage applications. However, the W&C industry has been concerned with a pol ymer degradation phenomenon which takes place under the combined effects of the electric field and humidity, known as "water treeing". Ways of minimizing or suppressing this de gradation phenomenon have been studied extensively and the following parameters reported. quality of the semiconductive shielding cleanliness of the insulation compound crosslinking in the absence of watar the use of computer for improved processing control continuous metal sheathing conductor water-tightriess

This additional protection should be provided by the insulation material itself. Water tree retardant XLPE insulation The water tree retardant XLPE insulation has been developed from two main considerations: (a) the base polymer has been modified in order to be intrinsically more resistant to water treeing de gradation than the base polymers used for convention al XLPE insulation compounds, (b) the water treeing resistance offered by this base pol ymer has been enhanced by an appropriate water treeing inhibitor (WTI). Thus the new water tree retardant insulation compound combines the benefit of pol ymer modification with an effective water tree retardant additive. Choice of WTI Additives for retarding water tree growth in peroxide crosslinkable polyethylene compounds are required to fulfil the following addition al criteria: preservation of the thermal stability of the system preservation of crosslinking characteristics preservation of ageing properties compatibility with the system before and after extrusion - controlled reactivity towards water in the pol ymer matrix - active water tree retardant hydrolysis bi-products -low toxicity. Fundamental studies carried out in our laboratories have demonstrated the effectiveness of a family of organometallic compounds as water treeing inhibitors. From these, an optimum balance of electrical and performance properties was selected for further study. Water tree growth rate determination .The Ashcraft geometry (point to plane) has been used 'to determine the water tree growth rate (WTGR) of insulation compounds (1).The test conditions differ from Ashcraft's initial conditions in that the changes allow better discrimination between compounds. A higher temperature of 65C has been used instead of room tempe rature, with the voltage applied for 72 hours instead of 24 hours (Figure J) Test voltage Test temperature Test duration Electrolyte : 5kV/6kHz : 65C : 72 hours : O.OINNaCl solution

Even so, an additional protection is still required in the case of unpredictable conditions which cou Id initiate water treeing and potentially lead to cable breakdown. 7

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ln Table 1 the water treeing XLPE insulation compound obtained by the successive modification and water tree Table l WTGR of XLPE insulation Standard XLPE Polymer modified XLPE Water tree retardant XLPE WTGR(%) 100 resistance of a standard is compared with that steps of polymer inhibitor addition.

5kV/6

25
5

It is clearly shown that the polymer modification alone results in a four fold reduction of the water tree growth rate. The addition of the water treeing inhibitor provides a further reduction, down to one twentieth of the growth rate of standard XLPE insulation. Currently, the pol ymer modified XLPE insulation compound is commercially available (2) and has been adopted mainly in Germany. Field results have confirmed the increased water tree resistance relative to standard XLPE insulation. A further variation ofthis test involving higher voltages (20kV/ 4mm) over a longer period of time have confirmed the relative performances of standard, pol ymer modified and water tree retardant XLPE compounds, as shown in Figure 2. The efficiency of the water treeing inhibitor is shown in Figure 3,where the WTGR ofunstabilized and uncrosslinked LDPE is plotted versus the WTI content.

",~,,",y
~ance ~ la Ground 3mm WATER TREE LENGTH (mm) TEST CONDITIONS: 200 kV/4 mm, 50Hz, room lemperalure

TEMPERATURE: 65C DURATION: 72 hrs

WTGR % 100

50

0.5

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Life time determination The enhanced resistance to water treeing provided by the WTI modified XLPE in the presence of ionie impurities has been determined in tests with a uniform field geometry. A two layer configuration (Figure 4) comprising semiconductive shielding and insulation compound is used, with NaCI crystals incorporated at the semiconductivelinsulation interface before crosslinking. Test voltage Test temperature : 20kV/50Hz : R.T.

SEMI CONDUCTIVE Layer

l """"","

Table II Lifetime of XLPE insulation

Ist test specimen 2nd test specimen 3rd test specimen 4th test specimen WithoutWTI 250 548 564 1312 WithWTI 1440 Continuing beyond 5000 hrs Continuing beyond 5000 hrs Continuing beyond 5000 hrs

It is clearly shown that the WTI modified compound exhibits a longer life time than the sa me formulation without the additive. The difference in bow tie generation during the initial stage of this test is illustrated in Figure 5. Compatibility with semiconductive shields It is, of course, very important to verify that this insulation compound, containing WTI will not affect the electrical properties of the adjacent semiconductive shield. For this purpose, the volume resistivity of standard XLPE semiconductive shield was monitored in a sandwich construction where insulation and semiconductive layers had been crosslinked together (l'able III). Table III Stability of volume resistivity (n.cm) of the semiconductive shield after ageing at 900e in contact with water tree retardant XLPE
WITHOUTWTI

co
0..1 (\2 (\3
(\4 ~~

co
QI (\2 _ (\3
Q4

(\5 0.6 Q7

-_ - ~

Q5 0.6 0.7

WITHWTI

Initial 360 hrs 670 hrs 1370 hrs

25 25 25 26

This demonstrates that the volume resistivity of the semiconductive shield remains unaffected by close contact with the water tree retardant XLPE. Migration of the WTI Since potential additive migration in XLPE is an important consideration, WTI containing compound was brought into close contact with successive layers ofthin LDPE films, the assembly being clamped together and maintained at 80C for 24 hours. After 24 hours the concentration of WTI in each successive film layer was determined, as shown in Figure 6. This indicates that, within the accuracy of the test, there is no significant miration ofthe'water treeing inhibitor. This result is in complete agreement with the fact that the volume resistivity of a semiconductive shielding compound, brought into close contact with the insulation compound for more than 1000 hr remains unaltered.
1000

---

DIFFUSION (ppm) aher 24 hrs al 80"C

__
_e e

e __ 600 800 DISTANCE (microns)

200

400

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Product Manufacture Through a series of production process trials it has been demonstrated that the new product can be reproducibly manufactured in full commercial process. No deterioration of the earlier established quality parameters, particularly crosslinking characteristics and stringent cleanliness level, has been observed, Additional quality controls have been placed upon the chemical purity of the WTI and its content and dispersion within the pol ymer matrix. Performance Properties The extrusion properties of the water tree retardant compound have been determined un der the following conditions: - General Engineering extruder -XLPEscrew - Standard tempe rature profile l50mm, 20 L/D
50
OUTPUT (Kg/h) ISO

The output versus screw speed, as shown in Figure 7, clearly indicates that the extrudability of the WTR compound is comparable to that of standard XLPE compounds. ln this paper, only laboratory test results have been presented. Full sized l2/20kV cables are now undergoing a CIGRE type long term test. Results will be reported in due course, Conclusion A new generation XLPE insulation compound with enhanced water treeing restistance is now available, to replace currently commercial cornpounds, This new generation XLPE combines the benefits of an improved pol ymer modification with an effective water tree inhibitor. The predictable advantages lie in increased cable reliability and potential avoidance of an outer metallic moisture barrier in future cable design, References (1)AG Ashcraft: "Water treeing in Polymerie Dielectrics" World Electrical Congress in Moscow June 22nd, 1977, (2)A, Campus: "Improvements iri performance of XL medium and high voltage cable applications", Wire 84 Technical Conference June 21st, 1984, Acknowlegements: The authors wish to thank Dr, W. Golz (AEG Research) for providing electrical testing results

General Engineering Extruder XCLPE screw Standard temperature profile

ISO mm, 20D

10

20

RPM

10