Electrical field distribution (AC/DC)
Electrical field distribution at epoxy resin/air interfaces under direct current
The demands on power supply systems are constantly growing. This is due in part to the increasing distances between renewable energy systems and consumers, and also to further technical advances in energy conversion. High-voltage direct current (HVDC) gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) and gas-insulated lines (GIL) offer tremendous development potential for achieving compact, low-loss, reliable power distribution and transmission.
Encapsulated systems for HVDC
While gas-insulated systems for use under alternating current have been state of the art for several decades, developing encapsulated systems for HVDC is extremely challenging. From an electrical standpoint, the design and chemical composition of the installed post insulators and insulating partitions are key to this new generation of systems.For applications under alternating current, the electrical field is distributed as a function of the relative permittivity of the dielectric material. Under HVDC, the orientation of the field lines depends on the electrical conductivity of the inert gas, the volume of insulation material, and the material’s surface. Controlled by the direction of these field lines, the electrical charge carriers flow and can accumulate on the insulation surface. The local accumulation of charge carriers and the temporal characteristics of charge buildup and decay depend on various physical effects that form the basis for the latest numerical simulations.
