• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.82-88
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• 2014

This paper presents the results of model tests for the attachment process of lightning leader to ground which is one of poorly understood processes of cloud-to-ground lightning discharges. In order to simulate the attachment process of lightning leader to ground, we investigated the discharge characteristics of air gap between the tip of needle-shaped electrode and the soil surface as a parameter of moisture content in soils when the positive and negative $1.2/50{\mu}s$ lightning impulse voltages are applied. The breakdown voltage and the discharge light were observed. As a result, the attachment processes of lightning leader to ground are strongly dependent on the grain size and the moisture content of soils. The time to breakdown was shortened with increasing the magnitude of incident impulse voltages. The delay time from application of the highest voltage to breakdown in sand is shortened with increasing the moisture content. The delay time from application of the voltage to breakdown in gravel varied from about $0.5{\mu}s$ to several ${\mu}s$. As the moisture content in soil increases, the breakdown voltages are decreased and the breakdown voltage versus time to breakdown curves are shifted toward the lower side. The results obtained in this work are similar to those for non-uniform air gap stressed by lightning impulse voltages.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.397-401
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• 2011

The response of lightning impulse voltage was explored in dielectric liquids employing hydrodynamic modeling with three charge carriers using the finite element method. To understand the physical behavior of discharge phenomena in dielectric liquids, the response of step voltage has been extensively studied recently using numerical techniques. That of lightning impulse voltage, however, has rarely been investigated in technical literature. Therefore, in this paper, we tested impulse response with a tip-sphere electrode which is explained in IEC standard #60897 in detail. Electric field-dependent molecular ionization is a common term for the breakdown process, so two ionization factors were tested and compared for selecting a suitable coefficient with the lightning impulse voltage. To stabilize our numerical setup, the artificial diffusion technique was adopted, and finer mesh segmentation was generated along with the axial axis. We found that the velocity from the numerical result agrees with that from the experimental result on lightning impulse breakdown testing in the literature.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1994.11a
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• pp.284-286
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• 1994

This paper describes the dielectric characteristics of $SF_6$ gas in non-uniform electric filed under lightning under lightning impulse and oscillating impulse voltages. The breakdown voltage-time characteristics and the breakdown voltage-pressure characteristics are measured over a pressure range extending from 0.1 to 0.5 [MPa] fur the coaxial electrode with a needle protrusion. The curvature radius of needle protrusion is 0.3[mm]. Also, the growth of the predischarge is simultaneously observed. As a result the polarity effect is pronounced, and the breakdowns voltage under the oscillating impulse voltage are higher than those under the lightning impulse voltage. It is found that the breakdown mechanism md predischarge phenomena ate closely related with the polarity and waveforms of the testing voltage.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.456-465
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• 2001

In this paper, breakdown voltages in $SF_6-N_2$ mixtures were experimentally investigated to understand characteristics of dielectric strength and physical phenomena in nonuniform field disturbed by a needle shape protrusion. The test voltages are the lightning impulse$(\pm1.2/44 \mus)$ and the damped oscillatory impulse$(\pm400 ns / 0.83 MHz)$ voltages which can be occurred by the operation of disconnecting switches in gas-insulated switchgears(GIS). The effects of the polarity and wave shape of the test voltages, and the gas pressure on the V-t characteristics were in detail examined. The V-t characteristic curves were measured in different two ways : (1) one is the method by taking the maximum voltage recorded at or prior to breakdown against the time to breakdown, that is, the Procedures recommended in IEC 60060-1, (2) the other is the method by taking the voltage at the instant of chopping against the time to breakdown. As a result, the V-t characteristics of $SF_6-N_2$ mixtures in nonuniform electric field were significantly affected by the polarity and wave shape of the applied voltages. The positive breakdown voltages resulted in lower breakdown voltages in the time ranges considered, and the V-t curves for the negative oscillatory impulse voltage were extended over the longer time range. For the lightning impulse voltages, the V-t curves obtained by IEC Pub. 60060-1 were nearly same with the V-t curves obtained by the voltage at the instant of chopping against the time to breakdown. It is clear that the actual breakdown voltages were much lower than the maximum voltages appearing at or prior to breakdown because of the displacement current produced as a result of the dV/dt during the oscillatory transient voltage app1ication. The scattering of the negative actual breakdown voltages was much larger than that of the positive.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.1005-1010
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• 2011

The accidents caused by dielectric instability have been increasing in power grid. It is important to enhance the dielectric reliability of a high voltage apparatus to reduce the damage from electrical hazards. To develop an electrically reliable high voltage apparatus, the experimental study on the electrical breakdown field strength is indispensable, as well as theoretical approach. In this paper, the lightning impulse breakdown characteristics considering utilization factors are studied for the establishment of insulation design criteria of an high voltage apparatus. The utilization factors are represented as the ratio of mean electric field to maximum electric field. Dielectric experiments are performed by using several kinds of sphere-plane electrode systems made of stainless steel. As a result, it is found that dielectric characteristics are affected by not only maximum electric field intensity but also utilization factors of electrode systems. The results are expected to be applicable to designing the air-insulated high voltage apparatuses.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2001.07c
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• pp.1549-1551
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• 2001

Cyclic aging for 14 days is performed to remove a large amount of the volatiles found in freshly manufactured cable. In this paper, we examined lightning impulse characteristics of 22.9 kV CV power cable before and after cyclic aging for 14days. As the result, the breakdown voltage after aging under normal temperature was lower than that before aging, and the breakdown voltage after aging under hot temperature was lower than that before aging. We found that the dispersion of lightning impulse breakdown voltage before 14 cyclic aging test were reduced rather than those after 14 cyclic aging test.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.184-191
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• 2016

In recent years, there are a number of studies that have been carried out to explore the alternative for Mineral Oil (MO) as dielectric insulating fluid in transformers due to the increasing tight regulation on safety and environment. Vegetable oils have been identified as suitable candidate since it is biodegradable, non-toxic and high flash/fire points which ensure more in-service safety. Among the types of vegetable oils considered for transformers application are Palm Oil (PO) and Coconut Oil (CO). This paper presents an experimental study on the lightning breakdown voltages of PO and CO under non-uniform electric field based on needle-sphere electrodes configuration at 3 small gap distances. The type of PO used in this study is Refined Bleached and Deodorized Palm Oil (RBDPO) Olein. The main focus of this study is to examine the lightning breakdown performance of RBDPO and CO under different test conditions and assess its suitability as dielectric insulating fluid in transformers. The effect of voltage polarities (positive and negative) and testing methods (rising-voltage, up-and-down and multiple-voltage) were investigated. The data obtained from all tests were analysed by Weibull distribution in order to determine the withstand voltages for each type of oils. It was found that the breakdown voltages of RBDPO and CO are comparable with MO under positive lightning impulse. Under negative lightning impulse, the breakdown voltage of MO is slightly higher than RBDPO and CO. There is no significant effect of testing methods and voltage polarities on lightning breakdown voltages of RBDPO and CO. Based on the statistical analysis, it is found that the breakdown voltages of RBDPO and CO at 1% probability are slightly lower than MO.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2007.07a
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• pp.1455-1456
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• 2007

This paper presents the experimental results on impulse breakdown characteristics under a highly non-uniform electric field in $SF_{6}/N_{2}$ gas mixtures according to a change in temperature. Test temperature ranges from $-25^{\circ}C$ to $25^{\circ}C$. The impulse predischarge breakdown developments are investigated by the measurements of current pulse and discharge luminous events. As a result, the predischarge development mechanisms for both positive and negative polarities are same. When increasing the temperature, breakdown voltage due to lightning impulse voltage is increased in negative polarity. On the other hand, when increasing the temperature, breakdown voltage due to lightning impulse voltage is not changed in positive polarity.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.446-454
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• 2016

In this paper, we present experimental results of the soil discharge characteristics as a function of moisture content when a 1.2/50-㎲ lightning impulse voltage is applied. For this study, laboratory experiments were carried out based on factors affecting the transient behavior in soils. The electrical breakdown voltages in soils were measured for a 0-6% range of moisture content for sand and a 0 - 4% range of moisture content for gravel. A test cell with semi-spherical electrodes buried face-to-face in the middle of a cylindrical container was used. The distance separating the electrodes is 100 mm. As a result, the time-lag to breakdown in soils decreases as the amplitude of applied voltage increases. The time-lag to initiation of ionization streamer is decreased, with an increase in the moisture content. However, the formative time-lag is rarely changed. The behavior of soil discharges depend not only on the type of soil and its moisture content but also on the amplitude of the impulse voltage. When the test voltage is applied repeatedly, electrical breakdown occurs along different discrete paths, leading radially away from the injected electrode. i.e., the fact that the ionization streamers propagate in different paths from shot to shot was observed.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.142-149
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• 2010

This paper describes dielectric characteristics of $SF_6$ and dry-air gases under lightning impulse voltages in a quasi-uniform electric field. In order to simulate to a quasi-uniform electric field, electric field utilization factor of the used sphere-plane electrode is 71[%]. The gas pressure of $SF_6$ ranges from 0.1 to 0.2[MPa] and that of dry-air ranges from 0.2 to 0.6[MPa]. Electrical breakdown voltages of $SF_6$ and dry-air gases are measured and analyzed as functions of the polarity of lightning impulse voltage and gas pressure. As a result, the electrical breakdown voltage of both gases under the positive lightning impulse voltage is higher than that under the negative one. The electrical breakdown voltage in $SF_6$ is almost higher than 2.67 times compared to dry-air. The results presented in this paper can be used as a useful information to evaluate the capability of alternative insulation gases for $SF_6$ in power distribution equipment with prominent ability against lightning surge.