• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.33-36
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• 2015

A liquid nitrogen ($LN_2$) is usually used to be a coolant and insulant for a HTS coil system. HTS wires for a superconducting apparatus may be surrounded by gaseous nitrogen ($GN_2$) due to film boiling generated by a quench or voids occurred by electrical breakdown. The increased maximum electric field intensity at $GN_2$ may result in the degradation of dielectric strength of a HTS coil system. In this paper, a study on the dielectric characteristics of a composite insulation system composed of $LN_2$ and $GN_2$ is performed. A sphere-to-plane electrode system made with stainless steel is used to perform the experiments under AC and lightning impulse voltage condition. A sphere electrode is surrounded by $GN_2$ and a plane electrode is immersed into $LN_2$ to conduct dielectric experiments with a composite insulation system. The dielectric experiments are performed according to the level of $LN_2$ from the plane electrode to a sphere electrode. It is found that the dielectric characteristics of a composite insulation system are dependent on the level of $LN_2$ and the field utilization factor of an electrode system.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2002

Occurring fire or burning bushes beneath overhead power lines have caused system disturbances in many countries. In this study, various tests in the simulated condition of power lines were conducted so as to investigate the reduction in insulation strength caused by combustion flame. Characteristics of the ac and dc flashover voltages in the vertical needle-plane, sphere-plane and rod-plane electrode system were investigated when the combustion flames were present near the high-voltage electrode. As the results of an experimental investigation, It was found that the average reduction characteristics of flashover voltages with the sphere-plane system, in comparison with the no-flames case, were about 1/3 times when the ac voltages were applied.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2000.07c
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• pp.1539-1541
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• 2000

Insulation layers in XLPE power cables may have some patterns generated in the manufacturing process. They are called 'flow patterns' and show flow history of molten polyethylene between inner and outer semiconducting layers. Flow patterns are even seen with naked human eyes and suspected to be inhomogeniety of insulation, weakening insulation performance. Investigated in this paper is electrical treeing resistance and ac breakdown strength according to flow patterns. Experiments of electrical treeing and ac breakdown strength by means of ramp tests were conducted using newly developed electrode system with point-to-plane structure and sphere-to-sphere structure, respectively. All results were analyzed with the application of statistics, showing little differences.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.61 no.10
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• pp.1471-1476
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• 2012

A study on the dielectric characteristics of the Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) is important for designing a reliable high voltage superconducting machines such as transmission superconducting fault current limiters, superconducting cables, and superconducting transformers. In this paper, dielectric experiments of the GFRP under lightning impulse voltage are conducted in liquid nitrogen($LN_2$) according to various experimental conditions such as the thicknesses of the GFRP, the diameters of electrode systems and the pressures. The dielectric characteristics of the GFRP are analyzed by using a Finite Elements Method(FEM) according to various field utilization factors. It has been reported that the electrical insulation design of the GFRP would be conducted by considering the mean electric field intensity($E_{mean}$) distributed inside the GFRP. In this study, it is found that the dielectric performance of the GFRP could be explained by not only $E_{mean}$ but also the maximum electric field intensity ($E_{max}$). Finally, the empirical formulae of the GFRP to estimate an electrical breakdown voltage at sparkover under the lightning impulse condition are deduced. It is expected that the presented experimental results in this paper are helpful to design electrically reliable high voltage superconducting machines using the GFRP as an insulation material.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.27-30
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• 2011

A sub-cooled liquid nitrogen cooling system is known as a most promising method to develop large scale superconducting apparatuses such as superconducting fault current limiters and superconducting cables [1]. Gaseous helium (GHe), gaseous nitrogen ($GN_2$) and sulfur hexafluoride ($SF_6$) are commonly used for designing an high voltage applied superconducting device as an injection gaseous medium [2, 3]. In this paper, the analysis on the dielectric characteristics of GHe, $GN_2$ and $SF_6$ are conducted by designing and manufacturing sphere-to-plane electrode systems. The AC withstand voltage experiments on the various gaseous insulation media are carried out and the results are analyzed by using finite element method (FEM) considering field utilization factors (${\xi}$). It is found that the electric field intensity at sparkover ($E_{MAX}$) of insulation media exponentially decreases according to ${\xi}$ increases. Also, the empirical expressions of the functional relations between $E_{MAX}$ and ${\xi}$ of insulation media are deduced by dielectric experiments and computational analyses. It is expected that the electrical insulation design of applied superconducting devices could be performed by using the deduced empirical formulae without dielectric experiments.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.189-194
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• 2012

Studies on the development of high voltage superconducting apparatuses, such as transmission superconducting fault current limiters (SFCLs) and superconducting cables, have been performed worldwide. In this paper, a study on the electrical insulation characteristics of electro negative gas according to various pressures and utilization factors was conducted as a part of developing a high voltage superconducting coil with a sub-cooled nitrogen cooling system. Some gases such as helium (He), nitrogen ($N_2$), and sulfur hexafluoride ($SF_6$) are considered for pressurizing the sub-cooled nitrogen cooling system of high voltage SFCLs and superconducting cables. $SF_6$ is used to pressurize and enhance the dielectric performance of a superconducting system of a sub-cooled nitrogen cooling system for superconducting cables being developed in the Republic of Korea. In this paper, dielectric experiments on AC voltage, as well as lightning impulse voltage of $SF_6$, are conducted according to various utilization factors by using several kinds of sphere-to-plane electrode systems. As results, it is known that the empirical formulae of $SF_6$, known as an electro negative gas, are derived according to various pressures and utilization factors. Also, the appropriate pressure condition for designing a high voltage superconducting coil is found from the viewpoint of dielectric performance.