TanDelta Diagnostics - Guidelines V4 03.2013

BAUR TD diagnostics guidelines
Based on Frida TD, Viola TD and

PHG 70 / 80 TD
VLF cable diagnostic with the dissipation factor measuring system

®
Diagnosis using dissipation factor measurement with VLF truesinus voltage
provides differentiated information on the ageing of PE/XLPE cables. A
differentiation is made between new, slightly and heavily water-tree damaged
cables. In this way the urgency of cable replacement can be determined.
The combination of the programmable test generators Frida, Viola, PHG 70 or PHG
80 with the BAUR dissipation factor measurement system results in the cable test
and diagnostic systems FridaTD, ViolaTD and PHG TD. The systems are operated
via control panel or PC controller. In the menu Dissipation Factor Measurement,
diagnostic sequences can be programmed.
The dissipation factor values are measured at different voltage levels and then
they are evaluated.
All important cable data can be stored, so that step-by-step a cable database is created which enables an evaluation of
the diagnostic results on the basis of the historical values of a cable system.
In the TD main menu all essential data are summarised:

Additionally to the actual voltage, the following values are indicated:
- capacitive load - actual voltage and current value
- actual dissipation factor value - dissipation factor mean value
- leakage current - stability / Std. Deviation
BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

Raiffeisenstrasse 8, 6832-Sulz/Austria www.baur.at F +435522/4941-3 1/19
The leakage current display in µA serves as a check of the range of parasitic currents (e.g. over the surface of cable
terminations) which are excluded from the dissipation factor measurement.
The most important advantages

- Menu guided control surface (MS Windows)
- Automatic diagnostic
- Sequences according to individual programming
- Possibility of the definition of breaking off criteria in case of exceeding limitation values
- Measurement of surface currents
- Numeric and graphics display of the measured dissipation factor values as a function of the voltage
- High reliability for assessment on water tree aged cables with low residual rigidity
- Large dynamic range of the measurement parameters
- Intensity to interference
- Short time for assessment (3-phase cable approx. 1 hour)
- Diagnostic parameters are independent from cable length
- No limitation due to the length of the connection cable, therefore suitable for problematic connection situation
(e.g. pole stations)
- Option: measuring range extension for small loads to a minimum of 500 pF possible for PHG70TD and PHG80TD
Technical Features for TD

Voltage range: Load range > 10 nF (500 pF, option)
-3 -3
frida TD 1- 24 kVrms truesinus® Measuring range 0,1x10 … 1000x10
-5
viola TD 1- 42.5kVrms truesinus® Resolution 1x10
PHG70 TD 1- 38 kVrms truesinus® Accuracy + 1 % measuring value
-4
PHG 80 TD 1- 57 kVrms truesinus® +1x10
Control panel for FridaTD and ViolaTD
Industrial PC (PHG) BAUR IPC, Pentium, MS
Windows Multilingual
Display 15.1“TFT
General:
Water trees
The experience gained over the past years has shown that water-
treeing is the major factor that determines the durability, especially Detection of
of first-generation plastic insulated cables. While installation and Water Treeing
mounting errors tend to be locally repairable, water-treeing occurs
in areas where extension of the equipment life can only be achieved
through the replacement of sections or through chemical
refurbishment.
Water-treeing is an effect to the physical background which has not
yet been fully explained despite various theories. Basically, water
trees are channel-shaped structures which develop in the form of
minute trees in the insulating material as a result of moisture and
electrical fields emanating from defects. The electrical conditions
prevalent in these water-trees, which are invisible to the naked eye,
differ from those in the healthy surrounding insulating material and
this feature can be utilised for their measurement. The development of water-trees takes place over some years.
Water-trees can occur continuously in a cable without reducing its functional capacity. The critical phase begins when
the PD-inception field strength at the tips of a water-tree is exceeded. Water-trees can be determined by the TanDelta
measurement, as they are influencing the leakage current along the cable. As they are not accompanied by partial
discharges, water trees cannot be located like partial discharges.

Electrical treeing is a process which, unlike water-treeing, takes place only in areas of high field strength. It occurs
very quickly, and is followed by a series of partial discharges. The resulting hollow channel-shaped structures are
however visible to the naked eye. The final breakdown of the insulation path under the influence of electrical trees is
sometimes just a question of minutes or hours.
Unlike water-treeing, electrical treeing can be detected by PD measurement.

Since long water-trees in the insulating material are likely to pave the way for future electrical trees, they can also be
used to measure the ageing condition of a plastic insulated cable. A method of diagnostic which does not give just a
"go/no-go" appraisal, but which also evaluates the overall condition of the cable insulation, must produce a
measurement value which will correlate very well with the "concentration" of long water-trees. Even though this
"insight" into the cable insulation can only give an integrated result, significant similarities can be detected in most
cases between the results of the measurements and the actual state of the cable using appropriate methods of
diagnostics.
The higher the dissipation factor of the insulation, the lower is dielectric strength.
TanDelta measurement:
During diagnosis the measuring voltage supplied by the VLF generator is
derived from a resistive voltage divider and current from the specimen
under test via a standard capacitor. The dissipation angle and the
dissipation factor are calculated with the help of Fourier analysis and
subsequent evaluation of the fundamental waveforms of both
measurement signals.
Since dissipation factor measurement on installed cables must be carried
out with the test specimen earthed, all the leakage currents between the
high voltage and earthed parts would form part of the measured value.
An additional shielding connection VSE has therefore been introduced to
intercept all leakage currents from supply lines, surface leakage and
insulation spacing in the test object. The VSE is maintained at earth
potential artificially and ensures that this leakage current at the surface of the terminations bypasses the capacitive
current of the measurement.
The following conditions are essential for the measurement:

- no corona discharge at terminations of the test and measuring set-up
- suppression of the surface current on terminations and the insulation leakage current of the connecting cable

Connection of the HV lead to the termination:
Appropriate corona shields/hoods are used to eliminate the effects of corona. These corona shields are attached to
the cable lug on the terminations.
Up to approx. 25kV rms Above approx.. 25kVrms
Connection diagram:
PHG80
DU80
FridaTD near end, GR at Far end, GR at L1, Return via L2

L1, Return via L2

o The guard-rings have to be mounted very tight at the bottom of the termination. The most important point is
that the guard-ring does never touch the ground!
o Another phase is used to pass the leakage current of termination at the far end to the VSE box.
Connection of the VSE – box and guard rings
o Surface current on both terminations is tapped by guard-rings

to VSE (virtual safety earth).
o The collected surface current at the VSE point is leaded to the

test set via the screen of the high voltage connection cable (PHG70/80TD)
or directly via the yellow return lead and deducted from the total leakage
current. The leakage current of the test lead itself is also added to this
current. The remaining current measured is the total leakage current of the
cable under test without the influence of the termination.
o In order to eliminate the effect of the high

voltage connection cable to the test specimen, the
insulation leakage current of the test lead cable is
channelled to VSE ITL.
TD Current: ITD = IR+ IC+ITL+IT1+IT2 - ITL+IT1+IT2 = IR+ IC

ITL… test lead leakage
IT1… surface leakage current termination 1 (near end)
IT2… surface leakage current termination 2 (far end)
ITL
IR +IC+ ITL+IT1+IT2 I T2
I T1
I T2
ITL+IT1+IT2
IT1+IT2

Cleaning of the termination reduces the surface current
- Very clean terminations may not require the guard-ring application.
(if leakage current can be eliminated)
Direct connection without guard-ring at a cut

cable on site
Influence of semi- conductive

termination materials
Elbow termination in SF6 insulated RMU (Ring

main units)
The influence of semi conductive surface material

of the termination does no more allow keeping the
mounted guard-ring insulated from ground. Any
time the guard ring and therefore the VSE point is
no more 100% insulated from ground. Disturbance
currents coming from the earth are flowing to the
VSE point. Therefore the current value that is
deducted from the generator current is much too
high. In the worst case, this influence can cause
high negative TD values (e.g. -200 x 10E-3).

Therefore, on semi-conductive surface arrangements, the guard-ring may not be connected. For FridaTD and ViolaTD,
the VSE box may simply not be connected at all. For PHG TD systems, the guard ring has to be kept wound up as
shown in the picture. Take care that it is also not touching the ground.
Negative TD values are an indication that the VSE is touching earth somewhere.
In the worst case, the Elbow termination has to be removed completely. Comparison measurements of different
arrangements allow finding the most suitable solution regarding easy and uncomplicated connection.

Influence of surge arrestors:
Depending on the detailed characteristic on getting conductive at overvoltage, the leakage

current along the arrestor is different. Only if the surge arrestor is disconnected completely,
it is guarantied that no leakage currents influencing the TD value can flow.
A comparison test of the two arrangements (with connected surge arrestor and with
disconnected surge arrestor) will give the clear answer on the requirement to disconnect it.
TD Evaluation – important parameters

1. Absolute TD Value
Acc. To IEEE 400.2-2001 … up to 2 x Uo

Acc. to Neetrac, IEEE400.2 D12
for service aged cables ... up to 1,5 x Uo
Cables actually are still in good condition,

do not have to be replaced:
tan d (2 Uo) < 1.2 ‰
Cables with high operating risk:
TD graph: Cable in good condition, <1.2 E-3, at 2.0Uo, acc. to IEEE 400.2
tan d (2 Uo) > 2.2 ‰
2. Delta Tan Delta DTD
DTD (Delta TD)

[2 Uo] – [Uo] …. Defined in IEEE
Indication of
=> PD activity or Water trees
Cables actually are still in good condition:

[tan d (2 Uo) - tan d (Uo)] < 0,6 ‰
Cables with high operating risk
[tan d (2 Uo) - tan d (Uo)] > 1,0 ‰ TD graph: Cable with high operating risk, DTD (2Uo-Uo) > 1.0 E-3, at
acc. to IEEE 400.2
Reference: EWE, acc. to IEEE 400.2
3. Phase comparison
Comparison of L1, L2, L3

same condition in all phases
=> same TD graph

4. Stability – Standard Deviation
Definition of Standard Deviation

The standard deviation is defined as the
average amount by which scores in a
distribution differ from the mean, ignoring
the sign of the difference.
The TD Standard Deviation established to be a very useful

figure in analyses of the reason for degradation.
Further, the trend direction is very important!
One example situation, where the trend is stable, can show the following information.
=> values referring to experience; Values cover only certain types of faults

5. Information of TD Details – Trend over the voltage
Upward trend 0.40 to 0.43 E-3 //2.55 to 2.94

Losses are developing
Tracking in joints
Water tree growth
Downward trend
5.27 to 3.92 E-3 // 4.26 to 3.50 E-3
Humidity, moisture vaporizing during
application of high voltage
Humidity at terminations
Moisture in Joints
TD measurement shall be repeated.
Value will stabilize when water is
vaporized.

Evaluation of Loss factor values
XLPE …acc. to IEEE400.2 – D12 draft, Neetrac …max. 1.5 x Uo
XLPE …acc. to IEEE400.2 – D12 …max. 2 x Uo
PILC and Mixed cables …. Acc. to IEEE 400.2-2011 draft, customer recommendation … max. 1.5 x Uo
PILC and Mixed cables …. Acc. to IEEE 400.2-2011 draft, customer recommendation …max. 2 x Uo

Hints and tips:
Experience shows, that cable termination connected to SF6 insulated RMU´s (Ring Main Unit) can
be treated very simple. Proper cleaning is sufficient. No guard rings required.
Time between the points of switching the circuit off until the beginning of the measurement may
influence, if accessories are subject to water ingress during the switch-off time. Negative TD
tendency may be recognized during the beginning stage where the water is vaporising. The TD
measurement in such a case has to be repeated straight away.
Joints (where, how many, what type, wet conditions…)
Ground where the cable was laid in (water, sand, chemicals, hilly, wood,…)
History (construction work near cable, changes of cable parts, strange behaviour in the past, TD
levels of the past, production year, manufacturer,…)
Environment in general (in industrial site like refinery, chemicals, in normal ground, areas with high
pollution, humidity…)
Power rating of cable (to the limit or well below the limit, operating hours,…)
Time between switching off the circuit and beginning of TD Diagnosis
TD levels (3 criteria, very high increase from one voltage to the other,…)
Topography

TD measurement examples:
Example no.1:
new XLPE cable

TD value very low
L1 slightly increasing TD value at 2Uo,

due to PD activity with PDIV >1,5Uo
L2/L3 stable value over the voltage
Example no.2:
service aged XLPE cable
L1 water tree degraded cable, TD

2Uo<1.2E-3
L2 water tree degraded cable,
unacceptable high ∆TD from 1,5Uo to
2Uo, influenced by PD
L3 good condition, stable TD value

over the voltage.
Example no.3:
PILC cable
Very good condition, TD value of 15-

20E-3, no increase over the voltage,
no influence of PD activities

Practical field examples with indication of Key Pattern of TD Trend
XLPE in good condition Side information:

• Low TD values - No PD activities
• Low DTD - 1688m
• Low Std. Dev. - 14 joints
< 0.010 E-3 - (7943S10)
• Stable Trend behaviour
in all 3 voltage levels
XLPE with high water tree Side information:

aging - No PD activities
• Increasing TD values - 933m
• High DTD - 15 joints
• Increased Std. Dev. - Water tree prone cable
< 0.500 E-3 section (90%)
• Increasing Trend - (3814S03)
behaviour with higher
voltage
XLPE with PD in Joint
• Increasing TD values Side information:
• Moderate DTD - PD activities up to
• Low Std. Dev. 3000pC
< 0.080 E-3 - 102m
• Rather stable Trend - 2 joints
behaviour in all 3 - New XLPE
voltage levels - (4579S11)

XLPE with joint with minor
water ingress, tracking in Side information:
joint - PD activities up to
• High TD values 300pC only
• Very high DTD - 186m
• High Std. Dev. - 2 joints
> 0.500 to 5.0 E-3 - (12070S07)
• Decreasing Trend
behaviour in the higher
voltage levels possible
Side information:
PILC cable without PD
- PD activities up to
• low TD values (~30 E-3)
1000pC in one joint
• very low DTD - 1681m
• low Std. Dev. - 12 joints
< 0.120 E-3 - (SS10850)
• stable Trend behaviour
in all voltage levels

PILC cable with PD activities
• TD values (~30 E-3) Side information:
• very low DTD - PD activities in PILC
• low Std. Dev. section up to 1000pC
< 0.120 E-3 - 481m
• rather stable Trend - 11 joints
behaviour in all voltage - (1426S08)
levels
• only slight tip up at 1.5Uo

PILC cable with
tracking in a joint, Side information:
with minor PD - PD activities in PILC
activities section up to 400pC
• Increasing TD - 195m (mixed cable, 30%
values > 70 E-3 PILC AP)
• Very high DTD - 2 joints
• High Std. Dev. - (4892S12)
>0.500 E-3
• increasing Trend
behaviour in the
higher voltage

Highly aged PILC cable Side information:
with minor PD - PD activities in PILC
activities section up to 300pC
• Moderate to high - 557m (mixed cable, 30%
TD values > 70 E-3 PILC AP)
• decreasing DTD - 2 joints
• high Std. Dev. - (5525S04)
>0.500 E-3
• increasing Trend at
low voltage level,
stable
and/decreasing
Trend at higher
voltage level
Summary:
TD analysis is a complex topic. Analysis need to combine different point of views:
- 1. Absolute TD value
- 2. Delta Tan Delta DTD
- 3. Phase Comparison
- 4. Analysis Stability at each voltage level
- 5. Analysis of Trend behaviour at each voltage level
Combinations of differently influencing components are very common. TD patterns represent the sum of
all influencing components.


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BAUR TD diagnostics guidelines

Based on Frida TD, Viola TD and

VLF cable diagnostic with the dissipation factor measuring system

In the TD main menu all essential data are summarised:

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

The most important advantages

Technical Features for TD

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

Unlike water-treeing, electrical treeing can be detected by PD measurement.

The following conditions are essential for the measurement:

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

Up to approx. 25kV rms Above approx.. 25kVrms

FridaTD near end, GR at Far end, GR at L1, Return via L2

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

Connection of the VSE – box and guard rings

o Surface current on both terminations is tapped by guard-rings

o The collected surface current at the VSE point is leaded to the

o In order to eliminate the effect of the high

TD Current: ITD = IR+ IC+ITL+IT1+IT2 - ITL+IT1+IT2 = IR+ IC

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

Direct connection without guard-ring at a cut

Influence of semi- conductive

Elbow termination in SF6 insulated RMU (Ring

The influence of semi conductive surface material

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

Depending on the detailed characteristic on getting conductive at overvoltage, the leakage

TD Evaluation – important parameters

Acc. To IEEE 400.2-2001 … up to 2 x Uo

Cables actually are still in good condition,

2. Delta Tan Delta DTD

DTD (Delta TD)

Cables actually are still in good condition:

Comparison of L1, L2, L3

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

Definition of Standard Deviation

The TD Standard Deviation established to be a very useful

Further, the trend direction is very important!

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

Upward trend 0.40 to 0.43 E-3 //2.55 to 2.94

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

XLPE …acc. to IEEE400.2 – D12 draft, Neetrac …max. 1.5 x Uo

XLPE …acc. to IEEE400.2 – D12 …max. 2 x Uo

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

new XLPE cable

L1 slightly increasing TD value at 2Uo,

L2/L3 stable value over the voltage

service aged XLPE cable

L1 water tree degraded cable, TD

L3 good condition, stable TD value

Very good condition, TD value of 15-

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

XLPE in good condition Side information:

XLPE with high water tree Side information:

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4

BAUR Pruef- und Messtechnik GmbH [email protected] T +435522/4941-0 03/2013 TN Vers. 4