Partial Discharge Tests using the Cigré II method

In this paper, the results of an experimental project on insulating material aging, performed in both Denmark and Italy, are reported. This study was concerned with partial discharge (PD) behavior at temperatures between 30 and 80°C using CIGRE method II. The material tested was a commercial polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) which was chosen not for its good dielectric properties but rather because much of its discharge resistance data at ambient temperature is already well documented. A description is given of the theoretical and experimental methodology followed in this work. Mixed Weibull analysis techniques in terms of the PD amplitude and phase distribution characteristics were employed to distinguish the presence of different aging mechanisms. Such a difference was observed at 30 and at 80°C. At 30°C the analysis inferred a single discharge aging process acting until breakdown, while at 80°C the results suggested the predominance of a single PD aging mechanism for the first half of the insulation lifetime; however, for the remainder of the insulation life time, an additional degradation mechanism was evinced