Abstract
Water tree is one of the degradation aspects of XLPE cables used for under-ground distribution or transmission lines. We have developed the loss current method using 3rd harmonic in AC loss current for cable diagnosis. Harmonic components in loss current arise as a result of the non-linear voltage-current characteristics of water trees. We confirmed that the 3rd harmonic in AC loss current had good correlation with water tree growth and break down strength. After that, we have applied this method to the actual 66kV XLPE cable lines. Up to now, the number of the application results is more than 120 lines.
In this method, it is sometimes said that the degradation signal (3rd harmonic in loss current) is affected by the 3rd harmonic in the test voltage. To indicate and solve this problem, we investigated the extent of influence by 3rd harmonic in the test voltage, and found the rule of the influence. As a result, we developed a new technique of harmonic-noise reduction in loss current method that enabled a more highly accurate diagnosis and confirmed the effectiveness of this new technique by simulations and experiments with actual cables.
