Still Going Strong: New Study Highlights Field Performance of Vintage TR-

XLPE Cable
Electricity Today
Submitted January 27, 2004
By R. Reed and S. Ramachandran

A recent U.S. study on the field performance of early generation tree retardant
crosslinked polyethylene (TR-XLPE) medium voltage (MV) power cables has provided
some critical insights for utilities across North America, particularly those assessing
underground distribution strategies for the first half of the 21st century.

In 1983, Dow Wire & Cable introduced HFDA-4202 NT EC as the first commercial TR-
XLPE insulation specifically designed to retard water-tree growth while retaining the
excellent electrical and physical properties of XLPE. Over the last 20 years, HFDA-4202
NT EC and the more recently introduced HFDB-4202 NT EC have become the leading
MV cable insulation in the USA and Canada. Utilities began installing TR-XLPE in the
mid-1980s expecting improved performance based on increased reliability and greater
longevity than standard XLPE cables or cables insulated with ethylene propylene rubber
(EPR). TR-XLPE is designed to resist water trees, which can be a significant cause of
cable insulation degradation and affect the overall performance of the cable.

Despite the dominance of TR-XLPE in North America, very few comprehensive field-
aging studies have been conducted on the performance of vintage TR-XLPE. This lends
additional significance to a study by Alabama Power on 17-year-old TR-XLPE cable,
insulated with Dow Wire & Cables HFDA-4202 NT EC TR power cable insulation
compound. Seeking to evaluate the cable and assess its projected service life, while
also comparing it to similarly aged EPR cable, Alabama Power removed about 1,200
feet of 35 kV TR-XLPE cable from a system serving The Galleria Mall in Birmingham,
Alabama. The cable was then delivered to engineers at the Georgia Tech National
Electric Energy Testing and Research & Application Center (NEETRAC) in Atlanta for
extensive performance testing.

The range of tests performed on the TR-XLPE and EPR cables included treeing
analysis, TR additive analysis, moisture analysis, stripping tension, dissipation factor,
impulse breakdown, and AC breakdown.
Treeing Analysis
Tests were conducted to measure the extent of tree growth in both cable types. After 17
years of field operation, the cable insulated with HFDA-4202 NT EC came out favorably,
with the longest bowtie trees detected being only 12 mils in length compared to trees of
26 mils for the EPR cable. Similarly, while there were no vented trees longer than 10
mils for the TR-XLPE cable, the EPR cable had a vented tree of 42 mils. These tests
validated the TR characteristics of the HFDA-4202 NT EC compound manufactured by
Dow Wire & Cable.

TR Additive Analysis
The uniformity of the TR additive in the base polymer was measured across the
thickness of the cable insulation. Tests showed that the TR additive was indeed uniform
across the insulation thickness and within the expected range for comparable new cable.
This analysis demonstrated that the additive did not migrate out of the insulation or have
non-uniform concentration during the 17 years that the cable was underground.
Moisture Analysis
Tests were conducted to determine the cables moisture content. Average values for the
two cable types showed significantly greater moisture content for the EPR cable, a result
that was expected due to the filler used in the EPR compound.

Stripping Tension
Problems for cables occur when adhesion between insulation and the insulation shield
fails, leading to the development of voids between the two layers and the increased
likelihood of partial discharges. Tests on the two cable types showed that stripping
tension for both was comparable to new cable.

Dissipation Factor
The dissipation factor is a measure of electrical losses through dielectric instability in
insulation compounds. The cable types were measured for losses at applied voltages of
20, 40, and 50 kV over a temperature range of ambient to 90C (194F). At each
temperature the cable insulated with HFDA-4202 NT EC showed a dissipation factor of
less than 0.1%, compared to the EPR cable which showed a dissipation factor of 0.4%
at ambient temperature rising to over 0.7% at 90C.

Impulse Breakdown
MV cable must be able to withstand impulses from a lightning strike so it cannot exhibit
marginal impulse breakdown characteristics. A cable damaged by lightning would have
severely reduced longevity. In the Alabama Power study, when five TR-XLPE and EPR
cable samples were subjected to The Association of Edison Illuminating Companies
impulse test, the samples of cable made with HFDA-4202 NT EC showed higher impulse
strength than did the EPR samples.

AC Breakdown
Five TR-XLPE and EPR cable samples were also tested for AC breakdown using five-
minute time steps. These tests showed that the TR-XLPE samples had a higher AC
breakdown strength than the EPR samples. This is a significant finding, in that after 17
years of continuous field operation the cable made with HFDA-4202 NT EC had very
high electrical strength, attesting to its expected long life.

The Big Picture

After nearly 20 years of field service for Alabama Power, the TR-XLPE cables
constructed with HFDA-4202 NT EC insulation compound manufactured by Dow Wire &
Cable were found to be still providing excellent field performance. They showed
essentially no loss in dielectric strength, no bowtie trees larger than 12 mils, and no
vented trees larger than 10 mils. The TR additive level was maintained uniformly across
the insulation thickness and the cables showed a stripping tension similar to that of fresh
cable. This study should give utilities the confidence to expect a service life that could
potentially be greater than 40 years for TR-XLPE cable made with insulation compounds
manufactured by Dow Wire & Cable.

The Next Generation

The footnote to the Alabama Power study is that Dow Wire & Cable introduced a next-
generation insulation material for TR-XLPE cables called HFDB-4202 NT EC in 1998.
Offering all the benefits of its predecessor (HFDA-4202 NT EC), including its excellent
dielectric properties, HFDB-4202 NT EC is formulated to minimize water tree growth and
provides significant new performance advantages over other XLPE and TR-XLPE
alternatives. Given the outcome of the Alabama Power tests, HFDB-4202 NT EC is
arguably poised to become the market standard insulation compound for enhancing
cable life in the 21st century, even in the most challenging environments.

About the Authors:

R. Reed is end-use marketing manager, and S. Ramachandran is senior program manager at
Dow Wire & Cable, a global market-facing business unit of The Dow Chemical Company.

Form Number: 310-11901 01/04