Water Tree Retardant

Several countries have been using water tree-retardant, crosslinked polyethylene (TR-XLPE) as the preferred medium voltage (5-46 kV) insulation for primary distribution cables. Other countries are actively engaged in moving to this technology that has laid to rest the concerns of water tree degradation of regular cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE). With proven improved performance the Dow TR-XLPE system is suitable for Indian utilities. M.S. Chavan, Ramachandran

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Water Tree Retardant

The goal of TR-XLPE insulation is to effectively combine the excellent electrical properties (high ACBD, low dielectric losses) and toughness of XLPE with ability to prevent the growth of water trees under electrical stress, when the insulation comes in contact with moisture.

lectric utilities worldwide demand underground distribution cables with longer life to increase reliability, minimize service interruptions and lower overall lifetime costs for the distribution systems. For the past 25 years, the North American utility industry (with TR-XLPE) and Germany (with copolymer insulation), have been successful in using advanced performance XLPE insulations on wet designs for underground distribution systems. Since then, other countries such as Philippines, Newzealand, Australia, South Korea and many more have moved to using water treeretardant, crosslinked polyethylene (TR-XLPE) as the preferred medium voltage (5-46 kV) insulation for primary distribution cables. Other countries are actively engaged in moving to this technology. This technology has laid to rest the concerns of water tree degradation of regular crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE). This improved performance, has been confirmed by extensive field aging cable data. This initial article touches upon history of developments in cable manufacturing and compounds, water treeing, importance of tree retardant TR-XLPE cable performance differentiation and the value-added attributes for utilities in terms of total owning costs through the life of distribution cable systems.

cable was manufactured in 1968. The key advantage was higher rated conductor temperature of 90C and an emergency rating of up to 130C, providing higher ampacity and lower dielectric losses. As with all innovations, unforeseen problems appeared when the use became wide spread. There were growing concerns of cable failure and was traced back to the cause of water treeing in 1972. It was discovered that unprotected cable cores (no outer jacket), moisture ingression into the insulation, combined with taped semiconductive shield interface imperfections that created high electrical stress points, led to water tree initiation and growth. To resolve this problem various measures were introduced such as reduction of void sizes and moisture in the insulation by using true triple extrusion dry curing process, use of extruded semiconductive materials with drastically reduced levels of ionic species. One of the primary solutions was the development of water tree retardant (TR) XLPE insulation in 1982.

Water Treeing Phenomenon

The electrical degradation process of treeing in polymers occurs in the presence of electrical stress and moisture. This is acknowledged as a leading cause of nonmechanical insulation degradation and cable failure. The water-treeing process may be considered to occur in three phases (Figure 1): Initiation is due to uneven stress at

Historical Developments
Crosslinked polyethylene, XLPE, was invented in year 1963 and the first ever XLPE

Figure-1: Water treeing phenomenon

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Water Tree Retardant

interface and or contamination (micron level) in insulation. Growth continues in the presence of moisture (in ppm levels) under electrical stress, with the water tree growing along electrical field, contributing to lowering the electrical strength of the insulation / cable. When the water tree gets long enough, with the electrical strength of the insulation being quite low, any surge due to switching or lightening can lead to bridging, formation of electrical tree, leading to rapid cable failure.

Tree Retardant Xlpe (Tr-Xlpe) Insulation

The goal of TR-XLPE insulation is to effectively combine the excellent electrical properties (high ACBD, low dielectric losses) and toughness of XLPE with ability to prevent the growth of water trees under electrical stress, when the insulation comes in contact with moisture. Such a performance has to be established through material tests, accelerated cable (wet) aging tests and of course, ultimately, proven in the field. The propensity for water tree growth can be studied using the ASTM D6097-97 Test. This material test allows comparison of materials under controlled conditions. (Figure 4)

Enhanced Cable Performance

Over a period, moisture in the ground will slowly diffuse through the jacket or conductors (due to poor cable manufacturing or terminations process) through semiconductive screens and into the insulation. Since moisture ingress into the cable is inevitable in most installations, compound suppliers continuously work to minimize contaminants and imperfections that can serve as water tree initiation sites. The water tree retardant XLPE, TR-XLPE, was developed to resist the water tree growth. To evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts, a variety of testing protocols have been designed to rapidly screen new cable compounds,

Type of Water Trees

Vented Water Trees (Figure 2) Permanent structures that grow from semicons surface into polymeric insulations, generally continue growing and can bridge the insulation. Vented water trees can grow from either the conductor or the insulation screen into the insulation.

Figure-2: Vented Water tree

Bowtie Water Trees (Figure 3) Permanent structures that grow within the body of polymer insulation. They are generally limited in size. The term bowtie is derived from the shape of the tree.

Figure-4: Accelerated material water tree growth rate test ASTM D6097- 97

It is clear that TR-XLPE material has significantly reduced tree growth rate and the trees have a constrained geometry. The most predominant commercial TR-XLPE uses a proprietary, non-fugitive, additive in the XLPE during the compounding process that effectively renders the moisture to be non-effective in growing water trees. The effectiveness of TR-XLPE has been documented both in laboratory cable aging studies as well as historical field performance.

Figure-3: Bowtie Water tree

manufacturing and cable constructions. Accelerated Water Treeing test (AWTT) is a widely accepted test in North America. Details of the test are found in the ANSI / ICEA S-649-2004.. Typical results of one year wet aging done under accelerated conditions (water in conductors and in the aging tube, 3 times the rated voltage stress, 90C conductor temperature in air) at Wuhan High Voltage Research Institute, China are shown in Figure 5. It is evident that TR-XLPE has significantly higher ACBD (AC Breakdown Strength) over the one-

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Water Tree Retardant

year test, than XLPE, while poor quality XLPE did not meet the standard requirements, with all cables failing within 150 days of aging. from field measurements, it was possible to estimate the moisture content in PILC cables; identify the deterioration of XLPE power cables due to presence of water trees; and also identify the influence of accessories in the cable system.

Proven and Field Experience

While laboratory accelerated testing of cables provide a window to the potential performance of cables under field operation, there is no substitute for actual field evaluation. Excellent field performance can be reflected in very low non-mechanical cable failure rates as well as maintaining a high level of electrical strength over time. Review of available literature demonstrates very low failure rates for TR-XLPE. Such examples include field aging tests from Alabama Power, Wisconsin Public Service, Oncor Services and CenterPoint Energy.

Conclusion
Figure-6: Lower life cycle cost with TR-XLPE Insulation

Potential For Water Treeing in Indian MV Underground Cables

It should be noted that utilities in general do not always track their cable performance and failure statistics. While utilities are always anxious to improve their system reliability; a strong statistical database is not readily available. There have been cases of water treeing formation in the cables installed underground for the last 3-18 years, as per CPRI News APR-JUNE 2008 From the analysis of voluminous data obtained from laboratory Figure-5: WUHVRI AWTT testing data studies as well as

The Longer Life XLPE systems (TR-XLPE) allows for cost effective means to improve system reliability. TR-XLPE meets and exceeds the current IS 798 Part II requirements and allows for simpler cable systems. This system has been globally proven and in use for more than 25 years. Based on industry experience, the expected life of primary cable systems with Dow TR-XLPE is at least 40 years, thus ensuring significant value to the utility in enhanced reliability and lower life cycle costs. The enhanced performance TR-XLPE insulated cables meet the predominant global accelerated wet aging standards such as ANSI/ICEA S-94-649-2004, AEIC CS8-07, CENELEC. With the growing need for reliable electric power distribution and increasing use of underground cables, Indian utilities will be well served to adopt this enhanced performance TR-XLPE system that has a proven track record of over 25 years.

Lower Life Cycle Cost

Based on the laboratory testing and field aged cable analysis for more than 25 years it is predicated that the cables made with TR-XLPE insulation shall have the life expectancy of more than 40 years as against 20-25 years for the cable made with XLPE insulation. The Figure 6 demonstrates the typical life cycle cost comparison for the cables with XLPE & TR-XLPE insulation. There is huge saving potential for the cables manufactured with TR-XLPE insulation over the cable life cycle.

Milind S Chavan

Milind S Chavan is the End Use Marketing Leader for India, Middle East & Africa for Dow Wire & Cable. He holds Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics & Telecommunication from Amravati University and Masters of Engineering in Electronics from Government College of Engineering, Aurangabad, Maharashtra. He closely interact with power and Telecom utilities to promote the Dows new technological products & solutions to help utilities on life cycle cost reduction and enhancing the reliability & longevity of underground system. He published several papers at various conferences on Telecom & Power.

Ramachandran is the Global Director of End Use Marketing for Dow's Wire and Cable business unit. He holds undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Metallurgical Engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, MS in Materials Science and Engineering from Columbia University, New York and an MBA from SUNY, Buffalo, New York. His role and focus is to understand the critical needs and issues of cable end users such as electric utilities to help drive Dow product development and offer solutions and support. He is a Senior Member Ramachandran of IEEE, member of CIGRE and the current Chair of A 14 D, Power Cable Standards Group of the Insulated Conductors Committee of IEEE. He has been recently named a co-editor of the High Voltage Magazine of the Wuhan High Voltage Research Institute. He holds several patents and authored more than 20 papers.

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