Streamer characteristic and breakdown in synthetic and natural ester transformer liquids with pressboard interface under lightning impulse voltage

This paper presents experimental studies on streamer and breakdown of synthetic and natural ester liquids with the presence of pressboard interface in a divergent point-plane field under lightning impulse voltage. Based on the current, light signals and streamer images, characteristics of both positive and negative streamers on pressboard surface were described, which resemble the features of streamers in open liquid gaps. Introducing pressboard in parallel does not influence the streamer stopping length and thus not weaken the oil gap breakdown voltage, under both positive and negative polarities at gap distances up to 75 mm. However, presence of parallel pressboard significantly reduces the acceleration voltage in mineral oil but seems have no influence on ester liquids under positive polarity, while it tends to accelerate the streamer velocity at larger gap distance and under higher voltage in both ester liquids and mineral oil under negative polarity. Generally, streamer on ester/pressboard interface propagates further than on mineral oil/pressboard interface at the same voltage level; both breakdown voltage and acceleration voltage on ester/pressboard interface are lower than those on mineral oil/pressboard interface at the investigated gap distances up to 75 mm. © 2011 IEEE.