Assessment of dielectric paper degradation through mechanical characterisation

Abstract

Power transformers life is limited fundamentally by the insulation paper state, which can be analysed through different techniques such as furanic compound concentration, dissolved gases, methanol concentration, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, refractive index of cellulose fibres, degree of polymerisation or tensile strength. The two last techniques provide the best way to evaluate mechanical resistance of insulation paper. This chapter describes briefly the most remarkable studies about post-mortem assessment and thermal ageing tests in which mechanical properties are some of the characteristics evaluated to determine paper degradation. This work also gathers the main relationships developed until now to relate different by-products generated during transformer operation with loss of paper mechanical properties. Finally, this chapter defines the future approaches, which could be used to study paper degradation.