Finite-element analysis for surface discharge due to interfacial polarization at the oil-nanocomposite interface

The propagation of surface discharge due to interfacial polarization was numerically analyzed at the oil-nanocomposite interface using fully coupled finite-element analysis incorporating the relative permittivity from experiments. To improve the insulation ability, a new nanodielectric insulating material has been proposed in which a pressboard is coated with epoxy resin mixed with silica nanoparticles; this nanocomposite material can enhance the breakdown voltage in power systems with a certain level of silica nanoparticles. To specify the electric breakdown performance of this nanocomposite material, we measured the bulk relative permittivity of epoxy resin containing different percentages of silica nanoparticles on the pressboard. Surface discharge, or creepage discharge, tends to propagate along the solid-liquid interface and then leads to flashover. The mechanism of surface discharge, therefore, is a critical issue for understanding the dielectric breakdown strength in solid-liquid interface problems. To quantitatively analyze and explain the characteristics of surface discharge, here, the fully coupled finite-element analysis technique has been applied and tested with various relative permittivity values of nanocomposite materials. This phenomenon has been simulated using the fully coupled governing equations using Poisson's equation for electric field and charge continuity equations, including surface charge accumulation for charge transport. After verification of our numerical setup in a conventional oil-pressboard system, a needle-bar electrode system was proposed and applied to the analysis of surface discharge propagation for the new nanocomposite materials with bulk dielectric permittivity. The propagation speed at the oil-nanocomposite interface was compared with different percentages of nanosilica. Finally, the physical mechanism of surface discharge due to the interfacial polarization was analyzed with the space, bounded, and surface charge densities at the oil-nanocomposite interface based on the numerical results.