Investigation of Dielectric Properties of Mixed

PILC and XLPE Cable Insulation by the Extended

Voltage Response Method

Gergely Márk Csányi, Zoltán Ádám Tamus

Department of Electric Power Engineering
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Budapest, Hungary
csanyi.gergely@vet.bme.hu

Abstract— Remarkable percentage of the currently operating

medium voltage cable lines are still paper insulated lead covered
(PILC) cables reaching or exceeding their lifetime expectancies.
The old cables are replaced completely or partly to cross-linked
polyethylene (XLPE) cables producing mixed PILC and XLPE
insulated cable lines. By means of the Voltage Response Method
the decay and return voltages are measured on a charged and
shorted dielectric. From the initial slopes of these voltages the
specific and the polarization conductivity can be determined, two
properties that characterize the material. Therefore by following
the change of these values the condition of the insulation can be
estimated. Previous studies have revealed that in case of EVR
measurements the XLPE sections can be replaced by their
capacitance. Measurements were carried out on PILC and XLPE
insulated cables separately and connecting them. The XLPE
insulated cables had three different lengths enabling to examine
mixed cables with different length ratio. By means of EVR
measurement method the differences of polarization processes of
different insulating materials can be investigated more precisely.
Keywords— Dielectric properties, cable insulation, voltage
response measurement, polarization processes, cable diagnostic,
PILC, XLPE, mixed cable line, extended voltage response, EVR
I. INTRODUCTION
Remarkable percentage of the currently operating medium
voltage cable lines all across Europe are still paper insulated lead
covered (PILC) cables. Since these cables have been usually
operating for decades they are reaching or exceeding their
predicted lifetime expectancies. The severely degraded parts of
old cables are replaced by cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE)
cables producing mixed PILC and XLPE insulated cable lines.
This makes the oil-paper section’s condition assessment more
difficult since e.g. if the ratio of the length of the oil paper section
is low, even if the oil-paper section is in bad condition the results
of dielectric measurements can be in the acceptable range
because of the XLPE cables [1]. Hence, in this paper connected
oil-paper and XLPE insulated cables were investigated in 1:2,
1:1 and 2:1 ratios.
The Voltage Response measurement method (VR) is a
method that was originally developed for investigation of oil-
Fig. 1. Timing diagram of Voltage Response measurement [2]
paper insulated cables. During the measurement the initial
slopes of the decay and return voltages are investigated. Fig. 1.
shows the timing diagram of the measurement. The discharge
voltage (Vd(t)) can be measured after a relatively long duration
(100…1000 sec) charging period (tch) of the insulation. On
charged insulation, the return voltage (Vr(t)) can be measured
after a few seconds of short circuiting (tdch).
The initial slope of the decay voltage (Sd) is directly
proportional to the conductivity of the insulation while the initial
slope of the return voltage (Sr) is directly proportional to the
intensity of polarization processes. Therefore, Sd has the same
information content as Ic conductive component and Sr has the
same information content as Ip polarization component of the
leakage current. Since by voltage measurement the two voltage
functions can be measured separately, hence the conductive and
the polarization processes can be examined separately [2…5].
The results of the test in case of oil-paper insulations can be
easily evaluated by plotting Sd against Sr in log-log diagram (Fig.
2.). The position of the points shows the condition of the
insulation. A shifting horizontally to the right shows an
increasing degree of thermal ageing, while a shifting vertically
upwards indicates increasing moisture content [3]. In Fig. 2.
Cable 1 represent a dry, not aged, practically new insulation.
Cable 4 is an intensively aged insulation having high moisture
content. These two figures (Sd, Sr) are successfully used on
insulations of electric power equipment and cables for condition
monitoring [2…9]. However, in this way the whole dielectric

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Fig. 2. Evaluation of Voltage Response measurement [3]
polarization spectrum of the insulating material is characterized
by only one number (Sr), whereas the distribution of elementary
polarization processes by time constant is not uniform. By
changing the charging () and discharging () times wider
ranges of the polarization spectrum can be investigated and in
this way the original voltage response method can be extended
[2, 9].
This paper introduces laboratory measurements on
connected oil-paper and XLPE insulated medium voltage cable
samples with 1:2, 1:1, 2:1 ratios. From the results of extended
voltage response (EVR) measurement the distribution of
relaxation times was calculated by iteration method. The applied
calculation method was introduced in [10, 11].
II. SAMPLES
Two different types of cable were used during the
investigation: four pieces of service aged PILC cables having
three cores and new XLPE insulated cables having one core.
Two oil-paper samples were cut out from a cable line which was
installed in 1978. After 32 years of operation a sample was
prepared from the cable for laboratory investigation. These
samples were named ‘PILC 11’ and ‘PILC 12’. The second two
samples were prepared from a line, which had been operating
for 37 years since 1973. These samples were denoted by ‘PILC
21’ and ‘PILC 22’. The cables suffered a 2840-hour-long
artificial thermal ageing at 95°C before carrying out
measurements. Each PILC specimen was two meters long. The
three XLPE specimens were prepared from N2XS(F)2Y
1x35/16mm2 12/20(24) kV medium voltage cables. Three
lengths were cut: 1, 2 and 4 meters.
III. MEASUREMENT
Extended Voltage Response measurements were carried on
one selected core of the PILC cables without and with the three
different XLPE cable connected to it. It is important to note that
the cores under measurement were connected by uninsulated
wires because otherwise the electrical parameters of that wire
insulation would have been also measured. During the
measurements 4000 s charging time was used and the slopes of
return voltages were measured after 20 different discharging
times in the 1…2000 s range. The charging voltage was 1000 V
that was connected to the measured PILC and XLPE cores, the
other PILC cores and the screens were grounded. The ambient
temperature was controlled and was 29.1 ± 0.2°C.
IV. RESULTS
A. Evaluation of Voltage Response measurement
The initial slopes of decay voltage (Sd) is plotted against the
return voltage after 1 s of discharge (Sr) in Fig. 3. The results
suggest that the PILC11 and ‘PILC12 samples were in almost
the same condition regarding moisture and ageing. However, the
PILC21 sample contained more moisture and was in slightly
better condition regarding ageing than the PILC11 and 12
samples, while the PILC22 sample contained almost the same
amount of moisture but was in better condition regarding ageing.
Nevertheless, since all of the Sr values were above 100 V/s it
can be stated that the cables were in an intensively aged
condition.
The measured values after connecting XLPE cables to the
PILC11 and PILC21 cables can be seen in Fig. 4. It can be stated
that in both cases the results suggest lower moisture content and
lower ageing conditions than in the non-mixed case. Therefore,
the mixed PILC and XLPE cable lines can lead to wrong
evaluation results and therefore to wrong conclusions.
B. Extended Voltage Response Measurement
The slopes of the return voltages after 1…2000 s of
discharging times can be seen in Fig. 5. The shapes of the curves
are similar only the PILC22 specimen forms an exception since
that one is almost straight and had significantly lower return
voltage values than the other three specimens. The return
voltages at longer discharging times are a sign that there are
intensive higher time constant polarizations in the insulation.
Therefore, it can be stated that according to Fig. 5. probably all
of the cables have high intensity bigger time constant
polarizations. Significant cut-off points cannot be identified,
however in case of PILC11, 12 and 21 specimens around 1000 s
there is a starting point of a slight decrease. Nevertheless, the not
enough measurement points after 1000 s makes this statement
ambiguous.
Fig. 3. Slopes of decay voltage (Sd) vs. return voltage after 1s of shorting (Sr)
 Fig. 4. Effect of connecting XLPE cables
Fig. 6. Slopes of return voltages on XLPE insulations
The slopes of return voltages on XLPE insulations can be
seen in Fig. 6. The results of the different length XLPE cables TABLE I. MEASURED AND CALCULATED VOLTAGE RESPONSES
do not vary significantly from each other and in each case the
slopes of the return voltages remained in the range of
measurement error. Therefore, the measurements are highly
affected by electromagnetic noises that can be identified in the
curves as well. However, in each case a descending tendency
can be observed. This suggests that high time constant
polarizations form the return voltages in XLPE insulations.
A previous study has revealed that because the initial slopes
of decay voltages of XLPE insulations are negligible compared
to the PILC cable’s voltage responses, the return voltages of
mixed cable lines can be estimated as if the XLPE sections were
an ideal capacitance [2]. Voltage responses were calculated
accordingly and measured in each cable. The results of PILC11
are presented in Table I. because all the other results shew better
fitting and therefore lower difference.
C. Iteration method
By means of an iteration method, polarization spectra were
calculated for each PILC XLPE ratio. The results of PILC11
cable and the connected capacitors can be seen in Fig. 7. and for Fig. 7. suggests that if the XLPE cable is replaced by a single
the connection of PILC11 and XLPE in Fig. 8. The αi stands for capacitor, in each length ratio the most intensive polarizations
the polarizability that can be calculated using (1). have the same time constants: 1.25, 6.31, 39.81, 316.23 and
1584.89 s except in PILC11+C(2m) case when the last two
(1) peaks are at 251.21 and 1000 s. Intensities at the higher time
constant polarizations differ from each other, however the peaks
where Cpi is the capacitance of the Debye branch used in the in this range are about the same. This result can be considered
equivalent circuit of an insulation, and C0 is the capacitance of as an expected spectrum for the PILC+XLPE case.
the electrode arrangement and αpi characterizes the intensity of a
polarization process [11]. The polarizabilities in Fig. 8. show good accordance in the
faster time constants by the results of Fig. 7. The peaks of the
2:1 and 1:1 ratio of PILC and XLPE have same peaks as in Fig.
7. However, the 1:2 ratio has the same peaks for the faster time
constants, except for the first peak that is at 1.58 s instead of
1.25 s and the fourth peak shifted from 316.23 to 199.52 s. The
last peak remained the same at 1584.9 s. These results proved
that there are intensive polarizations having time constants
above 1000 s and the discharging of them caused the cut-off
point in Fig. 5.
V. DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS
In this section the discussion will point to the possibility and
correctness of estimating an XLPE cable with a single capacitor
during EVR measurement.
Fig. 5. Slopes of return voltages after 1…2000 s of discharging

Fig. 7. Polarization spectra of PILC11+C for each length ratio
Fig. 8. Polarization spectra of PILC11+XLPE for each length ratio
On the basis of the results in Table I., it seems fair to suggest
that the replacement of the XLPE section by a capacitor can be
done with an acceptable error since the highest absolute
difference (bold in Difference columns) shew a maximum of
6.1% relative difference in the voltage response values. In
addition, the highest relative differences (10.7%, 10.0%, and
14.3%) (Italic in Difference columns) meant a maximum of 3.16
V/s absolute difference in the 1 m case, the others were around
0.5 V/s that is around the measurement margin of error. All the
other three specimens had lower relative differences.
Nonetheless, the relative differences increased by the XLPE
section’s ratio. All in all, the XLPE sections can be replaced by
a single capacitor with an acceptable error even when the PILC
XLPE ratio is 1:2.
Fig. 7. and 8. show good correspondence to each other,
however a certain peak having 316.23 s time constant started
shifting to the left to 199.52 s by connecting longer XLPE
sections while other peaks remained in the same spot. The reason
for this is that the XLPE cable is not just a capacitor, but a cable
containing dielectric even if has really good insulating
properties.
VI. CONCLUSION
Different 1:2, 1:1 and 2:1 length ratio of connected PILC and
XLPE cable lines were investigated in this paper. A reasonable
part of the operating MV cable lines in Europe are still oil-paper
insulated cables reaching their end of lifetime. Hence, in many
cases mixed oil-paper and XLPE insulated cable lines arise.
Since the insulating properties of the XLPE cables are
significantly better, it affects badly the results of the evaluations
making it hard to estimate only the oil-paper section’s condition.
This paper suggests according to the measurement results that
replacing the XLPE sections by their capacitance, the voltage
responses and therefore the condition of the oil-paper insulated
cables can be estimated well up to a 1:2 PILC/XLPE ratio.
However, the difference between the calculated and the
measured values is increasing by connecting longer XLPE cable
and the iteration results suggested that the XLPE affects the
intensities of the higher time constant polarizations. This raises
a warning regarding the substitution, the effectiveness of this
method requires more investigation with higher XLPE/PILC
length ratios.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Supported by the ÚNKP-16-3-II. New National
Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities.
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