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High-frequency (HF) oil-immersed transformers with small size and light weight have been paid wide attention by researchers. Its oil–paper insulation frequently withstands HF over-voltages at frequencies of several kilohertz and above, resulting in the too early failure of oil–paper insulation. In order to investigate the effect of HF on oil–paper insulation, this article investigates the partial discharge (PD) characteristics of oil–paper insulation under HF stress. The experimental results show that a frequency-induced inflection point is existed near 10 kHz and the PD parameters of HF voltages is much higher than that ac voltages. Besides, the theoretical mechanism is expounded to interpret and understand the formation process of frequency-induced inflection points more easily. It can be found that the change in frequency causes the change in the charge decay time constant and the residual charge on the insulating surface, resulting in the formation of the frequency-induced inflection point at HF. These results might contribute to determine the characteristics of PDs between HF voltages and ac voltages. It can provide references for the research and production of HF transformers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pulsed power system for generating intense pulsed electric fields (PEFs) in a very large volume of water was designed, manufactured, and tested as a first step toward the proof-of-principle demonstration of a novel noninvasive prepacked food processing operation. The MV-class system described in this article is based on the Tesla transformer technology and is capable of producing PEFs of 100 kV/cm in water, in a volume approaching 1 L. The electric field distribution in the processing water tank was obtained using an electrostatic solver, benchmarked using a Kerr effect arrangement. This article presents the most important experimental data, followed by a detailed electric field analysis and suggestions for the way ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid-state klystron modulators are typically based on oil-immersed high-voltage (HV) pulse transformers because of their high performance, robustness, simplicity, and straightforward design. However, pulse transformer size is fundamentally linked to application pulse length, pulse power, and pulse rise time. For high-power applications transformer size quickly becomes very problematic when approaching pulse lengths on the order of one millisecond. This article presents a systematic study of the applicability of HV pulse transformers for such long-pulse high-power applications. Both the single-layer and pancake winding techniques are evaluated, keeping reduction of transformer volume as the main design objective. First, design models and efficient optimization procedures are developed. The proposed models are validated through circuit simulation, 3-D finite element analysis, and comparison with a commercial HV long-pulse transformer. Then, the developed optimization procedure is used in studying the evolution of pulse transformer size when pulse length is varied from 500 $\mu \text{s}$ to 5 ms assuming peak pulse power requirements corresponding to that of the European Spallation Source (ESS) klystron modulators (115 kV, 100 A, 14 Hz). Finally, the developed trends are used to derive general analytical equations expressing maximum attainable pulse length as a function of application parameters and system constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports and discusses the results of impulse breakdown study of different insulating liquids under highly divergent electric field conditions. Samples of a natural ester (Envirotemp FR3), a synthetic ester (MIDEL 7131), and a naphthenic mineral oil (Shell Diala S4 ZX) at different levels of relative humidity were exposed to HV impulses with a nominal 7- $\mu \text{s}$ rise time and 150-kV peak voltage of both positive and negative polarity. A strong dependence of the breakdown voltage and time to breakdown of the investigated dielectric liquids was observed with respect to the polarity of the applied HV impulses. It was shown that the FR3 natural ester liquid has a higher dielectric strength when exposed to positive impulse than when under negative impulse stress. The opposite breakdown behavior was observed for the synthetic ester MIDEL 7131 and the naphthenic oil Shell Diala S4 ZX which exhibited lower breakdown voltage under positive energization as compared with the negative energization. The breakdown voltage and prebreakdown time obtained in the present tests of the naphthenic oil, Shell Diala S4 ZX, lie between that of the ester liquids irrespective of impulse polarity. It has been established that no statistically significant variations exist in the breakdown parameters (breakdown voltage and time to breakdown) of the studied dielectric liquids as their relative humidity is increased under either impulse polarity. The obtained results will help in coordination of practical applications of low environmental impact dielectric fluids in power and pulsed power systems and components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The converter transformer is the most important piece of equipment in ultrahigh voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission systems. The rectifying valve side of the converter transformer is dealing with composite voltages, containing both ac and dc components. Therefore, the characteristics of the partial discharge (PD) in oil–paper insulation of such rectifying valves are different from those of rectifying valves subjected to pure ac or dc voltage. In this study, theories of hydrodynamic drift-diffusion and bipolar charge transfer were used to build the needle-plate electrode model with a paperboard depression, and experiments were used to verify the feasibility of the simulation method. The electric field and net charge distribution that can reflect the PD were analyzed. Besides, the effects of instantaneous voltage, the proportion of ac–dc components, and depression parameters on the development characteristics of PD were also discussed. Simulation results show that applied voltage, interface charge density, and model parameters can all affect the electric field strength, which in turn influences the development of PD in the depression. This research reveals the process and influencing factors of PD during the electrical aging process, which not only helps to optimize the oil–paper insulation at the rectifying valve side of the converter transformer but also provides a basis for further explaining the PD mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enable the use of additively manufactured polymer materials as structural and insulating components within high-voltage pulsed power systems, a better understanding of material compatibility with common pulser material environments is required. This work examines the effect of long-duration contact of printed polymeric components with three high-voltage insulating oils (Shell Diala S2 ZX-A, Luminol TRi, and Royco 602) at room temperature (~25 °C). Test pieces printed using stereolithography (SLA) were evaluated for changes in dielectric strength, mechanical properties, and composition after submersion in insulating oil for a nine-month duration. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was used for compositional analysis on neat and polymer-exposed oils to identify compositional changes that occurred in the oil over the course of the exposure period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A technology scheme that replaces Marx generator with Tesla transformer was put forward to improve the reliability of the pulsed power system. In order to validate the technology scheme, a Tesla transformer was designed and tested. The excitation of the primary consists of two 4- $\mu \text{F}$ polypropylene film capacitors which are separated by a three-electrode field distortion gas switch. A deionized water dielectric pulse forming line (PFL), with 13-nF equivalent capacitance, acts as the secondary capacitor. The actual transformation ratio is 9.7 approximately, and the PFL voltage is as high as 1.2 MV when two capacitors are charged to ±62 kV by the bipolar high-voltage direct current. The prefire probability of switch is described by the Weibull distribution and the working ratio of the switch is elaborately chosen so as to balance the prefire probability and the trigger jitter. For ±62 kV charge voltage and 0.2-MPa pressured air dielectric, the prefire probability of switch is only $1 \times 10^{-7}$ and the jitter of that is 5 ns. When confidence is 0.90, the failure probability of pulsed power machine is $2.8 \times 10^{-4}$ according to the Binomial distribution correspondingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A modeling methodology of high-voltage pulse transformers based on high-order generalized equivalent circuits (HOGECs) identified from 3-D finite-element analysis is applied to a prototype, and experimental validation tests are performed. The identified HOGEC of the prototype is used to investigate the influence of the detailed mechanical structure and the local winding configuration on the pulse transformer operation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the results of a 2.88-MW solid-state long-pulse modulator, which has been designed for the new linear collider at the european spallation source in Lund, are summarized. The presented modulator generates an output voltage pulse of 115 kV with a pulselength of 3.5 ms. The main components of the modular system, which include a series–parallel resonance converter, a high-voltage high-frequency transformer, and an output rectifier, are discussed. The modulator design is verified by measurements performed with a full-scale prototype, which is operated under nominal load conditions. A detailed output voltage ripple evaluation is given, and in addition, the system design has been proven by a 7- and 2/3-h heat run test. All specifications are well within the given limits, and the maximum occurring temperatures in the transformer stay below 110 °C even under worst case assumptions. The system achieves a pulse efficiency (determined by the pulse shape) of 96.78%, an overall electrical system efficiency of 91.9%, and a combined pulse system efficiency of 89%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, prebreakdown streamers in transformer oil and transformer oil-based TiO2 nanofluid were observed by the schlieren method under positive lightning impulse voltage. Streamers in the nanofluid have numerous branches with much shorter length, whereas in the pure oil, they exhibit only certain filaments with longer length. The discrepancy in positive streamer pattern of both oils is further investigated under a range of applied voltages. The complexity of streamer patterns was quantitatively described using the fractal analysis method. Results indicate that the fractal dimension of streamer patterns shows different changing tendencies in both oils, and it keeps higher value in the nanofluid than that in pure oil during the whole propagation process, well corresponding with streamer propagating structures. Moreover, a new parameter, the ratio of fractal dimension to propagation length (D/L), is introduced to classify the complex streamer patterns for the first time. Three propagation zones in both nanofluid and pure oil are clearly categorized by the value of D/L, providing a quantitative way to distinguish the streamer patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To realize dc 1 MV power supply system for neutral beam injector in ITER, long-pulse dc ultrahigh-voltage (HV) insulation technologies have been developed. For a dc 1 MV insulating transformer, a composite bushing has been newly developed to overcome the manufacturing difficulty of a conventional condenser bushing (CB). The composite bushing has a small-sized CB and fiber reinforced plastic tube to sustain 1 MV stably inside and outside of the bushing. The mock-up of the insulating transformer has fulfilled the ITER requirement of dc 1.2 MV insulation for 3600 s. An HV bushing to transmit multiple voltages simultaneously has also been developed through a careful experimental study on vacuum insulation characteristics with multiple gaps between large electrodes. It has been found that the voltage holding is dominated not by number of the electrodes but by a total cathode surface area of electrodes. Based on this result, the vacuum insulation inside the HV bushing with five electrostatic screens has been designed to realize a stable vacuum insulation of 1 MV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 2.3-MV field-distortion oil switch was built and experimentally studied. Based on the JianGuang-I facility in China, an experimental stand was established for tests of the switch. Both static and dynamic performances of the switch were studied in detail. Experiment results show that the switch works well at approximately 2.3 MV with a 350-ns rise time. Field-distortion mechanisms worked well. In addition, the requirements of the trigger-voltage peak were not as rigorous as anticipated. With trigger voltages higher than 75 kV, the switch worked well with no problems. As the trigger voltage increased, the switch-breakdown delay and its jitters decreased rapidly. With a 250-kV trigger voltage, the breakdown delay of the switch was approximately 132 ns. Its jitter (the standard deviation) was as low as 4.4 ns. Finally, electrode erosions of the switch are also presented and analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miniaturized high-voltage power converter techniques might offer an improved outlook for the development of compact accelerator technologies. We view the identification of materials and circuits that provide both high-voltage isolation and efficient power coupling characteristics to be the primary engineering challenge. A lithium niobate resonant piezoelectric transformer was mated to a voltage multiplier circuit, and the input–output terminal characteristics were investigated. This paper considers the piezoelectric transformer-coupled voltage multiplier circuit as a black box and reports on the input impedance, output voltage, power conversion efficiency, and transient charging capacity. We found that the circuit was well suited to the charging capacitors of arbitrary size to voltages well over ten kilovolts at power-conversion efficiencies approaching 20%. The circuit was also quite capable of driving a vacuum diode to high voltage. The piezoresonant transformers coupled to output power conditioning circuits appear to be good candidates for producing high voltage in a small footprint. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A design and optimization procedure for high-voltage pulse transformers is presented. The procedure is enhanced by the integration of core loss measurements under pulsed excitation, by electrical peak field calculations and by checking of the isolation distances, which are compared to scaled high-voltage breakdown data. The procedure is applied with specifications of the compact linear collider, and the sensitivity of system parameters such as the number of primary turns, core material, transformer oil, and high-voltage cable length is investigated by comparing their Pareto fronts. With amorphous core material, the highest efficiency is achieved. Replacing mineral oil by natural ester results in an efficiency reduction of 0.5%, and an increase in HV cable length from 1.5 to 5 m reduces the efficiency by 0.6%. Finally, the optimized transformer’s pulse shape is investigated over the entire load range. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Medium and high beta cavities used in linear colliders or spallation sources are supplied by klystrons or inductive output tubes amplifiers. The cathode voltage for these amplifiers can be generated by long-pulse modulators generating highly accurate high voltage pulses in the length of milliseconds. With existing modulator topologies, all the demanding requirements like fast pulse rise time, high accuracy, and low voltage ripple hardly can be satisfied at the same time. Common designs like bouncer modulator topologies using pulse transformers become huge for long pulses. The series–parallel resonant converter (SPRC) avoids this drawback as the transformer is operated at high frequencies. In this paper, the comprehensive multidomain model of an SPRC including an electrical model of the inverter, a magnetic model, and an isolation design procedure of the transformer is verified with a prototype of a single module operated under full-load conditions. In addition, a comparison between the predicted parasitics like leakage inductance and stray capacitance of the transformer and the measured values are given. An evaluation of the isolation of the transformer, which is especially crucial for a series connection of the modules, is also performed. In addition, different possibilities to realize the desired series inductance are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Results of numerical simulation, in the framework of a 2-D model, of streamer dynamics in a hydrocarbon liquid (cyclohexane) in strong electric fields are presented. The obtained data show that fast propagation (with velocities exceeding 10^8 cm \texts^\mathrm -1) of streamers due to electron impact ionization process in liquid phase is possible in the regions of strong electric fields. The calculated streamer parameters are compared with the available experimental data and with analytical estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents an optimal design methodology of monolithic high-voltage (HV) pulse transformers based on the direct 2-D finite-element analysis (FEA) identification of the electrical equivalent circuit parameters without any simplified analytical modeling. This method is applied to the preliminary optimal design of the monolithic HV pulse transformer for the future compact linear collider modulators under study at CERN. The feasibility of such a transformer with tight specifications is demonstrated. The predicted performance obtained with the direct 2-D FEA optimization process is validated by 3-D FEA simulation. The dimensioning model based on the direct 2-D FEA identification of the electrical equivalent circuit parameters is validated on a prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the design and implementation of a 40-kV, 20-kJ/s high-voltage capacitor charger based on a series/parallel resonant converter. The inclusion of the parallel resonant capacitor component in this circuit results in the production of a trapezoidal resonant current, which reduces conduction loss. This capacitor is practically realized as a part of the balancing network of the high-voltage rectifiers in the secondary side of the circuit. Particular attention in this paper is paid to the high-voltage transformer, which must be carefully designed to provide the required functionality without negative impact on the resonant circuit. A PSpice simulation has been used to prove that the proposed control method for the circuit is valid. This is supported with the experimental results, which verify that the operation of the circuit is as expected and that the converter is able to meet all the design criteria with an efficiency of up to 96%. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a 100-kV high frequency transformer/rectifier package, which is capable of a dual output polarity operation. An H-Bridge inverter drives the primary of the high voltage (HV) transformer at a frequency of 20 kHz. The inverter is driven by a Microchip dsPIC33F digital signal controller using peak current mode control with adaptive slope compensation. The HV-tank has two HV-coax output cables with a grounded shield on each cable. If the center conductor of the coax cable designated as negative output is grounded, positive voltage is obtained from the coax cable designated as positive output and vice versa. This paper provides design details and experimental results from tests of the entire system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Streamer and breakdown behavior of transformer oil under impulse voltage are investigated with experimental observations and simulation. The optical observation by using Intensified Charge-coupled Device (ICCD) fast snapshot technique indicates that streamer channel branching is of a stochastic nature. The 2-D axially symmetric modeling based on hydrodynamic drift-diffusion model is employed to depict the streamer dynamics of transformer oil. The experimental and simulation results reveal that bushy negative streamer requires higher excitation than filamentary positive streamer. Positive streamer travels faster than negative streamer from experimental estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Partial discharges in mineral oils take place in the form of pulse bursts within minute microcavities, which are formed at high-electric field charge injection sites. The lifetime of these transient microcavities is determined by the interval between their creation and their ultimate collapse due to dynamic instability. The vapor pressure within these microcavities has been estimated to be as high as 10 MPa and lately there has been considerable speculation as to the nature and type of gases within these microcavities. Currently, carried out experiments indicate that these gases consist principally of hydrogen, CH4 (methane), and C2H6 (ethane) with smaller traces of other lower molecular weight hydrocarbons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 100-kV/60-A high-voltage power supply (HVPS) has been established to energize the electron cyclotron resonance heating system for the J-TEXT tokamak. The HVPS based on the pulse step modulation technique has many advantages, including low stored energy and short protective time in case of a short circuit fault. This paper describes and provides the key design features of isolated transformers, switch power supply (SPS) modules, measurement equipment, and controllers. In this HVPS, four dry-type transformers with 36 secondary windings drive the 144 series SPS modules and isolate the high voltage between the rectifiers and the 6.3-kV ac bus. A controller based on PXI technology, which conforms to the ITER CODAC standard, has been developed to operate the series switches in each SPS module. The error signals from all the modules are monitored by the controller, and the fast protection responds to any current fault in <5~\mus. A control strategy improved from the conventional pulsewidth modulation phase-shift modulation method has also been proposed to acquire better dynamic response and stability. Experimental results show that the power supply system performs well. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a compact rep-rate GW pulsed power generator is developed. First, its three key subsystems are theoretically analyzed, engineering designed, and experimentally investigated, respectively. The emphases are put on these four problems: the theoretical analysis of the voltage distribution across the conical secondary windings of the high-coupling transformer, the investigation of the high energy storage density dielectric used in the pulse forming line, the choice of the gas flow velocity of the gas blowing system, and theoretical analysis of the passive stability of the pulsed power generator operated in rep-rate mode. Second, the developed pulsed power generator is described in detail. It has a 0.2-m diameter, a 1.0-m length, and a 20-\Omega wave impedance. Across a 100-\Omega resistive dummy load, it can steadily operate at a 300-kV output voltage in 50-Hz rep-rate and 250 kV in 150 Hz without gas blowing system. The average power is \sim1~kW. Finally, the pulsed power generator is applied to drive a relativistic backward-wave oscillator, generating a high-power microwave with peak output power of 200 MW and duration (full-width at half-maximum) of 5 ns in 150-Hz rep-rate. These efforts set a good foundation for the development of a compact rep-rate pulsed power generator and show a promising application for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A repetitive high-voltage pulse generator, consisting of many modules capable of recovering capacitive energy at the pulse termination phase, was developed for use with a capacitive load. The module essentially consists of two capacitors, one for energy storage and the other for energy recovery, and two switches. The first switch delivers energy from the storage capacitor to the capacitive load in a pulse of variable width in the 100-ns range, and then the second switch transfers the residual charge on the capacitive load to the recovery capacitor. The experimental results for metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor-based modules rated at 600 V and 96 A are described. Using the six modules connected in parallel, pulses of width 600 ns and amplitude 10 kV were produced on a 50 \Omega–100-pF load, and more than 50% of the capacitive energy was recovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulated high-voltage power supplies (RHVPSs) are important power sources in high-power heating and current drive systems for a tokamak. Along with high power at output, these power supplies meet the requirements of fast dynamics (on the order of few microseconds), low ripple factor, and good output regulation. A development overview is presented for RHVPS ranging from 14 to 80 kV at several-megawatt power with typical output results. Having extensive tests performed with an 80-kV 75-A RHVPS, it is being regularly used for a neutral beam injector (NBI) at the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR). A large number of identical and series-connected switched power modules (SPMs) are fed from multisecondary transformers. Pulse step modulation control applied to an insulated-gate bipolar transistor switch within SPMs regulates output. Different rise and fall times of voltage can be set from few microsecond to millisecond range. Fast detection of instantaneous overcurrent reduces turnoff time within 2 \mu\s. Due to higher frequency of ripple at higher voltages, output filter component value is of smaller order, which, in turn, limits fault energy below 10 J. The development of RHVPS at IPR started by making a functional prototype at lower rating (14 kV; 35 A) to have an experience in testing design concepts. This was divided in various activities like selection of topology, selection and design of different subparts, e.g., control, switching power converters with protections, and multisecondary transformers. Having successful results and testing all functional parameters on prototype, a series of RHVPSs at higher ratings (up to 80 kV), are developed and installed for NBI and radio-frequency heating system. The design details for each subsystem along with results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Nowadays, a broad range of modern defense applications requires compact pulsed power generators to produce high-power electromagnetic waves. In a conventional design, such generators consist of a primary energy source and an antenna, separated by a power-amplification system, such as a Marx generator or a Tesla transformer, which forwards the energy from the source to the antenna. The present system, however, uses a novel and very compact high-voltage resonant pulsed transformer to drive a dipole antenna. The complete pulsed power source, termed MOUNA (French acronym for “Module Oscillant Utilisant une Nouvelle Architecture”), is composed of a set of batteries, a dc/dc converter for charging four capacitors, four synchronized spark gap switches, a resonant pulsed transformer that can generate 555 kV/265 ns pulses, an oil peaking switch and, during preliminary testing, a dipole antenna. The paper not only provides design details for each system component, but also presents the mechanical arrangement of the complete pulsed power system and the electrical diagnostics, particularly those related to measurement of the resonant transformer output waveform, the line oscillations, and the radiated electric field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The thickness effect on electric breakdown strength (EBD) of four kinds of polymers under nanosecond pulses is investigated. The polymers are polyethylene, PTFE, PMMA, and nylon. The test samples are 0.5–3.5 mm in thickness (d) and are immersed in transformer oil. The nanosecond pulse is based on a Tesla-type generator, TPG200, which is with values of pulsewidth of 8.5 ns and rise time of 1.5 ns. The experimental results show that EBD is 1–2 MV/cm and decreases as d increases. The dependence of EBD on d is analyzed with the Weibull statistical distribution. It is concluded that \log EBD versus \log d is linear. By replotting the experimental data and by comparing with Martin's results, it is found that the slope for the linear dependence is about -1/8. With this conclusion, the breakdown probability is researched. It is shown that, to get a breakdown probability as low as 0.5%, the applied field should be decreased to about half of EBD. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Electrostatic field simulations have been performed to investigate the effect of barium strontium titanate (BST) nanoparticle suspensions on electric fields within synthetic oil dielectrics. We predict that by physically integrating nanoparticles of high dielectric constants into the breakdown regime, the self-break jitter in rep-rate oil switches might be reduced. The simulations show that the nanoparticle suspensions generate nonlinear and random electric field enhancements within the oil dielectric and also on the electrode surfaces. The BST nanoparticles have been modeled as perfect spheres which have an approximate dielectric constant of 2000. The oil in the simulation was given a dielectric constant of 2.33 and the electrodes are modeled as perfect electrical conductors with no field enhancements. A comparison is made between simulated electric fields on the surface of the cathode with increasing nanoparticle concentration, radius, and distance from cathode. Effects on capacitance with increasing nanoparticle concentration and radii are also investigated. All electrostatic simulations were performed with CST EM Studio. Preliminary experimental electric field breakdown data are included to validate simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The impulse dielectric behavior of insulating liquids is of significant interest for researchers and engineers working in the field of design, construction, and operation of pulsed power systems. Analysis of the literature data on transformer oils shows that potentially there are several different physical processes that could be responsible for dielectric breakdown by submicrosecond and microsecond impulses. While for short submicrosecond impulses ionization (plasma streamer) is likely to be the main breakdown mechanism, for longer impulses, the thermal effects associated with Joule heating start to play an important role. This paper provides a theoretical analysis of the latter mechanism in dielectric liquids of different degrees of purity stressed with high-voltage (HV) impulses with duration sufficient to cause local heating, evaporation, and formation of prebreakdown gas bubbles. The proposed model is based on the assumption that dielectric breakdown is developed through percolation channels of gas bubbles, and the criterion of formation of these percolation chains is obtained. To test the developed model, the breakdown field-time characteristics have been calculated for the liquid with chemical composition close to that of transformer oils but with known thermodynamic characteristics (n -hexane). Its dielectric strength has been obtained as a function of externally applied pressure and temperature. The analytical results show good agreement when compared with the experimental data available in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Surface discharges along oil-immersed solids used as insulators and supports in high-voltage pulsed-power equipment can lead to catastrophic system failures. To achieve reliable compact pulsed-power systems, it is important to quantify the electrical fields at which surface flashover, or other types of breakdown event, will occur for different dielectric materials. This paper reports the observed behavior of samples of polypropylene, low-density polyethylene, ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene, Rexolite, and Torlon, which were subjected to impulse voltages of peak amplitude of 350 kV and a rise time of 1 \mu\s. The cylindrical samples were located between pairs of electrodes immersed in insulating oil. Breakdown events were studied under both nonuniform- and uniform-field conditions, with sample lengths being chosen so that the breakdown events occurred on the rising edge of the impulse. Ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene showed the highest average breakdown field, which is 645 kV/cm, in uniform fields, and the corresponding breakdown field was reduced to \sim400 kV/cm in the nonuniform fields. Weibull plots of the various sets of results are presented, providing comparative data for system designers for the appropriate choice of dielectric materials to act as insulators for high-voltage pulsed-power machines. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]