Charge Injection Characteristics of Semi-Conductive Composites with Carbon Black-Polymer for HVDC Cable

Semi-conductive composites composed of carbon black-polymer play an important role in uniform electric field in high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable. They also affect space charge behaviors in the insulation material. However, the charge injection characteristics of semi-conductive composites are not detailed. In this work, the electrode structure of ‘Semi-conductive composites- Insulation material- Metal bottom’ (S-I-M) is proposed, and the currents formed by injected charges from semi-conductive composites are characterized by the thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) method. Further, the experimental results based on the structure of S-I-M are compared with the traditional electrode structure of M-I-M (Metal upper electrode- Insulation material- Metal bottom electrode) and the simplified cable electrode structure of MS-I-M (Metal upper electrode-Semi-conductive electrode- Insulation material- Metal bottom electrode), respectively. The experimental results show that the semi-conductive composite plays an important role in the charge injection process and it presents a different tendency under different compound modes of temperature and electric field. For the low electric field (E ≤ 5 kV/mm) and the low temperature (T ≤ 50 °C), the current caused by the accumulated charges follows the rule, I(S) > I(MS) > I(M). For the low electric field and high temperature (T > 50 °C), the current caused by the injected charges follows the rule, I(MS) > I(M) > I(S). This phenomenon is closely related to the interface characterization and contact barrier.