Capacitors

April 2000 Greenwood SC

Evaluating Todays All-film Capacitors

Evaluating capacitors has gained much attention during the last several years with the evolution of the all-film non-PCB capacitor. In past years the evaluating engineers task was relatively simple when considering the benefits of an all-film over a paper-film capacitor. These benefits include lower operating costs, reduced tank rupture hazard and improved performance, all of which have clear value associated with them. Today however all manufacturers offer an all-film capacitor which requires a more in depth look at their individual features. A typical all-film dielectric system is shown in Figure 1:

KILOVAR BRIEFS

Each manufacturer has reasons for using a particular design, material or manufacturing process. Since the evaluating engineer is not a capacitor design engineer, it is difficult for that person to determine which design, materials or manufacturing process provides the best product. It is therefore the purpose of this article to give the evaluating engineer the points that should be considered in making a capacitor purchase recommendation.

EVALUATION CRITERIA
Basically the user is looking for assurance that a capacitor will provide at least 20 years of reliable, trouble-free performance. There is no single test that a manufacturer can perform that will assure the user of 20 years of trouble-free performance. Performance and reliability depend upon several factors which must be described in the design and development program and include designs, materials, manufacturing processes and quality control procedures. There is a definite need for a sound basis in evaluating capacitors, Cooper Power Systems recommends the following four-point evaluation program. 1. Development Program The user should establish that the manufacturer has a sound design and development program. A well conceived development program is essential in assuring capacitor reliability. The development program should describe design parameters, material compositions, processing techniques, and along with a design approval test procedure. All of these points must be determined by extensive long-term testing. Each of the manufacturers should be willing to describe their design development program at the time the user is evaluating a manufacturers qualifications. 2. Design Approval Program The user should request design information on the capacitors being offered by the manufacturer. This design information should be limited in technical content to that which can be readily interpreted by the capacitor user and should not specify design values which may hinder progress in future capacitor designs. It must be recognized that no single value of design voltage stress, dielectric thickness, etc., can assure sound capacitor reliability. Design approval testing conducted by the manufacturer assists in demonstrating that the system design is proper.

Polypropylene Film Aluminum Foil

Figure 1.

At first glance all manufacturers designs may appear to be the same. But a closer look reveals some unique differences between the manufacturers. s Clear film vs hazy film s Knurled foil vs smooth foil s Individual impregnation vs batch impregnation s Tabs vs extended foil s Soldered vs crimped connections s Different dielectric fluids s Different foil edge treatments s Different voltage stresses

April 2000 Supersedes 1/85

Printed in USA

Evaluating Todays All-film Capacitors

3. Quality Assurance Program The user should establish that the manufacturer has a well-conceived and well-enforced quality assurance program. A sound quality assurance program will continuously monitor daily production to ensure that all of the specifications, processes, and materials compositions are met without any deviation. 4. Field Performance The user should request that the manufacturers supply field performance statistics. Successful in-service performance provides proof that the manufacturer is practicing a proper design philosophy and sound manufacturing procedures. The analysis of successful field performance requires that accurate energization and failure records be kept. Cooper Power Systems recognizes these key points in assuring capacitor users of high product quality and reliability and recommends that they be implemented by users in evaluating capacitors.

Additionally, extensive corona testing is performed on small prototype capacitor units to establish corona characteristics for various dielectric thicknesses over an ambient temperature range of -60 C to +90 C. An optimum design is developed and confirmed on full-size production units. This extensive in-house testing of small capacitors as well as full-size units permits the development of definitions of unit designs, material compositions, manufacturing processes and final electrical testing procedures. Additionally it allows for the establishment of a design approval test procedure for new designs prior to release for production.

DESIGN APPROVAL PROGRAM

After the dielectric system characteristics have been determined from the Development Program, actual full size prototype units are constructed for a comprehensive range of Design Approval Tests. Each manufacturer may conduct specific tests they have developed for this purpose. Cooper Power Systems Test Program has evolved and generally expanded over the years but remains based on consistent performance requirements. This approval program begins with the close direction and monitoring at the construction and processing of new designs by development and product engineering personnel. This allows evaluation and specification of required manufacturing characteristics which may differ from past designs. Units are manufactured, tested and inspected. Based on these results, appropriate design and procedure refinements may be made and tests repeated. Final Approval Tests which also include national and international standards Type or Design Tests are then conducted utilizing standard production materials, procedures, personnel and equipment.

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
The Cooper Power Systems development program for the capacitor design began in 1970. Small prototype capacitors are constructed, refer to Figure 2, tested and closely monitored under a wide range of operating conditions. These small capacitors are life tested at both high and low temperatures under various conditions of electrical stress. The same type of tests are then conducted on full-size Edison capacitors. The testing is conducted at elevated voltage stresses in periods of time ranging from fractions of a cycle (energization transients) to five years. Factoring the long term test data into equivalent test times at rated voltage produces an operating time of well over 20 years.

Foil

Extended Foil Solid Dielectric

Figure 2.

KILOVAR BRIEFS

QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM

It is essential that the development program criteria be carried over into the production stage. Cooper Power Systems is ISO9001 certified and uses this standard as the basis for the Quality Assurance Program. The dielectric material specifications developed are very exact descriptions of the mechanical and chemical composition of these materials so that the incoming materials can be continuously monitored. For example, a gas chromatograph of the Edisol dielectric fluid provides an exact description of its chemical composition. All incoming materials are inspected for mechanical and chemical compositions to insure that they meet the specifications defined in the development program. Cooper Power Systems individual impregnation process facilitates the monitoring of characteristics of each individual capacitor during the impregnation process. Additionally, the time and temperature requirements for the processing cycle are defined in the development program. This procedure assures that each capacitor unit is properly impregnated. It has been generally recognized by both manufacturers and users of power capacitors that the final electrical tests specified in the past are not totally effective in assuring that only the capacitors which exhibit adequate performance are placed in service. Because of this, Cooper Power Systems has concluded that it is necessary for additional safeguards in the form of tests and manufacturing procedures. These safeguards include a stringent quality assurance program as well as an additional sample energization test on production units. The energization test consists of operating units for 2 hours or more at 130 percent of rated voltage. The sampling criteria are based on impregnation runs. A failure in any sample is cause for additional testing of the impregnation run to reveal if there are additional units which may be defective and would cause rejection of the entire run.

FIELD PERFORMANCE
Cooper Power Systems has set a performance goal to provide a reliable capacitor by maintaining a first year (infantile) failure rate of less than 0.20 percent per year with a subsequent failure rate of less than 0.15 percent/year for years 2 through 20, with wear out of the dielectric system appearing well beyond 20 years. The field performance of the Edison all-film capacitor is well within these goals. This successful field performance plus the results of an extensive five-year development test program demonstrates that the current dielectric system has life expectancy well in excess of 20 years.

CONCLUSION
Evaluating the current capacitor designs being offered today is not an easy task. The key issue in capacitor evaluation from the users standpoint is field performance. There is no single test which can be performed by the capacitor manufacturer which will assure the user of adequate field performance. Therefore, the job of the evaluating engineer can be very difficult. Cooper Power Systems offers a four-point evaluation program which will provide guidance to the user in evaluating capacitor reliability when making a purchase decision.

McGraw Edison is a registered trademark of Cooper Industries, Inc. Edisol is a registered trademark of Cooper Power Systems, Inc. 2000 Cooper Industries, Inc. Printed on Recycled Paper

P.O. Box 1640 Waukesha, WI 53187 http://www.cooperpower.com