Determining; the age of paper insulation.

Malcolm Simmons
(Pirelli Cables, Eastleigh)

1 Introductilm
Investigations of paper cable samples retrieved from service are frequently called for to
support surmises of a mechanism of failure or to estimate the remaining life of the cable.
There is rarely a great deal of information about the operating conditions that the cable has
been subject to, especially for medium voltage cables. The investigator is forced to derive as
much inforrnation as possible from the very few analyses that can be made on the sample
itself The fisllowing is an account of one of the methods used to squeeze as great an
interpretaticin as possible out of some simple measurements by applying the ageing
characteristics of cable paper determined in laboratory studies [1,2] and the electrical and
thermal characteristics of the cable materials [3].
2 The probllm
The one fact about a cable which is most often available is how long has it been in service.
The missing information is what have been its usage or abusage during that time. If we can
determine that the state of the cable is consistent with its rating over the length of its life then
we may discount some mechanisms of failure and may even predict foreward for its hture
life. Assessments of the cable close to a failure may be compared to assessments remote from
that point to show up any local effects such as the influence of accessories (e.g. poor
connector fittings, higher or lower thermal resistances) or external agents (e.g. heat inputs
fiom adjacent cables or other heat source). The question to address is then - can we
determine the apparent average working conditions of the cable at any location, i.e.the current
through its c;onductor, by analysis of the state of the insulation?

3 The meth(&
The time averaged temperature of the insulation may be estimated for the inner most
layers on the conductor and the outer most layers close to the sheath by assessing the
degree of ageing of specimens drawn from each location, using the ageing data referred to
in the next section.
The difference in these two temperatures may be used together with the thickness of the
insulation and its thermal conductivity to calculate the flow of heat fiom the conductor
through the insulation.
The heat flow may then be related to the current passing through the conductor (assuming
that dielectric losses are not significant at the electrical stresses of medium voltage
cables).

4 The data
4.1 Ageing of paper
Ageing of paper used as electrical insulation is generally ascribed to thermal deterioration
where the average length of the cellulose polymer chain is shortened by breakages which
occur more frequently as the temperature is increased. The result of shortening the polymer
chain is diminishing physical properties of the paper. (There are of course chemical products
of these chain breakages which in some circumstances may be retrieved for interpretation but
that is not the subject of this paper.) These properties may be determined as tensile strength,
elongation prior to tensile failure, tear strength, number of folds to cause a fracture or burst

(or punch) strength. This last applies farces that combine tensile and tearing in nature.
Alternatively, there are chemical analytical means that determine the average polymer chain

length. There is not known to be a lower temperature at which no breakages occur or period
of time which restricts the effects. (Some archaeological studies [4]have shown that the same
phenomena have persisted over thousands of years at temperatures in the region of 30 "C.)
The physical and chemical effects, unsurprisingly, may be modelled using the chemical rate
laws (the first order law seems to work best) and the Arrhenius relationship to model the rate
of reaction at any temperature ,
Figure 1 is an illustration of the changes with time of various of these properties at one
temperature [ 11; noteworthy is the closeness of the deterioration of all properties except fold
strength which exhibits an early decline. Figure 2 shows the relationship with burst strength
of the other properties. Again, fold strength differs from the other properties by its rapid early
decrease but the other properties follow a very similar deterioration tendency. The results in
Figure 3 demonstrate the need for circumspectionwhen interpreting data as clearly, wet paper
deteriorates considerably faster than dry.
In choosing which parameter to use there are a number of factors to consider; if the sample is
large enough and a well equipped laboratory at hand then a range of tests on a large number
of specimens is appropriate; if a judgement has to be made in a site hut distant from
laboratory support on a few centimetres of insulating paper tape 20 millimetres wide then the
choice is quite limited. Traditionally, the examining engineer would fold a piece of the paper
between hidher fingers and count the number of folds before the paper cracks; in the
laboratory a machine is used. This, as indicated above, provides a sensitive indication of the
early stages of paper deterioration but is lacking when evaluating paper fiom a cable that has
been well used but may still have a considerable remaining life span. (It has been claimed
that a cable is still viable when its papers have only 10 % of their original physical properties
provided it remains undisturbed.) In these circumstances it is possible to measure the burst
strength using a pocket sized punch to provide a quantification of mid life and advanced
paper degradation. The table below gives an indication of the likely statistical error expected
ftom the various testing methods from which it may be judged that burst strength is not an
unreasonable choice. The systematic errors due to differences in paper type and initial
process conditions and unknown ageing conditions are diminished in importance in the
calculations when comparative rather than absolute measures of deterioration are estimated.

Figure 1, Retention of property of cable paper ageing at 85OC

100

80

60

2
.-S

40

-e- burst
+fold
+tensile

+elongation

-YC- tear

20
0
1000

10000

100000

time/ hours

1000000

Figure 2, Relationship between properties of cable paper and burst

strength

100

80

-fold

60

+tensile
+elongation

40

++tear

--m-Deg of Pol

20

0
50

100

burst strength relative to unaged paper/ %

30
+
0

E20
.-Ql> 15
.cI

5 IO

B,
0

0.5

1.5

lnitid Waterconkntl
Tes

3urst strenj
I?old streng
rensile stre

ktension t

rear streng
Degree of
ioiymerisai

513

25

3.5

4.2 Thermal and electrical characteristics

A ready source of information on the thermal conduction properties of paper insulation and
the electrical properties of conductors is the British Standard which codifies the calculation of
current rating of cables [3]. The values found in this document are agreed and acceptable
values in the light of industry experience and measurement rather than precise determinations
on a particular piece of cable. The thermal resistivity value cited for impregnated paper of 5,0
"Cm/Watt is likely to be influenced by the nature of the impregnant, the density of the paper
and the compactness of the insulation. The a.c. resistance of the conductor is influenced by its
construction and size as well as the conductivity of the metal and the temperature. Because of
these difficulties additional errors are undoubtedly built into the calculations. However, in
making comparisons between one location and another on the same cable, these errors
diminish considerably in relevance.
5 A case studv
5.1 The calculations

Following a failure at ajoint position, the insulation paper tapes from a 33 kV, 185 "2
aluminium fluid filled cable were retrieved from adjacent cable and the burst strengths
determined (mean of 7 tests) as 4,23 and 5,45kg/cm2 at the conductor and outer screens
respectively (the historical value from unaged cable was known to be 6,5 kg/cm2 determined
with the same apparatus and pre-treatment). The cable had been in service for 36 years
(3 15360 hours).
Assuming first order degradation, the rates for the hottest and coolest regions of the cable, kh
and k, are ln(6,5/4,23)/3 15360 h-l and In(6,5/5,45)/3 15360 h-' respectively. Taking the
activation energy (B) of degradation for paper as 15288 K and the pre-exponential term (A)
for burst strength as 1,71 1013 h-' [l] the time averaged absolute temperatures Th and T, are
-Bfln(kh /A) and -B/ln(k, /A) respectively. The temperature values thus calculated are 74,64
and 67,73 "C giving a difference of 6,91 "C.
The diameters of the insulation, d and D were 18,5 and 25,5 mm so that the radial thermal
resistance of a metre of cable [3], given by 5,0.ln@/d)/2p is 0,255 "CNatt. Thus the time
averaged dissipation from the conductor is estimated to be 6,911'0,255 = 27,l Watts.
The resistance of a metre of conductor at 74,64 "C is [3] 2,83 lo-* (1+4,03
(74,6420))/185 lo6 = 1,86 lo4 SZ. From this resistance and dissipation, the time averaged current
in the conductor may be estimated as 382 Amperes.
5.2 The interpretation
The evidence is consistent with this cable having worked well for its living during the 36
years since its installation and, away from the failure, it being in a condition to be rejointed
and continue fimctioning for many years to come at the same service levels. Clearly, overload and thermal degradation, either short term or long term was not a factor in the failure.
Other evidence pointed to an inadequately sweated ferrule in the joint which had pulled apart
due to the thermal mechanical forces generated by a short circuit (in another location of the
circuit) as being the prime cause of the failure.
6 Conclusions
When examining paper cables, either following a fault or when opportunities arise in
diversion work etc., it is possible to infer a great deal about the past service and therefore
remaining usefkl life by comparing the physical chemical characteristics of the paper with the

body of infcnmation existing in the literature. Together with other evidence, that derived from
the state of (degradationof the paper can support or refbte proposed causes of failures.
References
1
Lawson W.G., Simmons M.A., Gale P.S., Thermal ageing of cellulose paper
insullation, IEEE Trans. E.I. 12 (l), 1977, 61-66.
2
Head J.G., Gale P.S., Skipper D.J., Stannett A.W., Ageing of oil-filled cable
insullation, Cigre 1982 paper 15-07.
3
BS 7769: 1997, Electric Cables - Calculation of the current rating or IEC 287
Calculation of the continuous current rating of cables (100% load factor)
4
Kleinert T N, Ageing of Cellulose, Pt VI. Natural ageing of linen over long periods
of time
5
Gazzana-Priaroggia P et al, The influence of ageing on the characteristics of oilfilled cable dielectric, Proc IEE Vol 108, pt 4 1960, 1-13.