A Linear Change of Leakage Current and Insulation Resistance of 22 kV Cables

This study is to predict the life exponent by measuring, over 7 years, the insulation resistance of high-voltage cables in 22 kV operation for 13 years. We found out the lifetime index in order to determine the time-dependent trend of deteriorating performance of power cables. The insulation resistances decreased according to elapsed time. We found that: the initial measurements of the cable systems were in agreement with the deterioration properties of the Arrhenius Law. By analyzing the life curve of the cable system, we also verified that the value of the life exponent (n) in the v-t characteristics defined by Weibull distribution has values from 10 to 11. When designing the cable system, the initial value of life exponent was chosen as 9 without any grounding. We have verified that the theoretical grounding based on the design safety of n=9 was actually the best one available. In the short term, we apply our research result to the diagnosis and evaluation of the power cables. In the long run, however, we plan to reduce the cost of the installation and management of cable systems in operation at power stations.