Power transformers are important and expensive elements within the electric power transmission and distribution utilities. Since these equipments are connected in series to the network, any inadvertent failures would cause catastrophic interruptions to the power supply. As such, it is extremely critical for the power transformer to operate continuously in order to maintain a reliable and efficient electricity supply. Ageing or defects in power transformer has a root in its insulation structure and this has always been a well-known fact. For many years, mineral oil impregnated cellulose paper (OIP) has been the choice of insulation for power transformers due to its excellent dielectric properties as well as its inexpensive price. During the course of operation, the dielectric properties of OIP insulation inevitably deteriorate due to singularly or a combination of stresses such as thermal, electrical, mechanical, chemical as well as environmental stresses. Degradation of power transformer insulation is an irreversible process and has been encountered by all power utilities around the world. However, replacing a power transformer simply by its age is impractical and uneconomical. With the increase in the population of ageing power transformers, there is an urgent need to evaluate the condition of transformer insulation so as to facilitate the planning for refurbishment or replacement of the equipment in a more appropriate manner. To address this issue, many techniques involving both chemical and electrical methods have been developed to monitor the insulation condition of oil-filled power transformers. However, some of these techniques are destructive by nature and some of them are unable to assess the insulation condition accurately. With the advancement in technology over the years, newer diagnostic methods in time and frequency domains have been developed in recent years to assess the insulation condition based on their dielectric responses. One of the newly developed methods is known as Frequency Domain Spectroscopy (FDS) measurement and it monitors the insulation condition by measuring the diagnostic parameters as a function of frequency ranging from 0.1mHz to 1kHz. The primary focus of this thesis is to adopt FDS technique to study the effects of several deterioration factors on the dielectric response of transformer insulation, so as to develop a better understanding between FDS technique and the condition of transformer insulation. To study the effects of moisture and temperature, FDS measurements were performed on a CIGRE model transformer at various moisture concentrations and temperature levels. From the experimental results, moisture and temperature have significant impacts on the dielectric response of transformer insulation. In addition to constant temperature, FDS measurements were also performed during transient temperature conditions to investigate the effects of transient temperature on the dielectric response of transformer insulation. An empirical relationship between the dielectric response produced from transient and steady temperature conditions was able to be established from the experimental results. A novel approach to study the effects of geometrical parameters was also part of this research work. An insulation model has been designed and fabricated for the purpose of this study. FDS measurements were conducted on the insulation model with different configurations of barriers, spacers and oil volume. The results showed that geometrical parameters did have an impact on the dielectric response of transformer insulation. The secondary diagnostic technique used in this research is Polarisation and Depolarisation Current (PDC) measurement and the purpose of using this method is to explore the feasibility of reducing the total PDC measurement duration as well as to determine the optimum measurement time for PDC.

Electrical insulation papers are a widely used group of papers in insulation applications and has been used for more than 100 years. Common applications include use as the dielectric medium in capacitors and insulation material in cables, bushings and transformers. As new advances in the study of the electrical properties of paper are made, the prospects of future applications grow. One interesting prospect is the use of paper as a substrate in sensing devices, biodegradable, printed and flexible electronics. Paper is a renewable and recyclable material and it would therefor be desirable to replace non-renewables materials such as plastics with paper as e.g., substrate in printed electronics. For this to be feasible the paper must be able to meet the electric and dielectric requirements of the intended application, among which low dielectric losses is a key parameter. One way to alter and control the electric and dielectric properties of a paper sample is through the selection of different ions in the ion-exchange step of the paper making process. In a collaboration between KTH Royal Institute of Technology and RISE - Research Institutes of Sweden AB working within a greater Digital Cellulose Center (DCC) project, this thesis aims to measure and characterise the dielectric response of a set of novel ion-exchanged paper samples together with a set of reference papers currently used in electrical applications. The greater goal of RISE work is to understand and map the influence of ion choice in order to better understand and control the dielectric properties of paper. The samples were measured using an impedance spectroscopy method from which capacitance and permittivity can be calculated. A parallel plate Kelvin guard-ring capacitor consisting of two electrodes and a guard ring placed in a custom made climate controlled chamber was used to measure the samples in different environmental conditions. The results show that the choice of ion used in the ion-exchanged papers heavily influence the samples dielectric response, both its dielectric constant and dielectric losses. Further, the choice of ion valence appears correlated with the change in responses; monovalent ions had much greater influence than bivalent ions. This effect appears to stem from monovalent ions having a greater mobility within the bulk material, more research is however needed for a definite answer. / Elektriska isoleringspapper är en flitigt använd grupp av papper i isoleringsapplikationer och har använts i mer än 100 år. Vanliga applikationsområden inkluderar användning som dielektriskt medium i kondensatorer och isoleringsmaterial i kablar, genomföringar och transformatorer. I takt med att nya framsteg görs inom olika pappers elektriska egenskaper växer utsikterna för framtida tillämpningar. En intressant möjlighet är användningen av papper som substrat för sensorer, biologiskt nedbrytbar, tryckt och flexibel elektronik. Papper är ett förnybart och återvinningsbart material och det vore därför önskvärt att ersätta icke förnybara material som plast med papper som t.ex. substrat i tryckt elektronik. För att detta ska vara genomförbart måste papperet kunna uppfylla de elektriska och dielektriska kraven för den avsedda applikationen, bland vilka låga dielektriska förluster är en nyckelparameter. Ett sätt att ändra och kontrollera de elektriska och dielektriska egenskaperna hos ett pappersprov är genom valet av olika joner i jonbytessteget i papperstillverkningsprocessen. I ett samarbete mellan KTH Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan och RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB som arbetar inom ett större Digital Cellulose Center-projekt, syftar denna avhandling till att mäta och karakterisera den dielektriska responsen hos en uppsättning nya jonbytta pappersprover tillsammans med en uppsättning referenspapper. Det övergripande målet i RISE arbete är att förstå och kartlägga påverkan av jonval för att bättre förstå och kontrollera pappers dielektriska egenskaper. Proverna mättes med en impedansbaserad mätmetod från vilken kapacitans och permittivitet kan beräknas. En Kelvin plattkondensator bestående av två elektroder och en skyddsring placerad i en skräddarsydd klimatkontrollerad kammare användes för att mäta proverna under olika miljöförhållanden. Resultaten visar att valet av jon som används i jonutbytet kraftigt påverkar provets dielektriska respons, både dess dielektriska konstant och dielektriska förluster. Vidare verkar valet av jonvalens vara korrelerat med förändringen i frekvenssvar; envärda joner hade mycket större inflytande än tvåvärda joner. Denna effekt verkar bero på att envärda joner har en större rörlighet inom bulkmaterialet, mer forskning krävs dock för ett definitivt svar.