Plasma Dynamic Simulations of Partial Discharges within Electrical Tree Structures

Abstract

This paper is a preliminary investigation into the physical mechanisms of PD within gaseous tubules in a needle-plane electrode arrangement. It is intended as a simple representation of an experimental system which formed electrical trees. A drift diffusion model is used to simulate plasma dynamics, where it is assumed that the gas within the tubule is atmospheric pressure air. The findings were in reasonable agreement with the existing literature on the tubule length required to initiate a PD. The PDs were found to be positive streamers, which propagated towards the needle tip at negative applied voltage polarity, and away from the needle tip at positive voltage polarity. There a number of possible developments for future work with the ultimate aim of improving simulations of electrical treeing in high voltage plant.