Electrostatic Field Calculations for Liquid Nitrogen Gaps Assuming a Decisive Field Factor

Abstract

Volume effect on breakdown voltage is well known in high voltage engineering. The breakdown voltage behavior of liquid nitrogen depending on a high field volume had been quantitatively described for gap lengths up to 20 mm. Breakdown curves for longer gap lengths up to 96 mm derived from measurements with a facility “Fatelini 2” show oscillations and partly low withstand voltages. Electrostatic field calculation for such long gaps shows remarkable high field volume differences between a model for ideal sphere and models including fixation rods. Calculation for the used setup does not show monotonically increasing high field volume depending on gap length but a maximum around 60 mm which can explain the special breakdown behavior in a “mid range” gap length. Further high field calculations were done for not yet used setups in order to make considerations, e.g. for the influence of cryostat material or diameter.