Diagnosis of Moisture in Oil/Paper Distribution Cables—Part II: Water Penetration in Cable Insulation–Experiment and Modeling

Dynamics of water penetration in mass impregnated cable insulation has been studied. For experimental purposes, artificial damage has been inflicted to a 40-cm-long cable sample and water ingress has been continuously monitored by frequency response measurements. A similar experiment has been conducted on 2.8-m-long cable sample, where both frequency response and time-domain reflectometry (TDR) measurements have been performed. After termination of both experiments, actual moisture content has been measured radially and axially. Based on dielectric measurements, a model of water ingress has been developed and diffusion coefficients have been estimated for mass impregnated cable paper.