Corona in oil as a function of geometry, temperature and humidity

Corona discharge in oil is one of a number of important defects that may exist in a power transformer. This paper investigates the corona in oil from a needle-plane geometry. Different aspect ratios of the geometry are investigated as well as the temperature dependence from 25 to 100°C. The corona discharges are measured both in time domain with oscilloscopes and as phase resolved patterns. By using COMSOL, a simple simulation of the electric field in the needle-plane geometry is computed. Simulation of electrical field around the needle tip for different needle length and distance from the needle tip to plane is performed. An amplification factor of electrical field around the tip, according to these parameters is developed. By considering corona inception voltage as a function of electrical field around the tip, by using the same geometries for simulation and measurement, inception field for corona in oil as a function of electrical field is calculated. The results show the dependency of corona inception voltage, discharge magnitude and repetition rate on the geometrical parameters, temperature and humidity.