Partial Discharge Tests and Characterization of the Advanced Photon Source Linac Modulator Cables

The advanced photon source (APS) linac modulators are PFN-type pulsers with switch-mode charging power supplies (PSs). The PS and the PFN are connected to each other by 15 feet of 100-kV x-ray cable, with the PFN end of the cable terminated with a connector that was confirmed partial-discharge (PD)-free up to 38 kV ac (53.5 kV peak). Another end of the cable is terminated with a connector that was designed by the PS manufacturer and cannot easily be replaced with another type of connector, since part of it is located inside the densely packed PS. PD tests of the cables with this type of connector show that the PD inception voltages (PDIVs) in different cables turn out to be located within a wide voltage range: 21 to 27 kV ac that corresponds to 29 to 38 kV peak. In order to evaluate the insulation condition of the modulator cables, detect insulation deterioration, and ensure failure-preventing equipment maintenance, over the last two years the PDIVs of all high-voltage (HV) cables in use in the modulators have been tested about every three and a half months. Before the tests, all cables were removed from the equipment, carefully cleaned, inspected, and regreased. The tests were performed using a 40-kV PD detector. The test results show that: 1) The PDIVs remain almost unchanged in all tested cables. 2) From test to test, the PDIV of any particular cable may slightly oscillate around some average value. This possibly depends on the connector regreasing technique. 3) There is no direct evidence of cable insulation deterioration during more than two years of operation under voltage higher than the PD inception level