Field enhancement simulation study of nanoparticle-infused dielectric oil with roughened electrode surfaces

Abstract

The Center for Physical and Power Electronics at UMC has been having experimental success in reducing the self-break jitter of a single-shot pulsed oil switch with various high-K nanoparticle-infused oil dielectrics. In support of this effort, electromagnetic simulations have been completed to quantify the observed phenomena. The simulation results presented in this paper focus on modeling the electric fields associated with the spatially random placement of both electrode enhancements and polarized high-K particles in a simulated oil gap. The simulation results show that high-K particles increase the average electric field on the surface of a rough electrode surface which contributes to the lower experimental oil breakdown strength.