Attendance: The Discussion Group met on Monday, March 10, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. with 57 members and guests in attendance:

Aabo, T. Power Cable Consultants

Abdolall, K. Powertech

Banting, J. Cooper Power Systems

Bernstein, B. BSB Consulting

Braun, A.J. Connexus Energy

Brinton, R. Novinium

Brossard, B. IMCORP

Brown, K. TVA

Buchholz, V. Consultant

Bui, T.Q. Tampa Electric

Campbell, T. ConEd

Comar, B. Hydro One

Coté, J. Hydro Quebec

De Guzman, P. asadena W&P

Densley, J. rborLec Solutions

DiGuglielmo PSE&G

Drapeau, J.-F. Hydro Quebec IREQ

Eggen, G. EPCOR

Fenger, M. Kinectrics

Fletcher, C. Duke Energy

George, P. Dominion Virginia Power

Goodwin, C. HV Diagnostics

Goyette, T. National Grid

Gulski, E. TU Delft

Haas, R. Pasadena W&P

Hampton, N. NEETRAC

Harvey, E. Consumers Energy

Hunt, J. Salt River Project

Katz, C. CTL

Koch, F. PS & E

Participants Affiliation

Kong, A. Pacific G&E

Kopchuck, T. First Energy

Landers, G. Von Corpn

Lanz, B. IMCORP

Lemke, E. LDIC

Lopez, J. SD G&E

Liu, C. AEP

Makowski, L. HV Technologies

McLean, M. First Energy

Nishioka, T. Arizona PS

Nixon, W. IMCORP

Oetjen, H.. HDW Electronics

Patterson, R. NETA

Petzold, F. SEBA KMT

Ray, J. Black and Veatch

Rong, F. Black and Veatch

Salvidar, C. Conductores Monterrey

Schmidt, R. Lincoln Electric

Sotoa, A. SD G&E

Spencer, W. Power Engineers

Tirinzoni, P. North East Utilities

Vencus, R. North East Utilities

von Herrmann, M. Von Corpn.

Walton, M. General Cable

Wharton, P. Horizon Wind Energy

Williams, L. Progress Energy

Zhao, T. EPRI

The IEEE policy regarding copyright and patent responsibilities was discussed.

Presentations

Presentations were made by Nigel Hampton, Benjamin Lanz and Frank Petzold (see Appendices C-8-Hampton 2008, C-9-Lanz 2008 and C-10-Petzold 2008).

The presentation by Hampton (co-author Patterson) addressed the effect of the terminations on tan delta measurements performed on service-aged 15 kV EPR cables. The results showed that the tan delta was reduced by 3x10-3 to ~10-3 when the aged terminations were replaced by new ones and that the voltage dependence was eliminated. This effect has been reported on resistive graded splices at previous meetings but this was the first time that measurements have been reported for coldshrink, heatshrink and taped-type terminations. Within each group, there were isolated high values of tan delta. It is probable that a similar effect would be seen in splices. The slides presented are shown in Appendix C-8-Hampton 2008.

The presentation by Lanz showed some examples when a partial discharge test was more sensitive to certain types of defects than a VLF withstand test. The author also pointed some issues that should be addressed in the revision of IEEE 400.2. The slides presented are shown in Appendix C-9-Lanz 2008.

The presentation by Petzold (co-author Oetjen) introduced the derivation of tan delta over a range of frequency ~2x10-2 Hz to ~0.2 Hz from data using the cos-rectangular waveform. The tan delta is calculated from measurements of the capacitance of the cable and the leakage current at different times during the constant voltage part of the cos-rectangular waveform. The calculation makes use of the Hamon approximation. The technique is relatively new and data are being collected comparing the technique with tan delta measurements made at discrete frequencies. The slides presented are shown in Appendix C-10-Petzold 2008.

Revision of IEEE 400.2

Progress in the revision of IEEE 400.2 was discussed. At the previous meeting several persons volunteered to revise different sections of 400.2 and to incorporate parts of the 400-2001 dealing with VLF testing. The following persons volunteered to review the allotted sections and revise if necessary:

Section 2: Normative References - Nigel Hampton.

Section 3: Definitions and acronyms - John Densley - completed

Section 4: Safety - Fred Koch and Rob Schlesinger - completed

Section 5: VLF Testing - John Densley, Craig Goodwin and Kent Brown

Section 5.1: General VLF Testing – Nigel Hampton, Henning Oetjen, and Rob Cunningham – partially completed

Section 5.2: VLF Testing with Cosine-Rectangular /Bipolar Pulse Waveform – Henning Oetjen – partially completed

Section 5.3: VLF Testing with Sinusoidal Waveform - Martin Baur and Rob Schlesinger

Section 5.4: VLF Testing with Regulated Positive and Negative DC Voltages - omit

Section 5.5: Dissipation Factor/Differential Dissipation Factor/Leakage Current/Harmonic Loss Current Tests with VLF Sinusoidal Waveform – Nigel Hampton, Henning Oetjen, Craig Goodwin, and Kent Brown

Section 5.6: Partial Discharge Tests with VLF Sinusoidal Waveform – John Densley

Section 5.7: Dielectric Spectroscopy – John Densley, Craig Goodwin and Frank Petzold

Section 6: Conclusions - John Densley

The revisions should be sent by e-mail to the Chair (j.densley@ieee.org) by August 15, 2008, so that their comments can be circulated to the review group and discussed at the Fall meeting. The review group is Mark Walton, Ralph Patterson, Carlos Katz, Kent Brown, Jim Bromley, Craig Goodwin, Gerry Landers, Nigel Hampton, Rob Schlesinger, and John Densley.

The group met on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM with 43 members and guests attending

The current Guide was published in 2004 and is in affect for 5 years. It was published with the idea of it being made more comprehensive by the addition of recent information for its next issue (due in 2009). The new information has been provided by a number of sources including the CDFI project being conducted by NEETRAC. A motion to start revising the document and apply fro a PAR was made by Ben Lanz and seconded by Rob Schlesinger.

A “raised hand vote” was taken by John Densley resulting in the following summary:

For: 16

Against: 0

Abstained 4

As a result of the vote, the Chair will apply for a PAR to start revising the present IEEE 400.2. A sign-up sheet was passed around and the following persons were interested to serve on the working group:

Kal Abdolall Powertech Labs

Bruce Bernstein Consultant

Kent Brown TVA

Jacques Cote Hydro Quebec

John Densley Consultant

Jean Francois Drapeau Hydro Quebec (IREQ)

Craig Goodwin HV Diagnostics

Steve Graham Duke Energy

Ed Gulski TU Delft

Nigel Hampton NEETRAC

John Hans ComEd

Leeman Hong ConEd

Ben Lanz IMCORP

Henning Oetjen HDW Electronics

Joshua Perkel NEETRAC

Frank Petzold SEBA KMT

Rob Schlesinger Consultant

Rich Vencus NorthEast Utilities

Martin von Hermann Von Corp.

Mark Walton General Cable

Bob Wiehe First Energy

Jean Francois Drapeau (IREQ) and Juan-Carlos Hernandez (NEETRAC) made a presentation, see Appendix F-8, entitled “Preliminary Data on Contributions of Cable and Accessories to Dielectric Insulation Losses - A comparative study and Implications for Condition Assessment". The presentation included a comparison and correlation of VLF test results and TDS (Time Domain Spectroscopy) results with regards to Tan δ and withstand testing for XLPE ad EPR insulated cables. The correlation between the two methods was good. The TDS method will be described in Discussion Group F06 (DC Field Testing of Extruded Cable Systems).

After the presentation the latest draft of IEEE P400.2/D1 of October 2008 edition 3, which was submitted to members in advance of the meeting, was briefly reviewed. However, as most attendees were not familiar with the latest edition and not all recent changes proposed by some members had been  incorporated into the document, it was decided that this was not the best venue for discussing detailed changes in the document. It will be reviewed and commented on by email for the next meeting.