Partial discharge would accelerate the ageing of power equipment insulation, which is an important monitoring indicator for the condition assessment of power equipment. The research related to partial discharge mainly include denoising of discharge signals, pattern recognition of defect types, equipment status assessment, and fault location of discharge sources. The artificial intelligence can effectively solve the problems of non-linear fitting and optimal solution in partial discharge detection. This paper introduces the detection methods of partial discharge, summarizes the application of artificial intelligence in both denoising of discharge signals and fault location of discharge sources, and points out the shortcomings and solutions in the current research.

Aiming at the application requirements of rail transit, we studied and compared the performance of A766 aramid insulation paper and the same types of aramid insulation paper at home and abroad. The results show that the composition and structure of A766 aramid insulation paper and the imported aramid insulation paper are basically the same. The temperature index of A766 aramid insulation paper is 223℃, the oxygen index is 30.2%, the smoke density is 1.4, and the smoke toxicity is 0.875, which meets the HL2 and HL2 of R22 and R23 fire rating standards. A766 aramid insulation paper has higher voltage withstand retention rate after immersion in water, the retention rate of 0.05 mm aramid insulation paper is 83.5%, and the retention rate of 0.13 mm aramid insulation paper is 73.8%. The Shawn’s experiment shows that the thermal oxygen ageing property resistance to copper/aluminum metal conductor of A766 aramid insulation paper is the same as that of the imported aramid insulation paper. Therefore, A766 aramid insulation paper can meet the application requirements of rail transit.

Curing agent acts as a link of epoxy resin molecular chains, its molecular structure will affect the various properties of epoxy resin. In this paper, the influence of curing agent molecular structure on the thermal properties, polarization properties, charge transport properties, and energy storage properties of epoxy films were comprehensively discussed by adjusting the ratio of alicyclic amine to polyether amine in curing agent. The results show that with the increase of proportion of rigid alicyclic amine in curing agent, the thermal stability of epoxy resin is significantly enhanced, and the dielectric loss is greatly reduced. This is mainly because the increase of rigid groups can effectively restrict the turning of molecular segments and the transporting of charge. Meanwhile, with the increase of ratio of alicyclic amine, the electric strength and charge-discharge efficiency of the epoxy film increase at first and then decrease. The F51/AP1.6 has the most excellent electric strength, energy density, and charge-discharge efficiency under four different ratios of curing agent. This is related to its stable molecular structure, low dielectric loss, and extremely high deep traps density.

Using bisphenol A epoxy resin, phosphorus flame retardant, aluminum hydroxide, and molecular sieve as the main agent, organic anhydride and accelerator as curing agent, we prepared a halogen-free flame retardant potting material for film capacitor. The effects of different flame retardants and filling content on the glass transition temperature and flame retardancy of the potting materials and the durability of the capacitor were studied, and the optimum formula of halogen-free flame retardant potting material for film capacitor was determined. The results show that the glass transition temperature of the potting materials prepared by the optimum formula is 104℃, and the flame retardant is V0 (3 mm), and the electrical insulation performance is good. The film capacitor potted with this potting material can meet the 600 h durability test under the condition of 1.2 times of voltage and 85%RH /85℃, and the capacitance change rate before and after test is 3.93%.

In order to better guide the application of composite insulation crossarms, the lightning impulse voltage, wet power frequency flashover voltage, pollution flashover voltage, and pollution snow-covered flashover voltage of the square tube composite insulation crossarm and the square bar composite insulation crossarm were compared and studied through experiments. The results show that the 50% dry lightning flashover voltage of the 10 kV square tube composite insulation crossarms is 388.3 kV, which is higher than that of the square bar composite insulation crossarm (370.0 kV). However, the wet power frequency withstand voltage, pollution withstand voltage, and pollution snow-covered flashover voltage of the square tube composite insulation crossarms are lower than that of the square bar composite insulation crossarms. Finally, the different application scheme of the composite insulation crossarms under different operating environment is proposed.

In this paper, the low-temperature plasma was generated by DBD test platform, and the polyimide (PI) nanocomposite film was modified by the low-temperature plasma. The surface morphology, chemical bond structure, surface conductivity, and corona resistance of the nanocomposite film before and after the low-temperature plasma modification were tested to study the change law of the film surface characteristics. The results show that after surface modification, the nanocomposite film surface becomes rough gradually, and there are micropores and discontinuous protrusions appeared. Polar oxygen-rich groups were introduced on the surface by plasma modification with appropriate modification time. With the increase of modification time, the contact angle decreases, the surface energy and surface conductivity increase, and the corona resistance life increases at first and then decreases. When the low-temperature plasma modification time is 10 s, the corona resistance life of the modified nanocomposites film is 15.7% higher than that of the unmodified nanocomposites film. After modified by the low-temperature plasma, the nanocomposite film has more uniform surface than the pure PI film, and the modified nanocomposite film has the characteristics of small surface energy and large surface conductivity. The large surface conductivity will accelerate the dissipation speed of surface charge of the nanocomposite film, avoid the surface discharge produced by the concentration of local field strength, thereby improving the corona resistance life of the film. To obtain the same modification effect, the nanocomposite film need longer low-temperature plasma modification time than pure PI film.

At first, the insulation level of returned cable was analyzed by ultra-low frequency (VLF) dielectric loss test method and microscope observation method. And then, the organic-inorganic composite repair fluid was injected into the cable core through a repair system. After repairing for 24 h, the generated filler was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared spectroscopy (IR), and the insulation level of the cable after repairing was analyzed by VLF dielectric loss test method and breakdown voltage test method. The microscopic test results show that after injecting the organic-inorganic composite repair fluid, the micropores and defects will be filled during the penetration and reaction process of repair fluid in cable insulation layer, both the number and size of micropores in repaired cable insulation are smaller than those in unrepaired sample, at the same time, the hydroxyl absorption peak is reduced significantly. The VLF dielectric loss test results show that the performance indexes of the cable after repairing is enhanced, and the breakdown voltage is improved. It is proved that the organic-inorganic composite repairing technology can improve the insulating properties of field returned cable effectively and prolong the cable insulation life.

The contamination of DC silicone rubber insulator has an important influence on its insulation performance and service life, and the adverse effects of swelling effect under the insulation cleaning agent is the key issue to be solved. The volatilization rate of two kinds of electrified cleaning agent, the swelling and hydrophobicity of silicone rubber before and after cleaning by different cleaning agents were studied, and the corresponding mechanism was discussed. The results show that the volatilization rates of No.1 (fast volatilization) and No.2 (slow volatilization) electrified cleaning agents at 25℃ are 1 095.78 g/(h·m²) and 108.01 g/(h·m²), respectively. The swelling index of silicone rubber increases with the increase of time, it reaches saturation after 10 h, and the swelling index of the saturated silicone rubber are 55% and 130%, respectively. The hydrophobicity of silicone rubber is weakened by No.1 cleaning agent, and the contact angle decreases by 14% after soaking for 10 min. The hydrophobicity of silicone rubber is enhanced by No.2 cleaning agent, and the contact angle increases by 6% after soaking for the same time. Therefore, the cleaning agent with excellent volatility can reduce the adverse effect of swelling on the silicone rubber insulators, and can provide basis and reference for the electrified cleaning of silicone rubber insulation equipment.

In this paper, thermal ageing tests were conducted on the prepared silicone rubber-based flame-retardant transmission insulator samples at 210℃ for different times by high temperature accelerated ageing method, and their performance were tested by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and contact angle tester. The results show that with the extension of ageing time, the melamine cyanurate (MCA) flame retardant particles in the sample decompose continuously, a large number of pores are formed on the surface of sample, and the infrared intensity of amino and hydroxyl functional groups continues to decrease. The contact angles measured by different solutions show a downward trend, and the erosion of hydrophobicity by the salt solution and acid solution is more serious. The lifetime of samples under the water condition calculated by Hallberg-Peck model and the contact angle is 16.6 years, the lifetime of samples under acid rain conditions is 10.4 years, and the lifetime of samples under seawater condition is 10.2 years.

In order to study the ageing process of composite insulator silicone rubber in the hot and humid climate in the southern region, we conducted 300 h, 500 h, and 1 000 h salt spray ageing tests on silicone rubber in the laboratory. The concentration of small molecule groups on the surface of silicone rubber with different degrees was detected by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), and the ageing mechanism was analyzed combing the hydrophobicity and scanning electron microscope test results. The results show that Si⁺, C₂H₅⁺, SiCH₃⁺, SiC₃H₉⁺, H^-, CH^-, O^-, and OH^- were detected on the surface of silicone rubber. The hydrophobicity of silicone rubber is positively correlated with the content of small alkyl molecules. The content of small alkyl molecules on the surface of silicone rubber is consumed by drip washing of salt spray, which lead to the decrease of hydrophobicity. In the salt spray atmosphere, oxidation and hydrolysis reactions are reacted on the surface of silicone rubber, which results in the broken of Si-O and Si-C bonds, and Si-OH bonds are formed. The hydroxylation lead to the collapse of silicone rubber three-dimensional network structure and the decrease of polymerization degree. The gases such as H₂ and CH₄, generated by the ageing reaction, would form voids on the surface of silicone rubber, which would cause powders and cracks on the surface of silicone rubber.