Influence of bubbles on electric field distribution of butt‐gaps in superconducting cable insulation layer

Abstract

Abstract Superconducting energy pipeline (SEP) is a new type of electrical energy transmission. It contains high‐temperature superconducting cables and liquefied natural gas pipelines and can simultaneously transmit electricity and liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, when the superconducting tapes in the superconducting cables in SEP quench and generate heat, bubbles will generate in the butt‐gaps of the insulation layer of superconducting cables, which can reduce the insulation strength of the cables significantly. In addition, the effects of bubbles in the butt‐gap of the insulation layer on the insulation properties of the superconducting cables are unknown. The objective here is to obtain the influences of bubbles in the insulation layer of superconducting cables in capacitive field, transitional field, and resistive field. Simulation results show that: Compared with the absence of bubbles, the big bubbles can increase the capacitive field strength of the PP film, the butt‐gap, and the kraft by 37.54%, 30.89%, and 18.5%, and increase the transition time from the capacitive field to the resistive field, but has almost no effect on the butt‐gap in the resistive field.