Transcript Laboratory Overview

The Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory
Laboratory Overview
The Laboratory has been active on its present site
since being constructed in 1991 with funding from
STC Submarine Cable Systems. While primarily the
Laboratory is a research facility, commercial testing
and consultancy are undertaken on a regular basis.
Personnel:
• 7 academic staff
• 5 full-time research staff
• 25 full-time postgraduate students
• 3 laboratory technical staff
Expertise in the laboratory covers the full
spectrum of high voltage engineering, from
dielectric materials science to condition
monitoring and testing of high voltage plant.
Research Areas
• Condition Monitoring of HV Plant,
particularly cables/transformers
• Environmental Modelling using
techniques such as FEA and CFD
• HTS Power Apparatus, notably
cable terminations/generators
• Liquid Dielectrics, including both
conventional and novel oils
• Plasma & Space Technology,
focusing on electric propulsion
• Solid Dielectrics, especially
complex polymeric systems
• Space & Surface Charge, as applied
to HV cable and GIS systems
Facilities & Testing Capabilities
The Laboratory has a wide range of HV facilities which we use for both research
and commercial testing to a range of BS and IEC standards:
HV Facilities
• Up to 1MV/50kJ impulse generator
• Up to 300kV AC - pd free to less than 1 pC
• Up to 600kV DC
• Environmental chamber for fog, salt fog and rain tests on
live components
• Screened room for low noise measurements
• Partial Discharge testing to IEC 60 270
Materials Analysis
• Characterisation using UV/Vis and IR spectroscopy, Differential
Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Raman microscopy
• X-ray analysis
• Dielectric spectroscopy - Capacitance and Tan Delta measurements
Numerical Modelling
• A range of finite element/CFD tools, plus the development of bespoke codes
www.highvoltage.soton.ac.uk
Contact: Neil Palmer
Faculty of Physical and Applied Science
[email protected]
+ 44 (0) 23 80 59 32 38