The surface discharge and breakdown characteristics of HTS DC cable and stop joint box

A high temperature superconducting (HTS) DC cable system consists of a HTS cable and cable joint. The HTS DC cable should be electrically connected in joint boxes because of the unit length of HTS cable is limited to several-hundred meters. In particular, the stop joint box (SJB) must be developed for a compact cooling system. Polypropylene laminated paper (PPLP) and epoxy maybe used as insulating materials for HTS DC cable and SJB. To develop a HTS DC cable, it is necessary to develop the cryogenic insulation technology, materials and the joint methods. In this paper, we will mainly discuss on the DC and impulse characteristics of epoxy and PPLP in liquid nitrogen (LN2). The surface discharge characteristics of epoxy included fillers, PPLP and epoxy with PPLP composite (epoxy + PPLP) were measured under 0.4 MPa. Also, the PPLP-insulated mini-model cable was fabricated and then DC, impulse and DC polarity reversal breakdown strength of mini-model cable under 0.4 MPa were investigated.