Effects of operation temperature in artificially aging of zinc oxide varistors by high current short impulses

Abstract Nowadays surge arresters combine a complex metal oxide varistor (MOV) technology inside a polymeric housing. MOV is a sintered polycrystalline ceramic based on zinc oxide (ZnO) and small amounts of other metallic oxides (additives) usually applied to the manufacturing of surge protective devices for overvoltage protection at all power system voltage classes. The effect of operation temperature on the chemistry and microstructure of commercial zinc oxide varistor (ZOV) submitted to accelerated electrical aging by high-current short impulses were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), optical microscopy (OM), Vickers micro hardness and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The SEM analysis indicates the formation of micro voids in grain and some larger voids in grain boundary with increase of operation temperature. The EDS and XRD measurements suggests that the operation temperature in the interval of 333 K–353 K during the high-current short impulses promotes the volatilization of the Bi 2 O 3 phase and formation of the pyrochlore in the ZOV body. The results of this paper suggest the necessity of getting a better knowledge of the aging process of ZnO-based varistors submitted to high operational temperatures applied to the manufacturing of gapless metal oxide surge arresters (MOSA).

[1]  A. Ivanchenko,et al.  Percolation effects in dc degradation of ZnO varistors , 2015 .

[2]  Effect of long-term electrical degradation on the distribution of donor impurities in ZnO varistor ceramics , 2000 .

[3]  Dong Xu,et al.  Microstructure and electrical properties of ZnO–Bi2O3-based varistor ceramics by different sintering processes , 2009 .

[4]  J. Tartaj,et al.  A Strategic Two‐Stage Low‐Temperature Thermal Processing Leading to Fully Dense and Fine‐Grained Doped‐ZnO Varistors , 2002 .

[5]  Jinliang He,et al.  Discussions on Nonuniformity of Energy Absorption Capabilities of ZnO Varistors , 1998, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery.

[6]  J. Fernández,et al.  Processing strategies to control grain growth in ZnO based varistors , 2005 .

[7]  J. Andino,et al.  Electrical strength of air containing ozone and nitric oxides produced by intensive partial discharges , 2001 .

[9]  C. Nahm,et al.  Microstructure and varistor properties of ZnO-Pr6O11-CoO-Nd2O3 based ceramics , 2000 .

[10]  Yuanhua Lin,et al.  Sintering Temperature Dependence of Grain Boundary Resistivity in a Rare‐Earth‐Doped ZnO Varistor , 2007 .

[11]  M. Jaroszewski,et al.  An assessment of ageing of oxide varistors exposed to pulse hazards using dielectric spectroscopy , 2004, Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Solid Dielectrics, 2004. ICSD 2004..

[12]  J. Frutos,et al.  Wide range dielectric spectroscopy of ZnO-based varistors as a function of sintering time , 2004 .

[13]  Andreas Waag,et al.  Zinc Oxide: From Fundamental Properties Towards Novel Applications , 2010 .

[14]  D. C. Reynolds,et al.  Role of Near-Surface States in Ohmic-Schottky Conversion of Au Contacts to ZnO , 2005 .

[15]  A. Sedky,et al.  Electrical conductivity study in pure and doped ZnO ceramic system , 2009 .

[16]  Modeling of the Degradation Electromigrational Processes in Structures with Intercrystallite Potential Barriers , 2007 .

[17]  A. Ullah,et al.  On the sampling of three‐dimensional polycrystalline microstructures for distribution determination , 2011, Journal of microscopy.

[18]  Manuel L. B. Martinez,et al.  Surge ageing of metal oxide varistors , 2014, 2014 International Conference on Advances in Communication and Computing Technologies (ICACACT 2014).

[19]  M. Hashmi,et al.  Performance and failure during energy testing of zinc oxide varistor processed from different powder size fraction and passivation thickness , 2010 .

[20]  Electrical and microstructural characteristics of ZnO–Bi 2 O 3 -based varistors doped with rare-earth oxides , 2001 .

[21]  C. Nahm.  Effect of sintering temperature on varistor properties and aging characteristics of ZnO–V2O5–MnO2 ceramics , 2009 .

[22]  G. Mahan,et al.  Influence of Nonuniformity of ZnO Varistors on Their Energy Absorption Capability , 2001, IEEE Power Engineering Review.

[23]  L. Hongyu,et al.  Effects of cooling rate on the microstructure and electrical properties of Dy2O3-doped ZnO-based varistor ceramics , 2007 .

[24]  Microstructure, electrical properties, and dc aging characteristics of Tb4O7-doped ZnO-based varistors , 2008 .

[25]  L. Mädler,et al.  Bismuth Oxide Nanoparticles by Flame Spray Pyrolysis , 2004 .

[26]  J. Frutos,et al.  Mott-Schottky behavior of strongly pinned double Schottky barriers and characterization of ceramic varistors , 2002 .

[27]  Jun Hu,et al.  Non-uniform ageing behavior of individual grain boundaries in ZnO varistor ceramics , 2011 .

[28]  R. Buchanan.  Ceramic Materials for Electronics , 2018 .

[29]  S. Pillai,et al.  High performance ZnO varistors prepared from nanocrystalline precursors for miniaturised electronic devices , 2008 .

[30]  Toshiharu Tada,et al.  Degradation of ZnO varistors as estimated by aging tests , 2010 .

[31]  R. Metz,et al.  Rare earth oxides effects on both the threshold voltage and energy absorption capability of ZnO varistors , 2007 .

[32]  Domagoj Rubeša,et al.  Finite element modelling of the electrical impulse induced fracture of a high voltage varistor , 2000 .

[33]  K. Chrzan,et al.  Influence of moisture and partial discharges on the degradation of high-voltage surge arresters , 2004 .

[34]  Jun Hu,et al.  Statistics on the AC ageing characteristics of single grain boundaries of ZnO varistor , 2011 .

[35]  F. Izumi,et al.  A Rietveld-Analysis Programm RIETAN-98 and its Applications to Zeolites , 2000 .

[36]  S. Said,et al.  Enhance protection of electronic appliances through multivariate modelling and optimization of ceramic core materials in varistor devices , 2015 .

[37]  Shengtao Li,et al.  Electrical barriers in the ZnO varistor grain boundaries , 2006 .

[38]  N. Daneu,et al.  Inversion boundary induced grain growth in ZnO ceramics: from atomic-scale investigations to microstructural engineering , 2011 .

[39]  Susumu Nishiwaki,et al.  Failure mechanisms and recent improvements in ZnO arrester elements , 2000 .

[40]  H. Chan,et al.  Water‐Induced Degradation in Zinc Oxide‐Based Ceramic Varistors , 2002 .

[41]  Statistical Pulse Degradation Characteristics of Grain Boundaries in a ZnO Varistor Based on Microcontact Measurement , 2010 .

[42]  Zhijian Peng,et al.  Progress on rare-earth doped ZnO-based varistor materials , 2013, Journal of Advanced Ceramics.

[43]  Slavko Bernik,et al.  The characteristics of ZnO–Bi2O3-based varistor ceramics doped with Y2O3 and varying amounts of Sb2O3 , 2004 .

[44]  N. Sirikulrat,et al.  Properties and intergranular phase analysis of a ZnO–CoO–Bi2O3 varistor , 2006 .

[45]  J. Fernández,et al.  Varistors based in the ZnO–Bi2O3 system: Microstructure control and properties , 2007 .

[46]  P. Flewitt,et al.  Grain Boundaries: Their Microstructure and Chemistry , 2001 .

[47]  Tapan Kumar Saha,et al.  The effects of electrical degradation on the microstructure of metal oxide varistor , 2001, 2001 IEEE/PES Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exposition. Developing New Perspectives (Cat. No.01CH37294).

[48]  Mao-hua Wang,et al.  Degradation phenomena due to humidity in low voltage ZnO varistors , 2007 .

[49]  Y. Abdollahi,et al.  Optimizing Bi2O3 and TiO2 to achieve the maximum non-linear electrical property of ZnO low voltage varistor , 2013, Chemistry Central Journal.

[50]  Grzegorz Lentka,et al.  Problems of Varistor Quality Assessment During Exploitation , 2012 .

[51]  H. Delalu,et al.  Electrical properties of varistors in relation to their true bismuth composition after sintering , 2000 .

[52]  C. de Salles,et al.  Determination of the discharge current on distribution network surge arresters , 2009, 2009 IEEE Bucharest PowerTech.

[53]  A. Whitehead,et al.  The Influence of Bi2O3 and Sb2O3 on the Electrical Properties of ZnO-Based Varistors , 2001 .

[54]  Space Charge Characteristics of ZnO Varistors after Pulse Degradation , 2012, 2012 Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference.

[55]  Volker Hinrichsen.  Metal-Oxide Surge Arresters in high-voltage power systems: Fundamentals , 2001 .

[56]  Anderson Janotti,et al.  Fundamentals of zinc oxide as a semiconductor , 2009 .

[57]  Percolation effects in the capacitive properties of metal-oxide varistors in the range of high voltage , 2014 .