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Numerical Calculations of Monopolar Corona From the Bare Bundle Conductors of HVDC Transmission Lines
Zhong-Xin Li, Guang-Fan Li, Jian-Bin Fan, Zhi-Yi Su, and Chen Gu
AbstractThis paper provides accurate numerical calculations of the monopolar corona phenomenon for bundled transmission lines. The corona onset voltage and electric eld are known to vary along the circumference of the conductor, as well as with height. After solving for the charge distribution on the conductors at a constant applied potential, the gas discharge criterion is used to evaluate the corona onset voltages and electric elds of every surface in a symmetric bundle of six bare conductors. The fourthorder Runge-Kutta-Gill method is used to solve the corresponding differential equations, presented as an initial value problem with boundary conditions. The corona onset voltages calculated by this method agree with published experimental data on simpler congurations. Finally, the numerical results are discussed in detail for the six-conductor conguration currently used in the construction of Chinese transmission lines, considering two types of conductor. Index TermsBundle conductors, charge simulation method, gas discharges, onset corona voltage, transmission lines.

I. INTRODUCTION

ORONA in HVDC lines is of great concern to power transmission engineers; it is a source of power loss, can create audible noise, and interferes with radio and TV signals [1], [2]. For these and other reasons, the conditions under which corona rst occurs in a given set of conductors is an important design consideration. In China, the electrical industry must transmit large quantities of power from west to east. More than six circuits of kV HVDC transmission lines have been constructed and are now operating. Meanwhile, many other large-scale projects involving HVDC transmission lines are being built in other countries [3]. The problems experienced by such projects have led researchers to take an interest in the corona phenomenon. Corona is a self-sustained discharge; it occurs when the electrical eld at the surface of the conductor reaches a critical value. The onset of corona has been investigated experimentally. Well-known empirical relations such as Peeks formula [4] are widely used to predict the surface eld conditions that lead to
Manuscript received June 03, 2008; revised October 20, 2008. First published June 16, 2009; current version published June 24, 2009. This work was supported by the China Electrical Power Research Institute. Paper no. TPWRD00414-2008. The authors are with the China Electrical Power Research Institute, Beijing, China (e-mail: lizx@epri.ac.cn; ligf@epri.ac.cn; fanjb@epri.ac.cn; suzy@epri.ac.cn; guchen@epri.ac.cn). Color versions of one or more of the gures in this paper are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TPWRD.2009.2014273

corona. However, Peeks law is empirical and cannot account for all the physical processes taking place in the ionization zone around the stressed conductor. It also neglects the height of the conductor above the ground. The negative corona onset voltage of a stranded conductor has been analyzed numerically from the standpoint of gas discharge theory [2], [5]. The corona onset voltage of bare conductors has been studied by the same numerical method in [6]. All three papers, however, focus on the onset corona voltage or electrical eld of a single conductor. The present work investigates the corona onset voltage in bare bundles of transmission-line conductors. This requires accurate calculations of the electrical eld in the vicinity of at least one conductor in the bundle. The method of charge simulation [7], [8] is adopted to calculate the electrical eld. The electrical elds producing positive and negative corona are approximately equal, as experimental data have shown [9]. This paper therefore focuses on the electrical elds responsible for negative coronas. The appearance of a corona is associated with a static ionized electric eld. Bundled conductors are commonly used in HVDC transmission lines to reduce the electrical eld at the surface of subconductors, thereby limiting corona power loss, audible noise, and radio interference [10], [11]. It is extremely difcult to obtain the exact form of the ionized eld, however, due to nonlinearity of the problem and the fact that no electrical quantity except the potential is known precisely at the discharge surface [12]. Many numerical attempts (based on the nite element, nite difference, charge simulation, or boundary element methods) have been made to estimate the corona power loss associated with single-conductor, monopolar transmission lines [13][22] and monopolar conductor bundles [23][25]. All these attempts have employed some simplifying assumptions [6], [21]. In almost all these references, the corona onset voltage at the subconductor is assumed to be constant, and is used as a boundary value for the ionized electric eld. It is known, however, that the onset corona voltage and electric eld vary along the circumference of the subconductor due to height and the conguration of the bundle. Salam et al. [25] give an analytical formula for the corona onset voltage along the circumference of a subconductor. The corona onset voltage and electrical eld of a subconductor can also be calculated numerically by the charge simulation method, relying on gas discharge theory to provide the onset criterion. The result can be used as a boundary condition for the nonlinear ionized electric eld around the conductor

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Fig. 1. Negative corona around a bare subconductor.

bundle. In this paper the fourth-order Runge-Kutta-Gill method is employed to attack the corona problem. The calculated onset voltages, corona power loss, ion current density, and electrical eld on the ground are compared with experimental data from published papers, and calculated in detail for six-conductor bundles such as those used in transmission lines in China. II. NUMERICAL METHOD: CORONA ONSET IN A BUNDLED CONDUCTOR A. Theoretical Basis To determine the corona onset voltage on a single conductor, the paper adopts the widely used [2], [5], [6] self-discharge criterion. Specically, this section considers the discharge from one bare subconductor of a bundle. 1) Criterion for the Onset of Corona: When the electrical eld strength in the vicinity of a bare subconductor reaches the threshold value for ionization of air molecules by electron collisions, a primary avalanche starts to develop along the radial direction away from the subconductor (Fig. 1). Electrons accumulate at the head of the avalanche, positive ions are left in its wake, and photons are emitted in all directions. The primary avalanche terminates where the coefcient of ionization by electron collision is greater than the electron attachment coef. In this region, the electrons become attached cient to air molecules and form negative ions [26]. Assuming that the primary avalanche was originated by just one free electron, a successor avalanche may start when photons emitted from the primary avalanche reach the cathode (subconductor) and cause the emission of a single free photoelectron . Thus, the formal criterion for corona onset can be expressed as follows:

Fig. 2. Negative coronas around a bundle of six bare subconductors.

(1) where is Townsends secondary coefcient due to the action is a factor dependent on the systems geomof photons, etry [6], and is the absorption coefcient for photons in air. and Both the coefcient of ionization by electron collision the electron-attachment coefcient are functions of the electrical eld intensity and air pressure , and also depend on the path of the integral. Several [6], [27], [28], give empirical formulae for and ; [27] will be used in this paper.

The specic point of discharge on the circumference is dened by the angle a in Fig. 1. Note that the corona onset voltage does not appear explicitly in (1). The onset value is just the critical value of the applied voltage which satises (1), which may vary with direction. The corona onset eld around the subconductor can be determined once the onset voltis known. ages Each subconductor is surrounded by a thin ionization layer. When the self-discharge criterion (1) is used to calculate the corona onset voltage or electrical eld of a subconductor, only its own ionization layer is considered. The ionization layers of other subconductors are assumed to be much more distant than the thickness of the layers, as seen in Fig. 2. The onset corona voltage at each point along the surface of a subconductor can now be obtained, given the conguration of the bundle. There must exist two special points along the circumference, the maximum and minimum corona onset voltages. 2) Calculation of the Electrical Field Around a Conductor Bundle: There are several numerical methods to calculate the electrical eld around a bundle of bare transmission-line conductors: the nite element method, the boundary element method, the charge simulation method, etc. [7], [8]. This paper applies the charge simulation technique. The entire conductor bundle is assumed to be stressed by a voltage , as shown in Fig. 3. The center of the bundle is located at a height above the ground plane. Each bare subconductor in the bundle has a radius of , and the radius of bundle conductor or spacing between the subconductor centers is . This conguration of six conductors is meant as an illustrative example; the technique to be described works equally well for other congurations. The charge distribution of each bare subconductor is simuctitious axial line charges arranged unilated by a set of formly around a cylinder of radius under the conductor surface, as shown in Fig. 3. The line charges are shown as solid circles. To maintain the ground plane at zero potential, we also consider images of the simulation charges (not shown). The line charges are considered innitely long (transmission lines are very long). In order to determine their magnitudes, pertinent boundary conditions must be satised at a set of corresponding points on the surface of the conductor (hollow circles). charges and boundary matching There are a total of points in this example.

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B. Numerical Method for Calculating the Monopolar Corona on a Bundle 1) The Monopolar Corona Equation: The system of equations describing monopolar corona discharge is (5) (6) (7) (8) The rst is Poissons equation for the electric eld, the second expresses current continuity, the third is the equation of current density, and the fourth relates the electric eld to the potential. Equations (5)(8) can be replaced by a third-order, nonlinear partial differential equation: (9) The potential at any point on the surface of a subconductor simuis the algebraic sum of the potentials produced by the lation charges. Of course, the potential must also be equal to at all boundary matching points. the applied voltage Once the simulation charges are known, the potential at any observation point can be calculated as Equation (9) is the most general form for monopolar corona discharge. There is no known method for solving it in the general case; simplifying assumptions are required. 2) Numerical Method: Salam et al. adopt the following assumptions [20], [25]. 1) The entire inter-electrode region is lled with monopolar space charges. 2) The mobility of ions is constant (independent of eld intensity). 3) Thermal diffusion of ions is neglected. 4) The thickness of the ionization zone around the emitter is negligible. 5) The space charges affect the magnitude but not the direction of the electrical eld (Deutschs assumption). 6) The electric eld at the surface of the coronating subconductor remains constant at the onset value (Kaptzovs assumption). For the last item, it should be pointed out that while the electric eld at each point on the subconductor surface is constant over time, the onset value of the electric eld varies along the circumference of the subconductor. Armed with these assumptions, the general differential equation (9) described above can be simplied into a set of equations governing the DC ionized electric eld. and be the electric eld in the presence of Let space charges and the space-charge-free eld respectively. The symbol represents the unit vector along a ux line, and is a scalar function. From assumption (5) (10) is a matrix of potential coefcients, is where unknown charges, and is a column a column vector of observed voltages. All the observed voltages at the vector of small hollow circles are set to the applied voltage . The unknown charges can be obtained from (4) by standard linear algebra techniques. The and components of the electric eld can then be calculated directly [7], [8], [29]. Furthermore, symmetry about the axis (see Fig. 3) reduces . For example, the rightthe number of unknown charges to hand half-plane contains only subconductors 1, 2, and 3. Let be the potential at a point being evaluated in the presence of space charge, and be the space-charge-free potential. From [31], we have (11) (12) (13)

Fig. 3. Voltages in a six-conductor bundle.

(2) is a geometrical coefcient related to the potential where of the th charge at the th observation point, and is the th simulation charge. For line charges the coefcient is

(3) and are the distances between eld source and image charges respectively. (The point and the image is located directly opposite to the source with respect to the ground plane.) If all the boundary match points are selected as observation points, (2) can be expressed in matrix form as where

(4)

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Equations (11), (12), and (13) are the basic equations for a DC-ionized electric eld [25], [31]. The boundary conditions are and at the ground; 1) and at the subconductor surface; 2) and at the subconductor surface. 3) is the onset voltage at angle along the circumferHere, ence of a subconductor, and is the applied DC voltage. The corona onset voltages can be numerically calculated through criterion (1). This problem is a standard boundary-value problem. One line of attack is to solve the related initial value problem with an appropriate rst estimate [20], [25], [31]. The equations are then integrated to obtain an approximate solution. If the boundary conditions are not satised to a specied tolerance, the initial estimate can be altered. The fourth-order Runge-Kutta-Gill method is employed for rapid integration based on the estimated initial values, and the secant method is used to speed convergence of the estimated initial values. The simulated charge method is used to compute the electrostatic eld, which is then used to determine the corona onset voltage at every point on the subconductor surface. The Runge-Kutta-Gill method is also used in this calculation to solve differential equations along the ux lines. The ion mobility is m /V s. assumed to be 3) Calculation of the Corona Current: After the charge density and corona onset electric eld have been calculated along each ux line emerging from a subconductor, the corona current density at the subconductor surface can be calculated through (7). The total corona current can then be integrated over its surface as follows: (14) where is the radius of the subconductor, is the charge density at its surface, is the corona onset electric eld, and is the angle around the subconductor. The corona power loss is the product of the corona current and the applied voltage. III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In all the calculations described below, normal weather conditions are assumed (air pressure 101.3 kPa, air temperature 20 C). A. Comparison to Published Measurements The method introduced here was implemented in a computer program to calculate the monopolar corona and corona onset voltage of any bare subconductor in a transmission line bundle. It must be pointed out that since the corona onset voltage varies along the circumference of the subconductor, it is difcult to decide at what applied voltage the corona phenomenon truly appears. For the sake of consistency, we assume that once the applied voltage is greater than the lowest onset corona voltage, a corona will appear around each subconductor. The rst experimental case comes from [30], which examined a pair of horizontal conductors. Their radii were 0.75 mm, the spacing between the conductor centers was 0.04 m, and their

Fig. 4. Corona power loss from a pair of horizontal transmission lines (rst case).

Fig. 5. Corona power loss from a pair of horizontal transmission lines (second case).

height above the ground was 0.3 m. The corona onset voltage for this conguration was measured to be 45 kV. The minimum onset voltage produced by our program is 45.6 kV. The calculated and measured corona power losses from one subconductor are shown in Fig. 4. The second experimental result also comes from [30]. In this case, the pair of horizontal conductors had radii of 1.0 mm, 0.04 m spacing between the conductor centers, and a height of 0.2 m. The measured corona onset voltage was 48 kV, compared to 49.68 kV from our program. The calculated and measured corona power losses from one subconductor are shown in Fig. 5 The third experimental case comes from [32], which examines a single conductor of radius 0.25 mm at a height of 2 m. The corona current density and electric eld were measured along the ground. These data are compared to calculated values in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively. B. Numerical Results for Six-Conductor Bundles To match the kV UHVDC transmission lines being built in China, this section provides detailed numerical results on 6-line bundles. The bundles used in China consist of either 630- and 720-type conductors, arranged as in Fig. 3. Subconductors of types 630 and 720 have radii of 17.2 mm and 18.3 mm respectively. The spacing between subconductor centers is 450 mm in both cases. We also assume a height of 18 m for both types.

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Fig. 6. Monopolar proles of current density along the ground plane.

Fig. 9. Negative corona onset electric eld along the circumferences of bare 720-type transmission lines in a bundle of six. The center of the bundle is 18 m above the ground.

Fig. 7. Monopolar proles of electric eld along the ground plane.

Fig. 10. V-I characteristics of 630- and 720-type subconductors in a six-conductor bundle 18 m above the ground.

Fig. 8. Negative corona onset voltages on the circumference of bare 720-type transmission lines in a bundle of six. The center of the bundle is 18 m above the ground.

1) Corona Onset Voltage and Electric Field: Fig. 8 is a polar diagram showing the corona onset voltages for three 720-type subconductors of the bundle. The distribution of corona onset voltages is clearly related to the line-plane conguration. As expected, the minimum corona onset voltages of subconductors , 0 and from the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 lie at horizontal axis respectively. (That is, they point away from the center of the bundle.) The inuence of height on the corona onset voltage is also visible in this diagram: subconductor No. 3 is farthest from the ground and has the greatest onset voltage. Fig. 9 shows the corona onset electric eld distributions of the same three subconductors. The eld of the No. 2 subcon-

ductor is symmetric about the horizontal axis, as expected. The electric eld distributions of subconductors No. 1 and No. 3 are mirror images of each other, since the two lines are positioned symmetrically about the horizontal axis. 2) Monopolar Corona Currents: This section reports the the V-I characteristics for a smooth bundle of conductors, as well as the corona power loss contributions of individual conductors. The V-I characteristics of 630- and 720-type bundles are given in Fig. 10. The power loss contributions are given in Fig. 11. It is clear in both gures that the subconductors fall into three groups depending on their height. The No. 1 subconductor is closest to the ground, so its discharge current and power loss are highest. As we saw in Fig. 8, the corona onset voltage increases with height. For a given applied voltage, subconductors with a lower corona onset voltage will produce a more intense discharge current. The 720-type conductors (circles) uniformly produce less discharge and power loss than the 630-type conductors (triangles). 3) Corona-Ionized Electric Field Along the Ground: The corona current densities at ground level for bare 630- and 720type bundles are given in Fig. 12. In both cases, the applied voltage is 2700 kV, well above the largest corona onset voltage of any individual conductor. The corona current has largely disappeared at horizontal distances 70 m from the centers of both bundles. The two crests are related to the number and congu-

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Fig. 11. Corona power loss contribution of 630- and 720-type subconductors in a six-conductor bundle 18 m above the ground.

Fig. 13. Corona-ionized electric eld proles along the ground (horizontal distance) under bare bundles of six conductors at a height of 18 m.

agreement with published experimental data. Complete numerical results for these three quantities are provided for six-bundle transmission lines using two types of conductors. REFERENCES
[1] S. K. Nayak and M. J. Thomas, A integro-differential equation technique for the computation of radiated EMI due to corona on HV power transmission lines, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 488493, Jan. 2005. [2] K. Yamazaki and R. G. Olsen, Application of a corona onset criterion to calculation of corona onset voltage of stranded conductors, IEEE Trans. Dielect. Elect. Insul., vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 674680, Aug. 2004. [3] J. Arrillaga, High Voltage Direct Current Transmission, ser. Power Engineering. London, U.K.: Inst. Elect. Eng.. [4] F. W. Peek, Dieletric Phenomena in High-Voltage Engineering. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1929. [5] M. M. Ei-Bahy, M. Abounelsaad, N. Abdel-Gawad, and M. Badawi, Onset voltage of negative corona on stranded conductors, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., vol. 40, pp. 30943101, 2007. [6] M. P. Sarma and W. Janischewskyj, D.C. corona on smooth conductors in air: Steady-state analysis of the ionization layer, Proc. IEE, vol. 116, pp. 161166, 1969. [7] H. Singer, H. Steinbigler, and P. Weiss, A charge simulation method for the calculation of high voltage elds, IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. 93, no. 5, pp. 16601667, Sep. 1974. [8] N. H. Mailik, A review of the charge simulation method and its application, IEEE Trans. Elect. Insul., vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 320, 1993. [9] J. J. Lowke and F. D. Alessandro, Onset corona elds and electrical breakdown criterion, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phy., vol. 36, pp. 26732682, 2003. [10] M. Comber and L. Zaffanelia, Audible noise reduction bundle geometry optimization, IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. PAS-92, pp. 17821791, 1973. [11] N. G. Trinsh, P. Maruvada, and B. Poiries, A comparative study of the corona performance of conductor bundles for 1200 kV transmission lines, IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. PAS-93, pp. 940949, May/ Jun. 1974. [12] I. R. Ciric and E. Kuffel, New analytical expressions for calculation unipolar DC corona losses, IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. PAS101, no. 8, pp. 29882994, Aug. 1982. [13] M. Avoelsaad, L. Shafai, and M. Rahwan, Improved analytical method for computing unipolar DC corona losses, Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng., vol. 136, no. 1, pp. 2240, Jan. 1989, pt A. [14] M. DAmore, V. Daiele, and G. Ghione, New analytical approach for computing DC unipolar corona losses, Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng., vol. 131, no. 5, pp. 318324, Jul. 1984, pt A. [15] W. Janischewskyj and G. Gela, Finite element solution for electric elds of coronating DC transmission lines, IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. PAS-98, no. 3, pp. 10001012, May/Jun. 1979. [16] M. Abdel-Salam and Z. Al-Hamouz, A new nite element analysis of an ionized eld in coaxial cylindrical geometry, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., vol. 27, pp. 15511555, Oct. 1992.

Fig. 12. Monopolar current density proles along the ground (horizontal distance) under bare bundles of six conductors at a height of 18 m.

ration of the subconductors. Note that the ground-level current produced by the 630-type conductors is higher. Fig. 13 shows the ground-level electric eld under the bare conductor bundles. The eld strength dies off at a much larger distance than the current density (more than 300 m). In both cases, the corona-ionized electric elds are larger than the electrostatic eld (the smooth, dot curve). The six-conductor bundle conguration generates three peaks in the ionized eld intensity. The corona-ionized electric eld produced by 630-type conductors is larger than that produced by 720-type conductors. kV UHVDC transmission lines which will Thus, for the be built in China, it appears that 720-type conductor bundles will have better corona characteristics than 630-type bundles. IV. CONCLUSION This paper investigated the properties of monopolar coronas emitted from bare bundled conductors. The charge distributions of the subconductors are simulated using a set of discrete line charges whose values are determined by electrostatic theory. The corona onset voltages and electric elds on the conductor surfaces are calculated using the self-discharge criterion. The corresponding differential equations are numerically estimated as an initial value problem. The calculated onset voltages, electric elds, and corona-ionized electric elds are in satisfactory

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[17] T. Takuma and T. Kawamoto, A very fast calculation method for ion ow eld of HVDC transmission lines, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. PWRD-2, no. 1, pp. 189198, Jan. 1987. [18] M. Abdel-Salam and Z. Al-Hamouz, Analysis of monopolar ionized elds as inuenced by ion diffusion, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 484493, May/Jun. 1995. [19] M. Horestine, Computation of corona space charge electric eld, and V-I characteristic using equipotential charge shells, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. IA-20, no. 6, pp. 16071612, Nov./Dec. 1984. [20] M. P. Sarma and W. Janischewekyj, Analysis of corona losses on DC transmission line: IUnipolar lines, IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. PAS-88, no. 5, pp. 718731, May 1969. [21] M. Sarma and W. Janischewskyj, Corona losses characteristic of practical HVDC transmission line Pt: IUnipolar lines, IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. PAS-89, pp. 860867, May/Jun. 1970. [22] B. Qin, J. Sheng, Z. Yan, and G. Gela, Accurate calculation of ion ow eld under HVDC bipolar transmission lines, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. PWRD-3, no. 1, pp. 369376, Jan. 1988. [23] M. Adbel-Salam and S. Abdel-Sattar, Calculation of corona V-I characteristic on monopolar bundles using the charge simulation method, IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 669679, Aug. 1989. [24] S. Abdel-Sattar, Monopolar corona on bundle conductors as inuenced by wind, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. IA-23, no. 6, pp. 984989, Nov./Dec. 1987. [25] M. A. Salam, M. Farghaly, and S. Abdel-Satter, Monopolar corona on bundle conductors, IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. PAS-101, no. 10, pp. 40794089, Oct. 1982. [26] Y. Gosho and M. Saeki, Secondary electron emission from dielectric surface under atmospheric air conditions due to UV irradiation, in Proc. 5th Int. Symp. HV Engineering, 1987, pp. 2324. [27] D. B. Philips, R. G. Olsen, and P. D. Pedrow, Corona onset as a design optimization criterion for high voltage hardware, IEEE Trans. Dielect. Electr. Insul., vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 744751, Dec. 2000. [28] J. J. Lewke and M. A. A. EI-Afa, Onset voltage of negative corona on dielectric-coated electrodes in air, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., vol. 38, pp. 34033411, 2005. [29] H. Yildirim and O. Kalenderli, Computation of corona inception voltage by the charge simulation method, in Proc. XIIIth Int. Symp. High Voltage Engineering, Delft, The Netherlands, 2003. [30] Z. M. Al-Hamouz, Corona power losses on bundle conductors: Experimental and computational results, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. IA-35, no. 6, pp. 12771283, Dec. 1999. [31] T. Zhao, S. A. Sebo, and D. G. Kasten, Calculation of single phase AC and monopolar DC hybrid corona effects, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. PWRD-11, no. 3, pp. 14541462, Jul. 1996. [32] M. Hara, N. Hayashi, K. Shiotsuki, and M. Akazaki, Inuence of wind and conductor potential on distributions of electric eld and ion current at ground level in DC high voltage line to plane geometry, IEEE Trans. Power App. Syst., vol. PAS-101, no. 4, pp. 803814, Apr. 1982. Zhongxin Li was born in Xian, Shaangxi, China. He received the Bachelors and Masters degree from Xian Jiaotong University in 1989 and 1994, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from Tsinghua University in March 1999. He joined Fudan University in 1999, rst as a Postdoctoral Fellow and then becoming an Associate Professor in 2001. From 2003 to 2004, he was with the Branch of Electromagnetic Environment Research, Electrical Power Research Institute of China. From January 2004 to May 2005, he was with the Department of Electronic Engineering, Hong Kong City University, as a Senior Research Associate. From May 2005 to May 2007, he was an Associate Professor at the Electromagnetic Academy, Zhejiang University. Since May 2007, he has been with the Branch of Overvoltage and Insulation Coordination of the China Electrical Power Research Institute. His special elds of interest included grounding system analysis and high-frequency electromagnetic wave and remote sensing.

Guang-Fan Li received the Masters degree from China Electric Power Research Institute (CEPRI), Beijing, China, in 1983. He joined CEPRI in 1983, where he is currently the Head of the High Voltage Research Institute. His research interests include ac and dc UHV transmission technology.

Jian-Bin Fan was born in Shanxi Province, China in 1967. He received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, China, in 1990 and 1995, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from the China Electric Power Research Institute in 2000. Currently, he is the Deputy Director of High Voltage Research Department, China Electric Power Research Institute. He is also the Vice Director of Electric Power Industry Quality Inspection and Test Center. He has been with ETH Zurich as an Academic Guest since October 2008. His main research interests include external insulation and operation of high-voltage transmission lines and equipment, especially in UHV areas. He is a member of IET, SB1 (Electricity transmission and distribution) of IEC, WG 11 of IEC TC36, and B3.22 of CIGRE. He is the Secretary General of the National UHV AC Transmission Technology Standardization Committee of China, Vice Secretary General of National HVDC Transmission Technology Standardization Committee of China, Vice Chairman of the National Insulator Standardization Committee of China, and Chairman of the Power Industry High Voltage Test Technology Standardization Committee of China.

Zhi-Yi Su was born in Beijing, China. He received the Bachelors degree in high-voltage engineering from North China Electric Power University in 1970. He has been with China Electric Power Research Institute Beijing, since 1983. His main research eld is external insulation of high-voltage overhead lines and equipment, especially in UHV areas. He is the Chief Expert on external insulation in China

Chen Gu was born in Henan Province, China, in 1981. She received the M.Sc. degree from the Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Science in 2006. Currently, she works in the High Voltage Department of the China Electric Power Research Institute. Her main research interests include high-voltage and external insulation.

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