This paper discusses the innovations of the project regarding the prediction of aging of dielectric insulating materials. Dielectric elements are used in almost all network components and actively determine the reliability of the network.

Within this project we can distinguish four research lines. The first one concerns the modeling of partial discharges, i.e. the main degeneration mechanism in alternating current. A numerical methodology was developed which allowed for the application of schemes based on conservation principles and sets of differential equations to real geometries of electrical components. The problem lies in the physical characteristics of some layers in contact with the insulators, which are semiconductive and therefore have very different physical characteristics from the insulators. The second research line refers to the chemical modeling of the aging process which provides the aforementioned model with the fundamental physical parameters. In this report, the aspects of discharge triggering by Schottky emission and the modeling of the ion surface impact which could actively contribute to the propagation of internal degenerations such as treeing are explored in depth.

The third part of the research concerns the development of an optimized version of an electric field sensor to measure partial discharges. Second generation sensors were produced with much higher sensitivity than in the past. A first prototype for one-dimensional measurements was produced which was used both in laboratory investigations and in more realistic configurations.

The last research deals with the aging of resin insulated transformers. A rapid aging protocol was developed to correlate the stress of the transformer insulation layer with some chemical markers that are emitted into the air by the polymer matrix.