Color change of electric cable insulations used in nuclear power plants (NPPs) is a non-destructive, quick and inexpensive technique to measure degradation. Quantification of color change is facilitated by a light booth of CIE D65 illuminant, a commercial camera and open-source software ImageJ with micaToolbox plugin. Yellowness index (YI) and total color difference (?E) are calculated from calibrated photos of a white cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) and a black ethylene-propylene rubber (EPR) based specimens aged at 110°C, 121°C, 136°C and 150°C after 1~640 days. Using the same setup and software, pixelwise ?E profile is determined for the cross-sectional photo of a white EPR specimen, where heterogeneous aging is detected.
Published: April 13, 2022
Citation
Ni Y., T.T. Bisel, M.P. Spencer, W.K. Fuchs, M. Pallaka, and L.S. Fifield. 2021.Color Change During Thermal Degradation of Polyolefin Electric Cable Insulations. In IEEE Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena (CEIDP 2021), December 12-15, 2021, Vancouver, BC, 129-132. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE.PNNL-SA-163741.doi:10.1109/CEIDP50766.2021.9705427