Evolution of Diagnostic Laboratory

The Diagnostic, Cables and capacitors Division (DCC Division) formerly known as Cables and Capacitors Laboratory (CC Laboratory) during 1970’s was mainly involved in testing of low voltage (LV) and medium voltage (MV) cables, LV capacitors and heat run testing of bus bars/ducts, panels as per National/International Standards. During 1980’s with the induction of young engineers and scientists the laboratory initiated R&D projects related to the functional evaluation of insulation systems of power cables, power capacitors, rotating machines, traction motors and the like. The decade 1990 was remarkable from the point of view of diagnostic on-site testing and Remaining Life Assessment (RLA) studies on power plant electrical equipment. As there was no established diagnostic testing method for condition assessment of power cables, DCC Division introduced for the fi rst time in the country Very Low Frequency (VLF) tan delta testing for diagnostic testing of XLPE power cables. The DCC Division conducted the VLF tan delta testing on 33kV class XLPE cables at Rourkela Steel Plant in 2007 and detected the manufacturing defects in the cables.