83 WM 135-1

II

July 1983, p

Recovery Vottoge

2269

A Study of the Corona Performance

of UHV Insulator Sets

Fig

TT
2

vm

=FF

TT

Oscillogram of the interruption test with the same condition

to Fig 1

L. Thione, Member IEEE, and A. Pigini

CESI, Milano, Italy
R. Cortina, Member IEEE, and F. Rosa
ENELCREL, Milano, Italy
The paper presents general criteria for the evaluation of the radio
interference (Rl) of insulator sets, with special reference to insulator
assemblies for UHV lines Preliminary information on the impor
tance of the parameters affecting the Rl, were obtained from prelim
inary RIV measurements performed on different UHV insulator sets
(composite and porcelain rods, cap and pin), with various fitting
arrangements The strings, of length approximately 8m, were
equipped with an 8 subconductor bundle and the test voltage was
varied in the range 300-850 kV rms, phase to earth The results, fully
reported in the paper, have shown that shielding electrodes are

required, in certain conditions, to limit the Rl due to excessive volt

age stress, and that the Rl of the set, under ram, is practically deter
mined by the hardware The Rl design of the insulator set thus
requires the assessment of the corona behavior of the electrodes
and fittings, in both dry and wet conditions, and the determination of
the potential distribution along the insulators, in dry conditions
Evaluation of the Corona Performance of Shielding Electrodes

3 2

Fig

Time!

>j*)

Dry Conditions
The Rl is negligible if the electrode is free from macroscopic
corona discharges and this is obtained if the maximum field
strength, at the surface, is lower than the corona inception gradient
El The values of El, determined experimentally in a large number of
tests, are well approximated by the expression

Example of simulation result for 0 9 x 50 kA condition with a

background gas temperature of 800 K

Ei= 16{1 +0 92/(/?)

where Ei

is

the critical

gradient in

36},

kV rms/cm, and R

(1)
is

the

mean

curvature radius of the electrode in cm {/?= 2/?1/?2/(/?1 +/?2),with/?1

and R2 principal curvature radii in the point of highest field diver
gence). To account for possible reduction factors, it is worth taking a

safety margin, assuming as design maximum gradient ED Q,7 El

=

Wet Conditions

The RIV measurements, under rain, in ring-shaped electrodes of

different size and in various assemblies, are well approximated by

exp result

c:

RIV

fail

where E max is the maximum gradient in kV rms/cm and

calculation

25

30

35

Nozzle diameter ( m/m)

Fig

(2)

(DB/1juV above 300ft) 146-5/max

success

4 Critical rate of rise calculated and experimentally obtained for

0 9 x 50 kA interruption for varied nozzle sizes

being Req,

in

electrode (Req

765(1 -log10 (Req/41)} (3)

centimeters, the
U/ max)

so

called equivalent radius of the

Evaluation of the Potential Distribution and of the Rl of the nsula

tors

The potential distribution is determined by a simplified approach,

based on the charge simulation technique The insulators are
roughly simulated by spheres, with diameter and reciprocal distance
such to give the same parallel and stray capacitances of the actual
arrangement, the conductors are simulated by infinite line charges,
the structures are represented by line segment charges, and shield
ing electrodes are described by elementary ring charges
52

IEEE Power Engineering Review,

July 1983

Cap and Pin Insulators

The interference is mainly due to corona discharges across the

cement around the pin and the cap of the units, and thus depends on

the voltage drop across the insulator and on the so called "attnua
tion" of the discharge (the charge recalled from the external circuit
and corresponding to the measured interference current pulse iq), is
only a fraction of the total charge associated to the spark (<70))
The theoretical relation between q and q0 is a function of the

potential distribution, according to

(4)

q0=q0(bU/U)

where U is the fraction of the total voltage U short circuited by the

discharge The Rl of the set is then, in principle, the quadratic sum
mation of the contributions of the single units In practice it is die
tated mainly by the most stressed (or most disturbing) unit, the
overall contribution of the other units being less than few dB The
correlation between the RIV of the set and that of the most stressed
(or most disturbing) unit has been experimentally investigated by ad
hoc measurements performed on suspension strings of cap and pin
insulators Most of the units were of standard construction type,
some of them were, on purpose, defective to produce high interfer

10 N

AUMAXI*1

(disturbing units) The characteristics RIV, (dB) fiAU) of the

in the string were measured by separate tests, the voltage
distribution along the string was varied using line conductors of
different size The correlation between the RIV measured on the set
(RIV5) and the RIV of the most stressed (or most disturbing)in unit
(RIV,), measured by a separate test on the unit alone, obtained this
way, was compared with the theoretical attenuation factor given,
according to (4), by the expression {RIV,(dB) RIVs(dB)} 20log10
AUIU) Even if the experimental results have a trend which is similar
to the theoretical one, the dispersion is so large that, in practice, it
seems reasonable to take a conservative approach, assuming that
the RIV of the string is equal to the RIV of the most disturbing
insulator (usually the most stressed one), diminished by, say, 10 to
15 dB A conservative estimate of the RIV of the reference unit can be
obtained by the following expression
RIV, (dB/1 m^ above 300ft) 120 {1 exp (-A7/40)} (5)
ence

12

units

uu.v In)

The RIV of the set can thus be determined from the voltage drop
across the most stressed insulator (A7max), in the way above men
tioned To investigate the effect, on this maximum voltage drop, of
all major influencing parameters, and therefore provide a basis for
the optimum design, systematic calculations were performed using
the method previously described An example is presented in Fig 1
Rod Insulators
For rod insulators, both composite and porcelain, of length ex
ceeding 1 m, corona discharges producing important interference
usually occur only close to the end fittings, to prevent these dis
charges, keeping the Rl well below the acceptable limits as shown in
the paper, it is sufficient to locally shield the highly stressed regions
by means of relatively small electrodes, which must fulfill the only
requirement to be corona free themselves

100 h (cm) 125

umax tH|

50

Fig

100

(d)

150

200 (cm)

Voltage drop across the most stressed unit at the line side for

a string of 47 cap and pin insulators, as function of

ia) the number ofsubconductors of the bundle (A/),
ib) the distance between the insulator and the conductor id),
ic) the posit/on of the shielding ring (/?),
id) the external diameter of the shielding ring i<t>L)

IEEE Power Engineering Review,

Ju.y 1983

53