Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association

ISSN: 0002-2470 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uawm16

The Problem of Pollution on Insulators

Luis P. Grijalva & Luis R. Talamas

To cite this article: Luis P. Grijalva & Luis R. Talamas (1979) The Problem of Pollution
on Insulators, Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association, 29:12, 1246-1247, DOI:
10.1080/00022470.1979.10470923

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00022470.1979.10470923

Published online: 13 Mar 2012.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 938

View related articles

Citing articles: 1 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=uawm16

Download by: [212.123.4.132] Date: 31 July 2017, At: 07:33

APCA NOTE-BOOK

The Problem of Pollution on Insulators

Luis P. Grijalva and Luis R. Talamas

Electrical Research Institute (Mexico)

Damage to electric systems produced by air pollutants is a
well recognized problem among power engineers.1 This
damage can take many forms, the most common being: a)
chemical attack of concrete post components, b) corrosion of
conductors and hardware, c) formation of incrustations on
components, d) insulation degradation. Here we deal only with
the last form since, economically, it is the most relevant.
Overdesign and maintenance costs for Mexico had been es-
timated at over 2 million U.S. dollars per year. However, this
estimate is just a little more than a well educated guess be-
cause the economic information available is very scarce.
Transmission line and substation insulators, exposed to
contaminants in the air, gradually get coated with salts and
inert materials. The contaminants forming this coat arise
mainly from industrial emissions and from salt blown from
the sea.
The mechanism of pollution of insulators2 is governed
mainly by: the pull of gravity, wind forces, electrostatic forces
on neutral and charged particles, aerodynamic and surface
factors of the insulators, humidity, particle size, and chemical
composition.
Adverse meteorological conditions (like rain, dew or fog)
can wet the contaminated surface of insulators. Salts dissolved
by the humidity increase the conductivity of the surface hence
increasing the levels of leakage current. The energy dissipated
due to this current produces heat which tends to evaporate
the humidity.
Evaporation is faster in high leakage current density areas
yielding dry bands.3 Almost all of the working voltage is then
held across these dry bands producing electrical stresses great
enough to bring about arching. Once arching has started the
probability of flashover is very high.
A simplified model of a contaminated insulator and of a dry
band arching is shown in Figure 1. Its voltage-current char-
acteristic curve is shown in Figure 2.
In addition to interruptions due to flashover, contamination
on insulators creates a whole spectrum of deleterious effects
on electrical systems. Thousands of kilowatts are lost every
QLine
"% Leakage
Capacitance] current
between 1 Wet coat
line and T contaminated, are placed in chambers where meteorological
resistance Wet coat
earth I
resistance
T chambers. Data gathered by these tests help to improve in-
(A) (B)
Figure 1. (a) Energized insulator model, (b) Polluted insulator flashover model.
Key to Symbols: I: arc discharge current; V ARC: arc discharge voltage; V RES:
wet coat resistance voltage; V = V ARC+ V RES: polluted insulator voltage.
year due to leakage currents through wet pollution layers.
Leakage currents, also prevent proper operation of lightning
arresters.4 Audible noise, T.V. and radio interference, and
corona losses are increased by contamination. Polluted insu-
lators are more sensitive to switching surges and overvoltages
than clean ones. Utility profits are diminished by increased
maintenance, and loss of sales due to pollution produced
blackouts. To electricity consumers, even short time inter-
ruptions can cause severe damage.
It is known that insulators in heavily industrialized areas,
and near the seashore, get more contaminated than those in
other areas. Nevertheless an exact relationship between levels
of air pollution and insulator contamination has not been
found, partially because, as mentioned before, the mechanism
Vres
Varc
Current
Figure 2. Voltage-current characteristic of the polluted insu-
lator flashover model. Key to Symbols: I: arc discharge current;
V ARC: arc discharge voltage; V RES: wet coat resistance
voltage; V = V ARC+ V RES: polluted insulator voltage.
of contaminants deposit and removal is quite complex. Due
to the lack of this relationship direct measurement of the
contamination degree on the insulator surface is necessary.
The most commonly accepted measure is the Equivalent Salt
Deposit Density, ESDD, (mg/cm2).5
To improve the design and efficiency of insulation on
transmission and distribution systems, under polluted con-
ditions, utility engineers have resorted to laboratory tests in
fog chambers. Energized insulators, naturally or artificially
conditions are simulated to determine their electric behavior.
Alternatively clean insulators can be studied in salt fog
sulator design and use.
In general, two strategies are used to prevent the deleterious
effects of insulator pollution, a) In areas where pollution comes
Copyright 1979-Air Pollution Control Association

1246 Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association

from artificial sources it is possible to persuade offenders to
reduce emissions; either by convincing them of the benefits
for themselves or by dictating appropriate laws, b) In all areas,
utilities can counteract the effects of pollution by using dif-
ferent alternatives depending on experience, laboratory and
field test results, degree and kind of contamination.
The most commonly used alternatives are:
1. Overinsulation. To compensate the loss of insulation ef-
fectiveness by overdesigning the insulator length.
2. Greasing. To encapsulate contamination particles in
grease and to promote the water repellency properties of the
insulator surface.
3. Cleaning. To maintain desired insulation levels by either
washing or wiping periodically.
4. Using semiconductor glazes. To prevent wetting by
keeping the insulator warm. This is accomplished by an
electric current flowing through the glaze.
5. Shapes and arrangements. Insulators with specially de-
signed shapes (fog type), are placed in particularly trouble-
some areas. It has been observed that insulator strings dis-
posed horizontally or in "V" are more easily washed by rain
than those placed vertically.
The problem of pollution on insulators is still a challenge
since better designs can be found, new materials are being
investigated and the physical processes involved are far from
being well understood.
References
1. "Bibliography on High Voltage Insulator Contamination", IEEE,
paper 77 BL 0100-8-PWR, 1977.
2. W. G. Thompson, "The mechanism of the contamination of por-
celain insulators," Journal IEEE, 91:317 (1944).
3. D. C. Jolly, "Contamination Flashover part I, Theoretical Aspects,"
IEEEPES Winter Power Meeting, Paper No. T72199-3,1972.
4. L. Torseke and T. E. Torsteinsen, "The Influence of Pollution on
the Characteristic of Lightning Arresters. Theoretic Aspects and
Artificial Tests," CIGRE, report 404,1966.
5. "Study of Pollution Problem," NGK, Technical note TN-68069,
1968.
Mr. Grijalva is Director and Dr. Talamas is Senior Re-
searcher in the Environmental Impact Department, Power
Systems Division, Electrical Research Institute, Shake-
speare 6, 5o piso Col. Anzures. Mexico 5, D. F.

Cadmium Contamination May Modify Response of

Tomato to Atmospheric Ozone

Ronald Harkov, Bruce Clarke and Eileen Brennan

New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station
Cook College
New Brunswick, New Jersey

Air pollution is a serious threat to agri-
cultural and forest productivity and
stability.1 Although the effects of air
contaminants acting singly on many
important agricultural crops have been
extensively investigated,2 research with
multiple pollutants is primarily limited
to work with SO2 and O3 or SO2 and
NO2.3 The results of such combinations
have been manifested in plants either in
antagonism, synergism, or no interac-
tion.
Few vegetation studies have evalu-
ated the interaction of gaseous air con-
taminants and toxic heavy metals orig-
inating as air or soil contaminants.
Czuba and Ormrod4 reported a syner-
gistic interaction between O3 and Cd or
Zn in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and cress
(Lepidium sativum). However, the sig-
nificance of the results is not readily
assessed since these workers used a high
metal concentration (100 ppm), and the
experimental design lacked a proper
control for evaluating the impact of the
metal-ozone interaction on chlorophyll
a and b and carotenoid content of the
foliage. Krause and Kaiser5 found that
exposure of lettuce to SO2 and a foliar
dusting of Pb and Cd caused slightly
greater SO2 injury to the foliage but did
not affect yield. Ormrod6 reported little
or no enhancement of (Vtoxicity when
pea (Pisum sativum L.) plants grown
with Cd or Ni soil treatments were ex-
posed to O3. At the highest concentra-
tion of CdSO4 (100 ixmol), O3 symptoms
were substantially reduced in compari-
son to the plants grown without Cd.
However, the foliar concentration of Cd
and Ni in the plants was not stated.
Moreover, since perlite was used as a
rooting medium, it is probable that
much of the Cd was retained in the
substrate. In view of the shortcomings
cited it is clear that a well designed ex-
periment is needed to determine the
magnitude and direction of the effect of
an interaction between a heavy metal
and gaseous pollutant. The problem
with O3 and Cd in tomatoes has been
investigated since O3 is the most im-
portant air pollutant in the U.S.7 and Cd
has become an increasing concern as
both an air and soil pollutant.8
Materials and Methods
Plant Culture
Tomato {Lycopersicon esculentum L.
Rutgers) seeds were planted on 10 Jan-
uary in a plastic flat (20 X 20 X 5 cm)
containing vermiculite. After 11 days,
uniform seedlings were transplanted to
5 L plastic pots containing washed sand
and were placed in an air-filtered
greenhouse. Supplemental light was
provided with a combination of fluo-
rescent and incandescent lamps (7.9
mW/cm3) from 1700 to 2200 hr. Plants
received dilute nutrient solution9 for
four weeks. On 4 February, plants were
Copyright 1979-Air Pollution Control Association

December 1979 Volume 29, No. 12 1247