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POLLUTED INSULATORS :
A REVIEW OF CURRENT KNOWLEDGE
June 2000
POLLUTED INSULATORS :
PREPARED BY
D.A. SWIFT (Convenor, United Kingdom), J.P. REYNDERS (Secretary, South Africa),
C.S. ENGELBRECHT (Compiler of documents, South Africa), J.L. FIERRO-CHAVEZ
(Mexico), R. HOULGATE (United Kingdom), C. LUMB (France), R. MATSUOKA (Japan),
G. MELIK (Australia), M. MORENO (Mexico), K. NAITO (Japan), W. PETRUSCH (Germany),
A. PIGINI (Italy), G. RIQUEL (France), F.A.M. RIZK (Canada)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 THE POLLUTION PROBLEM ............................................................................................................................................ 1
1.2 PREVIOUS REVIEW DOCUMENTS .................................................................................................................................... 1
1.3 RELEVANCE OF IEC 815 (1986) ................................................................................................................................... 2
1.4 INSULATOR TYPES AND DEFINITIONS OF SPECIFIC CREEPAGE LENGTH & SPECIFIC AXIAL LENGTH............................... 2
1.5 APPROACH FOR INSULATOR SELECTION AND DIMENSIONING ......................................................................................... 3
2. POLLUTION FLASHOVER PROCESS......................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.2 MODELLING .................................................................................................................................................................. 6
2.2.1 Hydrophilic surface ............................................................................................................................................. 6
2.2.2 Hydrophobic surface.......................................................................................................................................... 10
2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS......................................................................................................................................... 10
2.3.1 Climates or atmospheric variables and typical environments ........................................................................... 10
2.3.2 Type of pollution ................................................................................................................................................ 13
2.3.3 Mechanisms of contamination accumulation on insulators............................................................................... 21
2.3.4 Mechanisms of wetting....................................................................................................................................... 24
2.3.5 The natural cleaning processes.......................................................................................................................... 29
2.3.6 Critical wetting conditions................................................................................................................................. 29
2.3.7 Effect of various aspects of the insulator on its pollution accumulation ........................................................... 29
2.3.8 Physical and mathematical models of pollution deposit.................................................................................... 33
2.4 ICE AND SNOW ............................................................................................................................................................ 33
2.4.1 Flashover on insulators covered with ice. ......................................................................................................... 34
2.4.2 Flashover on insulators covered with snow....................................................................................................... 35
3. INSULATOR CHARACTERISTICS ............................................................................................................................ 37
3.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................... 37
3.2 MATERIALS USED FOR OUTDOOR INSULATORS ............................................................................................................ 38
3.2.1 Porcelain and glass............................................................................................................................................ 38
3.2.2 Polymers ............................................................................................................................................................ 38
3.3 INSULATOR PERFORMANCE ......................................................................................................................................... 39
3.3.1 Ceramic insulators............................................................................................................................................. 40
3.3.2 Polymeric Insulators .......................................................................................................................................... 50
3.3.3 Effect of insulator orientation. ........................................................................................................................... 52
3.3.4 Influence of a non-uniform pollution deposit..................................................................................................... 56
3.3.5 Electric field at the surface of insulators ........................................................................................................... 57
3.3.6 Cold switch-on and thermal lag......................................................................................................................... 59
3.3.7 Contaminated insulators under transient overvoltages ..................................................................................... 59
3.3.8 Air density correction factors for polluted insulators ........................................................................................ 68
3.3.9 General trends for ice covered insulators.......................................................................................................... 69
3.3.10 General trends for snow covered insulators ...................................................................................................... 71
3.4 SPECIAL INSULATORS .................................................................................................................................................. 73
3.4.1 Hollow insulators............................................................................................................................................... 73
3.4.2 HVDC wall bushings.......................................................................................................................................... 75
3.4.3 Circuit breaker and isolator insulation.............................................................................................................. 75
3.4.4 Insulators in desert conditions........................................................................................................................... 76
3.4.5 Semiconducting Glaze insulators....................................................................................................................... 76
3.5 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................................................. 77
4. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ...................................................................................................................................... 80
4.1 VISIBLE DISCHARGES .................................................................................................................................................. 80
4.2 AUDIBLE NOISE ........................................................................................................................................................... 80
4.3 RADIO INTERFERENCE ................................................................................................................................................. 81
4.4 TELEVISION INTERFERENCE ........................................................................................................................................ 82
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4.5 CORROSION OF METAL HARDWARE - TELEVISION INTERFERENCE................................................................................ 82
4.6 CRITERIA FOR RADIO NOISE LIMITS OF INSULATORS..................................................................................................... 83
4.7 CORROSION OF METAL HARDWARE - MECHANICAL STRENGTH REDUCTION ................................................................. 84
4.8 FIRES .......................................................................................................................................................................... 85
5. POLLUTION MONITORING ....................................................................................................................................... 87
5.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................... 87
5.2 AIR POLLUTION MEASUREMENT .................................................................................................................................. 88
5.2.1 Directional dust deposit gauge .......................................................................................................................... 88
5.3 EQUIVALENT SALT DEPOSIT DENSITY (ESDD)............................................................................................................. 89
5.3.1 Advantages......................................................................................................................................................... 89
5.3.2 Disadvantages.................................................................................................................................................... 89
5.3.3 Further developments ........................................................................................................................................ 89
5.4 NON-SOLUBLE DEPOSIT DENSITY (NSDD) .................................................................................................................. 90
5.4.1 Optical measurement ......................................................................................................................................... 90
5.5 SURFACE CONDUCTANCE ............................................................................................................................................ 90
5.5.1 Advantages......................................................................................................................................................... 90
5.5.2 Disadvantages.................................................................................................................................................... 90
5.5.3 Further developments ........................................................................................................................................ 90
5.6 INSULATOR FLASHOVER STRESS .................................................................................................................................. 91
5.6.1 Advantages......................................................................................................................................................... 91
5.6.2 Disadvantages.................................................................................................................................................... 91
5.7 LEAKAGE CURRENT .................................................................................................................................................... 91
5.7.1 Surge counting ................................................................................................................................................... 92
5.7.2 I highest.................................................................................................................................................................. 92
5.8 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................................................. 92
6. TESTING PROCEDURES FOR INSULATORS ......................................................................................................... 93
6.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................... 93
6.2 CATEGORIES OF TEST METHODS .................................................................................................................................. 93
6.2.1 Testing under natural pollution conditions........................................................................................................ 93
6.2.2 Artificial pollution laboratory tests.................................................................................................................... 95
6.3 TEST PROCEDURES FOR PORCELAIN AND GLASS INSULATORS TO BE USED IN HIGH-VOLTAGE A.C. OR D.C. SYSTEMS ... 95
6.3.1 Standardised test procedures ............................................................................................................................. 95
6.3.2 Non-standardised test procedures...................................................................................................................... 96
6.3.3 Non-standardised test procedures for laboratory tests on naturally polluted insulators .................................. 98
6.4 TEST PROCEDURES FOR POLYMERIC INSULATORS TO BE USED IN HIGH-VOLTAGE A.C. OR D.C. SYSTEMS..................... 98
6.5 TEST PROCEDURES FOR INSULATORS COVERED WITH ICE OR SNOW............................................................................. 98
6.5.1 Laboratory test methods with ice ....................................................................................................................... 98
6.5.2 Laboratory test methods with snow.................................................................................................................. 100
6.6 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON PARTICULAR POINTS OF POLLUTION TESTING ............................................................ 100
6.6.1 Ambient conditions during testing ................................................................................................................... 100
6.6.2 Leakage current measurement ......................................................................................................................... 103
6.6.3 Testing of insulators for the UHV range up to 1100 kV................................................................................... 104
6.6.4 Comparison of test results obtained with different pollution test methods ...................................................... 104
6.6.5 Comparison of test results obtained from test stations .................................................................................... 104
7. INSULATOR SELECTION AND DIMENSIONING ................................................................................................ 106
7.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 106
7.2 SELECTION OF INSULATOR CHARACTERISTICS .......................................................................................................... 106
7.2.1 Selection of profile ........................................................................................................................................... 107
7.2.2 Selection of insulator dimensions..................................................................................................................... 107
7.2.3 Deterministic method ....................................................................................................................................... 108
7.2.4 Probabilistic method. ....................................................................................................................................... 108
7.2.5 Static and dynamic methods in the probabilistic approach. ............................................................................ 109
7.2.6 Present status of the probabilistic approach.................................................................................................... 110
7.2.7 Dynamic method .............................................................................................................................................. 113
7.2.8 Truncation of the distribution .......................................................................................................................... 114
7.2.9 Conclusions...................................................................................................................................................... 115
1999-09-01 II
7.3 SELECTION OF INSULATORS FOR APPLICATION UNDER ICE AND SNOW ....................................................................... 115
7.4 SELECTION OF INSULATORS FOR D.C. ENERGISATION................................................................................................. 116
7.4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 116
7.4.2 Selection of a site severity correction factor.................................................................................................... 116
7.5 INSULATOR POLLUTION DESIGN OF PHASE-TO-PHASE SPACERS ................................................................................ 117
7.5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 117
7.5.2 Design Practice................................................................................................................................................ 117
8. PALLIATIVES AND OTHER MITIGATION MEASURES .................................................................................... 118
8.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 118
8.2 MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES .................................................................................................................................... 118
8.2.1 Live-insulator washing of ceramic insulators.................................................................................................. 118
8.2.2 Live-insulator washing of polymeric insulators............................................................................................... 128
8.3 USE OF GREASES AND RTV COATINGS ...................................................................................................................... 129
8.3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 129
8.3.2 Hydrocarbon and silicone greases .................................................................................................................. 129
8.3.3 RTV rubber coatings ........................................................................................................................................ 130
8.3.4 Summary .......................................................................................................................................................... 130
8.4 BOOSTER SHEDS ....................................................................................................................................................... 131
8.5 METHODS FOR INCREASING INSULATOR RELIABILITY UNDER ICE AND SNOW CONDITIONS ......................................... 132
8.5.1 Some measures to prevent flashovers during ice conditions............................................................................ 132
8.5.2 Some measures to prevent flashovers during snow conditions ........................................................................ 133
9. THERMAL EFFECTS OF CONTAMINATION ON METAL OXIDE ARRESTERS (MOA) ............................ 134
9.1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................... 134
9.2 OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND FIELD TESTS .......................................................................................................... 134
9.3 ARTIFICIAL POLLUTION TESTS OF LIGHTNING ARRESTERS ........................................................................................ 135
9.3.1 Test Techniques................................................................................................................................................ 135
9.3.2 Laboratory Test Results ................................................................................................................................... 135
9.4 STANDARDISATION OF A LABORATORY TEST ............................................................................................................ 139
10. ADITIONAL INFORMATION AND RESULTS ................................................................................................... 142
10.1 INSULATOR PROFILES AND DIMENSIONS .................................................................................................................... 142
10.2 RANKING OF INSULATORS ......................................................................................................................................... 158
10.2.1 Ceramic Insulators........................................................................................................................................... 158
10.2.2 Polymeric insulators ........................................................................................................................................ 162
10.3 INSULATOR PERFORMANCE AS A FUNCTION OF POLLUTION SEVERITY ....................................................................... 164
10.4 AGEING OF INSULATORS ........................................................................................................................................... 165
11. REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................................... 1 67
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1. INTRODUCTION
1999-09-01 1
1.3 Relevance of IEC 815 (1986)
The present edition of IEC Publication 815 (1986)5 is based on knowledge obtained mainly from experience with
conventional porcelain and glass insulators on a.c. systems. It applies only to these insulators, and only when they are used in
a.c. applications.
Minimum specific creepage distances are specified in this document for different pollution severity levels. These pollution
severity levels do not consider all aspects of the environment that can affect the performance of various insulator profiles.
Apart from some restrictions on insulator profile and corrections for diameter, IEC 815 thereby implies that no other factors
need to be considered when designing insulators for use in polluted conditions.
It is now recognised that a broader approach for insulator design and selection is required to address the optimised design of
porcelain and glass insulators as well as polymeric insulators for a.c. and d.c. systems world-wide. Other areas where IEC
815 lacks information have been identified.
This review document is based on the following list of areas where IEC 815 is perceived to be weak, and where input is
needed for its revision:
Performance of polymeric insulators
Insulator orientation
Extension of applicability to voltages above 525 kV a.c.
Design for d.c. application
Insulators with semiconducting glaze
Surge arrester housing performance, particularly with reference to polymeric materials
Longitudinal breaks in interrupter equipment
Radio interference, television interference, and audible noise of polluted insulators
Effect of altitude
Effect of heavy wetting
The revision of IEC 815 was started in 1998 and it is expected that the work will be completed by the end of the year 2005.
The revision will appear as five parts under the number IEC 60815.
1.4 Insulator types and definitions of Specific Creepage Length & Specific Axial
Length
For the purpose of this document, insulators are divided into the following four broad categories:
1. Ceramic insulators for a.c. systems
2. Polymeric insulators for a.c. systems
3. Ceramic insulators for d.c. systems
4. Polymeric insulators for d.c. systems.
Ceramic insulators have an insulating part manufactured either of glass or porcelain, whereas polymeric insulators have a
composite insulating part consisting of a polymer housing such as Silicone Rubber (SR), Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer
(EPDM) and others, fitted onto a glass fibre core.
In Section 10, details are given of some of the available types of insulators. The tables presented therein are used throughout
this document to identify insulators and provide data for analysis.
For the purpose of this review, the electrical stress over an insulator is considered in two ways; one is related to the leakage
path length and the other to the axial length of the insulator.
In IEC 815, the leakage path of an insulator is specified by the Specific Creepage Distance defined as the leakage distance
of the insulator in mm divided by the maximum system phase-to-phase voltage in kV. The Leakage Distance is defined as the
shortest distance, from on end of the insulator to the other, along the surface of the insulating parts. In this document, the
Specific Creepage Length (SCL) defined as the Leakage Distance of the insulator divided by the actual voltage across the
insulator - i.e. the phase-to-ground voltage in most instances.
The corresponding Specific Axial Length (SAL) of an insulator is defined as the axial length of the insulator divided by the
actual voltage across the insulator. The axial length refers to the shortest distance between fixing points of the live and
1999-09-01 2
earthed metalware, ignoring the presence of any stress control rings, but including intermediate metal parts along the length of
the insulator - as is shown in Figure 1-1.
Axial Length
1. The application of the insulator is an important aspect from the pollution performance viewpoint as it determines both
the radial dimension and the orientation of the insulator. Section 3 addresses the application of insulators under a variety of
headings.
2. An integral part of the basic data is the characteristics of the available insulators. These are discussed throughout this
report, but especially in Section 3. Information may also be obtained from manufacturers.
3. Power system parameters that form part of the basic data consist of:
The electrical environment in which the insulator is applied, i.e. a.c. or d.c. voltage; maximum system voltage; and
lightning, switching and temporary overvoltages and their effects on insulator performance. These aspects are
comprehensively addressed in Section 2.2 and Section 3.
The performance required from the insulator. This is determined mainly by power quality criteria such as the power
systems sensitivity to outages.
4. Each environment where the insulators are to be installed has a different set of conditions under which the insulator must
operate reliably. An insulator that has a good performance under one set of conditions might have a bad performance in a
different set of conditions. It is therefore necessary to characterise the environment in terms specific to insulator performance.
In Section 2.3, the environmental aspects and how they affect the pollution flashover process are discussed. Methods to
monitor the environment are described in Section 5.
5. Constraints may also influence the selection of insulators. For example, limitations on the width of the right of way may
dictate the use of structures for which special insulator designs are required. In such cases, the range of available insulators
may be restricted. Cost and the need to minimise the visual impact may also be important factors that have to be built into the
selection process.
6. Field performance of insulators in service is an invaluable source of data for future applications. Unfortunately, these
data are not always available, and, as noted earlier, their applicability to different environments must always be questioned.
Nevertheless, service experience is usually a very important component of the basic data since it forms the basis for
determining whether the selection of a particular insulator leads to acceptable performance. Service experience also may
indicate whether certain artificial pollution tests are appropriate for a specific environment, and it may also contribute
information on insulator characteristics.
1999-09-01 3
Methods to assess insulator field performance are given in Section 5. References to service experience are given throughout
the document, but especially in Sections 2 and 3.
Basic data
Alternative solutions
1) Insulator
application
Test program
Yes Lab tests No
necessary
? Test results
Representative
Test technique
Lab testing
Test results
Insulator
Design Procedure monitoring
Yes Deterministic No
?
Preliminary
Design
Preliminary
Solution
Yes Acceptable No
Cost optimisation Failure rate
?
Yes Preventative No
Measures
Identify ?
measures
Insulator selection
Figure 1-2: An overview of the process of insulator selection, as based on a published 6 diagram.
Once these basic data are collected, the various options for insulator selection can be identified for further study. Depending
on whether or not information is available on service experience, insulator characteristics and the environment, the need for
further field tests should be determined. However, it should be noted that these tests normally take 2-4 years. An overview of
the available methods for site severity measurement and field tests is given in Section 5.
Since the time required for field tests is very long, such tests are usually augmented with laboratory tests. A brief overview of
laboratory test methods and some examples of field test stations are given in Section 6.
When the basic data and field and laboratory test results have been compiled, the actual design procedure - as described in
Section 7 - can begin. The choice between a deterministic or statistical approach will depend on the criticality of the design.
Economic and time constraints may dictate a shortened selection procedure with the possible concomitant reduction in
confidence in the design.
In the event that a reliable insulator design is not achieved, mitigation methods may be necessary. Examples of such methods
are given in Section 8.
Improvement in the design procedure requires verification of performance that also will provide further service experience for
future designs.
1999-09-01 4
2. POLLUTION FLASHOVER PROCESS
2.1 Introduction
The pollution flashover process of insulators is greatly affected by the insulators surface properties. Two surface conditions
are recognised: either hydrophilic or hydrophobic. A hydrophilic surface is generally associated with ceramic insulators
whereas a hydrophobic surface is generally associated with polymeric insulators, especially silicone rubber. Under wetting
conditions - such as rain, mist etc. - hydrophilic surfaces will wet out completely so that an electrolyte film covers the
insulator. In contrast, water beads into distinct droplets on a hydrophobic surface under such wetting conditions.
In the Electra No. 64 publication2, the pollution flashover process for ceramic insulators - that is, insulators with a hydrophilic
surface - is described essentially as follows:
a) The insulator becomes coated with a layer of pollution containing soluble salts or dilute acids or alkalis. If the pollution
is deposited as a layer of liquid electrolyte - e.g. salt spray, stages (c) to (f) may proceed immediately. If the pollution is
non-conducting when dry, some wetting process (stage (b)) is necessary.
b) The surface of the polluted insulator is wetted either completely or partially by fog, mist, light rain, sleet or melting snow
or ice and the pollution layer becomes conductive. Heavy rain is a complicating factor: it may wash away the electrolytic
components off part or all of the pollution layer without initiating the other stages in the breakdown process, or it may -
by bridging the gaps between sheds - promote flashover.
c) Once an energised insulator is covered with a conducting pollution layer, a surface leakage current flows and its heating
effect starts to dry out parts of the pollution layer.
d) The drying of the pollution layer is always non-uniform and, in places, the conducting pollution layer becomes broken by
dry bands that interrupt the flow of leakage current.
e) The line-to-earth voltage is then applied across these dry bands, which may only be a few centimetres wide. It causes air
breakdown to occur and the dry bands are bridged by arcs, which are electrically in series with the resistance of the
undried portion of the pollution layer. A surge of leakage current occurs each time the dry bands on an insulator
sparkover.
f) If the resistance of the undried part of the pollution layer is low enough, the arcs bridging the dry bands are able to burn
continuously and so may extend along the insulator; thereby spanning more and more of its surface. This in turn
decreases the resistance in series with the arcs, increases the current and permits the arcs to bridge even more of the
insulator surface. Ultimately the insulator is completely spanned and a line-to-earth fault is established.
Figure 2-1: Schematic representation of the pollution flashover process across a hydrophilic surface.
The key processes involved in the flashover process are shown in Figure 2-1. The environment, in which the insulator must
operate in, influences the first two processes - pollution deposit and wetting - whereas electrical aspects govern the last two
processes. This Section, therefore, discusses the flashover process from these two viewpoints.
1999-09-01 5
To date, no clear description exists of the complete insulator flashover process for insulators with a hydrophobic surface - but
the key aspects, as defined, will still be present to a greater or lesser extent.
The aforementioned points do not include the effects of ice and snow on the electrical strength of insulators. Such additional
points are discussed in provided in Section 2.4.
2.2 Modelling
where E a is the arc voltage gradient and E p is the mean voltage gradient of the pollution layer.
The static arc characteristic for a current i is of the form:
Eai n = N 0 (2-2)
L
xc = (2-3)
n +1
were L is the leakage path length. The corresponding critical voltage Uc was determined as:
1 n
Uc = N0 n +1 rp n +1 L (2-4)
The critical d.c. current ic - i.e. the maximum leakage current not leading to flashover - can be obtained from :
1
N n +1
ic = o (2-5)
rp
Several refinements have been introduced to the d.c. model. In another paper11, an insulator model was introduced with two
different surface resistances per unit length rp1 and rp2 - corresponding to the stem and the shed of a longrod insulator. A
circular insulator disc model was also investigated 12. The contribution of arc current concentration at the roots to the
pollution layer surface resistance was included 13 14. Other refinements include the consideration of the arc electrode voltage
drops 13, effect of temperature on the pollution layer resistance14 and the influence of multiple parallel arcing that takes place
on many insulators - especially on those of large diameter15.
The d.c. model has been used to study the polluted insulator : test source interaction 16. This contributed to the interpretation
of the experimental results and to the determination of the minimum requirements for d.c. sources in polluted insulator tests17.
1999-09-01 6
Unfortunately, the d.c. model has been frequently used to account for polluted insulator performance under a.c. energisation11
13 14
, despite there being important basic differences - as is shown below.
A x
U= (2-6)
im
where x is the residual arc length and A and m are constants
Inserting this relationship in the circuit equation results in:
A x No x
= + Rpx i (2-7)
im in
Where R px is the pollution surface resistance corresponding to an arc length x.
Since the voltage drop of a burning arc is much smaller than the re-ignition voltage, an acceptable - although not accurate -
approximation would be to put n m. This simplifies the analysis and yields a critical arc length x c :
L
xc = (2-8)
m+1
For constant r p , the corresponding critical voltage Uc is:
m
U c = B rpm+1 L (2-9)
where B is a constant.
Expression 2-9 is similar to that of equation 2-4 for the d.c. case, although instead of n 0.8 - valid for the d.c. static
characteristic of a free-burning arc - m 0.5 in the a.c. arc re-ignition expression 2-6. Also, the constants in equations 2-9
and 2-4 are quite different. In fact, numerical evaluation of these expressions shows that for a high pollution severity - i.e.
relatively low values of rp - the critical a.c. voltage (rms) is much higher than the critical d.c. voltage. This difference
diminishes, however, at lower pollution severity and ultimately - with no pollution at all - the a.c. sparkover voltage peak
value is nearly equal to the corresponding d.c. voltage.
The a.c. model 21 has been used to investigate the source: polluted insulator interaction and has revealed the effect of the
parallel capacitance on insulator performance. It proved, therefore, to be quite useful in determining the minimum source
requirement 22. Recently, the model has been further used to investigate the effect of altitude on the performance of a.c.
insulators under pollution conditions23; see also the discussion in Section 3.3.8.
1999-09-01 7
For very long times to the half value - i.e. longer than 3000 s, a long pre-arc could be formed. In this case, the leakage
current flashover stress will be determined by the pre-arc only and reaches a value of approximately 0.7 kV/cm.
With a virtual impulse duration longer than 100 ms, a further decrease of the flashover voltage will be observed. This is not
caused by a new flashover mechanism. It is due to the fact that the pollution layer will be heated for a longer time duration by
the current flowing and so the surface conductivity will be increased.
In the range between 200 and 3000 s of th - i.e. SI range, the performance is more complicated; as is analysed below.
Figure 2-2: Flashover strength vs. the voltage-time duration for a cylindrical model insulator under pollution conditions 25.
1999-09-01 8
Figure 2-3: Flashover models for a.c./d.c. (a) and SI (b) 28.
Figure 2-4: Approach for the evaluation of the minimum flashover strength in the presence of dry bands 28.
In the presence of a short dry band, having a length ar (Figure 2-4), the flashover under positive SI first occurs from this dry
band in a very short time (air breakdown in the s range). This is followed by the flashover along the contaminated layer of
the length ag during a much longer time period (leakage - current flashover in the ms range).
1999-09-01 9
For dry band lengths smaller than 1 m, the strength of the air gap corresponds to the positive steamer gradient, i.e. 450 kV/m.
For longer dry band lengths, the mean breakdown strength corresponds to the minimum possible breakdown voltage per unit
length of a long air gap under positive SI.
To check if the proposed approach works, even for insulators of practical interest, the results of calculation are compared with
available experimental data. Because non-uniform contamination is to be regarded as the worst case, only the presence of dry
bands of critical lengths shall be considered in the following case.
As an example, Figure 3-28 shows the results obtained for a post insulator, where the experimental data of Garbagnati et al 152
are used. As is evident from the broken-line curve, the calculated values meet the measured ones quite well up to the longest
investigated insulator length of 12 m.
Another example is reported in Figure 3-33. Here, the calculated minimum curve agrees satisfactorily with the experimental
one presented by Garbagnati et al 152 for practical insulators up to 12 m length.
1999-09-01 10
Table 2-1 A general classification of climates 31.
Tropical Often called Equatorial climates. Here the Hot tropical climates with a distinct wet
weather is hot and wet around the year. and dry season. They occur roughly
These climates are found within about 5 between 5 and 15 North and South of the
of latitude North and South of the Equator. In parts of South and South-East
Equator Asia the division between the wet and dry
seasons is so clear that they are called
Tropical Monsoon Climates
Dry Hot deserts with little rain at any season Tropical steppe or semi-desert with a short Deserts with a distinctly cold season.
and no real cold weather although rainy season during which the rains are These occur in Higher Latitudes in
temperature drops sharply at night. The unreliable and vary much from place to the interior of large continents. The
Sahara desert and much of the Arabian place. Good examples are found in parts of best examples are parts of central
peninsula are the best examples of this India and the Sahel region of Africa. Asia and Western China.
type.
Warm Rain occurs at all seasons but summer is Winters are generally mild and wet,
Temperate the warmest time of the year and summers are warm or hot with little or no
temperatures range then from warm to rain. This type of climate is often called
hot. Winters are mild with occasional Mediterranean because of its wide extent
cold spells. Much of Eastern China and around that sea. It occurs in smaller areas
the South Eastern States of the USA fall elsewhere, for example central Chile,
in this category. California and Western Australia.
Cold The cool temperate oceanic types of Cold continental climates with a warm
climate: Rain occurs in all months and summer and cold winter. Much of Eastern
there are rarely great extremes of heat or and Central Europe and Central and Eastern
cold. This climate is found in much of Canada and the USA have this type of
Northwest Europe, New Zealand and Climate
coastal British Columbia.
1999-09-01 11
The aim of such a study is to find the basic relationship between the atmospheric variables and the pollution phenomena.
Information on the time-variation of atmospheric variables is necessary. The information sources will, of course, vary as
needs differ. The Meteorological Service usually only provides general information, i.e. average values; However, when an
application is submitted to its research department, specific information can be obtained.
Depending on the study being made, either regional or local climate data will be used. For example, to study the insulation
design or maintenance of a transmission line 100 km long (place) and for an expected life of 50 years (time), regional climate
information will be used.
1999-09-01 12
Third, extreme changes in weather have been known to cause major outages because of unusual meteorological patterns.
Major storms that may occur with relatively low probability can suddenly cause severe coastal pollution. In inland areas, long
dry periods with little rain may also cause an unusual build-up of pollution.
1999-09-01 13
2.3.2.1.2 Pollution that needs to dissolve
Various studies have been made to find a relationship between the dissolving characteristics of salt contaminants and the
insulator flashover voltage 52 39 37 69. From these studies, the following parameters have been identified as being important:
The solubility of the salt.
The rate at which the salt goes into solution.
Figure 2-5 39 shows the effect of salt-solubility on the limiting flashover voltage of an insulator for three different equivalent
salt deposit densities (0.01 mg/cm2, 0.03 and 0.10 mg/cm2). The limiting flashover voltage is the minimum value achieved
under a cold fog test for a polluted insulator. Eight salts were investigated. From this figure, it is clear that there is very little
dependence of pollution flashover voltage on the solubility of the contaminating salt.
14
2
12 ESDD= 0.01 mg/cm
Limiting Flashover Value (kV, rms)
10
2
0.03 mg/cm
8
2
0.10 mg/cm
6
Ca(NO3)2
4 MgCl2
Mg(NO3)2 CaCl2
2 NaCl NaNO3
Na2SO4
MgSO4
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Solubility (g/100 g H2O)
Figure 2-5: Relationship between Salt solubility and limiting flashover values (LFOV) 39.
Different salts also have different rates at which they go into solution; generally the higher the solubility of the salt the quicker
it will go into solution - but this is not always the case. This is shown in Table 2-3 where the salt is classified according to its
solubility and speed by which it goes into solution.
Highly soluble salts that dissolve quickly need a short time in contact with water to go into solution. Therefore, a highly
conductive layer can form quickly on the insulator during all wetting processes. However, with higher wetting rates - e.g. rain
etc. - the pollution will also be purged more easily from the insulator due to its high solubility.
Low solubility salts that also dissolve slowly need a large quantity of water to speed up the solution process. This is illustrated
in Figure 2-638. The relationship between ESDD and the quantity of distilled water used to make the measurement is shown
for insulators that came from two environments; one in an agricultural area, Huang Du, and another is from an environment
close to a steel plant. In both of these areas, the main pollutant is gypsum.
1999-09-01 14
Figure 2-6: Relation between ESDD and Quantity of distilled water 38.
This figure shows that for the naturally polluted insulators, an increase in ESDD occurs for an increase in the quantity of
distilled water used for making the measurement. This is in contrast to an insulator polluted artificially with NaCl - i.e. a fast
and highly soluble salt - that does not show the same tendency.
Various studies have shown that insulators contaminated with highly soluble and fast dissolving salts - such as NaCl - have
lower clean-fog withstand voltages than insulators contaminated with low solubility salts which are slow dissolving39 40 41 -
such as gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O) - in spite of them having the same contamination severity (see Figure 2-7).
Figure 2-7: Influence of various salts in the contamination layer on the insulator fog withstand voltage41.
It was also shown that the relationship between the flashover voltage in a steam fog test and the steam input-rate was
dependent on the type of salt on the insulator. A comparison was made between insulators naturally polluted - mainly gypsum
- and insulators artificially polluted with NaCl and kaolin 42. The results are presented in Figure 2-8, which show that the
flashover strength of insulators polluted with mainly gypsum have a greater dependency on steam input-rate than do insulators
polluted with NaCl.
The decrease in flashover voltage with increasing steam input-rate is ascribed to the greater amount of pollution that is
dissolved at the higher wetting-rate. To achieve the same flashover voltage during the test as that applied in-service
conditions when flashovers occurred, the steam input-rate had to be an order of magnitude higher than that recommended by
IEC 507 22.
1999-09-01 15
Figure 2-8: Flashover voltage of naturally and artificially polluted insulators as a function of steam input rate42.
Flashovers have been reported on insulators polluted by slow dissolving salts - such as gypsum (CaSO4) - but they generally
occurred during extended periods of wetting; i.e. dense fog, heavy rain storms lasting longer than three hours or live spray
washing 42 43.
Other factors that complicate the relationship between the type(s) of salt and the flashover voltage are when:
The solubility of a salt is affected by the existence of other salts; e.g. the solubility of CaSO4 is inhibited by the presence
of NaCl 37.
The process by which a salt goes into solution can be either exothermic (temperature rises) or endothermic (temperature
lowers). Any temperature change will greatly influence the conductivity of the solution that forms 69.
The wetting process of the insulator is influenced by the hygroscopic properties of the salt. Therefore, different wetting-
rates will occur for different salts - even though the ESDD values may be the same 69.
1999-09-01 16
However, the experimental results given in Figure 2-9 show that the deposit density on a specimen disc varies with the type of
inert material - in this case, Tonoko and Rogers kaolin - when the specimen is contaminated with a solution having the same
concentration of inert material. The results presented in Table 2-4 are, therefore, given for the same inert material deposit
density.
Figure 2-9: Relationship between NSDD and the quantity of inert materials in the contamination suspension 45.
Comparative test results of d.c. and a.c. contamination withstand voltage with Tonoko and Rogers kaolin are also shown in
Table 2-4 45. Significant differences - 20 to 25% - can be seen in the d.c. withstand voltage between Tonoko and Rogers
kaolin although the salt deposit density (SDD) is the same.
Test Specimen Quantity of Salt / Non- SDD NSDD 50% FOV Corrected Max. Leakage
Voltage Insulator soluble Contaminant mg/cm2 mg/cm2 kV/unit 50% FOV current
g/l kV/unit mA
13/40 0.068 16.7 15.8 250
Tonoko [100] [100]
13/60 0.03 0.079 14.8 14.4 430
kaolin [89] [92]
250S 133/40 0.079 11.0 10.6 850
Tonoko [100] [100]
a.c. 96/60 0.025 0.135 10.0 10.5 1200
kaolin [91] [99]
15/40 0.076 26.6 25.5 200
Tonoko [100] [100]
320DC 16/60 0.03 0.113 22.2 22.6 550
kaolin [83] [89]
13/40 0.068 16.3 15.4 230
Tonoko [100] [100]
250S 13/60 0.03 0.085 12.8 12.5 350
kaolin [79] [81]
d.c. 13/40 0.16 25.0 26.8 80
Tonoko [100] [100]
320DC 13/40 0.03 0.082 20.9 20.3 160
kaolin [84] [76]
Note 1: SDD and NSDD values show average values measured on more than 10 insulator units for individual cases.
Note 2: Maximum leakage current shows the average maximum value for individual cases.
Note 3: Corrected 50% FOV value was the one corrected to NSDD = 0.1 mg/cm2.
Note 4: [ ] shows the percentage ratio of 50% FOV for the case of kaolin relative to that of Tonoko.
45
Note 5: Insulator types are specified in the paper .
1999-09-01 17
Table 2-4 shows that a 5-10% difference in the a.c.-contamination withstand voltages was found between Tonoko and Rogers
kaolin when the NSDD was adjusted to the same level. The variation of the surface resistance of the contaminated insulator
during the tests is shown in Figure 2-10, which illustrates that the surface resistance of an insulator contaminated with Rogers
kaolin reduces faster and is much lower than that of an insulator contaminated with Tonoko.
10
Tonoko
Brazilian kaolin
Mexican kaolin
1.0 Georgia kaolin
Italian kaolin
Rogers kaolin
0.1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time lapse, min
Figure 2-10: Time variation of surface resistance during the course of clean fog tests of contaminated insulator units
polluted with a combination of salt and various types of kaolin and Tonoko 48 .
The very wide variations in the physical and chemical properties of the various kinds of kaolin used internationally in
insulator contamination tests are shown in Table 2-548.
Table 2-5 : Physical and chemical properties of common inert materials used in insulator contamination tests 48.
kaolin
Item Measuring method Tonoko Rogers Georgia Italy Mexico Brazil
Particle Size, m Laser Light Scattering 6.2 5.8 6.3 4.5 13.5 25.9
(50% value)
Main Constituents X-ray Diffraction Quartz Quartz Quartz Quartz Quartz Quartz
of material Muscovite Kaolinite Kaolinite Kaolinite Kaolinite Kaolinite
Cristobalite
Chemical Loss on Ignition 4.8 14 14 12 6 13
Composition, X-ray SiO2 67 46 46 48 77 48
Percentage by Fluorescence Al2O3 16 37 38 37 16 36
Mass Fe2O3 5.8 0.9 0.7 0.7 0.2 1.0
The surface resistance and the withstand voltage characteristics of an insulator artificially contaminated with these types of
kaolin, together with the Tonoko, are shown in Figure 2-10 and Figure 2-11 respectively 48. A large variation is apparent,
even among the various types of kaolin 10 49.
The main minerals of Tonoko and kaolin - as determined by the X-ray diffraction method - are Muscovite (Al2Si2O5(OH)4)
and Kaolinite (KAl2Si3Al10(OH)2) respectively, together with Quartz (SiO2) that is common to both.
The different surface resistivities of Tonoko and the various types of kaolin that apply under artificial fog conditions can be
explained by the different crystal structures of these materials. Hydroxyl groups [OH]- are located inside the crystal structure
in the case of Muscovite, whereas they are located outside the crystal structure in the case of Kaolinite. Kaolin consisting of
Kaolinite is, therefore, much more hydrophilic than Tonoko consisting of Muscovite.
Recently it was confirmed that the type of inert material had a similar influence on the contamination withstand voltage of
silicone rubber polymeric insulators 50.
1999-09-01 18
100 2
Specimen Insulator: 320 DC SDD : 0.03 mg/cm
Comparitive Flashover voltage, %
2
NSDD : 0.10 mg/cm
80
(Tonoko=100%)
60
40
20
0
Tonoko Brazilian kaolin Roger's kaolin Mexican kaolin Georgia kaolin Italian kaolin
Type of inert material
Figure 2-11: d.c. Withstand voltage test results of artificially contaminated insulators with various kinds of inert material 48.
The type of inert pollution, therefore, influences the formation of a conductive layer. It can be classified as being either:
hydrophilic or hydrophobic. A hydrophilic substance will aid the formation of a conductive film on the insulator surface 51
whereas a hydrophobic material will inhibit the formation of such a film. It has been shown that a truly inert material is
neither hydrophobic nor hydrophilic - such as is quartz - and so does not significantly influence the flashover voltage of an
insulator52.
Figure 2-12: The influence of the amount of inert material on the contamination withstand voltage of porcelain longrod and
disc type insulators (Tests performed at NGK).
A substantial reduction is apparent in the withstand voltage with an increase in the amount of Tonoko present, expressed in
NSDD. This reduction is in spite of the smaller influence of NSDD compared with that of ESDD. This is due to the thicker
layer of inert material because it retains more water - thereby increasing the amount of soluble contaminant that is dissolved.
The result is a lower surface resistance and, therefore, a lower withstand voltage.
1999-09-01 19
b) Polymeric Insulators
A similar tendency in the relationship between the NSDD and the contamination withstand voltage exists for polymeric
insulators, as shown in Figure 2-1350. A delayed recovery of hydrophobicity with the increase in NSDD on the insulator
surface was also reported, as is illustrated in Figure 2-14.
Figure 2-13: The relationship between NSDD and contamination withstand voltage for polymeric insulators 50.
The withstand voltage of hydrophobic polymeric insulators that are contaminated heavily with inert materials may be reduced
by the thicker water film and the delayed recovery of hydrophobicity. The latter is due to the inhibited migration of low
molecular weight silicone from the bulk to the surface of the contaminant layer.
1999-09-01 20
2.3.3 Mechanisms of contamination accumulation on insulators
The accumulation of contaminants on an insulators surface is the net effect of the processes which bring them to that surface
and those which lead to its self-cleaning54.
The force of the electric field, E, on a neutral particle is the dielectrophoretic force - sometimes called the grad E force - and
that on a charged particle is the electrostatic force. The latter can only have an effect under d.c. voltage.
The results of calculations by Annestrand and Shei55 indicate that wind is the dominant force governing the movement of
contaminant particles for wind speeds of about two to three metres per second and above. When the wind speed is low, the
electrostatic force (in case of d.c. voltage) and the gravitational force will dominate. The effect of the dielectrophoretic force
is weaker than that of the other forces. Therefore, for a.c. voltages, wind is the dominant factor. In contrast, under d.c.
conditions, the electrostatic force also plays an appreciable part.
The heating effect of leakage current is another mechanism that may contribute to the accumulation of pollution on the
insulator. That is, when salt is deposited on the insulator in the dissolved state - see Section 2.3.2.1.1 - it can be left behind
when the water evaporates due to the Joule heating of the leakage current. As a consequence:
In high stress parts of the insulator, the heating effect will hinder its natural cleaning 4.
Under salt-fog conditions, the repeated drying out of the deposited wet contaminant layer leaves a residue of salt that
accumulates.
It has been shown that under a.c. voltage, the heating effect of leakage current has a larger influence than the dielectrophoretic
force on the pollution accumulation on the insulator surface 4.
[
S = Ci Vi 3 t i ] (2-11) 59
1999-09-01 21
Figure 2-15: Accumulation of contaminants by a strong sea-wind on the under surface of a typical insulator59.
Wind can transport pollutants over long distances 60. These pollutants can be solids or gasses. Figure 2-16 shows that
although the effect of the sea reduces rapidly with distance from the coastline, wind may carry pollutants inland so that the
effect of the coast can still be significant at some distance depending on the topography. A higher than normal pollution-layer
can result from the use of fertilisers by spraying or the burning of crop residues, due to the transport of the pollutants by the
wind.
Figure 2-16: The relationship between the distance from the coast and measured ESDD on a standard disc insulator under
ordinary salt-pollution conditions 76.
In contrast, the action of wind may mitigate against the pollution flashover process because it could 74 93:
Remove non-attaching particles.
Extinguish the arc on a polluted surface.
The processes under which wind brings the contaminants onto the insulator surface is called the aerodynamic catch52.
Although this process is very complex and can not be fully described, the discussion of this section will highlight the
important parameters and mechanisms.
When the airflow approaches an insulator, it divides; thereby leaving a stagnation point where the air is at rest. The
suspended particles, having a density greater than that of air, are unable to follow the airflow and so may be deposited on the
insulator surface. Similarly, when the airflow passes the under-rib on an insulator, it generates vortices inside the ribs. As a
consequence, some quite small and low-density particles will be deposited there. Therefore, vertically mounted insulators
1999-09-01 22
with a simple shape - the so called aerodynamic profile - will collect less contaminants in wind than do the insulators with
an under-rib profile for the same location. A laboratory measurement in a wind tunnel shows the effect of different shed
profiles for vertically mounted insulators 54. The insulators of aerodynamic shed profile are less contaminated when the wind
is the only dominant force, as indicated in Figure 2-17.
Figure 2-17: Variation of pollution catch with shape 54 H: Heavy; M: Medium; L: Light; Z: Zero deposit 54.
For horizontally mounted insulators, the area presented to the wind by the insulator is important. In cases where the pollution
source has a well-defined direction, horizontal insulators pointing to the source, or away from it, will collect more pollution
than do corresponding insulators pointing 90o from it125.
A rougher surface and the presence of moisture can also contribute to a higher accumulation of contamination 55.
3 10
ESDD (Lee side)
ESDD (Wind side) N
9
NSDD (Lee side)
2,5 NSDD (Wind side) B
M J F A 8
I G E C
L K D
H
Lee Side 7
2
ESDD (mg NaCl/cm )
2
6
NSDD (mg/cm )
2
1,5 5
4
Wind Side
1
3
2
0,5
0 0
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
Position on Insulator
Investigations conducted in desert areas have shown77 61 that the greatest amount of dust on an insulator surface is collected on
its lee side, i.e. opposite to the prevailing wind direction, due to the cleaning effect of the wind. This is contrary to the general
case, as stated above. Consequently, this produces a non-uniform pollution distribution - as is shown in Figure 2-18.
1999-09-01 23
The pollution deposit on an insulator is also influenced by the cleaning action of wind. This is especially true in desert areas
where the wind may carry quite large sand particles (>200 m). These particles sand blast the insulator surface, thereby
enhancing the natural cleaning of insulators. Also, they erode the metallic parts of the insulator. It is the smaller particles
carried by wind, <100 m, that adhere to the insulator surface. These particles also polish the metallic parts 62 63.
1999-09-01 24
2.3.4.1 Precipitation type and duration
The precipitation characteristics that have the greatest effect on the insulation behaviour are the rain rate and the resistivity of
rainwater.
Largely the type of cloud system involved determines the precipitation type (intensity) and duration. This, in turn, is directly
connected with the cloud-formation processes. In general, cumulus type clouds involve vigorous motions - giving large drops
and intense precipitation for a short period. Their influence is restricted to fairly small geographical areas.
Stratus and Alto Stratus - in contrast - involve more persistent, less vigorous vertical motions over a much wider area. Hence
prolonged, steadier, and usually less intense precipitation results. This can be seen from Figure 2-1932, which shows the
intensity versus duration rain curves for various return periods (1-100 years). For example, Miami in Florida (USA) is in an
area dominated by cumulus type clouds. Here, short duration rainfalls are likely to be much more intense than in Seattle,
Washington, (USA) where precipitation from depressions is predominant. The difference in intensity decreases as the
duration increases. The curves indicate that only once in 10 years is Seattle expected to have a rainfall-rate - averaged over
12 h - which will reach or exceed 5.5 mm/h.
200 100
50
25
10
5
100 1
MIAMI
50 (Cumulus)
Rainrate (mm/h)
100
50
25
10
5
20
1
10
5 SEATTLE
(Stratus-Alto Stratus)
2
1
0.5 1 2 3 6 12 24
Rain duration (hours)
Figure 2-19: Intensity versus duration rain curves for various return period (1-100 years) for Miami, Florida (solid lines)
and Seattle, Washington (dashed lines) 32.
1999-09-01 25
The major types of precipitation are given in Table 2-6. Resistivity measurements of rainwater taken in Japan72 are shown in
Figure 2-20 as a frequency distribution. The average, of the distribution of resistivity, ranges from 10 to 30 kcm.
For rain resistivities below 14 kcm, the insulation strength of insulators decreases rapidly - as mainly a function of rain
resistivity but also of precipitation-rate as is shown in Figure 2-21 72. This figure also shows a marked influence of rain-rate
on the insulation strength.
Figure 2-21: The relationship between the resistivity of rainfall and reduction-rate of the flashover voltage 72.
1999-09-01 26
2.3.4.1.1 Tropical precipitation
Precipitation in much of the tropics is associated with convective activity. Strong vertical motions occur in a fluctuating band
near the equator. These release a large amount of water vapour to create a regime of intense, short-lived storms from cumulus
clouds. Heavy wetting conditions with rain-rates in excess of 100 mm/h are not uncommon.
More widespread uplift is associated with a monsoon circulation regime. The effects of convective uplift, dynamic uplift and
topographic forcing combine to produce high annual rainfall totals. Locally, rainfall-rates may be very high but - generally -
the monsoon condition is characterised by longer lasting, less intense precipitation.
2.3.4.2 Fog
Fog may form when a volume of air is cooled to below its dew point. "Radiation" fog forms when the earth cools through
radiative heat loss. Particularly on calm, clear nights - when the radiation effect is large - the air may be cooled below its dew
point and a fog will result. This will begin to form very close to the ground - around midnight - and will gradually thicken and
deepen as the night progresses 32.
Another mechanism producing fog is associated with the horizontal movement of the air. If a warm air stream starts to blow
over a cooler surface, the air rapidly adjusts to the temperature of that surface. Again, given sufficient cooling or sufficiently
moist air, fog will result. This type of fog is known as "advection" fog.
Winter fog conditions can also prove to be severe for pollution-related flashovers180. The presence of fog at 0oC (i.e. called
ice-fog in Table 2-7) ensures a high level of relative humidity that promotes effective and complete wetting of the insulator by
ensuring a conversion of the ice - on the surface of the insulator - to surface wetting, rather than sublimation to water vapour.
If sufficient pollution has been captured in the ice layer on the insulator's surface, the effective wetting produced by the ice-
fog conditions will lead to a low surface resistance and an increased likelihood of flashover.
1999-09-01 27
Natural fog density ranges from 0.01 g/m3 (very light) to 1.0 g/m3 (very heavy sea fog) and about 90 % of all fogs have
densities <0.5 g/m3. Other typical characteristics are given in Table 2-7. Artificial fog for insulator testing has a density of 10
to 100 times greater than that of natural fog. One reason for this difference is that most test facilities are not thermally
insulated well enough to maintain a uniform fog density less than about 2.0 g/m3. Another reason is that artificial tests are
intended to encompass the entire spectrum of fog, mist and drizzle4. In Table 2-8 the characteristics of the artificial fog of
some laboratories are given.
Fog and rain can, depending on the wind conditions, wet the under surface of the insulator more effectively than the
condensation mechanism.
2.3.4.3 Condensation
Condensation occurs when the surface temperature of the insulator falls below the dew-point temperature.
On clear still nights, the insulator surface - particularly the top one - loses heat through radiation to the night sky faster that
heat can be supplied to it by air currents. If the temperature drops below the dew point, moisture forms on the surface of the
insulator. These conditions are commonly produced in desert environments at night or early mornings 73 74.
Dew-condensation wetting is a major cause of flashover on service insulators. Studies have shown that this often occurs in the
early morning hours when the insulator is at a lower temperature than that of the ambient air - due to thermal lag.
1999-09-01 28
The main conclusion from the studies of Chizan and Pohl 69 is that the intensity of moisture absorption on an insulator surface
depends upon the chemical constitution of the pollution. The effect of intense and continuous moisture absorption can cause
long-lasting surface discharges at operating voltage or can be a reason for flashover shortly after the voltage has been applied.
High air-humidity and the hygroscopic properties of pollution layers are also very important in determining the switching-
impulse performance of insulators.
2.3.7.1 Profile
The contamination-collection processes on insulators in-service are very complex. Observations of pollution distribution on
insulators installed in a desert area are illustrated in Figure 2-23 77. In such areas, it has been found that the insulators having
an aerodynamic profile are less contaminated than are those with a more convoluted profile. However, this is not always the
case - as Figure 2-24 shows. Some field observations have shown the opposite situation80 78 40. Further, such differences are
not unique to desert environments 79.
1999-09-01 29
A mechanism whereby antifog insulators collect less pollution than do aerodynamically shaped insulators in certain desert
areas may be as follows. Near the coast, where the humidity during the night is generally high, the insulators may be wetted
so that the bond between its surface and pollution is increased. Due to the relatively larger exposed surface of the
aerodynamic insulator - which allows it to cool more effectively than that of other insulator types, this insulator will be wetted
more than the antifog insulator with a more convoluted surface. Hence, the aerodynamic insulators may then collect more
pollution. Another factor that may play a role is the area of the exposed top surface. This is especially so in regions where
pollution fallout may be considerable. Also, there is the difference in the cleaning by the wind of the pollution particles for
the different profiles80.
Figure 2-23: Distribution of salt on the surfaces of insulators of two greatly different profiles after field exposure in a desert
77
area .
In areas with regular monthly precipitation, insulators with an aerodynamic profile are less contaminated in both the short-
term (monthly) and the long-term (a year or more) exposure 38. Some areas receive rain only for a few months while the rest
of the year is very dry. In such areas, aerodynamic sheds may collect less contamination during the dry months than do those
with more complex profiles. After the rainy months, aerodynamic sheds are certainly less contaminated than are those of the
convoluted-shed design81. If maintenance is performed, an open profile is much easier to handle than a profile with a
convoluted underside. The top/bottom ratio of the pollution on the insulator sheds can be different in different areas and for
different times of the year. Sometimes, the bottom surface of a shed is more polluted than the top surface and sometimes the
opposite occurs81.
1999-09-01 30
ESDD measured (as a % of that collected on a standard profile)
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
Yanbu
Ghazlan
Tabouk
Riyadh
Dhahran
Abha
Bisha
Arar
Figure 2-24: A comparison of the amount of pollution collected on different shapes of insulator at eight desert-pollution
stations 80.
2.3.7.2 Orientation
Results obtained in Mexico - in 23 insulator testing stations installed under various climatic and pollution conditions - have
provided correction factors for chemical composition and uneven distribution of salts for different regions. Also, long-term
patterns of pollution-accumulation show that cap-and-pin insulator strings with an inclined orientation tend to collect less
contaminants than do vertically mounted ones - the ratio being 0.9. Horizontally installed insulators collect even less - the
ratio being 0.15. However, orientation effects vary depending on the region (rural, marine, industrial or a combination of
them)82.
Tension insulators may also be subject to a direction effect if the major source of contamination is from a well-defined source
125
. In this case, there can be an influence of orientation and direction in determining the insulator performance under natural
pollution for a particular location or type of location. For other locations where contamination can accumulate rapidly, or the
frequency of natural cleaning by rainfall is very low, the influence of orientation may be significantly altered - from that stated
above - for the same insulator type.
2.3.7.3 Diameter
Field experience indicates that - for cylindrical insulators - the larger the diameter of an insulator, the smaller the ESDD level
it accumulates over a given time as compared to that on the bottom surface of a 250 mm suspension insulator83. The results of
the measurement of ESDD on a series of cylindrical insulators with different diameters, which were exposed - under de-
energised conditions - to typical coastal contamination, are shown in Figure 2-25 85.
The relationship between the level of relative ESDD and the average diameter, D, of the insulator was found to be:
where ESDDr = 1 for the cylindrical insulator with an average diameter of 115 mm. However, it has been recommended by
Ozaki et al84 that, for design purposes, it would be more appropriate to use a more conservative relationship - such as:
Note: this latter function takes into account the rather large scatter of the measured values.
31
2.0
1/2
0.7
0.5 1
0.2
Figure 2-25: Relationship between the diameter of a porcelain insulator and the contaminant-deposit density under de-
energised and natural service conditions85.
2.3.7.4 Material
Another factor that influences the pollution deposit on insulators is the housing material. Figure 2-26, which is based on that
reported by Imagawa et al 86, shows comparative ESDD measurements taken on silicone rubber and porcelain insulators at
both inland and coastal sites. These results indicate that silicone rubber insulators tend to accumulate more pollution than do
the porcelain ones. Measurements performed in Tunisia61 have indicated that this trend is also true for desert-type
environments.
0,1
2
ESDD (Polymer) mg/cm
0,01
Figure 2-26: Comparison of ESDD for porcelain and polymer insulators at 4 different sites86.
1999-09-01 32
2.3.7.6 Conclusion
All of the aforementioned effects culminate in the build-up of contaminants on the insulator surface. In particular, it is
dependent on the product of pollution deposit-rate and the time interval between the washing events. An equilibrium
condition may take some years to occur between the deposit-rate and insulator cleaning-rate. This is illustrated in Figure 2-27.
1999-09-01 33
2.4.1 Flashover on insulators covered with ice.
2.4.1.1 Definitions
The following definitions are taken from published work 94 95 96 97 98.
Icing processes
Atmospheric icing is a result of three main processes in the atmosphere and are named accordingly:
1. Hoar frost.
2. In-cloud icing.
3. Precipitation icing.
Hoar frost is caused by water vapour condensation on cold surfaces and usually has no adverse influence on the electrical
performance of insulators.
In-cloud icing is a process whereby suspended, supercooled droplets freeze immediately upon impact with an object exposed
to this airflow; for instance, a power line situated above the cloud base.
Precipitation icing can occur in several ways, including freezing rain and drizzle, as well as by wet and dry snow. Freezing
rain and drizzle consist of super-cooled drops or droplets, which freeze partly - or completely - on impact with exposed
surfaces.
The ice-growth is said to be dry when the ice-deposit temperature, i.e. the equilibrium temperature between the ice surface
and water, remains below 0OC. The density of the ice accretion is mainly a function of the impact speed, volume of the
droplet and the ice-deposit temperature. The resulting accreted ice is called soft or hard rime, according to its density and
physical appearance.
The ice-growth is said to be wet when the ice-deposit temperature is 0OC. The growth then takes place at the melting point,
resulting in a water film on the surface. The accreted ice is called glaze.
When a glaze is grown at a slow rate (i.e. near the transition to the dry-growth regime), no icicles are formed. However, when
the flux of water impingement is high - mostly in connection with freezing rain - icicles are formed, usually on the windward
side. Icicles may also form due to the heating of thick rime or wet-snow accretion - such as from Joule heating by leakage
current or from a rise in air temperature. The general characteristics of atmospheric ice are shown in Table 2-10 and Table 2-
11.
1999-09-01 34
Impact velocity.
Position, shape and type of insulator.
Presence or absence of voltage, voltage distribution.
Heat exchange between equipment (power transformers, etc.) and the environment
Supercooled drops and/or droplets can have a meteorological origin (fog, drizzle and rain, or salt spray from the sea) or
anthropogenic (man made) origin (spray from cooling towers, etc.).
Ice accretion on an insulator occurs usually on only one of its sides - i.e. the windward side. In practical cases, some sections
of insulators may be free of ice. In the case of wet grown-ice, icicles may bridge two or more adjacent insulator sheds or - in
the case of cap and pin insulators - the icicles may bridge two or more adjacent units in the string.
2.4.2.1 Definitions
The general characteristics of atmospheric snow are shown in Table 2-12.
The density of wet snow accretions will vary according to the liquid water content of the snow and the wind speed; and, in
exceptional cases, may reach 0.5 - 0.7 g/cm3. The most severe cases in mountains are often a combination of hard rime and
wet snow.
1999-09-01 35
Table 2-12: Characteristics of snow formed on structures.
1999-09-01 36
INSULATOR CHARACTERISTICS
Introduction
performance is described - have had widespread application in all types of environment. For overhead line applications, many
factors other than axial length or creepage path length are known to influence this performance. Shape - such as the number
affect service performance. Differences in the behaviour of insulators in various orientations may be due to the accumulation
of pollution, the effect of natural washing by rain and the physical characteristics of discharges on the surfaces.
insulators have had, they have seen increasing application since their first introduction at transmission-class voltages in the
1970s. Many developments and improvements in this technology have taken place to the point that utilities now are
have become available for applications in substations such as support insulators and equipment insulators. The main reasons
for using polymeric insulators are 101
As a general statement, service experience has demonstrated that the performance of polymeric insulators is good if the
insulators have been properly dimensioned and if the housing material and design are appropriate for the intended application.
indicate that service-induced changes in the housing material of these insulators may play a greater role in their long-term
performance than is the case for glass and porcelain insulators.
1999-09-01 37
3.2 Materials used for outdoor insulators
The classical materials used for outdoor insulation are glazed porcelain and glass. In the 1970s the use of polymers - either
for a complete insulator or as an outer housing in combination with a glass fibre core - became a serious alternative to glass
and porcelain. Looms has provided an excellent overview of the properties and manufacturing processes for glass and
porcelain as used in insulators and an overview of the technology of polymeric insulators 54. Table 3-1 is an updated version
of that given in Loom's book and provides a useful comparison of the properties of the different materials used for outdoor
insulators.
3.2.2 Polymers
The choice of materials for polymeric insulators will largely determine their pollution flashover performance. The selection
of creepage distance of the insulator may not, therefore, be as an important a factor as it is in the case of glass or porcelain
insulators.
The most common construction for polymeric insulators is the composite longrod. Here a resin-bonded glass fibre core
provides the mechanical strength and a polymer outer housing resists degradation from weathering and other environmental
factors.
There is some evidence to show that the glass fibre core can fail as a result of the ingress - or the internal formation - of
acid103 104. Certain manufacturers use special glass formulations that are resistant to this form of attack.
There is a wide variety of materials that can be used for the outer housing. The properties that have been shown to be the
most important in service are water repellency (hydrophobicity) and resistance to tracking. In most formulations, a filler -
such as alumina trihydrate - is used to impart tracking resistance. Silicone rubber has become very widely used on account of
its very low surface energy, which inhibits the formation of a water film on the surface. A further, and considerable,
advantage with silicone rubber is that low molecular weight components in the rubber diffuse into contaminant layers on the
surface and impart hydrophobic properties to them105.
Earlier authors (e.g. Looms 54) have given detailed descriptions of the different insulating materials used for polymeric
insulators. Values have been quoted for dielectric strength, permittivity, conductivity and other parameters of the materials
along with value judgements on their advantages and disadvantages for high-voltage insulation applications. However, the
ever-increasing number of materials and production processes used for such insulators make a simple classification difficult.
Often, polymeric housing materials are divided into simple classes; the most common being, silicone and ethylene propylene
diene monomer (EPDM). Such a generalisation is dangerous for there are many different silicone rubber and EPDM
formulations used for electrical insulation, each with specific characteristics for the chosen application and manufacturing
process. For example, silicones can first be subdivided into Room Temperature Vulcanised (RTV) and High Temperature
Vulcanised (HTV); these are entirely different products whose raw form ranges from a pourable liquid to a dense solid paste
or granules. The production process can be by gravity pouring, extrusion or high pressure/temperature injection to name but a
few.
Each manufacturer chooses a formulation adapted to the process and to the characteristics required of the finished product.
Hence, the amount of filler, the type of catalyst, the types and proportions of silicone molecules and other elements of the
polymer vary notably from one product to another. Defining specific values for the various mechanical or electrical
properties of polymers becomes impossible in such circumstances. Equally the behaviour of the polymer in service is
dependent on many parameters, which include not only the material and process but also the form of the housing and the
fittings.
The material formulation and production process have an influence on the polymer housing characteristics; the following list
gives those which are considered to be among the most important:
hydrophobicity,
tracking resistance,
erosion resistance,
puncture resistance,
1999-09-01 38
The appropriate design of polymeric insulators for specific polluted environments must, therefore, take these properties of the
insulator into account and the changes in them that may take place over time. It should also be noted that, as in the case of
pollution level is excessive or has increased appreciably since the initial selection was made.
Current standards provided in IEC publications - such as IEC 1109 - include general tests to evaluate overall performance
of a polymeric insulator (in this case covering materials, manufacturing process and form) taking into account many of the
performance can be determined not from the basic characteristics of the insulating components, but - rather - from the overall
behaviour of the finished product.
Insulator performance
Fog, Clean-Fog) determines only the ability of the insulator to cope electrically with a controlled severity of wetted pollution.
In contrast, the natural pollution test fully replicates the service condition in that it shows both the extent to which an insulator
The results have been analysed in terms of both the critical axial stress (i.e. critical voltage divided by the axial distance
between metal fittings) and the critical surface stress (i.e. critical voltage divided by the leakage path length along the surface
a.c. d.c.
*
N(E) A N(J) A(C) A(K) A(K) A(F)
1.2 2.1 1.4 1.7 1.7 1.4 2.3
(Axial stress)
1.5 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.7 1.4 1.9
(Surface stress)
5** 27 5 17 25 4 6
Table Table Table Table Table Table Table
10-25 10-26 10-31 Table 10-33 10-30 10-29 10-29
3
* N(E) marine pollution in England equivalent to about 60 kg/m
N(S) is natural marine pollution in Sweden.
is artificial salt-fog of 80 kg/m (test at CERL) or ESDD of 0.6 mg/cm (at either FGH or NGK).
N(J)
2
A(T) is artificial pollution, Tonoko/NaCl of ESDD = 0.05 .
is artificial pollution, of cement slurry.
A(K) mg/ cm2
2
A(K) is artificial pollution, Kaolin/NaCl of ESDD = 0.05 .
2
) is artificial pollution, Kaolin/NaCl of ESDD = 0.05 .
is artificial salt-fog of 28 kg/m .
**
For the same test method and the same severe severity of pollution, Table 3-2 Table 3-3 show - for the ceramic insulators
1999-09-01
This variation is expressed as the ratio of the average electrical stress-value for the best insulator to that of the worst one
(Section 10.2 provides a comprehensive summary of the corresponding stress-data). In addition, these tables give the number
of insulator types in each category and the relevant table number in Section 10.2.
These findings clearly demonstrate that the pollution flashover performance of an insulator can not be related solely to either
axial stress or surface stress; i.e. if it were, this ratio would obviously be unity. It is seen that this ratio for axial stress is in
the range of 1.2 to 2.3 and 1.1 to >1.7 for ceramic and polymeric types respectively. For the same two sets of insulator-types
the corresponding ratio for surface stress is in the range 1.4 to 2.3 and 1.2 to >4.7 respectively. Such a large variation occurs
even for insulators of the same generic shape when subjected to both the same test method and pollution severity. For
example for cap and pin insulators under a.c. energisation in the Salt-Fog test, this ratio is 1.9 and 1.8 for axial stress and
surface stress respectively.
Table 3-3: Ratio of best to worst insulator performance, for polymeric insulators.
E S p (3-1)
The value of p provided by Lambeth 1, for various types of insulator and numerous types of pollution test, falls within the
range 0.08 to 0.6; to which he comments that insulators with plain open shedding tend to have the higher values of p. Further,
his analysis indicates that the Salt-Fog test gives higher values of p than does the Solid-Layer-type test.
From the mathematical viewpoint, the value of p can be considered as a weighted average of the one for the electrolyte surface
(e.g. p=0.33 for brine) and that for the air breakdown (p=0) between parts of the insulator surface.
The corresponding relationship in terms of specific length SL is:
SL S s (3-2)
where the value of s is obviously related to that of p for each type of insulator and test method.
From the data presented in Section 10.2 and elsewhere, SL can be considered in two ways:
1999-09-01 40
SAL, Specific Axial Length; defined as the axial distance between the metal fittings divided by the voltage across the
2.
insulator (i.e. the inverse of surface stress).
Some typical relationships of specific length versus pollution severity are shown in and Figure 3-2
insulator types and pollution test methods, the general trend is for s = 0.2 in equation 3-2.
Figure 3-1: Performance of standard types of a.c. cap and pin insulators in the Salt-Fog test and in the Clean-Fog test 107.
Figure 3-1 attempts to correlate the severity scale for the Salt-Fog test with that for the Clean-Fog test when applied to
standard designs of cap and pin insulators. However, this figure clearly shows that there is a substantial spread in the specific
creepage length at any value of pollution severity - thereby reinforcing the point made earlier that specific creepage is not the
only factor that needs to be used when dimensioning such insulators. The data from which this figure has been compiled are
provided in Section 10.3.
Figure 3-2: Dielectric strength of different a.c. insulators in the Salt-Fog test 197.
In contrast, the results for the porcelain longrod - presented in Figure 3-2 as solid dots - are reasonably well ordered and so
suggest that the sole use of specific creepage is probably valid for this design. The likely reason being that the shape of this
insulator is relatively simple and that the ratio of shed diameter to core diameter is not large. Nonetheless, the general trend
of specific creepage distance with withstand salinity is similar to that for the discs.
1999-09-01 41
Figure 3-2 also provides a comparison of some results for the cap and pin design of insulator with those for some post-type
insulators. Again these results show a considerable spread of values for these cylindrical types of insulator - thereby
supporting the analysis reported earlier.
A complicating feature of comparing the results of different test methods is that the ranking of insulator performance is not
always the same - as amply demonstrated in Figure 3-3 for some d.c. cap and pin insulators, when subjected to: (a) the Salt-
Fog test (b) the Clean-Fog test and (c) a dust-spray method. These results indicate the important effect that insulator profile
has on the electrical strength of such insulators.
120
Uw U50/L (kV/m) Uw
110
90
Electrical stress (kV/m)
80
70
60
50
40
(a) Salt-fog method, 28 kg/m3 (b) Solid-layer method, 0.07 mg/cm2 (c) Dust-spray method
Figure 3-3: d.c. Pollution performance of different ceramic insulators under different laboratory pollution test methods, Uw :
withstand voltage, U50: 50% flashover voltage, L: the axial spacing between insulator fittings, v-: glass insulator, p-
:porcelain insulator. (Data are from the paper of Pargamin et al 315; the bottom line of each insulator is positioned in respect
to the voltage values).
1999-09-01 42
Station post insulators having a deep under-rib profile - very similar to that of type II shown in Figure 3-4, but with different
dimensions - have been tested and compared 109 with one having the alternate long-and-short shed profile and another of the
plain-shed type. The results are provided in Table 3-4. The tests were performed under d.c. voltage with the Fog Withstand
method. The importance of keeping a large shed spacing while increasing the creepage distance can be seen when
comparison is made with the results for the various deep under-rib profiles.
Figure 3-4: d.c. Laboratory pollution test results with Solid-Layer method for station post insulators108.
Table 3-5 110 provides results that demonstrate that an insulator of an alternate long-and-short profile with a large shed spacing
can perform as good as an insulator with a deep under-rib profile. The final choice from among the various insulator-shed
profiles should be based on the site conditions, taking account of the different aerodynamic properties that influence the
pollution-catch and the natural cleaning ability of the insulator.
Table 3-4: d.c. Laboratory pollution test with Fog Withstand method - SDD: 0.03mg/cm2 - for station post insulators with a
core diameter of 125 mm 109.
1999-09-01 43
Table 3-5: d.c. Laboratory pollution test with Solid-Layer method - SDD, 0.02 mg/cm2 - of an insulator having an effective
height of 1.95 m and a core diameter of 0.22 m 110.
1999-09-01 44
100
90
70
60
0
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
kV
Figure 3-5: Long-string efficiency for a.c. energisation as a function of line to earth voltage.
Range of ESDD 0.01-0.04 mg/cm2. IEEE insulators (146 mm spacing, 254 mm diameter, and ratio leakage to spacing 2.1).
For antifog insulators, the results for long-string efficiency are shown in Figure 3-6 for string connection lengths up to 8 m. In
this case, the range of ESDD is 0.02-0.04 mg/cm2.
100
90
Long string efficiency , , (%)
80
70
60
0
300 400 500 600 700 800 900
kV
Figure 3-6: Long-string efficiency for a.c. energisation as a function of line to earth voltage.
Range of ESDD 0.02-0.04 mg/cm2. Antifog insulators (220 mm spacing, 420 mm diameter, and ratio leakage to spacing 3.3).
From a limited number of artificial pollution tests conducted under project UHV, it has been concluded that a proper
assessment of the non-linearity aspect can only be determined once all the factors in the wetting process of the insulators are
known 111.
A comparison of the test results for indoor- and outdoor-conditions indicates that the indoor values are probably more
comparable to worst-case conditions111.
In another study 125, carried out at the Brighton Insulator Test station (BITS) in UK, insulators for both EHV (up to 420 kV)
and UHV (up to 1560 kV) systems were tested side by side under natural coastal conditions. For overhead line insulators, it
has been concluded that the flashover stress (in kV/m) was unaffected by the voltage level up to at least 1200 kV system; the
test results are given in Figure 7-13 of Section 7.2.8. For the multiple-cone type post insulator tested, on the other hand, a
significant reduction (13 %) was found in the performance at the higher voltage level.
1999-09-01 45
Figure 3-7: Relationship between axial distance and a.c. contamination flashover voltage 114.
For a given type of standard insulator and of an antifog cap and pin design, the withstand voltage (obtained by the Clean-Fog
test method) has been found to be proportional to the creepage distance of the insulator - as is shown in Figure 3-7. Such a
linear relationship is also applicable to station post insulators 114.
Figure 3-8: d.c. Pollution test (Solid-Layer method). Cap and pin insulators. U50 vs. string length117.
1999-09-01 46
Test results for station post insulators also have the same trend. At a low pollution level, because of the non-linearity reported
by several laboratories, the total insulator length for a given type of insulator needs to be increased by 10-15 % for 600 kV
systems and 15-20 % for 800 kV systems with respect to the design made assuming linearity; see Figure 3-9 and Figure 3-10.
However, it should be noted that these discussions are based on laboratory results. When performing an artificial pollution
test the whole insulator string is, in most cases, polluted uniformly. In natural conditions, however, non-uniform pollution
distribution along the insulator string is often encountered. Furthermore, at a higher voltage level, more pollution may be
attracted to the insulator - as already mentioned in Section 2.3.7.5. All these factors add to the uncertainty for making linear
extrapolation of the required insulator lengths from a lower-voltage level to a higher-voltage level.
Figure 3-9: U50 as function of the length of the suspension string under d.c. (Negative polarity) pollution tests 118 116.
Figure 3-10: The U50 (d.c. negative polarity) as a function of the total height of the station post insulators110.
1999-09-01 47
3.3.1.4 Influence of average diameter
Some of the data indicate that at flashover, or withstand, the relationship between specific length, SL (mm/kV) and average
diameter D (mm) is of the form:
SL D q (3-4)
where q is a constant having a value that is particular for the set of conditions of the insulators generic shape, the material, the
energisation waveform and type of pollution. In Figure 3-11 test data are shown for a.c. energisation that reveal this
relationship. Similar test data exist for the case of d.c. energisation85.
85
Figure 3-11: Relationship between average diameter and required leakage distance in per unit of a.c. withstand voltage
(for shed shapes please refer to Table 10-22).
The best support for equation 3-4 occurs when the insulators are of the same profile and only the diameter is varied; Figure 3-
12 shows the results for d.c. housings that have been subjected to a Clean-Fog test with an ESDD of 0.12 mg/cm2
Figure 3-12: Specific Axial Length vs. insulator diameter for d.c. ceramic housings under Clean-Fog test199; Table 10-33
refers.
1999-09-01 48
When the insulator profiles vary, the spread in the results is greater - even to the extent that they fall within a band rather than
approximate to a straight line. Figure 3-13 and Figure 3-14 show results for a.c. disc insulators and a.c. cylindrical insulators
respectively that are subjected to a Salt-Fog test of 80 kg/m3.
Upper values
Lower values
Figure 3-13: Specific creepage length vs. insulator diameter for a.c. ceramic disc insulators under salt-fog pollution; Table
10-24 refers (number next to point is ranking in Table 10-24).
Figure 3-14: Specific creepage length vs. insulator diameter for a.c. ceramic cylindrical insulators under artificial pollution;
Table 10-24 refers.
The values of q in equation 3-4 for those test findings that provide a moderate to good support for this relationship are given
in Table 3-6. This table also gives the corresponding table number in Section 10 from which the information was obtained.
All the other findings using the tables given in Section 10.2 give either only weak support for this equation or, in the case of
some d.c. results, a negative slope. It is tempting to ascribe this negative-slope finding to the weakness of the d.c. supply; i.e.
1999-09-01 49
for the same pollution conditions, the leakage current increases as the average diameter increases --- thereby, possibly,
resulting in voltage-regulation problems. However, at least one such case is known in which the source was strong 118.
Therefore, this negative-slope characteristic warrants further investigation. It should be noted that the results presented in
Table 3-6 are for ceramic insulators. The findings for the limited number of tests performed on polymeric insulators have
only a weak agreement with this relationship.
In a similar exercise conducted by CESI for some a.c. insulators, it was shown that the average value of q was 0.35 - i.e. it lies
within the range (0.14 to 0.65) of the findings shown in Table 3-6.
As to the general fit of the results to equation 3-4 for positive values of q, the trend seems to be that the SCL parameter is a
better one to use for disc insulators than the SAL parameter. However, for cylindrical insulators there is no clear advantage of
one parameter over the other.
1999-09-01 50
this standard test, the relative performance of EPDM to porcelain was far greater than that occurring under natural pollution
121
.
A difference of ranking has also been observed with d.c. insulators when the Salt-Fog test and the Clean-Fog test were used81,
as amply shown in Table 10-38.
Further, the rankings from the viewpoint of axial stress and surface stress along d.c. insulators have been found to be
substantially different 319 320, as seen in Table 10-36 and Table 10-37.
Therefore, these differences of ranking and the need to obtain more valid data on the absolute flashover voltage values for
polymeric insulators when subjected to the various types of artificial pollution indicate an area of research were a substantial
amount of work still needs to be done.
200
Uw/L (kV/m) U50/L (kV/m) Uw/L (kV/m)
180
160
Electrical stress (kV/m)
140
120
100
80
(a) Salt-fog method, 28 kg/m3 2
(b) Solid-layer method, 0.07 mg/cm (c) Dust-spray method
Figure 3-15: d.c. Pollution performance of various polymeric insulators under different laboratory pollution test methods.
Uw is the withstand voltage; U50 is the 50% flashover voltage; L is the axial spacing between insulator fittings. (Data are
obtained from Pargamin et al 315; the bottom line of each insulator is positioned in respect to the voltage values).
1999-09-01 51
3.3.3 Effect of insulator orientation.
3.3.3.1 Introduction
Wetted pollution on the surface of any high-voltage insulation can produce a substantial reduction in its electric strength 1 54.
However, the effect of the orientation and the size of such insulation on its flashover performance is not generally subject to
simple rules. The insulator-type directly affects the performance of the polluted insulation in different orientations. In
addition, the pollution severity at a site, and the time taken for maximum contamination levels to build up, may determine the
effect of orientation. The nature of the subsequent wetting process and the flashover mechanism (e.g. surface flashover or
inter-shed breakdown) are also important factors affecting the influence of orientation and size.
Hence, the flashover strength of different insulator types and orientation is a balance between the various processes that
directly influence such performance. The following mechanisms may contribute, or be dominant, for each design and
orientation:
1. Improved natural cleaning as the orientation changes from being vertical to being horizontal.
2. Directional effects of pollution deposit for angled/horizontal orientation from a localised (direction-defined) pollution
source.
3. Inter-shed breakdown due to heavy rain and pollution.
4. Inter-shed breakdown due to pollution and poor profile.
5. Reduced flashover strength due to pollution concentration on the lower surface of horizontal, or near-horizontal,
insulation during heavy fog or rain.
In reality, there is no real substitute for testing insulators under the appropriate pollution and wetting conditions to determine
how actual insulator designs will perform in different orientations. Although there is a dearth of published data to quantify
these effects, this section - nevertheless - presents and discusses a few results of investigations into the influence of orientation
and size on the flashover strength of polluted insulation of various designs. Experimental results from artificial pollution tests
and from outdoor marine testing stations for various insulators and orientations are analysed to investigate if some simplified
conclusions can be drawn from the data.
3.3.3.2 Insulators
The influence of orientation and size are analysed and discussed for the following types of insulation:
1. Cap-and-pin insulators.
2. Polymeric insulators.
3. Substation post insulators with alternate long-and-short sheds (ALS) and multiple cone type profiles.
4. Tapered bushing porcelains with ALS profiles.
5. d.c. Wall bushings.
6. Interrupter head porcelains with open profiles.
Unfortunately, there seems to be no corresponding data for porcelain longrod insulators.
The results reported herein on the hollow porcelains have been obtained for insulators that were sealed with end-flanges and
pressurised with either dry nitrogen or SF6, to avoid having internal surface discharges. In general, hollow insulators have
been tested without their internal grading components because such items complicate the test assembly, but do not affect the
pollution flashover process - because it is not an electrostatic-field problem. Salt-Fog test results on a complete SF6 / Air
bushing confirm the validity of testing only the porcelains.
1999-09-01 52
The findings are summarised in Table 3-7. They are given both as a figure of merit (FOM) - i.e. a measure of relative axial
stress - and as a leakage path ratio - i.e. a measure of relative surface stress; the definition of these terms is provided beneath
this table. Note: the corresponding value of FOM=1 was obtained for type I insulators when vertically mounted.
Table 3-7: Cap and pin ceramic insulators, angled or near-horizontally mounted - a.c. flashover performance under marine
pollution at BITS *.
Table 3-8: Polymeric insulators: (a) near-horizontally mounted *, (b) vertically mounted - a.c. flashover performance under
marine pollution at BITS **.
Notes:
* Near-horizontal is about 75o to the vertical.
** Data determined from references 126 and 127.
*** Descriptions used in References 126 and 127.
**** FOM is the Figure of Merit and is the axial length of the Test insulator divided by that
of a vertical string of reference insulators (i.e. CERL Reference A in Table 10-1) for the
same pollution flashover performance.
1999-09-01 53
***** LPR is leakage path ratio, determined as the leakage path of Test insulator divided by that of
the Reference insulator, for the same pollution flashover performance.
Table 3-9: Specific Creepage length *, (SCL), at a.c. flashover for two types of post insulator when mounted (a) vertical, V,
and (b) horizontal, H.
The multiple cone post had the smallest orientation effect of the post-type insulators tested, but the gradient of the flashover
voltage versus salinity relationship was greater for the horizontal case (cf. s=0.17 to s=0.1). WPS values of 160 kg/m3 were
recorded in both the vertical and the horizontal orientations.
From the above limited data, there is some evidence to indicate that ALS profiles may not represent the most efficient
insulator-shape for horizontal posts.
Table 3-10: Salt-fog withstand salinity and heavy wetting pre-applied salinity, for an insulator having a 65/45 70 profile and
a total creepage of 7600 mm, when the a.c. test voltage was 173 kV rms and the orientation was varied.
1999-09-01 54
Figure 3-16: A.c. flashover voltage as a function of salinity of salt-fog for the insulator having a 65/45 70 profile and a total
creepage of 7600 mm for both vertical and horizontal cases 128.
Again it is seen that the flashover performance, in salt-fog, of a large diameter insulator is much inferior when in the
horizontal position as compared with that for the vertical one. The Quick Flashover tests for vertical mounting show a very
flat slope in the SAL versus fog salinity relationship (s=0.06) - thereby indicating significant air-breakdown. In contrast, the
corresponding data for the horizontal case demonstrate a significant increase in gradient (s=0.19) - with increased surface
discharge activity along the bottom insulator surface.
These heavy wetting test results confirm that this process does not significantly affect horizontal bushings but can reduce the
inter-shed breakdown capability of some bushings that have angles close to the vertical. The heavy wetting withstand of
160 kg/m3 when the insulator is vertical suggests that the large component of air breakdowns, indicated by the Quick
Flashover tests, were not from shed to shed.
1999-09-01 55
Figure 3-17: A..c. axial stress to cause flashover against fog salinity for various interrupter porcelains 129. V1 was vertically
mounted; H1, H2, H3, and H4 were horizontally mounted. Insulator details are provided in Table 10-23.
1999-09-01 56
For the insulator-string configuration, different pollution deposit densities will also be experienced on the discs making up the
string 131 318 38. Under d.c. energisation, those insulators situated towards the ends of the string will generally collect more
pollution than the ones in the middle131. This non-uniform pollution distribution also seems to affect the d.c. flashover
voltage, as is shown in Figure 3-19. This figure provides the d.c. fog-withstand voltage of a non-uniformly polluted string -
having the heavier polluted - i.e. 0.08 mg/cm2 - insulators situated towards the ends - as a function of the percentage of such
heavily polluted insulators in the string. It can be seen that for strings containing up to 30% of heavily polluted insulators, the
d.c. withstand voltage remains about the same as that of the insulator string uniformly polluted to the ESDD of its middle part
- i.e. 0.03 mg/cm2.
Figure 3-19: Withstand voltage characteristics of d.c. insulators polluted non-uniformly along a string 131. The insulator
details are provided in the reference.
In the case of gas-insulated bushings of the UHV a.c. class, it was observed at the NGK Laboratory that less pollution
collected on the earth -side of the bushings than did that on the live-side. This lighter polluted area covered 20-40% of the
overall bushing length. Tests indicated that the withstand voltage was reduced by about 6% for these non-uniformly polluted
bushings as compared with that for the uniformly polluted ones 132.
A study of the effect of non-uniform pollution on longrod insulators 65 has shown that the a.c. electrical strength of the longrod
may be adversely affected by the presence of insulator sections that are polluted to a lesser degree than the rest. For an
insulator with 30% of its length covered by a lighter degree of pollution, a 25% reduction in electrical strength was observed
as compared with that for the uniformly polluted insulator. Similar results may, possibly, be expected for d.c. energised
bushings.
3.3.5.1 Introduction
Discharge activity at the surface of a high-voltage insulator is caused by the local electric field having a value higher than the
ionisation level of the ambient air. This high electric field is the result of the applied voltage and the environmental
conditions such as rain, pollution and ice. Recent work indicates that surface discharges - such as sparks and corona - caused
by local field enhancement around water drops on the surface of polymeric insulators may lead to severe material degradation.
If the surface electric field under the different conditions can be calculated - or measured - it will provide knowledge for
applications to discharge models and help to improve the insulator design through proper E-field grading designs. Although
the ultimate goal of such research has not yet been achieved, the progress in field calculation techniques and the introduction
of new measuring methods have provided a greater possibility.
1999-09-01 57
3.3.5.2 Electric field measurement
Many measuring instruments have been developed for determining either the voltage distribution or the electric field.
Most of the voltage-measurement methods and instruments have a direct electrical connection between the instrument and the
insulator. Therefore, care should be taken not to draw too great a conductive current from the insulator so as to ensure that
the true voltage distribution is not disturbed. A review has been made133 of several instruments used for measuring the d.c.
voltage distribution.
The electric field can be measured with a probe that has no galvanic contact with any grounded object. The measuring signal
is transmitted by an optical link. To minimise the distortion of the field due to the presence of the instrument, a spherical
probe is preferred. The diameter of this probe should be as small as possible. To measure a d.c. electric field, other
techniques are needed to prevent charging of the probe. The various principles of d.c. field probes have been reviewed 134.
The field probe should be located no closer than a few probe-diameters from the insulator surface to avoid distorting the field
distribution.
Three instruments, one for potential measurement and two for electric field measurement, have been reviewed for the a.c. case
135
. Using such instruments, measurements were performed under a.c. voltage along a dry insulator model with no discharges
present. The measured values were in good agreement with the calculated ones.
Field probes for both a.c. and d.c. electric field measurement have been developed, including a computer-controlled
positioning system 134 136. These measurements have provided the total, axial and radial fields. Such probes have been used
in various environmental conditions to study hydrophobic and hydrophilic post insulators and wall bushings 134 136 137 138 139
140
. With the probe at a fixed position, the change of the electric field over time under different test conditions can be
monitored. By scanning the probe along a track close to the insulator, the average field distribution along the insulator under
different conditions can also be measured.
Field measuring techniques can be used for both laboratory investigations and site-diagnostics of insulators. An example can
be found in the literature 141.
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3.3.6 Cold switch-on and thermal lag
When polluted insulators become well wetted their flashover strength is at a minimum. Such wetting can occur when an
insulator has been de-energised for some time - e.g. during maintenance / repair period or when a line is switched-out for
voltage-control purposes - and when its temperature is more than a few degrees lower than that of the surrounding air -
thereby resulting in enhanced condensation 71. For energised conditions and thermal equilibrium, the leakage current causes
sufficient evaporation - by Joule heating - to ensure that this high degree of wetting does not happen unless mist, fog or rain is
present.
Although service experience shows that flashover can take place when insulators are suddenly energised following an outage
or during early morning when the air temperature rises quickly (e.g. in deserts), there is not enough information available to
accurately quantify this problem. Nonetheless, guidance can be provided from the results obtained for semiconducting glazed
insulators. In some cold switch-on tests 142, the flashover voltage of a polluted insulator when soaking wet (0.15 M per
suspension insulator) was 40% lower than that of the same insulator when only damp (1000 M per suspension insulator) and
fourfold lower than the value for the same insulator when dry (15 000 M per suspension insulator); see Figure 3-20. Such
results are supported by those from other tests made under normal energisation in clean-fog 210. From this research it can be
seen - Figure 3-42 - that the flashover strength of a semiconducting glazed insulator is 2 to 3 times greater than that of a
standard glazed insulator when similarly polluted.
Figure 3-20: A.c. flashover voltage versus number of semi-conducting glazed disc insulators in a suspension string, for
various wetting conditions142.
Using these findings for semiconducting glazed insulators, it is reasonable to conclude that the flashover strength of standard
glazed insulators when polluted and highly wetted - as can happen for cold switch-on or due to thermal lag - is at least 40%
less than that of the same polluted insulator under normal service conditions when its temperature is similar to -or greater than
that - of the surrounding air.
Also during cold switch-on, there may be transient over-stressing - as is discussed in Section 3.3.7.
3.3.7.1 Introduction
External insulation may be subjected, in service, to various transient stresses - of both internal and external origin when
considered from the viewpoint of the power system. These can be represented in the laboratory by lightning impulses, LI,
switching impulses, SI, and by short duration a.c. application and transient overvoltages (TO). Depending on the line
condition, the transient overvoltages may be superimposed on the permanent a.c. or d.c. voltage. This condition can be
represented in the laboratory by having composite voltages (e.g. LI, SI, TO, superimposed on a.c. or d.c. stresses).
1999-09-01 59
These transients may occur in various environmental conditions and may affect insulators characterised by various degrees of
contamination. In particular, a critical condition may arise when there is the simultaneous presence of pollution and wetting
on the insulator surface. The simulation of the above condition may require various pollution test procedures, according to
the peculiarity of the environment considered.
Many tests have been performed to investigate the pollution influence on the withstand characteristics of insulator
configurations under transient overvoltages 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157.
The available experimental information indicates that the presence of a wetted pollution layer may appreciably reduce the
strength, not only at operating voltage but also under transient voltages.
In the following discussion, the performance of external insulation under transient overvoltage will be reviewed with the aim
of obtaining indications about this reduction in strength.
3.3.7.2 General trends on the performance of contaminated insulators under transient voltages
A summary of published data relevant to the performance of contaminated insulators (suspension- and post-type) under
transient overvoltages is presented in the following sections.
Figure 3-21: LI flashover voltage of strings of cap and pin standard and antifog insulators as a function of insulator length.
Solid-Layer method, wet contaminant. Comparison with data for the dry condition 147.
3.3.7.2.1 LI performance
(a) LI alone
The available data generally refer to the standard LI wave shape (1.2/50 s).
In Figure 3-21, the 50% flashover voltage of cap and pin insulator strings is given as a function of the string length. The
results were obtained by using the Solid-Layer method (wet contaminant) with a salt deposit density, SDD, ranging from 0.06
to 0.25 mg/cm2. For comparison purposes, the strength under the dry condition with positive LI is also provided. These
results indicate a substantial strength reduction due to the presence of pollution when compared to that for the dry condition.
This reduction tends to increase as the insulator length increases, thereby leading to non-linear characteristics. Therefore, it is
difficult to keep the LI withstand voltage of insulator strings higher than 3000 kV, particularly for standard units. The
strength of standard-type insulators is reduced for both polarities, resulting in values that are nearly equal. For antifog
insulators, the decrease is larger for negative polarity; which, therefore, represents the critical case.
1999-09-01 60
The influence of the pollution severity SDD on the reduction in strength is shown in Figure 3-22, which provides the specific
flashover voltage as a function of SDD of the contaminated layer. The performance of standard and of antifog cap and pin
insulators and of a smooth cylinder insulator have been considered. The data indicate that the reduction is practically constant
for SDD greater than 0.1 mg/cm2 for both positive and negative polarities. Further, the results show once again the
importance of the insulator profile. A strength as low as 200 kV/m was found for an insulator shape without sheds (i.e.
smooth glass cylinder).
Figure 3-22: LI flashover stress of cap and pin insulator strings and of a post insulator model as a function of pollution
severity. Solid-Layer method (wet contaminant) 146.
3.3.7.2.2 SI performance
(a) SI alone
As for air gaps, an influence of the impulse wave shape is to be expected for contaminated insulators. Unfortunately, few data
are available for this case 148 149 - and they refer to rather short insulator lengths (1 to 2 m), thus not allowing accurate
indications to be obtained. However, as a general guide, the strength tends to be lower as the impulse-duration increases.
Most of the investigations were carried out with impulse wave shapes close to the standard one (250/2500 s) and of positive
polarity, which is also the critical one under contaminated conditions. Consequently, in the following account, the main
attention will be paid to standard impulse wave shapes of positive polarity.
The presence of wetted pollution can cause a large reduction in the flashover voltage with respect to that for the dry condition,
as provided by the set of data given in Figure 3-23. This shows the strength of cap and pin insulator strings as a function of the
string length (data derived from Okada et al145, and Hiroshe et al149, obtained with the Solid-Layer method and a SDD within
the range from 0.05 to 0.23 mg/cm2). Again it is seen that the insulator profile plays a major role; the reduction with standard
type insulators is much larger than that with the antifog one.
1999-09-01 61
Figure 3-23: SI flashover voltage of cap and pin insulators as a function of string length (d). Solid-Layer method, wet
contaminant 145 149.
The strength reduction depends largely on the pollution severity, as evident from Figure 3-24 (data derived from Carrara and
Sforzini143 and Hiroshe et al149, obtained with Salt-Fog and Solid-Layer methods, respectively).
Figure 3-24: SI flashover voltage of cap and pin insulators strings, presented in per unit of the flashover voltage in the dry
condition, as a function of pollution severity. Solid-Layer and Salt-Fog methods 143 149.
The data in Figure 3-24 show that the strength tends to decrease when the pollution severity is increased, even for a high
pollution severity.
(b) SI preceded by a.c. energisation
Results obtained with standard and antifog cap and pin insulators, standard and antifog longrod insulators and post-type
insulators are summarised in Figure 3-25. The pollution tests have been performed using the Salt-Fog method with a test
severity ranging from 2.5 to 25 g/1. This figure shows the 50% flashover voltage (U50), normalised to the 50% flashover
voltage for a dry insulator with positive polarity (U50 dry+ ) as a function of severity for both positive and negative polarity.
For comparison purposes, corresponding data obtained with SI alone are also given.
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Figure 3-25: Pollution tests (Salt-Fog method) with SI preceded by a.c. energisation on cap and pin and longrod insulators.
Comparison with data relevant to SI alone 143 144.
It is evident that the a.c. pre-stress produces a reduction in the SI strength, which is more pronounced with negative polarity.
(c) SI superimposed on a.c. voltage
Results, relevant to standard and antifog cap and pin insulators and standard longrod insulators, are summarised in Figure 3-
26. The data, obtained with the Salt-Fog method, indicate a strength reduction similar to that found for the case of SI
preceded by a.c. energisation.
Figure 3-26: Pollution tests (Salt-Fog method) with SI superimposed on a.c. energisation for cap and pin and longrod
insulators. Comparison with data relevant to SI alone 143 153.
1999-09-01 63
Figure 3-27: Pollution tests (Solid-Layer method) on insulator columns with SI superimposed on d.c. energisation153.
Again, the data indicate that the pre-stress may have an appreciable adverse influence on the strength. It is evident that this
strength reduction is strongly influenced by increasing the amplitude of the pre-stress voltage.
(e) Influence of dry bands on the SI strength
As suggested by Cortina et al 153, the additional strength reduction found with composite voltages may be attributed to the dry
bands formed by the applied pre-stress. Tests made without pre-stress but with a non-uniform distribution of pollution (dry
bands simulation) gave results similar to those obtained with pre-stress applied to uniformly contaminated insulators, as
shown in the example of Figure 3-28.
1999-09-01 64
Figure 3-28: Tests on an insulator column 152. Comparison of the results:
- in dry condition under positive SI
- contaminated uniformly and applying a positive SI preceded by a.c. stressing
- contaminated non uniformly and applying a positive SI alone (Solid-Layer method, wet contaminant, SDD = 0.04
mg/cm2).
Figure 3-29: Pollution tests on longitudinal circuit breaker insulation with TO. Flashover voltage vs. overvoltage-
application duration157.
Pre-stressing also affects the strength with TO154 157. Examples of results obtained with such a pre-stress are shown in Figure
3-30 154. With pre-stressing, the strength becomes very close to that for a permanent voltage when the voltage application-
duration is of a few seconds.
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Figure 3-30: Pollution test on suspension type insulators with TO preceded by a.c. energisation. Flashover voltage vs.
overvoltage application-duration 154.
Related information when no pre-stressing is present is shown in Figure 3-31 158 for two types of insulator that were both
subjected to a salt-fog of 2.5 kg/m3 salinity for 5 minutes and then suddenly energised.
A useful comparison is the ratio of the impulse flashover voltage to that for normal stressing. Such information for the a.c.
reference case, i.e. disc insulators and no pre-stressing, is illustrated in Figure 3-32 159 as a function of the duration of the
impulse waveform (stated as the time for which the voltage is greater than 50% of the peak value). Also included in this
diagram are a few results that apply to the corresponding temporary a.c. overvoltage condition (in this case, the duration is the
time for which the 50Hz voltage is applied before flashover occurs).
Figure 3-31: Short duration a.c. flashover tests in salt-fog (Insulators suddenly energised after 5 minutes of fog)158.
1999-09-01 66
6
Notes:
Switching surge
2
a.c. overvoltage
1
1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 1000000
Duration of energisation (s)
Figure 3-32: Comparison of the short duration stressing strength for positive polarity impulses with the normal a.c. stressing
strength for a 9-unit string of disc insulators without pre-established dry bands on a very heavily polluted surface.
Note: Peak of normal a.c. F/O voltage = 100 kV159.
Figure 3-33: Tests on an insulator column: Ratio between the positive SI strength and the a.c. strength as a function of the
insulator length. Solid-Layer method, wet contaminant, SDD = 0.04 mg/cm2 152.
1999-09-01 67
In contrast, the SI strength is closer to that under a.c. energisation. For example, Figure 3-33 shows the ratio between SI and
a.c. strength as a function of the insulator length (data from Garbagnati et al 152, obtained with Solid-Layer method).
This latter figure indicates that, at least for the configuration considered, the ratio decreases with insulator length - reaching
values as low as 1.3 - 1.5 p.u. for very long insulators. When compared to the strength with possible switching overvoltage
stresses (usually higher than 1.5 p.u.), the importance of the SI condition for design purpose appears evident.
The strength under TO can be very close to that under a.c. energisation (see Figure 3-29, Figure 3-30 and Figure 3-32).
1999-09-01 68
2. a.c. Conditions
E = E0 (1 0.05h ) (3-7)
Table 3-11: A.c. Withstand stress Ews of several insulator types when covered with ice grown in wet and dry regimes 96.
1999-09-01 69
Figure 3-34: Maximum a.c. withstand stress as a function of the amount of ice 179.
The influence of freezing water conductivity on the flashover of ice-covered insulators has been studied and reported by
several authors 94 177 179 181 182. In general, the higher the conductivity, the lower is the flashover voltage. Figure 3-35 shows
an example of the decrease in the maximum withstand stress Ews as a function of freezing-water conductivity - as measured at
20oC. These results were obtained using a string of 6 IEEE insulator units, tested at an air temperature of -12oC and an ice
thickness of 2.0 cm on the rotating monitoring cylinder 179. The decrease in maximum withstand stress in this paper was
expressed by using the following equation:
Ews = 165.3 -0.18 (3-10)
for 150 S/cm
being the conductivity of the freezing water in S/cm and Ews, the maximum withstand stress in kV/m.
Figure 3-35: Variation of the maximum a.c. withstand stress of the insulators as a function of the freezing-water conductivity
179
.
However, in some cases, the conductivity can lead to a reverse effect - i.e. an increase in the conductivity leading to higher
flashover values. This phenomenon is associated with the falling away of the ice caused by melting due to surface arcs. The
effect of freezing rain conductivity on the flashover voltage may also depend on the insulator-type as well as on the
experimental conditions. In some studies 183 358 359 177 182, the flashover voltage reduced even for much higher conductivity
values.
b) d.c. Voltage
Unfortunately the research work to date193 184 185 186 has provided little information on the effect of ice on the flashover voltage
of insulators energised under d.c. voltage. It has been reported that this flashover voltage is, in general, lower under negative
d.c. energisation than it is under positive d.c. energisation. In a series of tests carried out on a short string of IEEE standard
insulators that were covered with glaze 187, it was found that the maximum withstand stress was about 17% lower under
negative d.c. than positive d.c. stressing of the insulator.
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c) Switching impulse voltage
The value of the Switching impulse flashover voltage depends upon the condition of the ice. The glaze, during the ice-growth
stage, has an extremely low flashover voltage. Figure 3-36 shows that the flashover voltage of a post insulator can decrease by
as much as 50% of that for dry and clean conditions 188.
Notes:
Hollow marks show results for wet conditions
Marks , and ---- show flashover of stacks covered with
ice for positive switching surge.
Five flashover data
Five withstand data
Figure 3-36: Positive and negative flashover voltage characteristics of solid core cylindrical post insulator for switching
impulse voltage with a front time of 120 to 140 s 188.
150
100
uS/cm
20
30
50
100
50
Figure 3-37: Relation between a.c. withstand voltage and snow-density 189.
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b) Temporary Overvoltage
The time to flashover becomes shorter as the temporary a.c. overvoltage becomes higher - as is shown in Figure 3-38. If the
temporary overvoltage continues for 0.1 second, the withstand voltage per metre of insulator assembly covered with snow is
about 95 kV/m. That is, about 20% higher than the a.c. withstand voltage at the volume density of the snow of 0.3 to 0.4
g/cm3 314 190.
Figure 3-38: Temporary a.c. overvoltage and time to flashover 314 190.
Figure 3-39: Relationship between snow-density and d.c. withstand voltage of insulators artificially covered with snow 192.
Figure 3-39 shows the relationship between snow-density and d.c. maximum withstand voltage of insulators with an artificial
snow covering 192.
1999-09-01 72
d) Switching impulse voltage
Figure 3-40 shows the relationship between the ratio of snow-covered length and the 50% switching impulse flashover stress.
The 50% flashover voltage has a so-called U-shape characteristic, where the minimum value occurs at a snow-covered length
of 60 to 80 % (see Figure 3-40). Arcing horns have no discernible influence on the 50% flashover voltage per unit insulator
length 193. There is also no significant difference in the 50% flashover voltage for the positive and negative polarities of the
applied voltage
300
200
40 60 80 100
Percentage length of insulator covered with snow
Figure 3-40: Relation between switching impulse 50 % flashover voltage and the percentage of snow-covered length of
insulator193.
Linearity has been found between the switching-impulse flashover voltage and the length of an insulator covered with snow
(up to 6m of string-length).
e) Lightning impulse voltage.
The positive-polarity lightning-impulse flashover voltage of an insulator assembly - with a 2 m horn gap-length - that is
covered with snow with a volume density of 0.3 g/cm3, is about 35% lower than that of the assembly without snow. The
negative-polarity flashover voltage is at its lowest when the whole insulator assembly is covered with snow 194.
3.4.1.1 Introduction
Hollow insulators, or shells, can behave differently under pollution conditions compared with other types of insulators. Such
a different behaviour is largely attributed to the following reasons:
Different axial-voltage distribution.
Higher surface temperature, due to heat dissipation from internal components.
Different shape or shed profile.
Diameter.
Although part of this statement seems - upon cursory consideration - to be at variance with that made in Section 3.3.3.2, it is
not so when examined in more detail from the viewpoint of the internal components. The essential difference is the
magnitude of the capacitance and the heat produced by the components.
1999-09-01 73
3.4.1.2 Shed profile
The selection process for the most suitable shed profiles for bushing shells can largely be similar to that for the profiles of cap
and pin insulators operating in the same environment.
Where the required leakage distance, in application to the conventional shed profiles, would result in an excessive insulator-
length, more complex profiles can be adopted83. It should be stated, however, that deep - closely spaced - ribs on bushing
shells have been proven unsuitable in some environments 195 and on some installations 196. Such designs, under certain
wetting conditions, may cause a highly concentrated electrolyte in the recesses between the sheds, which then flows off onto
the top surface of the shed below. These designs can also lead to severe inter-shed arcing as a result of uneven wetting of the
leakage path between adjacent sheds.
1999-09-01 74
The investigation of these flashovers revealed a strongly non-uniform axial electric field with a high concentration of voltage
towards the bottom part of the porcelain shell - due to a non-uniform pollution deposit. The bushing had a complex shed
profile with a double-rib geometry and a deep inter-shed cavity. Also there was a small inter-shed clearance. It was
concluded that the light pollution level did contribute to the flashovers due to its non-uniform distribution on the bushing.
The discussion on the effect of a non-uniform pollution deposit can be found in Section 3.3.4.
200
Up -U p
UL 1 2
UP U L=2U p
U50
100
Up 1 2
Figure 3-41: 50 % flashover voltage as a function of the a.c. overvoltage duration (single cycle)290.
Using a solid pollution layer of kaolin plus NaCl and steam fog, the 50% flashover voltage of the interrupter heads inclined at
45o to the vertical is shown in Figure 3-41 as a function of time for which the stressing is applied. Two conditions have been
investigated. In the first case, one terminal was energised and the other terminal was earthed; in the second case, the terminals
were energised with opposite polarity voltages. These results show the important finding that the flashover voltage is not
1999-09-01 75
much greater than the permanent a.c. values for an energised duration greater than one second. An intriguing fact is that the
two-terminal voltage application values were 15% higher than those for the corresponding one-terminal case.
The results on the pollution performance of circuit breakers have quite a spread in values. This can be caused by the different
profile and diameter of the hollow insulator, the arrangement of the interrupter units, the influence of the active parts and the
presence of various insulators in parallel (e.g. those of grading capacitors). It is, therefore, clear that extrapolation and
generalisation of the results are rather difficult to make.
As an example, comparative tests 157 aimed at analysing the influence of the active parts have shown that, for a specific
breaker, the required creepage distance for the longitudinal insulation of the breaker was about 10% higher than that for the
corresponding hollow insulators without active parts. It is reasoned that larger differences can be expected for certain
constructions that have a highly variable electric field.
As general remarks:
The influence of various breaker components on the surface withstand is not easy to identify. Tests to obtain information
about the breaker performance in service should be made - as far as possible - on a complete breaker. That is, one
equipped with active parts and accessories (capacitors, resistors, etc.) and assembled as per in service.
Additional investigations are needed to obtain a better understanding of the influence of the various breaker parameters
on the surface withstand voltage. This is very important, because the spread of the results indicates that there is scope to
achieve improvements in the pollution flashover performance - by properly modifying the breaker design (e.g. varying the
insulator profile, increasing the distance between hollow insulator and active parts, etc).
1999-09-01 76
Figure 3-42: Contamination a.c. withstand voltage of semiconducting glazed insulators211.
The minimum string length of semiconducting glaze insulators is determined by its ability to withstand sudden energisation
when polluted and wet - that is, the condition known as cold switch-on. This situation occurs on lines that have been
unenergised for a period of time long enough to render the heating - which results form the semiconducting glaze while the
units are energised - ineffective in preventing the accumulation of moisture on the insulator surface.
Tests have been carried out to make a direct comparison between the cold switch-on strength of conventional insulators and
that of semiconducting glaze insulators of a similar shape. The results showing 50% flashover strength as a function of string
length are shown in Figure 3-43.
Figure 3-43: Cold switch-on a.c. flashover voltage as a function of string length 111.
Due to the voltage grading achieved by the semiconducting glaze, the radio interference performance of these insulators is
superior to that of ceramic and polymeric insulators 211.
The issue of constant heat-energy dissipation - and thereby its economic penalty - should be considered in any widespread
application of semiconducting glaze insulators.
3.5 Conclusions
The pollution flashover performance of porcelain and glass insulators is generally good, but problems have occurred in
service in a few places.
The pollution flashover strength of some polymeric materials - especially silicone rubber - is superior to that of glass and
1999-09-01 77
porcelain. In contrast, epoxy resin rapidly degrades from its new - hydrophobic - condition such that its flashover
strength can be somewhat inferior to that of the ceramic materials.
Service experience has demonstrated that the performance of polymeric insulators is adequate if the insulators have been
properly dimensioned. Such insulators have, therefore, seen increasing application in recent times.
The classic materials used for outdoor insulators, i.e. glass and glazed porcelain, are well described in the literature.
Polymeric materials are, however, much more diverse and manufacturers choose a particular formulation adapted to the
process and the characteristics required of the finished product.
Many factors other than axial length or creepage path length are known to influence insulator performance. Differences
in the behaviour of insulators in various orientations may be due to the accumulation of pollution, the effect of natural
washing and the physical characteristics of surface discharges.
The ratio of best to worst insulator performance - as assessed by different research groups and for different types of
pollution in terms of average surface stress, at withstand or flashover, for the same pollution conditions and vertical
mounting - has been found to vary. For the surface stress, this ratio is as follows:
1. Ceramic insulators, between 1.5 to 2 and 1.4 to 2.3 for a.c. and d.c. energisation respectively,
2. Polymeric insulators, between 1.4 to > 4.7 and 1.2 to 1.8 for a.c. and d.c. energisation respectively.
The corresponding ratios are somewhat lower for average axial stress. The ranking of more than 120 types of ceramic
insulators and nearly 30 types of polymeric ones provides additional information that could be usefully employed for
assessing the likely pollution flashover performance of an insulator of a given material, profile and size.
For all insulators, the specific length needs to be increased as the pollution severity increases. Although there can be a
large spread in the experimental results, there are some clear trends (e.g. for the porcelain longrod) that support the use
of a power-law relationship between specific length (SL) - i.e. specific axial length and specific creepage length - and
pollution severity (S); i.e. SL = KS s where K and s are constants. Typically for a.c. energisation, s = 0.2 for the longrod
porcelain insulator and - generally - about the same magnitude for some other shapes of cylindrical-type porcelain
insulators and for standard disc-type insulators. A further complicating feature is that the ranking of insulators can
change from test method to test method, as evidenced by some d.c. tests using (a) the Salt-Fog test, (b) the Clean-Fog
test and (c) a Dust-spray method.
Using a comprehensive set of data for standard disc insulators, it is possible to find a correlation - for a.c. energisation -
between the pollution-scale of the Salt-Fog test with that of the Clean-Fog test.
From a detailed study of insulator profile for d.c. applications, it has been clearly shown that a significant improvement
in performance cannot be achieved by increasing only the creepage distance in a given axial length.
For a.c. energisation, the pollution flashover performance of disc insulators is essentially linear with string length for a
voltage up to 300 kV in a Clean-Fog test and up to 700 kV when subjected to natural pollution. Further, it is only
moderately non-linear for higher voltages; being about 10% greater than that for the linear extrapolation for a voltage of
800 kV in a Clean-Fog test. Post insulators seem to be more non-linear than is the corresponding case for disc
insulators. Although the situation for d.c. insulators is less clear than that of the a.c. ones, there are some indications that
- at voltages around 800 kV - the non-linearity effect is more pronounced than the corresponding case for a.c.
energisation.
Generally for vertically mounted insulators, there is some experimental support for expressing specific length (SL) -
related to either axial stress or surface stress - as a power-law dependence on average diameter (D) for given pollution
and voltage conditions; i.e. SL = Dq where and q are constants. The best support for this relationship occurs with
porcelain housings in which the profile remains essentially constant and only the diameter is varied. Typical values are
q= 0.4 and q=0.5 for the a.c. and d.c. cases respectively. For more varied changes in profile, the spread in the data
increases; none-the-less, the data for a.c. disc insulators provide moderately good support for such a power-law with
q=0.7. An intriguing and puzzling finding is that q can be negative for porcelain d.c. insulators in which there is a
substantial variation in profile over the range of D studied. For polymeric housing insulators, there is some evidence to
show that the flashover strength decreases as the diameter increases, but the variation is much less than that for the
porcelain case.
The improved performance of cap-and-pin insulators when inclined compared to that for the vertical orientation has been
confirmed in both natural and artificial pollution tests.
The artificial pollution performance of horizontal post-type insulators is much inferior to that of the same insulators
when vertically mounted.
There is some evidence to show that the alternate long-and-short shed (ALS) profiles may not represent the most
efficient insulator shape for horizontal post and bushing-type designs.
Correction factors for orientation have been identified for some insulator types.
1999-09-01 78
More natural pollution test data are required for inclined post-type insulators to establish relative flashover performance
compared to that of the same insulators when vertically installed.
The pollution flashover performance of large diameter insulators - e.g. an interrupter head - when horizontally mounted,
is substantially inferior to the corresponding vertical one. A similar finding is known for tapered bushing porcelains
when subjected to artificial salt-fog.
A non-uniform spread of pollution on insulators may have a significant effect on its flashover performance. A higher top
to bottom ratio of pollution spread on vertically mounted strings of disc insulators leads to a lower flashover strength.
The electrical strength of bushings and longrod insulators may also be adversely affected if some sections of the
insulator are less polluted than the rest.
Some types of discharge activity (e.g. corona from raindrops) at or near the surface of polymeric insulators may cause
severe degradation of the material thereby reducing the flashover performance. Such discharges can be prevented, or
minimised, by having the correct design of stress ring.
A large number of electric field calculation programmes are available, based on different calculation methods. For
insulators without any discharge activity, good agreement can be achieved between measurements and predictions based
on the different calculation methods. However, when discharges are present the situation is much more complicated and
so - unfortunately - an accurate calculation of the electric-field around the insulator is not possible at this stage.
The flashover strength of insulators that are suddenly energised (i.e. cold switch-on) can be at least 40% less than that of
the same insulators when continuously energised in the same pollution environment.
Contamination can significantly reduce the flashover strength of insulators under transient overvoltages (i.e. Lightning
impulse, Switching surge, system voltage disturbances) when compared with the corresponding situation for dry (clean)
conditions.
The flashover strength of polluted insulators reduces as the altitude of the location increases. The extent of this
reduction depends upon the wave shape of the voltage, but for practical situations (i.e. altitude up to about 3000m) this
decrease will be less than 20% of the appropriate sea-level value.
The flashover voltage of an ice- or snow-covered insulator depends on the type of precipitation, the conductivity of the
water when melting occurs, the extent of bridging of the air gaps (e.g. by icicles), the accretion thickness (e.g. snow up to
30 mm) and the density of snow and ice. When icicles span most of the insulator, the probability of flashover at
operating voltage during the melting stage is relatively high. There is linearity between the flashover voltage and the
insulator length for axial lengths of up to 1.0 m. For longer insulators, this relationship can be highly non-linear. The
switching surge strength of insulators can decrease by 50% when the insulator becomes covered with ice. Linearity
between the SI voltage and the insulator length is maintained for strings up to 6 m long when covered with snow.
A minimum in a U-shaped SI voltage: snow-covering relationship occurs when 60% to 80% of the insulators length is
covered with snow.
Hollow insulators or shells may have a lower flashover performance than that of comparable solid insulators due to the
influence of both the electric field and heat from internal components. It is thought essential to design the structure to
achieve a uniform axial-voltage distribution on the surface of the shell.
HVDC wall bushings having untreated porcelain shells have suffered a number of flashovers, which is usually due to
non-uniform wetting along the surface. An effective countermeasure is to use a silicone grease or coating to achieve a
hydrophobic surface. A bushing with silicone rubber sheds is another promising solution to this problem.
Tests to obtain information about circuit breaker performance in service should be made, as far as possible, on a
complete breaker that is equipped with its active parts and accessories and assembled as it would be in service.
Additional investigations are needed to obtain a deeper understanding of the influence of the various breaker-parameters
on the surface withstand voltage.
In some desert regions, the flashover of ceramic insulators is a problem - even with a specific creepage length of 52
mm/kV system voltage. However, it is encouraging to note that polymeric insulators seem to have a reasonably good
pollution flashover performance in these difficult locations.
By using a semiconducting glaze to achieve a continuous leakage current of about 1 mA, sufficient heating of the
insulator surface is achieved to keep it dry in dew or fog - thereby greatly increasing the pollution flashover performance
compared with that of a normally glazed insulator. Cold switch-on, however, remains a problem with insulators treated
in this way. Although such a glaze has been found to have a long and effective life on post insulators, rapid deterioration
has taken place around the pin of disc insulators in severe marine pollution. Semiconducting glaze is not recommended
for d.c. insulators.
1999-09-01 79
4. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Even without flashover, the presence of pollutants together with wetting on insulators may cause serious side effects on the
power system and on the environment. Leakage current flow across the insulator surface can be a source of annoyance to
people, or interfere with communication systems, etc. These side effects can be classified as follows:
Direct nuisances
Visible discharges
Audible noise (AN)
Radio interference (RI)
Television interference (TVI)
Indirect nuisances
Corrosion of metal hardware, leading to interference or risk to persons
Fires arising from leakage-current discharges
In this section a review of each of the above is given.
16
14
Withstand voltage characteristics of
12 320mm suspension insulator
10
8
SDD, mg/cm2
Figure 4-1: Audible noise/ Visible Corona characteristic of suspension insulators under a.c. energisation 212.
Frequent hot-line washing is an effective measure to minimise the occurrence of visible discharges213. The use of robot
technology may be advantageous, as very frequent washing is required and the quantity of water used should be kept to a
minimum in populated areas214.
The application of hydrocarbon or silicone grease or RTV coatings may also be effective but regular renewing will be
required (see 8.3.3). In the case of porcelain insulators, their manufacture with a semiconducting glaze (see 3.4.5) can also
reduce discharges.
1999-09-01 80
corona or arcing can give rise to complaints when lines cross densely populated areas. The noise level attenuation
characteristics for the various types of interference are illustrated in Figure 4-2.
RI
80 TVI
AN
AN*
40
20 TVI*
Figure 4-2: Lateral profile of RI, TVI and AN caused by partial flashover 217.
To avoid single-unit flashovers, the installation of insulator units with high individual flashover voltages has proved to be
effective. Hot line washing is also an effective counter measure, as is the application of silicone grease and RTV coatings219.
Once again, regular renewal of grease or coatings will be necessary (see 8.2.2).
Another form of audible noise from insulators is wind-howl, induced aerodynamically54, on certain profiles. This can be
avoided or suppressed by using different profiled-insulators or by modifying the profile with the addition of a polymeric part.
This measure changes the airflow around the insulator string, thereby preventing the resonance condition.
120
RIV, dB above 1 V
100
No.9 No.1
80 No.2&3
60
0.01 0.02 0.04 0.1 0.2 0.4
SALT DEPOSIT DENSITY, mg/cm2
Figure 4-3: Influence of salt deposit density on RIV at a measurement frequency of 1 MHz 215 216.
Some small-scale investigations222 conducted in a laboratory found that the RIV level - for a.c. energisation - of a wet and
polluted silicone rubber insulator, when aged, was substantially lower that that of two corresponding ceramic ones - a
porcelain longrod and a short-string of standard glass discs. The silicone rubber insulator also had a lower RIV level than
polymeric insulators made of EPDM and epoxy resin. Related large-scale tests, conducted using an outdoor facility, have
1999-09-01 81
established the beneficial effect of employing stress grading rings for both silicone rubber insulators and EPDM ones. These
test findings are in general agreement with service experience in Eskom's transmission lines in South Africa.
Radio interference may be severe around d.c. lines when the so-called single-unit flashovers occur 216 217 218. The noise level
and attenuation characteristics are shown in Figure 4-2. Measures to prevent the occurrence of such single-unit flashovers are
discussed in the foregoing section.
100
80
RIV, dB above 1 V
Contaminated
and fog
Clean and fog
60
40
Clean and dry
20
0.5 1.0 2.0 5.0 10.0
Frequency, MHz
Single-unit flashovers on d.c. insulators, however, can cause serious television interference 216 217 218. The noise level and
attenuation characteristics are shown in Figure 4-2. Some counter measures are explained in Section 4.2.
Hardware 70
Noise voltage, dB above 1 V
60
50
40
Rust Layer 30
20
10
Figure 4-5: Equivalent circuit for an insulator string with corroded hardware and an example of the noise profile caused 72.
1999-09-01 82
Since the insulating properties of the corrosion layer are the cause of the problem, two effective counter measures are the
application of: (a) added weights that mechanically break the corrosion layer and (b) bridging the corrosion layer by
connecting a bonding wire between the line and the insulator hardware. 223
Table 4-1: Recommended radio noise limits and appropriate test methods224 225.
Notes:
1. The limits reported in the table are applicable to lines characterised by a conductor-noise level close to the maximum admissible
one (voltage gradients higher than 12 - 14 kV/cm).
For lines of special design (having very low conductor noise), the direct application of the limits indicated in the table could lead to
uneconomical requirements for the insulators. To avoid this, the formula given in the table could be utilised provided Ec is
intended for the conductors of a line of the same category (voltage level, tower geometry, region etc.) but with a normal conductor
design.
2. The values in the table apply to line insulators. Similar approaches can be applied to substation insulators in respect to the noise
in the substation itself and the noise conducted into the outgoing lines.
1999-09-01 83
For a relative humidity lower than 60-75%, the radio noise behaviour of insulators installed in type C areas is similar to that
of those located in type A or B areas. For higher humidity and for droplet condensation, however, the dry-band activity
produces very high noise levels. These nuisances can be controlled by reducing the electric stress or by using special
insulators. Alternatively, greasing or regular washing can be the solution.
The frequency spectrum of wet polluted insulators (Type C areas) with dry-band activity extends up to the higher frequencies.
The medium frequency reception and that for television viewing can then be disturbed.
Table 4-1 shows the recommendation of CISPR 18-2224 225
for radio noise limits and appropriate test methods for insulator
sets installed in the above defined areas.
i Metal
Anode Cathode
Fe Fe
Fe2+
The thinning of the pins of suspension insulator has also been experienced on a.c. transmission lines228, notably in areas where
the relative humidity remains high for long periods. In this case, the d.c. component in the leakage current229 is considered to
cause the electrolytic effect.
Corrosion of the pin beneath the mortar surface has lead to the production of radial cracks in the shell of porcelain a.c. cap
and pin insulators230 231.
Figure 4-7: Damaged insulator subjected to a.c. energisation and outdoor exposure on a 230 kV line (11 years' exposure)232.
1999-09-01 84
4.8 Fires
Leakage current activity on polluted insulators mounted on wooden tower structures may, in some particular circumstances,
cause or exacerbate the following environmental impacts (event a usually precedes event b):
a) Top-pole or whole-pole fires of wooden pole structures.
b) Fires in the nearby environment, vegetation etc.
It has been identified 233 234 235 that the mechanism responsible for the ignition of wooden tower structures may begin at any
point of attachment of metal-to-wood and, in some cases, even in the joints of wood-to-wood. The following conditions are
necessary for the start of this fire:
1. Sufficient leakage current magnitude on the wooden surface.
2. Concentration of a voltage drop at a discrete point in the wood, causing local arcing and - therefore - possible ignition.
Condition 1 particularly applies for severe pollution - caused by wet, soluble ion contaminants. A typical contaminant that
causes the burning of wood poles is a thick layer of sea salt which may build up, not only on the insulators but also on the
whole of one side of the pole, in a very short time during a strong sea-storm236. Then the leakage current may easily exceed
tens, and even hundreds, of milliampere. Laboratory tests have shown234, however, that much smaller leakage currents - i.e. in
the range of 10 mA - can cause ignition and fires on wood-pole structures.
Condition 2 is illustrated in Figure 4-8235 234, which shows the cross-section through a wood crossarm and the resistances
representing typical leakage currents paths. The wood in the "rain-shadow" zone near the metal bolt can often remain dry
during the moistening of the polluted insulator and the exposed wood surface. Due to the lowering of the resistance of the
wood that is exposed to the rain, that part of the wood has a small resistance (R2 ), whilst the dry wood maintains a high
resistance in the narrow localised zones (R1 and R3 ). The increased leakage current (I1 ) can cause arcing and so possibly, the
start of a fire if the ignition temperature is reached and a sufficient air supply is available.
Legend:
Darker coloured areas indicate a higher moisture content
Lighter coloured areas indicate a lower moisture content
I Power frequency leakage current
I1 Leakage current close to the surface of crossarm
I2 Leakage current through central crossarm area
R1, R3 High resistance current paths
R2, R4, Low and medium resistance current paths
A, B Eyebolt and washer
C, Brace bolt
D, Guard electrode
Figure 4-8: Typical leakage paths through the wood crossarm; (a) is without and (b) is with the protective guard electrode
234
.
In practice, fires on the wood poles of distribution and sub-transmission lines usually occur at the metal-wood interfaces.
These include the insulator pins in the wood, the suspension insulator eyebolts, the cross-arm king-bolts and the arm brace-
bolts. In areas of very severe pollution, the build-up of soluble salts on the insulator and on the wood-pole surface can lead to
large leakage currents - which produce deep tracks at the metal-wood connections. Tracking may also be associated with the
pollution flashover of an insulator.
On HV and EHV wood-pole lines, crossarm fires may also occur due to large leakage currents across the primary insulation
when it is polluted. Fires have also been attributed237 to a high electric field that can be normal to the pole surface - as is
illustrated in Figure 4-9. If the surface layer of the pole is moist and contains pollution, the conducting wood acts as a
collector-electrode for the capacitive current ic. If this capacitive current is both sufficiently large and concentrated so as to
flow into a metal fastener of the earthed downlead, it may cause ignition and a pole fire. Even if there is no downlead, the
1999-09-01 85
capacitive current (ic) collected by the wet polluted surface layer may still cause a pole fire if it is collected by a metal nail,
coach screw or pole-step - because such current concentration may lead to arcing.
Figure 4-9: Model for EHV Fires showing capacitive coupling current into a metal fastener 237.
The main measure taken to prevent a wood-pole fire is the installation of a conducting bridge across the high-resistance zone
in the wood. Local bonding is usually employed to short-circuit dry zones formed by rain-shadows or poor metal-wood
contacts. An example is the guard electrode that is shown as D in Figure 4-8. This guard electrode is made in different forms,
such as:
a) Coachscrew fitted tightly into the crossarm or pole body.
b) Multi-spiked plate ("gang-nails") pressed or nailed into the wood over a critical zone.
c) Galvanised iron, aluminium or copper strips nailed to the wood.
d) Metal bands wrapped tightly around the wood.
e) A 10 cm-wide band of conducting paint applied near the metal-wood connection.
All kinds of such a guard electrode have to be connected to metal.
The original guard-electrode (Figure 4-8 b) is usually replaced by measures b) or c). These surface-type electrodes also
reduce the possibility of damage due to lightning currents.
With regard to the pollution on the insulators, it is useful to wash them or to apply other maintenance measures - particularly
greasing. But this measure is not effective when pollutant layers are formed quickly - as can occur by strong sea-storms.
Generally, the only solution against pole fires is to fit one of the various types of guard electrode so as to provide a low
resistance path over a dry-wood zone.
Finally, the fires in the surroundings of HV overhead lines usually arise when the vegetation is in contact with the live parts of
line. A pollution flashover rarely leads to the ignition of vegetation fires, but a fire on a wood pole caused by pollution often
causes the development of a fire in the nearby vegetation and forest. The main remedy is the regular maintenance of the right
of way of HV lines, the use of one of the above described remedies to prevent burning of wood poles and - possibly - the
employment of special chemicals238 to inhibit the ignition process.
1999-09-01 86
5. POLLUTION MONITORING
5.1 Introduction
Cigr has previously reviewed the subject of insulator pollution monitoring in two separate publications; the first one in 1979
2
and the other in 1994240. These reviews are summarised briefly herein. Some additional informatio, which has been
published recently, is also included.
Insulator-pollution monitoring serves the following main purposes 239 240:
1. Pollution site severity measurement
The results of the pollution monitoring techniques are used to establish the pollution site severity of an area and, if
applied extensively, the results can also be used to produce a pollution map. Based on the gathered information, insulator
designs and dimensions can be selected to achieve a good pollution performance.
The aim of pollution site severity measurements is to provide a severity parameter which can be correlated with the
performance of an insulator, as determined from artificial and/or natural pollution tests.
2. Insulator characterisation
The aim is to establish a comparative study of the performance of various types of insulator installed at the same testing
site. Through such a study, the most appropriate insulator design and dimensions - for the given conditions - can be
determined.
3. Initiator for insulator maintenance
Some of the monitoring techniques allow for automation that provides continuous monitoring of the condition of an
insulator surface, thereby providing a trigger for insulator maintenance before critical conditions arise.
A wide range of such monitoring devices and techniques has been developed over the years. The most widely used ones are:
Directional dust deposit gauge239.
Equivalent Salt (NaCl) Deposit Density (ESDD)4 2.
Environmental monitoring (Air sampling, Climate measurements)4 240.
Non-Soluble Deposit Density (NSDD)240.
Surface Conductance3.
Insulator Flashover stress3.
Surge counting3.
Leakage current measurement3.
Each of the aforementioned can be classified into two main groups of pollution monitoring methods; i.e. pollution
performance measurement and environmental severity measurement, as is shown in Figure 5-1. Those methods shown
beneath another one indicate a refinement of that method; e.g. Surge Counting is a refinement of the method of Insulator
Flashover Stress.
The insulator performance measurements assess the insulator, as installed in service, on the basis that the leakage current
across the insulator gives a measure of its pollution performance. This measurement includes the effects of both the pollution
deposit and natural wetting.
On the other hand, the environmental severity measurement relates only to the pollution accumulated on the insulator; in the
best case, it includes the effect of natural washing. From this measurement, the pollution performance of insulators is derived
from either artificial or natural pollution test results. The results from the environmental severity measurements may also
provide an input to the creation of a dynamic model of the environment to predict instances of high-flashover probability.
Short descriptions of these models are given in Section 7.2.7.
In the previous sections, it was demonstrated that the insulator shape affects the amount of pollution collected by the insulator.
For this reason, most of the environmental severity measurements employ either real insulators or insulator models as
pollution-accumulation devices. There are, however, purely environmental measurements - as is shown in Figure 5-1 - such as
directional dust deposit gauges and air pollution sampling.
1999-09-01 87
Pollution Monitoring
Leakage Current Measurement Surface Conductance Optical Measurement Air Pollution Sampling
Ihighest
Figure 5-1: Organisation of insulator pollution monitoring methods for site severity estimation, insulator characterisation
and insulator maintenance.
In the following descriptions, each of these methods will be dealt with only briefly because the detailed information is
adequately covered in the publications.
5.2.1.1 Advantages
1. The equipment is inexpensive.
2. The operator requires no special skills.
3. The equipment can be used at a site without an electrical supply.
4. The technique gives an indication of all types of pollution present at site.
5. The results are not dependent on subjective judgement.
5.2.1.2 Disadvantages
1. The response of the insulation to the environment is not assessed; i.e. the effects of washing and insulator wetting.
2. Long periods are necessary to obtain results.
3. The method does not distinguish between slow- and fast-dissolving salts. Critical wetting conditions are, therefore, not
determined.
4. The amount of rainfall during the measuring cycle influences the obtained severity. A high rainfall during the measuring
period will cause the measured pollution level to be higher than the actual level - and vice versa - because the natural
cleaning ability of insulators is not taken into account.
1999-09-01 88
5.3 Equivalent salt deposit density (ESDD)
ESDD is given by the equivalent deposit - in mg NaCl/cm2 - on the surface area of an insulator, that has the same conductivity
as that of the actual deposit dissolved in the same volume of water.
The ESDD is determined by removing a pollution sample from the surface of a chosen insulator and dissolving it in a known
quantity of water (the IEC 507 Standard22 recommends the use of 2 to 4 litres of demineralised water per square metre of
insulator surface). The conductivity of the resulting solution, its volume and temperature - together with the insulator surface
area - are utilised to calculate an equivalent salt deposit density.
Sodium chloride is the reference salt in the ESDD method. It has a linear part in its electrical conductivity-concentration
curve. Therefore, the ESDD measurements have to be carried out within this linear range. However, insulators in the field
can be polluted with a combination of salts of lower solubility. This makes it necessary to add enough water to allow most of
the ions to go into solution and to keep the electrical conductivity in the linear part of the curve. Campillo et al 42 have found
great variations in the ESDD measurements with the addition of water for different types of natural pollution deposits (e.g.
gypsum).
It is often necessary to augment the ESDD measurements with the measurement of NSDD - see Section 5.3.3. This is
especially so when the natural contamination for inland areas are reproduced in artificial tests. In these cases, the best way of
selecting the contaminant composition for artificial pollution tests is by taking account of the soluble/ non-soluble ratio and
the chemical composition of the pollution deposit.
5.3.1 Advantages
1. The shed profile of insulators can be assessed in terms of contamination collection.
2. ESDD is the severity parameter of a number of different artificial test methods. This common practice facilitates the
comparison between the different environments and the artificial tests.
3. Many researchers favour this method - and so a free flow of information is, therefore, possible.
4. Unenergised sites can be assessed.
5. The apparatus for this method is relatively inexpensive compared to that of other methods.
5.3.2 Disadvantages
1. It is very time consuming to find the maximum pollution level between the incidences of natural washing. The timing of
monitoring is essential.
2. ESDD is insensitive to volatile chemicals dissolved in rain or mist that do not leave deposits on the insulator surface.
Chemicals such as SO2 and H2S would not be detected.
3. To perform the ESDD measurement, a certain amount of skill is necessary
4. The test removes the pollution layer from the insulator surface. Several insulator strings should, therefore, be monitored
to determine the build-up of the pollution.
5. The method does not discriminate between slow- and fast-dissolving deposits.
6. Critical wetting conditions for insulators are not determined by ESDD.
7. There is uncertainty in the applicability of this method to polymeric insulators, due to the transfer of hydrophobic
properties to the pollution layer.
1999-09-01 89
the corresponding readings by the instrument. Other aspects of employing Peltier coolers for making such measurements have
also been reported 244 245.
5.5.1 Advantages
1. The shed profile of an insulator can be assessed in terms of contamination collection.
2. The deterioration of the insulator surface, due to the environment, can be monitored.
3. Unenergised sites can be assessed.
4. The test insulator is not continuously energised, thereby reducing the risk of flashover.
5. The results can be used to set up an artificial test.
6. The method lends itself to automation, such that it can monitor the build-up of the pollution on the insulator.
5.5.2 Disadvantages
1. The surface conductance can only be measured under wetting conditions. Application of this method may, therefore, be
impractical in low rainfall or non-fog/mist areas. If artificial wetting is introduced, usually as steam or fog, the results
will only be applicable for areas with fast dissolving salts.
2. Due to the complexity of the equipment, this method is fairly costly.
3. The method does not discriminate between slow- and fast-dissolving deposits.
4. Critical wetting conditions for insulators are not determined.
1999-09-01 90
circulating cooling liquid that lowers the surface temperature to promote wetting. The surface conductance of the entire
insulator is then measured to establish a pollution severity. An interesting detail, is the inclusion of a shield that is raised
during the cooling and measuring process to reduce turbulence around the insulator. This precaution is taken because such air
turbulence may influence the humidification process and so give an erratic result. The available measurements from in-
service use are, unfortunately, limited and so a thorough evaluation of this method's performance is not yet possible.
Another example of a recently developed device - that is based on the measurement of surface conductivity - is the LWS,
Liquid Water Sensor247. This device can be used to determine the contamination level when the relative humidity is above
65%. It measures the amount of liquid water and the level of contamination on a surrogate insulator. According to the
authors, the LWS is a better indicator of the contamination level than the peak leakage current, which depends on the amount
of wetting. However, very little information of the working principles of the LWS has so far been given.
Explosive fuses
Figure 5-2: An example of the use of explosive fuses to monitor insulator performance.
5.6.1 Advantages
1. Actual insulators are tested under service conditions, thereby directly giving the required insulation level.
2. Depending on the implementation of this method, the cost involved can be reasonable.
5.6.2 Disadvantages
1. The results are only valid for the type of insulator string under test.
2. As flashover occurs on the insulator under test, it is generally not acceptable on a service transmission system.
3. The source impedance must be low - testing may, therefore, become expensive.
4. No data regarding the mechanism of flashover are obtained.
1999-09-01 91
5.7.1 Surge counting
In this method, the number of leakage current pulses above a fixed amplitude conducted on a test insulator - energised at its
service voltage - are counted over a given period of time.
5.7.1.1 Advantages
1. Actual insulators are tested under service conditions, thereby directly giving the required insulation level.
2. Depending on the implementation of this method, the cost involved can be reasonable.
3. This technique provides information on all the stages of the pollution flashover mechanism.
4. This method enables information to be determined if an existing line or substation needs to be upgraded.
5.7.1.2 Disadvantages
1. This method only provides comparative data that must be assessed against similar information collected elsewhere.
2. A degree of sophistication is required for the instrumentation.
3. No information regarding the mechanism of flashover is obtained.
4. The results are only valid for the type of insulator under test.
5.7.2 I highest
Ihighest is the highest peak of leakage current that is recorded during a given time period on an insulator continuously energised
at its service voltage. It has been considered as a suitable parameter to indicate how close a glass or porcelain insulator is to
flashover.
5.7.2.1 Advantages
1. Actual insulators are tested under service conditions, thereby directly giving the required insulation level.
2. This technique provides information on all the stages of the pollution flashover mechanism.
3. The information, provided by this measurement, can be easily compared to that obtained from making laboratory tests.
4. It provides a continuous record of the insulator performance under various weather conditions.
5. This method enables information to be determined if an existing line or substation needs to be upgraded.
5.7.2.2 Disadvantages
1. A high degree of sophistication is required for the instrumentation.
2. The cost of equipment is high.
3. No data regarding the mechanism of flashover are obtained.
4. The results are valid only for the type of insulator string under test.
5. Due to the complexity of the measuring equipment, this method is not suitable for large-scale surveys.
6. This method may not be applicable for some types of polymeric insulator.
5.8 Conclusions
A wide range of monitoring methods has been developed. It is shown that not all of the monitoring techniques are equally
applicable for all the environments. It is hoped that Cigr will give some guidance to the selection of applicable methods in
the forthcoming application guidelines that are currently under consideration. For more information, the reader is also
referred to the already mentioned reviews 2 240.
The situation concerning the relevance of existing pollution monitoring methods for the dimensioning of the highly
hydrophobic types of polymeric insulators (e.g. silicone rubber ones) warrants a major research investigation to be carried out.
1999-09-01 92
6. TESTING PROCEDURES FOR INSULATORS
6.1 Introduction
The engineer is faced with the problem of insulation strength under natural pollution conditions at service voltage for each
line and substation in a.c. or d.c. systems. To minimise local failures and system outages due to pollution flashovers, the
following steps are deemed necessary:
Determination of the type and the severity of the site pollution (classification).
Correct choice of the insulator profile and the creepage distance (insulator dimensioning to reach the required pollution
performance at service voltage for a given site).
Planning of additional maintenance measures (washing, cleaning, greasing, coating) if necessary.
To prove the pollution performance of the selected insulator, artificial pollution tests can be performed in the laboratory.
These tests are usually short-time ones and are less expensive than testing in outdoor stations. The usual aim of a laboratory
test is the confirmation of a specified withstand degree of pollution or the determination of its maximum value at the phase-to-
earth voltage. It may also be used to determine directly the influence of changes in insulator dimensioning on the pollution
performance of an insulator.
The choice of a suitable test procedure is usually made from those that are internationally standardised. Also, other pollution
test procedures may be used because of their relevance to special climatic or contamination conditions.
No test procedure can simulate all of the important natural conditions and their variations that may lead to a pollution
flashover. Therefore, compromises have to be made to reduce the number of procedures and the cost for testing. The main
requirements for the acceptance of a test procedure are:
Validity of the test procedure. The procedure should be representative for those natural pollution conditions that are
essential for an insulator flashover. This practise leads to the same ranking of different insulators in laboratory tests and
in service.
Repeatability and reproducibility. The scatter in test results in the same laboratory or between different laboratories
should be within the limits of the natural dispersion of pollution test results.
Cost-effectiveness. The cost for a test shall be reasonable in comparison with the usefulness of the result.
Validity, repeatability and reproducibility are specific to each test procedure, and the acceptance or rejection of a procedure
has to be based on engineering judgement.
Standardised artificial pollution tests use only constant test voltages (usually the phase-to-earth voltage).
1999-09-01 93
The results of testing under natural pollution conditions may be interpreted as a relative ranking within a group of insulators.
Also, a comparison with the corresponding results for a well-known reference insulator is possible.
Tests conducted under natural pollution conditions usually require long test periods due to both the natural dynamics of the
deposition of the contaminants and the necessity to collect sufficient data for providing a statistically reliable set of results.
Table 6-1: Test voltages at Martigues, St. Remy les Landes, France 121 254 and Brighton, United Kingdom 121.
TEST VOLTAGE
TESTING STATION
(kV)
Martigues 225/3
1999-09-01 94
Sum of the square of the leakage current per time interval.
Statistical spread of peak values.
Time to flashover.
Tests at these stations are continuing.
6.3 Test procedures for porcelain and glass insulators to be used in high-voltage a.c.
or d.c. systems
The procedures described in the following subsections have been established for ceramic insulators and are not directly
applicable to polymeric insulators, to greased insulators or to special types of insulator (i.e. insulators with conductive glaze
or covered with a polymeric insulating material).
For bushings or other apparatus incorporating hollow insulators with internal equipment, special precautions may be necessary
to avoid over-stressing of the internal insulation since the test voltage may be greater than the nominal design one.
1999-09-01 95
The wetting process in this test procedure runs under two different conditions: wetting of the dry layer up to the maximum
layer conductivity (severity value for the individual test) in 20 to 40 minutes without applying the test voltage, and continuing
the wetting after immediate application of the constant test voltage for 15 minutes at maximum.
A detailed description of the Solid-Layer test Procedure A is given in IEC 507,1991 22.
Note: This procedure is only rarely used today and is not considered to be optimal. For most of the cases, Procedure B
"Wetting after energisation" (see clause 6.3.1.2.2) is to be preferred.
1999-09-01 96
Voltage
Dust
Fog
Rain
Wet
Drying
Time
Figure 6-1: Schematic view of one cycle of the Dust chamber method260.
The performance criterion of the insulator is the SDD-value of the artificial pollution layer, the test voltage and the number of
cycles required to achieve flashover. To avoid too many cycles, a fixed number can be run to simulate a specific
environment. The duration of pollution application and the amount of wetting have been calibrated using a standard type of
insulator so that the pollution level after the fixed number of cycles corresponds to the specified degree of pollution. If no
flashover occurs during these cycles, the test object is deemed to have withstood the specified degree of pollution for which it
has been tested. A more detailed ranking using the leakage current and the SDD and NSDD-values is possible. Additional
research is needed to establish the relation between these results and those determined from tests made according to IEC 507.
1999-09-01 97
The withstand salinities obtained from the heavy wetting tests are not equivalent to the withstand values from tests made
according to IEC 507. This is due to the decrease of salt-fog deposits during both the drain period and the test period and the
large difference in the quantity of water impinging on the insulator.
6.4 Test procedures for polymeric insulators to be used in high-voltage a.c. or d.c.
systems
Operational and laboratory experiences show that the pollution performance of new polymeric insulators is superior to that of
glass or porcelain insulators. This excellent pollution performance may deteriorate during service time due to the influence of
UV radiation, temperature, humidity and leakage current discharges. Different accelerated ageing test procedures have been
developed 268, but as yet no agreed method is available for predicting the pollution performance of a polymeric insulator under
given site conditions with time in service. The Cigr Task Force 33.04.07, Testing of polymeric insulators, is dealing with
this problem. IEC TC 36 also deals with this in its work-programme.
1999-09-01 98
Mounting arrangement
Ice accretion
Voltage application
Withstand voltage evaluation
1999-09-01 99
The cold fog test without icicles does not determine the minimum flashover level of an insulator. However, it does reproduce
field conditions that are observed frequently and the test is severe enough to give realistic performance rankings.
6.6.1.1 Introduction
The ambient conditions during testing in a pollution chamber are defined as temperature, pressure and fog. These parameters
are influenced by atmospheric conditions around the test chamber, which change during the day and throughout the year. This
is especially so at pollution laboratories located at high altitude or in a warm climate - or in the situation where the fog
chamber is not well insulated. Differences in ambient conditions during testing contribute to the variation in the results
obtained at the various laboratories around the world. It is, therefore, necessary either to control the test conditions or to
apply correction factors to the test results.
1999-09-01 100
From a standardisation point of view, the testing methods must meet the requirement of reproducibility 3. Therefore, it has
been necessary to investigate the effect of the ambient conditions during testing on the flashover/withstand voltage of
contaminated insulators subjected to a.c. and d.c. voltages. Taskforce 07 of Cigr Working Group 33-04 is dealing with the
aspects of testing polymeric insulators. The findings of that taskforce will soon be published.
The aim of this section is to review the current knowledge published in the technical literature on the effect of ambient
conditions during testing and reproducibility in artificial tests.
Ishii et al 279 have observed - when using the Equivalent-Fog method - that the d.c. flashover voltage of contaminated
insulators reduces by about 0.7 - 1.0% /C rise in temperature and that the d.c. arc-characteristics are temperature
independent. This effect is attributed exclusively to the change of the resistance of the pollution layer.
Naito 280, using a Salt-Fog procedure for d.c. insulators, has found that the value of the flashover voltage decreased with the
increase in the temperature for the range 5 to about 35 degrees Centigrade. The findings were variable and in, some cases,
this decrease in voltage was more than 20% of the lowest-temperature value. An example of the results is shown in Figure 6-2
281
. It is reasoned that this general trend is caused by the increase in conductivity of the polluted layer as the temperature
increases 37.
282
A similar phenomenon has been observed for a.c. voltages by Moreno et al when using the Salt-Fog procedure and by
Mizuno et al when employing the Clean-Fog procedure 281.
In the standard contamination tests, the influence of temperature has so far been disregarded.
1999-09-01 101
6.6.1.3 Effect of ambient pressure
The effect of ambient pressure on the flashover voltage is important for pollution laboratories situated at high altitude and has
been investigated in both variable-pressure chambers and at special outdoor facilities at high altitude.
This topic is discussed in Section 3.3.8, where a general overview of the air density correction factors is given.
1999-09-01 102
b) The droplet size distribution, which influences the wetting process by collision under the artificial fog, was almost the
same as that of natural fog.
c) By using steam or hot water, the temperature-difference between the insulator and the fog-chamber was 6 to 7C. This
value was higher than that of natural fog. Therefore, the artificial wetting process is accelerated from the viewpoint of the
condensation.
NGK has reported 44 measurements of fog-density in the range of 2 to 5 g/m3 for steam injection and 0.5 to 1.8 g/m3 for
evaporation-fog. Similar measurements with evaporation-fog at HVTRC gave 0.3 to 1.5 g/m3. In their conclusions they have
reported that, for fog densities higher than 0.3 - 0.4 g/m3, both the evaporation-fog and the fog produced by steam injection
gave the same level of flashover voltage. The wetting rates were also quite similar. The authors have suggested the need to
investigate the performance of insulators under very light fog condition, characterised by fog densities of less than a 0.3 g/m3.
This is because the uneven wetting along the string may cause a non-uniform voltage distribution - which, in turn, may affect
the flashover voltage.
1999-09-01 103
Such an insulator has a characteristic like that of an insulator with a shorter creepage distance, provided the applied stress on
the latter does not lead to bridging over between the sheds.
1,5
Leakage current 1
0,5
2,5 5 10 20 kg/m 40
Salinity
Highest leakage current from 1 hour withstand test;
Figure 6-3: Leakage current characteristic of the longrod insulator L 75/22/150 (test voltage 72 kV rms, creepage distance
2480 mm).
6.6.4 Comparison of test results obtained with different pollution test methods
Each of the two test methods, the Salt-Fog method and the Solid-Layer method, simulates different pollution conditions that
lead to a pollution flashover. This difference may lead to different rankings for several insulators, using these two test
methods. For different insulators, there is no direct relationship between the severity parameters of the test methods. For one
insulator type and the same electrical stress, a correlation between the test methods is possible - using either the flashover
voltage or the leakage-current characteristic.
1999-09-01 104
Figure 6-4: Results of a.c. natural contamination tests compared with Clean-Fog tests294.
A similar tendency as reported above for a.c. energisation has been obtained for a comparison of d.c. results - as is shown in
Figure 6-5.
Figure 6-5: Results of d.c. natural contamination tests compared with Clean-Fog tests 252.
1999-09-01 105
7. INSULATOR SELECTION AND DIMENSIONING
7.1 Introduction
External insulation should be properly selected and dimensioned so that the resultant risk of flashover is reasonable. It may
be worthwhile to do a probabilistic, or risk-of failure, assessment. This section starts off with a discussion on how insulator
characteristics can best be selected, followed by a comparison of the traditional deterministic design philosophy and the more
recent probabilistic approach. The difficulties in obtaining enough data for the statistical approach will also be highlighted.
Finally, a summary of available literature related to the probabilistic approach to insulator design is given.
Insulator
application
Prediction of Estimation of
critical wetting pollution distribution
conditions on the insulator
Figure 7-1 complements Figure 1-2 in that it shows how the information collected, through the process of insulator selection
as outlined in Figure 1-2, is applied to select the insulator profile, axial length and creepage path length.
Referring to Figure 7-1, the selection process is outlined as follows:
1999-09-01 106
7.2.1 Selection of profile
From a study of the environment in which the insulators must operate, the pollution is characterised together with the
identification of both the most likely mechanism of pollution deposit and the type of wetting conditions.
From the pollution type - e.g. conductive, dissolving etc. - and the different types of wetting that occur, a prediction is made of
the critical wetting conditions. That is, the wetting conditions under which flashovers are deemed to be the most likely.
In parallel with this procedure, the likely spread, uniformity and density of the pollution layer on the insulator is determined
from the following:
The identified mechanism of the pollution deposit; whether it is by precipitation, wind or electrical forces.
The physical characteristics of the pollution; i.e. density, particle size etc.
The location of pollution sources and prevailing wind-direction.
The amount of pollution present.
In areas where the mechanism of the pollution-deposit is mostly by precipitation, insulators with large horizontal surfaces may
collect more pollution than do those with small horizontal surfaces - but perhaps with more shed under-ribs. On the other
hand, if the deposit mechanism is by wind aerodynamically shaped insulators may again collect less pollution than do the ones
with a more convoluted shape. More information and measurement results are contained in Sections 2.3.3 and 2.3.7.
The severity of the pollution can be estimated by using one of the methods listed in Section 5. The results of such
measurements should be compared with the corresponding service experience to obtain an indication of the site severity.
From the type of wetting - as obtained from weather data - and the identified critical wetting conditions (Section 2.3.6), the
possibility of self-cleaning is then determined. For instance, if the critical wetting condition is identified as being mist or fog
plus the presence of marine salt, self-cleaning can then only occur if the cleaning action of the wetting outweighs its pollution-
wetting action. Therefore, significant self-cleaning will only occur under a heavier wetting condition; in this case, rain.
Similarly if heavy rain is identified as the critical wetting condition, it can be concluded that self-cleaning by wetting can not
be relied upon. Another self-cleaning mechanism that is worth investigating is that of wind blasting. More details are
provided in Sections 2.3.3 through 2.3.7.
If the possibility of self-cleaning without the risk of flashover can be ruled out, the need for insulator maintenance should be
investigated. By taking into account the pollution type, the critical wetting and the distribution of pollution, the appropriate
maintenance procedures can be identified together with the insulator profiles that facilitate such maintenance.
Once all the above factors have been investigated, the optimal profile and material can be selected. If self-cleaning is
necessary, insulators with an aerodynamic shape can prove beneficial. If no self-cleaning possibility exists, insulator shapes
with less accessible profiles might be more beneficial.
In selecting profiles, it is necessary to rely on the results of artificial tests and/or service experience. The limitation of profile
designs for station post insulators are also set out in IEC publication 815. Polymeric insulators may be considered, for
reasons given in the introduction to Section 3.
1999-09-01 107
In the case of d.c. energisation, the accumulation of pollution is generally higher than that on an insulator for a.c. in the same
environment. Consequently, the required creepage distance to withstand pollution for d.c. must be suitably increased over that
recommended for a.c. to obtain the equivalent performance. For d.c. substation insulators, such as wall bushings, insulator
selection must take into account the behaviour of these insulators in relatively clean areas with non-uniform wetting. Section
3.4.2 discusses this topic in more detail.
Probability
Insulation (W)
Environment (S)
Margin
Site severity
Figure 7-2: An example of the deterministic method.
In Figure 7-2, the deterministic approach is illustrated by using an example for obtaining the design withstand pollution
severity of an insulator with respect to the maximum pollution severity of the environment in which the insulator must operate.
In this example, the operating voltage of the insulator, Vs, is known. The maximum withstand pollution severity (ESDD) that
the insulator must withstand is then calculated by assuming complete wetting of the pollution layer. The design withstand
pollution severity, or the corresponding withstand voltage, Vw, is determined with an acceptable margin; e.g. 10%, between
Vw and Vs.
The following problems exist with this approach:
1. The pollution severity, insulator withstand voltage and the degree of wetting are all probabilistic values.
2. The selected margin depends on the judgement of the design engineer and has, therefore, no statistical significance.
3. Only a single insulator string, or stack, is considered in this approach; but, in the actual design, many such insulators are
connected in parallel.
1999-09-01 108
If the insulation strength is increased, the P curve moves to the right of the f curve and the risk-of-failure decreases as
shown in Figure 7-3b; but such a change can be costly. The optimum design is, therefore, obtained by optimising the cost
against the risk-of-failure.
P P
f
f
(a) U (b) U
Figure 7-3: An example of the probabilistic method; the effect of increasing insulation strength.
The probabilistic approached is considered in a similar fashion for the mechanical design of an overhead line support in IEC
Publication 826297, where the strength of the support and the load applied to it are considered as variables.
Table 7-2: Summary of probabilistic approaches for selecting insulators in a polluted environment.
1999-09-01 109
7.2.6 Present status of the probabilistic approach
One of the first practical applications of the probabilistic approach was carried out by Karady et al 302. They showed that the
distribution of Equivalent Salt Deposit Density (ESDD) on insulators at the coast over a period of a year follows a Gamma
distribution, as is shown in Figure 7-4. The flashover probability of the insulators was assumed to be a normal distribution
and the fifty percent flashover voltage and standard deviation were obtained as a function of ESDD by performing artificial
laboratory tests. The risk-of -failure was then calculated by using the two distribution functions. In Figure 7-5 the resultant
risk-of-failure for 45 parallel insulator strings for a 340 kV transmission line is shown as a function of the voltage per
insulator.
100
80
Cumulative probability [%]
no
pollution
60
very light light pollution
pollution
40
20
100
80
Risk of failure (%)
60
40
20
0 4 8 12 16 20
Voltage per unit, kV
Lambeth 306 307 deals with statistical factors theoretically to determine the suitable insulator length for polluted conditions. In
his documents, pollution severity and flashover stress are considered as variables.
Sforzini et al 303 apply the statistical approach for the selection of the type of insulator. The statistical distribution of pollution
severity is approximated by using a Gaussian distribution, as is shown in Figure 7-6 - this distribution is based on
measurement of surface conductance made on insulators at three sites. An acceptable value of the risk-of-failure is then
1999-09-01 110
assumed by considering the tolerable number of events per year. For this risk of failure value, the required flashover value at
the equivalent severity of the pollution on the insulator is determined. A suitable insulator is selected from the standpoint of
leakage path length. The standardisation of insulators for polluted areas is also discussed.
CAIRO MONTENOTTE
99.8 Surface conductivity
Cumulative probability (%) 99.5
( Aug: 77 - Oct: 81 )
No of critical events: 125
99.0
95.0
90.0
PORTO EMPEDOCLE
Salinity - ( Jan: 79 - Oct: 81 )
No of critical events: 105
70.0
50.0
30.0 PORTO MARGHERA
ESDD -( Aug: 77 - Oct: 81 ) Insulator Y
10.0 No of critical events: 102
1.0
1 2 4 6 8 10 20 40 60 80 100 200
Surface conductivity (S)
Figure 7-6: Examples of cumulative frequency distributions of the maximum values of pollution severity recorded in the
various events at three typical sites (values are expressed in terms of the equivalent severity relevant to the laboratory
method deemed more valid for each site) 303.
320
132 kV lines
150 kV lines
160
Withstand Salinities (kg/m 3)
80
40
20
10
2.5
9 (10)(11)(12) 9 10 11 12
Standard units Antifog units
Figure 7-7: ENEL standardisation; dimensioning of insulator strings for 132 kV and 150 kV lines 303.
Naito et al 299 have extended the approach into three dimensions. They calculated the static risk-of-failure on 800 kV
transmission lines by treating the flashover voltage, pollution severity and degree of wetting as probabilistic values. A
regression curve for relative humidity (RH) was proposed, as shown in Figure 7-8, which is based on hourly observations.
The corresponding probability of simultaneous occurrence of ESDD and RH is shown in Figure 7-9.
1999-09-01 111
99.9
30.
20.
1.
0.1
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
RH [%]
Figure 7-8: Cumulative probability of Relative Humidity 299.
The flashover probability, as a function of RH and ESDD, is shown in Figure 7-10, for 200 parallel insulator strings.
Probability of occurrence (%)
1
1.5
1.
0 0.1 2]
0 m
20
40
0.01
m g/c
60 0.05 [
RH [% 80 100 DD
] ES
The risk-of-failure is calculated as the volume indicated in Figure 7-11 and a value of about 0.03 per year was obtained,
thereby implying that there are 11 days of flashover per year.
1999-09-01 112
100
60
40
20 1.5
1. 2]
0 0.1 m
0 g/c
20 40 0.01 [m
60 0.05 SDD
RH [% 80 100 E
]
Figure 7-10: Flashover probability, Pn, as a function of RH and ESDD (N=200) 299.
80
Risk of failure (%)
60
40
20 1.5
1.
0 0.1 2]
0 m
20
40 60
0.01 g/c
0.05 [m
RH [% 80 D D
100
] ES
1999-09-01 113
15
10 Wind velocity (m/s)
5
0
3
Rainfall (mm/10min)
2
1
0
100
ESDD (mg/cm2)
50
100
50 RH (%)
0
100
1999-09-01 114
170 100
EHV
120 70
110
60
100
90 50
0.01 0.1 1.0 10
Cumulative Frequency, Flashover/insulator/year
Figure 7-13: Cumulative frequency distribution of EHV and UHV normalised flashover stresses for the total test period at
Brighton insulator testing station 126.
7.2.9 Conclusions
Many probabilistic approaches have been reported for designing insulators under polluted conditions.
From a methodological point of view, a considerable amount of work is still necessary before this type of approach can be
internationally accepted. In addition, for such an approach to be successful, reliable statistical data of both the pollution
severity and the insulation strength are required. The statistical approach is, therefore, not yet sufficiently advanced to be
applied in the design or maintenance of insulators in a polluted environment. However, such a method can give a clear
indication of the critical conditions that will lead to insulator flashover.
1999-09-01 115
7.4 Selection of insulators for d.c. energisation
7.4.1 Introduction
Several specific characteristics are necessary for effective d.c. insulation:
1. A correct insulator profile is required to enhance the withstand characteristics and to reduce pollution build-up.
2. High resistance / high purity dielectrics are necessary to reduce the risk of ion migration / accumulation.
3. Sacrificial electrodes on metal fittings are necessary to avoid the effects of unidirectional current flow, especially in
humid environments.
Points 2 and 3 are covered in detail in IEC 61245 that gives minimum values and test methods to check these parameters.
Point 1 is more difficult to specify.
For glass and ceramic cap and pin designs and post and bushing insulators, the optimal profiles are well known315. However
for polymeric insulators, the lack of service experience - especially for d.c. - means that the profiles which are currently used
are based on laboratory artificial pollution tests only and do not take into account pollution deposition mechanisms found in
service. Hopefully the growing use of polymeric insulators for d.c. applications can remedy this lack of knowledge and
experience.
1999-09-01 116
Table 7-3: Correction factor, Kp, that provides the ratio between pollution levels at d.c. and a.c. voltage 325.
KP SITE CONDITIONS
1 - 1.2 areas influenced only by natural pollution sources, such as sea and desert
areas influenced both by natural pollution sources and by industrial pollution sources
1.3 - 1.9 but at a few kilometres distance from the industrial pollution sources
2-3 areas close to (within a few kilometres) industrial pollution sources and are
considered as clean from the viewpoint of a.c. voltage
A further parameter that may intensify the accumulation of contamination at d.c. voltage is the electrical charging of the
contaminants by industrial processes or by corona discharges from high-voltage equipment.
7.5.1 Introduction
Phase-to-phase spacers are mainly used to prevent mid-span flashovers occurring during conditions of galloping, conductor
jumping following ice release etc. on transmission lines. These spacers may be either porcelain or polymeric ones. In
addition, phase spacers may be required for compact line designs, reduced phase spacing to decrease magnetic field levels, or
to improve the aesthetics of the line.
The design of phase-to-phase spacers may be different from that of phase-to-ground insulators.
1999-09-01 117
8. PALLIATIVES AND OTHER MITIGATION MEASURES
8.1 Introduction
In the event that the performance of the insulators selected for a specific application does not meet the design criteria,
remedies may be required to improve theis performance to an acceptable level.
Although not usually possible, the most obvious remedy is to change the insulators either by adding additional units or by
changing the type. For example, insulators with higher specific creepage distance may be chosen to replace the original
design within the same physical spacing.
Insulators with semiconducting glaze may form a reasonable alternative if replacement is allowed. Such insulators have had
considerable application in substations for bus support insulators, but recently new designs of suspension insulators have also
become available.
More than likely, some type of maintenance will be needed if pollution flashovers become unacceptable and the replacement
of insulators is not possible. Maintenance procedures can be classified into periodic and semi-permanent.
The most common type of periodic maintenance consists of insulator washing. Care must be taken to use appropriate
procedures, including direction of washing and low conductivity water, to prevent flashovers during this maintenance
procedure. The most difficult question to address is: "What is the necessary frequency of washing?" That is, some type of
pollution monitoring will be required.
A second type of periodic maintenance is greasing. Although the petroleum version was used in the first introduction of
greases - and continues to be chosen in some cases, silicone grease has better characteristics for the higher ambient
temperatures. Greasing must be repeated, with appropriate cleaning, and the intervals are determined by the service
environment. Intervals from one to five years have been found to be acceptable.
If re-greasing is not needed for five years, the maintenance procedure could be considered as semi-permanent. Obviously,
this is a qualitative judgement and will vary with utility perspectives.
Finally, the use of insulator coatings other than grease may be a semi-permanent or permanent remedy. Such coatings consist,
for example, of room temperature vulcanised silicone rubber and have had success in many substation applications.
The options for correcting the performance of polymeric insulators are more restricted than for those made of glass or
ceramic. Obviously, if pollution flashovers become unacceptably frequent, replacement should be considered.
Maintenance procedures must take into account the design of the insulator and the recommendations of the manufacturer.
8.2.1.1 Introduction
The growing attention to system reliability implies the necessity of adopting cost-effective measures to reduce outages of
service. Among the various options, live-insulator washing - sometimes referred to as hot-line washing- is often employed.
Herein are reviewed the methods and techniques presently used in live-insulator washing, with special reference to the related
insulation aspects. In particular, after a short description of the main washing techniques and equipment, electrical aspects
related to washing safety and performance are considered - thereby deriving indications useful for the standardisation of this
practise.
1999-09-01 118
Application of water jets.
Cleaning by water projection is nowadays the most widespread solution adopted and the analysis in the following will
concentrate on this solution; it is referred to as live-insulator washing.
Four methods of live-insulator washing are most often used 328. They differ mainly in the type of nozzle arrangement adopted,
and namely are:
Portable Hand-Held Jet Nozzles.
Helicopter Mounted Nozzles.
Remote-controlled Jet Nozzles, often automated by using robots.
Fixed-Spray Nozzles.
Portable Hand-Held Jet Nozzles are operated by qualified workers on the ground or at ground potential at relatively large
distances from the insulator, as required by safety conditions 328 329 330 331. The method is the one most adopted to date.
Fixed Spray Nozzles can be used for special applications and are installed at ground potential in fixed locations at relatively
large distances from the insulators, as in the previous method 328 332. This technique is, however, not economic for widespread
application and requires an excessive amount of water.
Helicopter-Mounted Nozzles are particularly useful when access to insulators is difficult, e.g. in rugged or remote terrain or
when high mobility is required for rapid washing operations over long distances. The system is controlled by a wash-operator
or by the pilot. With this self-contained, isolated and ungrounded system, the nozzle can be safely positioned closer to the
insulators than is the situation for the hand-held jet nozzle method.
Remote-Controlled Jet Nozzles. This method, often automated, has been recently proposed 333 334. The equipment generally
consists of a nozzle fixed to an extendible truck-mounted boom or of nozzles carried by robots that are self-moving systems
after being placed on the insulator to be washed. Today, many reasons justify the introduction of automated live maintenance;
such as, the technological advancement in this field, the increasing requirement for a better quality of work and higher safety.
Robotic-devices can allow mobile washing nozzles to be brought relatively close to the surface of the insulator; thereby
achieving uniform washing with a small amount of water.
1999-09-01 119
The water stream should withstand the electrical stress under the a.c. system voltage and the corresponding overvoltages;
as per the general requirements for live-line maintenance 329 330 331.
The requirements to satisfy these two conditions are analysed in the following section, by making reference to the most critical
condition of the water stream impinging on the energised part.
The second requirement discussed also applies to the Fixed-Spray Nozzles method.
In the case of Helicopter-Mounted Nozzles and of the Remote-Controlled Jet Nozzles methods, no harm to the personnel must
occur following capacitive charging of, or arcing along, the water stream. The other aspects that should be considered in this
case are related to the dielectric strength of the overall configuration with the helicopter, or tool, at floating potential. Also,
when they are possibly at line potential, discharges from the line-electrodes to the object at floating potential may occur.
These aspects are similar to those analysed in the literature 329 330 331 and so will not be considered further herein.
Figure 8-1: Leakage current I on the water stream in relation to the voltage and the length of the water stream 330.
1999-09-01 120
Figure 8-2: Leakage current I on the water stream in relation to various parameters 330.
a) Influence of water resistivity.
b) Influence of water pressure.
c) Iinfluence of nozzle orifice diameter.
1999-09-01 121
8.2.1.3.3 Influencing parameters
Safety and performance have been investigated taking into account the influencing parameters, such as voltage applied,
nozzle-conductor distance, water resistivity, water pressure and diameter and shape of the nozzle orifice 328 330 335 336 213 337 338
339 340 341
.
Figure 8-3: 50% flashover voltage under a.c. energisation as a function of the stream-length for different water-stream
parameters 328 330 213.
As far as impulse voltages are concerned, the dependence of the 50% flashover voltage on the polarity and shape of the
impulse is given in Figure 8-4 330. It shows the flashover voltage in relation to the time-to-crest of the applied voltage for a
water-stream length of 4m. In these tests, negative polarity was the more critical. For switching impulse (SI) waveforms, a
1999-09-01 122
front time of about 1200 s gave the lowest level of flashover voltage. This value was about 25% smaller than the
corresponding one obtained with a standard SI of positive polarity - which is usually considered the more onerous in other
experiments 336 213.
Figure 8-4: 50% flashover voltage along the water stream under impulse voltages in relation to the time-to-crest of the
applied impulse 330.
The 50% flashover voltage under switching impulse and standard lightning impulse wave (LI) is compared to the a.c.
energised one in Figure 8-5 330. In this example, all of the stresses are given in peak value to facilitate the comparison. From
comparing the results with the corresponding ones for pure air gaps331, it appears that the reduction in the flashover voltage
due to the water jet is marked with a.c. and SI, while it is minor with LI. Furthermore, the flashover value under SI is close to
that of the peak value under a.c. voltage.
Figure 8-5: 50% flashover voltage along the water stream: comparison of the dielectric strength under different stresses330.
1999-09-01 123
Figure 8-6: Average flashover gradient along the water stream in relation to various parameters 328 330 213.
a) Influence of water resistivity.
b) Influence of water pressure.
c) Influence of nozzle orifice diameter.
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The flashover voltage of the water jet is almost a linear function of the stream length.
The dependence of the average flashover gradient along the water stream on water resistivity, water pressure and nozzle
orifice diameter is shown in Figure 8-6 a), b) and c) respectively 328 330 213.
The flashover gradient increases when the water resistivity is increased. It decreases when the diameter of the nozzle is
increased and has a U-curve relationship to pressure; thereby indicating a critical pressure that causes a minimum in the
flashover strength - which depends on nozzle characteristics.
It has to be stressed that the data in Figure 8-7 refer to a particular set of parameters in terms of resistivity, water pressure and
nozzle diameter. Larger distances need to be employed when the resistivity is reduced. As an example, with reference to a 420
kV system, a decrease of the resistivity from 2.5 to 1.3 k.cm (which corresponds to the minimum value considered in the
ANSI standard 328) would lead to an increase of 10% to 15% in the minimum required distance. The influences of the nozzle
orifice diameter and water pressure also need to be considered.
The distances shown in Figure 8-7 are the values derived from solely the electrical requirement. The minimum approach
distances under SI is evaluated, in a way similar to that employed in the IEEE standard 329 and by Perin et al 330. This is
achieved by adding the so-called ergonomic distance - i.e. a sort of safety feature - to the above values, to take into account
the uncertainties in the operation. A typical value for this ergonomic distance is 0.5 m.
328
The distances evaluated are generally lower than those adopted in common practice , as shown in Figure 8-7 (black
triangle) - thereby supporting the safety procedures adopted up to now.
1999-09-01 125
8.2.1.5 Aspects related to washing performance
The above conclusions apply when washing is done correctly. When washing is too fast, or when the wash-cycle is not started
from the bottom of the insulator, flashover at lower voltages may occur.
Figure 8-9: Flashover voltage along the insulator string in relation to water pressure for various nozzle diameters 330.
As far as SI flashover voltage is concerned, rather low withstand values are obtained during washing - as is shown in Figure 8-
9 330. This information refers to standard switching impulses of negative polarity, giving - in this case - results close to the
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critical one (i.e. the minimum on the U-curve). However, the performance under SI is not very critical from the risk
viewpoint; because of the low probability of having a high overvoltage during a washing operation. Thus, the corresponding
risk of flashover can essentially be neglected. The dielectric performance during washing is also influenced by water pressure
and nozzle-orifice diameter, as may be seen from Figure 8-9. In general, the flashover voltage increases when the pressure is
increased and the orifice diameter is decreased.
Finally, it is worthy of note that the flashover voltages measured in tests simulating washing from a helicopter, were slightly
higher than those obtained by using the portable hand-held jet nozzle - for these parameters considered by Perin et al 330. This
finding can be easily explained if one considers that the orifice diameter, and thus the quantity of water employed, was much
lower in the former case.
Figure 8-10: Residual salt deposit density in relation to the washing time;
portable hand-held jet nozzle and helicopter nozzle 330.
These tests were carried out on a vertical insulator string for a 420 kV system, with a total length of 3 m. The following
washing parameters applied:
Portable hand-held jet nozzle; orifice diameter of 6.4 mm, pressure of 3000 kPa and a minimum distance to the
conductor of 5 m.
Helicopter simulation; nozzle with an orifice diameter of 1.7 mm, pressures of 4000 to 8000 kPa and minimum distance
to the conductor of 1 m.
The tests were made by contaminating the insulator string with an almost standard suspension and a non-standard one.
The almost standard suspension differed from the standard one by the quantity of kaolin used (100 g per litre). In the non-
standard suspension, glue was added (10 g of metylan per litre) to increase the adhesion and the thickness of the layer, with
the aim of simulating conditions typical of industrial areas.
The test results provided in Figure 8-10 show that the washing efficiency improves when the washing time is increased.
Furthermore, the value of the effective washing time depends on the type of contamination. The time needed for an efficient
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wash using portable hand-held jet nozzles was shorter than that with helicopter-mounted jet nozzles, for a similar water
pressure. Better agreement could be obtained by increasing the water pressure in the helicopter case.
8.2.1.7 Conclusions
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best cleaning. This is especially so when the pollution layer adheres strongly to the insulator surface; e.g. cement or gypsum,
and when the water stream can not reach the entire insulator surface 345.
8.3.1 Introduction
The performance of glazed porcelain insulators can be considerably improved by the application of hydrocarbon (petroleum
jelly) or silicone grease or a RTV silicone rubber coating to its surface346 347. Silicone greases and RTV coatings of different
types are widely used today. Both the greases and silicone rubber coatings reduce the surface energy of the insulator and
inhibit the formation of a water film. In addition, the greases encapsulate contaminant particles in a thin grease film, thereby
isolating them from each other and ensuring that the surface remains hydrophobic. In the case of the silicone rubber coating,
low-molecular weight silicone components within the body of the material diffuse to the surface and impart hydrophobic
properties to the contaminant layer 105. The inclusion of arc resistant components, such as alumina trihydrate, in the silicone
grease and RTV coatings stabilise their performance under heavy wetting and contribute to their longer useful life.
The use of these measures with porcelain insulators is well proven. Their use with polymeric insulators is not generally
recommended and should be discussed in detail with the insulator manufacturer if it is being contemplated. Based on some
experience in North America, a review has been prepared under the auspices of the IEEE 347 348. A further document contains
practical information on the preparation of insulators prior to greasing or coating and the techniques for grease or coating
application 328.
Table 8-1 Comparison of Hydrocarbon (petroleum Jelly) and silicone greases 347.
Water erosion, excessive exposure to corona, UV light and significant contaminant encapsulation reduce water repellency.
Once hydrophobicity is lost, leakage currents will commence flowing and, in time, dry band discharges will also commence.
These discharges cause the grease to decompose and the filler in the grease adds to the contaminant. Channels begin to
develop resulting in local hot spots and further degradation of the grease and possible damage to the insulator. Once channels
have begun to form, flashover of the insulator is imminent 347. Regreasing should be implemented as soon as dry band arcing
is observed.
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The frequency of regreasing depends on the type of grease and the severity of the degrading influences mentioned above.
Service experience with both a.c. and d.c. systems, has shown that the useful life of a grease coating can vary from less than
one year to 10 years.
Greases are normally applied by hand, brush or spray. Although application on de-energised systems is simpler, application
on live systems is also possible. The application of fresh grease over contaminated grease is not recommended.
There are several tests that can be made to assess the suitability of grease as an insulator coating. The most significant are an
arc endurance test under wetting and the water repellency tests in a Salt-Fog chamber or using a tracking wheel.
Unfortunately, the laboratory tests suffer from a lack of correlation with field experience. Field-testing has proved to be the
only reliable method for evaluating the performance of different greases 347.
The pollution flashover performance of a 132kV epoxy-resin crossarm, which has been used in the UK to achieve an
inconspicuous overhead line in areas of outstanding natural beauty, has been assessed using both the artificial salt-fog test and
by exposure to natural marine pollution at the Brighton Insulator Testing Station249. The findings from the salt-fog test are
shown in Table 10-39. Although there was a large reduction - up to 50% of the new value - in the flashover voltage of the
service-aged insulator, the performance of such insulators was substantially restored by the application of a hydrophobic
coating; e.g. silicone oil, restored the withstand voltage to 70% of the original value. An even larger improvement was
obtained by using hydrocarbon grease but, because it tends to promote tracking on the insulator surface, it is not
recommended for practical use. The follow-up tests at Brighton showed the benefit of using a silicone oil of as high a
viscosity as possible. In a practical application, a flashover problem was alleviated to a large extent by coating the surface
with a viscous silicone oil - applied yearly by linesmen with paintbrushes. In this case, the severity of the marine pollution -
estimated ESDD of 0.6 mg/cm2 - is even greater than that at Brighton and where flashovers had occurred on such insulators
having a specific creepage of 25 mm/kV system.
8.3.4 Summary
As a summary, a comparison of silicone greases and RTV coatings is given in Table 8-2.
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Table 8-2: Comparison of silicone greases and RTV Coatings.
SILICONE GREASES RTV COATINGS
Effectiveness excellent in lifetime
Market price Low High
Lifetime Environment and quality dependent, a few months to several years
Unsuitable environmental conditions very high concentration of dust in air very high concentration of dust in air resulting
resulting in fast saturation in the loss of hydrophobicity in a short time,
Continuous raining or humid weather
Preparation before application Low demands High demands
Application equipment and technique Simple if applied by hand
Sophisticated if applied by spray
Handling character Dirty and messy, if applied by hand
Solvent is slightly poisonous but needed if applied by spray
Monitoring needed
maintenance before replacement no washing and cleaning
removal difficult if not done in time, simplified if very difficult if adhesion of old layer is still
done timely and with right tools good
disposal varies form country to country
Reapplication direct after a rough cleaning directly, after cleaning, over the old layer if it
is still in good adhesion.
A variant of the Salt-Fog test was developed to quantify their efficacy, which was measured as a withstood pre-applied salinity
(WPS) if flashover did not occur in three out of four identical tests. Some results for 400 kV substation insulators when fitted
with booster sheds are presented in Table 8-3 for various types of wetting that simulate conditions which are known to have
caused flashover in service355. These tests show that, with 7 booster sheds on a multiple cone post insulator and 10 on a barrel
type insulator, an improvement of never less than a factor 2 was obtained in the tolerable pollution level. In one case, this
factor was as much as 128.
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Table 8-3: Improvement in performance of a 400 kV substation insulator from fitting booster sheds 355.
Investigations for their use under d.c. voltage have shown that by installing booster sheds on a HVDC wall bushing, its
dielectric strength under uneven rain or polluted conditions can be improved by up to 80 % 202. Laboratory tests have also
been performed on vertically installed d.c. station post insulators with booster sheds 110. By fitting 20 booster sheds on a
stacked station post insulator of 8.8 m overall length, the dielectric strength of this post insulator was increased by 30 % at a
pollution level of 0,02 mg/cm2, as compared to that of the insulator without such booster sheds.
8.5 Methods for increasing insulator reliability under ice and snow conditions
For reliable operation of insulation under ice or snow conditions, it is generally necessary to use insulators with a long dry
arc-distance. As ice and snow flashovers are relatively infrequent, it is reasonable to restrict the use of special insulator
designs to only selected parts of overhead lines. For example, fit them only on that part of a line that experiences regular
icing or that runs close to cooling towers etc. On other parts of the line, more economical measures to improve their
operational reliability should be considered.
V-strings offer a substantial improvement over suspension (i.e. vertical) strings with regard to the ice-flashover strength
as water does not easily drip down the string to form an ice bridge 111. This effect is even more pronounced on
horizontal strings 356 357.
Booster sheds.
The use of 3 booster sheds per metre of insulator can increase the flashover voltage under icing conditions by 20% for a
system voltage of 110 kV and 40% for 400 kV183 358. However, booster sheds tend to restrict natural washing.
1999-09-01 132
Special insulator shapes or different types of disc insulators in the same string.
For post insulators, it is possible to use designs with alternate long and short sheds. The difference between the shed
diameters must be sufficient to prevent icicle bridging.
The same effect can be achieved on suspension insulator strings by building up the string with insulators of different
diameters; e.g. an arrangement of alternate normal and aerodynamic discs.
The use of vertical polymeric insulators may prove to be ineffective if the sheds are spaced closer together than is the
case for the discs of the equivalent ceramic insulator string. In this situation, the ice-flashover voltage may actually be
lower than that for a ceramic string of the same length. An improvement may be achieved by using the polymer insulator
in V or horizontal configuration or by having an alternate long and short shed-profile with sufficient inter-shed spacing
111
.
Semiconducting glaze insulators.
Semiconducting glazed porcelain insulators usually provide a resistive current of approximately 1 mA. This steady
current improves the voltage grading and warms the insulator surface slightly. Semiconducting glazed post insulators
have shown the highest withstand voltage under icing conditions among the various insulators tested - including
conventional ceramic and polymeric insulators 180. However, there is no common agreement on the effectiveness of this
method.
Shielding insulators from water melted from ice.
By having shields places between the tower and insulator strings, the water released from the ice during melting will be
drained away from the insulators.
2) Increasing the dry arc-distance of insulators:
Please refer to Section 7.3
3) Lowering the operating voltage:
If provided for in the design of the system, the operating voltage may be lowered sufficiently to reduce the stress on the
insulator below the flashover value during the critical conditions - i.e. ice melting358.
4) Reducing the number of parallel insulators:
In areas with heavy ice accretion (for example close to cooling towers), the number of parallel vertical insulators
(insulator posts, equipment etc) should be limited to reduce the probability of flashover 358.
5) Installing stress rings:
The performance of long insulator strings under ice conditions can be improved by using stress rings that even out the
grading of the electric field along the insulator, thereby preventing a high gradient at the live end 359.
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9. THERMAL EFFECTS OF CONTAMINATION ON METAL OXIDE
ARRESTERS (MOA)
9.1 Introduction
The effect of contamination on metal oxide surge arresters with porcelain housings has already been the subject of numerous
investigations, mostly made during the last ten years 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372. Work on MOA with polymeric
housings is still in progress and will not be referred to herein.
It is generally accepted that contamination of the arrester housing can have three effects:
1. Pollution flashover of the housing when the critical severity is reached.
2. Overheating of the varistor blocks if significant energy is dissipated internally, due to either capacitive coupling to the
housing or redistribution of current at intermediate flanges of multi-unit arresters.
3. Ageing, or even failure, due to internal partial discharges triggered by transient radial fields between the blocks and the
arrester housing - particularly during dry band formation and sparkover.
Both the ANSI/IEEE Standard C62.11373 and the Amendment 1 to IEC standard 60099-4374 specifies a pollution test for metal
oxide arresters.
The present review deals mostly with the aspect of the temperature rise in metal oxide arrester blocks due to external
pollution.
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The external charge/h rose to 11 C/h for a 2-h period and 9 C/h for 6-h period, both were for the 2-unit 420 kV arrester.
The temperature rise in the bottom unit correlates rather well with the internal charge flow, per 5-min period, through
that unit.
To a first approximation, the external charge was found to be proportional to the arrester diameter.
The external charge, scaled to the housing diameter, appears to be representative of the discharge activity on the arrester.
The magnitude of the internal current cannot be linked to a block-temperature rise.
Similar field tests were reported from a 300 kV switchyard at Lista, Norway. No temperature rise measurement was
undertaken, since the arresters were connected to the network. It was stated that no correlation was found between internal
and external charge activity. To avoid confusion, however, it must be underlined that this statement applies only to charges of
just one arrester unit.
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Only a moderate temperature rise was recorded for the Salt-Fog test (< 30C) and the slurry test (< 35C) 360. The partial
wetting test was found to be the most severe, yielding a temperature rise of up to 79C. This paper served as a basis for the
standardisation of the partial-wetting method referred to in C62.11-1987 373
The results of a Salt-Fog test on the arresters described in Section 9.2 were reported by Vitet et al. 366, for salinities in the
range 1.2-80 kg/m3. Typical temperature rise curves - as a function of the test duration for different salinities - are shown in
Figure 9-1 366. The variation of the varistor temperature of the bottom unit as well as that of the internal current and of the
energy are shown in Figure 9-2 as functions of the salt-fog duration. Figure 9-3 shows the flow of external charge as a
function of the test duration 366.
Figure 9-1: Typical temperature during a Salt-Fog tests of 1.2 to 80 g/l salinity 366.
Figure 9-2: Bottom unit temperature, internal energy and internal current peaks in a Salt-Fog test 366.
From the aforementioned test, the following observations can be made 366:
No correlation was found between the maximum varistor-temperature and fog salinity.
A somewhat contradictory finding is that the external charge per hour correlates well with fog salinity and, moreover,
increases almost linearly with the test-duration.
Current peaks cannot be used to determine the thermal stress on the arrester blocks.
1999-09-01 136
Breaks in the duration of the fog spray have no effect because discharge activity ceases during such breaks.
Solid-Layer tests conducted by Vitet et al. 366 - with ESDD in the range 0.20.7 mg/cm2 - yielded a negligible temperature rise
in the bottom unit and a maximum temperature rise in the top unit of 26C; which are much less than the corresponding values
with the Salt-Fog test. Good correlation was reported between the external charge on the bottom-unit and the temperature rise
of the top-unit varistor.
Figure 9-4 shows the varistor temperature variations with test-time of the slurry test 366. In this case, the test comprised 6
cycles and the maximum temperature rise occurred with equal probability on the top or bottom unit of a 2-unit arrester. It was
found that the temperature rise in the slurry test was practically independent of the resistivity of the slurry or of the specific
leakage path. The temperature rise in the bottom unit correlated well with its internal charge. Figure 9-5 shows the
temperature variation of the top varistor and the external charge measured on the bottom unit during a partial-wetting test 366.
Note, that here, the external charge corresponds also to the internal charge of the top unit and, therefore, correlates quite well
with the top-varistor temperature rise.
Figure 9-4: Temperature and charge flow during a slurry test with six test cycles 366.
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A comparison was made 366 between the flow of external charge and the test-time for the above four test techniques. The
slurry test, after six cycles, resulted in an external charge that was slightly larger than the corresponding charge of a 2-h Salt-
Fog test. The charge associated with the Solid-Layer test, or that of a 2-cycle partial-wetting test, was significantly lower than
that of the slurry test.
Work by ENEL-CESI on pollution testing of metal oxide surge arresters has been reported in an initial paper361 and in more
detail in two subsequent publications 370 371.
It was concluded 361 that, from the point of view of thermal effects, the Salt-Fog test was more severe than the standard Solid-
Layer test. The standard Salt-Fog withstand test did not yield a significant varistor-temperature rise. On the other hand, a
significant temperature rise was obtained after repeated cycles of a salt-fog at salinities much below the withstand level. With
a block temperature up to 130C, a significant change in the arrester parameter (degradation) can result, particularly
manifested by increased resistive current and additional power loss.
Figure 9-5: Temperature and external charge flow during a partial wetting test366.
366
It was also found that, contrary to the finding discussed above, drying periods under voltage can significantly accelerate
thermal stresses in the arrester blocks 361.
Temporary overvoltages led to a significant temperature rise (116C instead of 38C in one case).
Finally, it was reported that a better correlation exists between temperature rise and internal current than that with external
current.
Garasim et al 371 have conducted pollution tests on 2-unit arresters that included measurement of internal and external currents
in both top and bottom units. This permits a more directly relevant correlation to be made between the test parameters and the
thermal stresses. The tests included the following techniques, as designated in the paper:
a) Partial-wetting test, with 2-cycle application according to ANSI/IEEE C62.11 1987 373.
b) Slurry test, with 6-cycle application.
c) Solid-Layer test according to IEC Publication 507, but with only one arrester unit contaminated with ESDD-0.015
mg/cm2.
d) Solid-Layer test as above, but applied to the complete arrester.
e) Salt-Fog test according to IEC 507, but with a 2-h duration and salinities in the range 2.5-40.9 kg/m3.
This paper leads to the following conclusions:
The test severity is determined by non-uniformity of the pollution rather than by the contamination level.
Pollution methods with forced non-uniformity have better repeatability. This is particularly so for technique (a) partial
wetting.
Block heating is closely related (almost proportionally) to inner charge flow but only loosely correlated to external
charge, except - of course - when the two are identical.
1999-09-01 138
Inner charge in the partial-wetting technique is a function of insulator geometry and wetting conditions (quantity of water
to be evaporated).
The proportionality constant between temperature rise and inner charge is generally in the range 7-10C/Coulomb.
From pollution tests conducted on surge arresters in the UK, reported by Sparrow 364, it was found that:
The rate of wetting has an important effect on the rate of external charge flow.
An increase of the applied voltage (thereby decreasing the specific leakage path) led to a significant decrease in the rate
of external charge flow.
Salinity had little effect on the charge flow per hour.
ESDD measurement does not appear to be a good basis for site severity as far as arrester heating is concerned.
The aim of an artificial pollution test should be to obtain a value of external charge per hour that is in accordance with
that at natural sites.
Some of the above points are confirmations of previous findings 362.
Verma et al. 369 reported on field experience in Germany and Salt-Fog tests on metal oxide arresters at FGH. The major
concern appears to be internal partial discharges caused by external pollution - with their associated varistor degradation and,
even, failure as referred to above. To alleviate that concern, German utilities require a 2000-h Salt-Fog test at phase-to-
ground voltage with a salinity of 1 kg/m3.
Salt-Fog tests were also reported in Vermas work 369. It was concluded that, if the ratio of the test voltage Ut (phase-to-
ground) to the arrester reference voltage Ur is less than 0.54, pollution will have no significant thermal effect on the varistors.
It is noted, however, that such a low ratio may not be practical, owing to the protective-level requirements. This work also
confirmed that a high temperature rise can be obtained at salinities much below the withstand level. It also showed that higher
temperatures are generally encountered with multi-unit rather than with single-unit arresters and that higher temperatures
occur on the top rather than on the bottom unit.
Feser et al. 365 found that for both single- and multi-unit arresters, an artificial single dry band - representing approximately
10% of the leakage path, particularly in the vicinity of the flange - can lead to a significant temperature rise of the varistor
blocks. A solid-layer contaminant was applied during those tests and wetting took place in air with a relative humidity > 85%.
In single units, the temperature rise was attributed to capacitive coupling between the varistor column and the housing and
temperatures as high as 85C were recorded. In a 2-unit arrester, temperatures as high as 105C were measured.
In a report on Solid-Layer tests (18-26 S) 368 of 110 kV and 220 kV ZnO arresters, a temperature rise of up to 46C occurred.
It was found that this temperature rise did not depend on the leakage path or the form factor of the arrester housing but, rather,
on the specific capacitance along the resistor stack. The temperature rise proved to be a statistical variable, which can be
represented by an exponential distribution. For clean and dry conditions, the calculations of overheating of the arrester
elements, as a function of input power, were provided.
1999-09-01 139
Concerning the first requirement, the effect of selecting a value of threshold current based on the charge flow per hour should
be clarified. It would be even better to eliminate that quantity altogether. Instead, the real charge rate should be determined
by excluding the capacitive component from the total current.
As for the second point, only the slurry method fulfils that requirement; because in the Salt-Fog test, the top unit is the hottest
in most cases 362 367. The third point is not always satisfied by the Salt-Fog test since, as reported by Sparrow 362, the charge
flow-rate increases with the increase of the specific leakage path - particularly at 10 kg/m3 salinity.
Furthermore, Lenk 360 found that - from the thermal point of view - the partial-wetting method was the most severe. However,
this condition is, admittedly, infrequent. In practice, some examples are malfunction of the transformer deluge system (fire
protection) and stratified fog. Bargigia et al. 371 have found that this method provides the best repeatability of all the test
techniques investigated.
A comparison between the major laboratory techniques is shown in Table 9-1. Also included are the controlling parameters to
achieve the required charge rate, the thermal effect of the test, the representativity (i.e. simulation of field conditions), the
repeatability and existing standardisation experience for each method. It should be noted that while the salt-fog technique is
known to have excellent repeatability for insulator pollution tests, Vitet et al 366 have found large variations in the maximum
varistor-temperature under tests with identical salinity. However, these authors provided no satisfactory explanation for such
a large dispersion of the test results. The final column includes some possible modifications to make the method more
versatile, if deemed necessary. As already mentioned, the effect of the drying periods in the Salt-Fog test is somewhat
controversial. Furthermore, the repetition of the partial wetting test - with the wet contaminant applied to the upper half whilst
keeping the lower half clean and dry - would cause a temperature rise in different units. This practise would remove one of
the major objections against this test.
Table 9-1: Comparison of pollution test techniques to model pollution stress for varistor block heating.
Salt-Fog Complete arrester -Nozzle pressure Substantial Good Good IEC Std 507 Inclusion of drying
-Liquid flow rate (Polluted insulators periods
-Test duration only)
Solid-Layer Complete arrester -Steam flow rate Mild Good Good IEC Std 507
-Test duration (Polluted insulators
only)
Slurry Complete arrester -Cycle duration Substantial Fair Good JEC-217
-Cycles per test
- Slurry resistivity
Partial Wetting Lower half -Cycle duration Substantial Fair Very Good ANSI/IEEE Test repetition with
-Cycles per test C62.11-1987 pollution applied to
- Slurry resistivity the upper half
In April 1998, the IEC issued Amendment 1 to IEC standard 60099-4: "Artificial pollution test with respect to the thermal
stress on porcelain-housed, multi-unit metal-oxide surge arresters"374. A brief summary of the salient features of that
document is given below.
A basic feature of this document is contained in a table that correlates the flow of external charge - qz per hour per metre of
arrester housing diameter - to the minimum creepage distance, for the range 16-31 mm/kV - which correspond to the different
pollution zones specified in IEC guide 815. For a 2h-event, qz varies in the range 0.5 to 55 C/h.m, while for a 6h-event it
varies in the range 0.24 to 36 C/h.m. The implicit assumptions here are that the external charge is determined by the specific
leakage path for all climatic and pollution conditions - e.g. industrial, marine, desert etc - and that the external charge flow is
proportional to the arrester housing diameter. An estimate of the upper limit of the arrester block temperature rise is first
made, assuming that all the expected charge will flow internally. If this estimated temperature rise Tzmax is below 40 oC, no
pollution test is required. If Tzmax is equal to or greater than 40 oC, there are two options: either carry out a pollution test or
omit that test and carry out the duty-cycle test by preheating the arrester to 20 oC + Tzmax. If carried out, the purpose of this
pollution test will be to determine the ratio of the internal- to the external-charge flow for the different arrester units. The
temperature of the internal parts may be measured instead of the internal charge. Two options for the pollution-test technique
are permitted in IEC 60099-4, Amendment 1: the slurry method and the Salt-Fog method.
In effect, the slurry test that is described comprises a wet contaminant - having a volume resistivity in the range 400 to
500 cm - that is applied uniformly to the whole arrester housing surface and with no wetting subsequent to the application of
the voltage.
1999-09-01 140
The Salt-Fog test that is prescribed is performed at two steps below the withstand salinity of the arrester housing. The test
cycle comprises 15 minutes of fog application under voltage followed by 15 minutes of energisation without fog (drying
period). As mentioned previously, the drying period under voltage can be an important factor 361.
With the so determined division of the charge flow between the external and the internal paths, and by using the external
charge severity table referred to above, a new estimate Tz of the block temperature is calculated. If Tz < 40 oC, the arrester
is preheated to 60 oC to carry out the duty cycle test. Otherwise, preheating will be to 20 oC + Tz.
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10. ADITIONAL INFORMATION AND RESULTS
1999-09-01 142
Table 10-2: Details for substation insulators (Tapered Barrel/Post); Refer Table 10-24.
3-skirt a.f. shed 496 890 650 3.2 12.90 0.28 376
abcb support
3-skirt a.f. shed 405 800 490 3.07 10.82 0.37 376
sealing end
2-skirt a.f. shed 496 870 630 3.50 11.94 0.30 376
abcb support
2-skirt a.f. shed 716 1160 780 2.94 10.16 0.23 376
oil filled c.t.i.
1999-09-01 143
Table 10-3: Details for substation insulators (Parallel Barrel / Post); Refer Table 10-24.
1999-09-01 144
Table 10-3: Continued.
Table 10-4: Details for substation insulators (Parallel Barrel / Post alternating long and short shed); Refer Table 10-24.
CEGB 70/50 profile 260 400 360 1.85 6.70 0.31 375
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Table 10-5: Details for post and cap and pin insulators; Refer Table 10-25. From reference 125.
Table 10-6: Details for cap and pin and pedestal post insulators; Refer Table 10-26. From reference 197.
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Table 10-7: Details for barrel insulators; Refer Table 10-26. From reference 197.
1b 69 163 50
2b 100 181 56
2c 113 213 50
2d 125 225 56
2e 113 244 38
4a 138 250 56
4b 75 200 50
5a 75 156 31
5b 88 169 31
8a 125 263 69
9c 300 400 62
8b 119 256 31 / 73
(Alternating long
and short shed)
9b 250 375 25/38
(Alternating long
and short shed)
1999-09-01 147
Table 10-8: Details for cap and pin insulators; Refer Table 10-27 and Table 10-28. From reference 380.
1999-09-01 148
Table 10-9: Details for post and longrod insulators, Refer Table 10-27. From reference 380.
1999-09-01 149
Table 10-10: Details for cap and pin insulators; Refer Table 10-29. From reference 315.
1999-09-01 150
Table 10-11: Details for cap and pin insulators; Refer Table 10-30. From reference 380.
1999-09-01 151
Table 10-12: Details for post and longrod insulators; Refer Table 10-30. From reference 381.
Table 10-13: Details for cap and pin insulators; Refer Table 10-31 and Table 10-32. From reference 199.
1999-09-01 152
Table 10-14: Details for post insulators; Refer Table 10-32. From reference 199.
Table 10-15: Details for polymeric longrod insulators; Refer Table 10-34, Table 10-35 and Table 10-40. From references
126 and 127.
1999-09-01 153
Table 10-16: Details for polymeric longrod insulators; Refer Table 10-36. From reference 381.
S 42 164 55 139
T 43 127 66 155
V 44 123 60 222
W 40 178 65 156
Table 10-17: Details for polymeric longrod insulators; Refer Table 10-37. From reference 380.
Table 10-18: Details for polymeric longrod insulators; Refer Table 10-38. From reference 315.
A
Low slope with rib 35 160 45 158
B
Mean slope 35 160 55 167
E
Mean slope with rib 35 160 45 169
F
High slope 35 160 45 172
I
High slope with rib 35 160 55 200
J
Notes: * : Description as used in reference
** : For quoted shed spacing
1999-09-01 154
Table 10-19: Details for cap and pin insulators; Refer Figure 10-1. From reference 111.
Table 10-20: Details for cap and pin insulators; Refer Figure 10-2. From reference 382.
1999-09-01 155
Table 10-21: Details for cap and pin insulators; Refer Figure 10-3. From references 22, 124 and 143.
1999-09-01 156
Table 10-22: Details for cylindrical Insulators (Parallel Barrel); Refer Figure 3-11. From reference 85.
C Various 65 65 250
H Various 70 70 190
I Various 70 70 203
Table 10-23: Details for interrupter head insulators (Parallel Barrel); Refer Figure 3-17. From reference 129.
1999-09-01 157
10.2 Ranking of insulators
1999-09-01 158
Table 10-25: a.c. Ceramic insulators, vertically mounted; flashover performance under marine pollution at BITS *.
1999-09-01 159
Table 10-27: Critical d.c. flashover strength of ceramic insulators, vertically mounted; negative polarity; performance in
artificial pollution, using spray fog and Portland cement *.
1999-09-01 160
Table 10-30: Critical d.c. flashover strength of ceramic insulators, vertically mounted; negative polarity; performance in
artificial pollution, using clean-fog and kaolin plus salt at ESDD = 0.05 mg/cm2 *.
1999-09-01 161
Table 10-32: Critical d.c. flashover stress for ceramic insulators, vertically mounted; performance in artificial pollution,
using Clean-Fog test with Tonoko plus NaCl at ESDD = 0.05 mg/cm2 *.
1999-09-01 162
Table 10-36: Critical d.c. flashover strength of polymeric insulators, vertically mounted; negative polarity; performance in
artificial pollution, using Clean-Fog test with kaolin plus NaCl at ESDD = 0.05 mg/cm2 *.
1999-09-01 163
10.3 Insulator performance as a function of pollution severity
Figure 10-1: Laboratory a.c. test results, using solid layer method, for cap and pin insulators; showing specific creepage at
50% flashover vs. SDD 111.
Figure 10-2: Laboratory a.c. test results, using solid layer method, for cap and pin insulators; showing specific creepage at
50% flashover vs. SDD 382
1999-09-01 164
Figure 10-3: A.c. test results from various laboratories, using Salt-Fog method, for cap and pin insulators; showing specific
creepage at withstand vs salinity 22 143 124
1999-09-01 165
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