R. S. Gorur

Aging in silicone rubber used for outdoor insulation

A hypothesis for aging produced by dry band arcing in silicone rubber material used for outdoor insulation is presented and experimentally proven. Aging is indicated by permanent changes. The analytical techniques used to study the permanent changes are Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and surface roughness measurement. The authors highlight the fact that there are permanent changes occurring in the material that lead to progressive degradation in the long run, even though there can be a complete recovery of surface hydrophobicity in a short time. >

Dynamic arc modeling of pollution flashover of insulators under DC voltage

A dynamic model that computes the flashover voltages of polluted insulators energized with DC voltage is presented. The salient feature of this model is that it takes into account the configuration of the insulator profile at every instant, which plays an important role in the flashover process of the DC polluted insulators. A number of practical insulator geometries have been studied, and the validity of the model is verified by comparing the computed results with the experimental results of previous researchers. >

Surface hydrophobicity of polymers used for outdoor insulation

The results of a study on silicone rubber and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) polymers are presented. The study was done to understand the mechanisms involved in the loss and subsequent recovery of surface hydrophobicity due to dry-band arcing and to investigate various experimental techniques which could be used for characterizing surface hydrophobicity. The materials are subjected to dry-band arcing in a log chamber. Several techniques such as measurement of contact angle, determining surface composition using electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), and measuring crossover voltage (COV) using a scanning electron microscope are examined. The experimental results and theoretical calculations demonstrate that the mobile species in the polymer are responsible for the surface hydrophobicity. In terms of repeatability and simplicity of measurement, the COV determination appears to be the most suitable technique for hydrophobicity studies. >

Surface recovery of silicone rubber used for HV outdoor insulation

Results of a study performed to obtain a better understanding of the material characteristics responsible for hydrophobicity recovery leading to a high wet surface resistance in silicone rubbers used for outdoor HV insulation, are reported. The samples were obtained from new and artificially aged HV insulators using HTV silicone rubbers (3 different formulations) as weathershed and RTV silicone rubbers (2 different formulations) as a protective coating. The main experimental facilities employed consist of a salt fog chamber for artificially aging the insulators, and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for material studies. New results of practical significance that have emerged from this study are: (1) hydrophobicity recovery, predominantly due to diffusion of low molecular weight (LMW) silicone polymer chains, occurs with only a fraction ( >

Accelerated aging and flashover tests on 138 kV nonceramic line post insulators

The behavior of 138 kV nonceramic line post insulators is investigated by means of clean fog tests conducted before and after aging in a specially designed accelerated aging chamber. The laboratory aging cycles are justified on the basis of actual weather in the coastal regions of Florida. Analytical measurements quantifying the degree of artificial aging are discussed, and artificial aging is compared with service experience. Observations of audible noise and radio influence voltage during the clean fog tests are reported. >

AC clean fog tests on nonceramic insulating materials and a comparison with porcelain

AC clean fog tests were performed on nonceramic materials used for outdoor high voltage insulators, namely, room and high temperature vulcanizing (RTV and HTV) silicone rubber, and ethylene propylene rubber (EPR), with porcelain used as the reference. The steam input rate was varied upwards from the value standardized for porcelain insulators. Results indicate that higher steam input rates produce a significant reduction in the flashover voltage of silicone rubber family materials, although it is always higher than that obtained for EPR and porcelain. For EPR, the reduction is less and is similar to that established for porcelain. The mechanisms involved have been examined. The trend in the results is found to be consistent for different formulations and insulator geometries of the generic polymer (e.g. silicone rubber, EPR) evaluated. A new, simple method for consistently applying uniform contamination on silicone rubber (both RTV and HTV) is described, without the use of extensive physical or chemical treatments, or prior conditioning by dry band arcing. >

Dielectric properties of epoxy based nanocomposites for high voltage insulation

Epoxy polymer with micro, nano and micro + nano silica fillers have been evaluated for their electrical performance in high voltage insulation applications. The dielectric strength of these samples was measured in accordance with the ASTM D-149 standard. Dielectric spectroscopy was used to understand the role of space charge and interfaces in these materials. The results of dielectric spectroscopy suggest that significant improvement in the electrical performance can be expected by using samples containing nanofillers and micro + nanofillers when compared to materials containing only microfillers. However, the dielectric strength measurement showed no statistically significant improvement for the nanofilled samples. Techniques other than dielectric breakdown may be required to adequately characterize differences in the electrical performance of the dielectrics. For example, a partial discharge test using a highly non-uniform field may be more useful as it would correspond to simulate actual service conditions.

A laboratory test for tracking and erosion resistance of HV outdoor insulation

A new laboratory test for evaluating the tracking and erosion performance of HV outdoor polymeric insulating materials is described. The materials evaluated include various formulations of HTV (high temperature vulcanized) silicone rubber and polyolefin polymers. The test is based on combining some features of the ASTM D2132 DF (dust and fog) test and the ASTM D2303 IP (inclined plane) test. The new test employs IP test geometry, IP test equipment, and IP specimen plaques. The plaque is coated with a mixture of clay and salt similar to the contaminant of the DF test and identical to the contaminant used in the IEC clean fog test to rate ceramic insulators for use in contaminated environments. A liquid contaminant with a conductivity similar to that of the DF test is applied to the test specimen in the same way as in the IP test. Data collected from the field on the maximum concentration of insoluble and soluble ionic materials on surfaces of contaminated insulators which have been for 21 years in contaminated regions, provide a basis for choosing the minimum concentration of the solid contaminant to apply to the specimens. This choice also serves to define, at least tentatively, the geographical area where the results of this test have significance. It is expected that this test could be used also for screening materials and obtaining a relative ranking of the tracking and erosion resistance of various materials. Measurements of the leakage current via a computerized data acquisition system, and the discharge activity with a high speed camera were performed, and have resulted in a better understanding of the onset of material degradation.

Characterization of epoxy microcomposite and nanocomposite materials for power engineering applications

This article presents the results from round-robin tests performed on epoxy composite materials. These results show the potential of these materials for use as electrical insulation in some specific applications. A small section of the article addresses the health and safety issues related to the use of nanoparticles in the electrical power engineering industry. We define epoxy nanocomposites as epoxy-based materials containing exclusively nanosized filler particles. Epoxy microcomposites are defined as epoxy materials containing exclusively microsized filler particles, and epoxy micro+nano composites are materials containing both microsized and nanosized particles.

Electric field computation of composite line insulators up to 1200 kV AC

Satisfactory operation of composite insulators is intimately related to the surface electric field (stress) distribution. This paper presents results of calculation of the electric field distribution for composite insulators up to 1200 kV, using a 3D software package based on the Boundary Element Method. The impact of corona and grading rings, single and bundled conductors, insulator orientation (dead-end and suspension), single and double units, and surface condition (dry and wet) on the electric field distribution has been analyzed. For UHV systems (higher than 750 kV ac) the use of dual insulators with individual corona rings at the line and ground end and a common grading ring at the line end is beneficial. The existence of optimal dimensions of corona and grading arrangement has been illustrated on a 1000 kV insulator string. It was found that the dead end insulators experience higher electric stress when compared to their suspension counterparts and this difference gets more prominent as the system voltage increases.