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Cigr WG C4.303

Guide for the selection of insulators with respect to contamination conditions

Chris Engelbrecht: Convener WG C4.303

WG C4.303

Topics:
The selection of insulators with respect to polluted conditions

Present practise Vision of the future

Cigr guidelines Revised IEC 60815

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Present practise I
Specification of Insulators
Mechanical
Guidance

Electrical
Testing

Ultimate failing load Cantilever load Etc.

IEC 60071 Ins. Co-ord. IEC 60815 Polluted ins.

LIWL (kV) SIWL (kV) Wet a.c. (kV) Creepage(mm)

IEC 60060 Test methods IEC 60507 Pollution tests

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Present practise II
1986 IEC 815 Published:
Much debate Mostly based on small posts Only porcelain and glass Guideline comprised
Simple site severity classification Simple table of creepage distance Correction for diameter Profile limitations
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Site assessment by example descriptions

Very Light Example Description of Typical Environment > 50 km from any sea, desert, or open dry land > 10 km from man-made pollution sources or within a shorter distance, but: the prevailing wind is not directly from these pollution sources and/or subjected to regular monthly rain washing Light 10-50 km from the sea, a desert, or open dry land 5-10 km from man-made pollution sources or within a shorter distance, but: the prevailing wind is not directly from these pollution sources and/or subjected to regular monthly rain washing Medium 3-10 km from the sea, a desert, or open dry land 1-5 km from man-made pollution sources or within a shorter distance, but: the prevailing wind is not directly from these pollution sources and/or subjected to regular monthly rain washing or further away, but: a dense fog (or drizzle) often occurs after a long dry pollution accumulation season (several weeks or months) and/or heavy rains with a high conductivity occurs and/or there is a high NSDD level, typically between 5 and 10 times the ESDD level Heavy Within 3 km of the sea, a desert, or open dry land Within 1 km of man-made pollution sources or with a greater distance, but: a dense fog (or drizzle) often occurs after a long dry pollution accumulation season (several weeks or months) and/or there is a high NSDD level, typically between 5 and 10 times the ESDD Within the same distance of pollution sources as specified for Heavy areas and: directly subjected to sea-spray or dense saline fog or directly subjected to contaminants with high conductivity, or cement type dust with high density, and with frequent wetting by fog or drizzle Desert areas with fast accumulation of sand and salt, and regular condensation Areas with extreme levels of NSDD, more than 10 times the level of ESDD

Very heavy

WG C4.303

Creepage Distance
Shortest distance along the insulating surface [mm] Up to now
Specific creepage distance [mm/kV] Phase to phase voltage [Uh for equipment]

In future
Unified Specific creepage distance [mm/kV] Voltage across the insulator [norm. Uh /3]

Why this change

Not all insulators are phase to ground
Capacitor banks, phase to phase insulation etc

Direct comparison with Laboratory testing

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Past IEC 60815 Recommendations

Category Salt Fog ESDD Layer Specific Creepage Unified Specific 2 conductivity [S] [g/l] [mm/kVpp] Creepage [mm/kVpg] [mg/cm ] Light 5 14 0.03 0.06 15 20 16 28 Medium 14 40 0.10 0.20 24 25 20 35 Heavy 40 112 0.30 0.60 > 36 25 43 Very Heavy > 112 > 0.60 31 54
1.4 1.2

Site classification Selection of creepage Correction for diameter

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Correction factor [Kd]

1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 200 400 600 800 1000

Average Diameter [mm]

Whats wrong with this?

Let us look at past experience.

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IEC 815 and Line insulators

Unified Specific Creepage Distance (USCD: mm/kV)
60 55 50 45 40 35 30

Generally works well However: Does not cover all insulator shapes Breaks down at high pollution levels

Commonly used Creepage distance requirement

25

Average curve
20

Range of experimental results

15
0.0065 0.01 0.02 0.04 0.065 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.65 1 2

Clean Fog Test (W ithstand SDD: mg/cm 2 )

0.7 1 2 3 5 7 10 20 30 50 70 100
3

200 300

Salt Fog Test (W ithstand Salinity: kg/m )

1.5 2 3 4 6 10 15 20 30 40 60 100 150

W et Contaminant Test (W ithstand Layer conductivity: S)

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IEC 815 and Equipment insulators

100 Unified Specific Creepage distance [mm/kV] 10 1 10 100 1000 Pollution severity [Salt-fog - g/l]

Not as good as for line insulators Important to correct for diameter

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Why is this so?

You need to look at the flashover mechanism.

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Mechanism
Unit Gets Contaminated: - Dry Contamination non-conductive Unit becomes wet by condensation / absorption: -Wet Contamination conductive current flows - Corona Occurs due to E-field Redistribution Dry Bands Form due to Localized Heating -Where current density is high, e.g. close to pin - Dry Bands can be quenched by high wetting Arcs bridge Dry Bands - Dry bands grow due to heating at arc roots - Arcs extinguish if dry band too large - If wetting critical entire unit flashes
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SHAPE
Pollution
Type (Solubility)

DIMENSIONS
Voltage

Length Creepage Diameter

Flashover

Washing Wetting
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Form factor HC Wetting Intensity

Surface conductivity

Conclusion
The performance of an insulator is the result of a complex interaction between the insulator and its operating environment.
Every site is an exception: Consider fundamentals

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Insulation coordination:
AC Systems
8
2.6 p.u 1.8 p.u

Insulation distance, m

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 300 500 700

Pollution Slow-front Lightning

900 1100 1300

Pollution Slow-front Lightning

Maximum system Voltage, kV Pollution based on glass or porcelain

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CIGR Guidelines:
Polluted insulators: A review of current knowledge Technical brochure 158, June 2000. Polluted insulators: Guidelines for selection and dimensioning
Part 1: General principles and the a.c. case Technical brochure 361 Part 2: The d.c. case Still being worked on
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Cigr Review of current Knowledge

Technical brochure 158 (June 2000)
9 Chapters + Annexes: 185 Pages, 382 references
Introduction Pollution flashover process Insulator characteristics Environmental impact Pollution monitoring Testing procedures Insulator selection and dimensioning Palliatives and mitigation measures Thermal effects on metal oxide arresters

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Cigr AC Guidelines
Technical brochure 361 (June 2008)
General guidelines in Body
Outline of method Simplified statistical with correction factors

Detail technical information in Annex

Worked examples General descriptions of typical environments Site pollution severity assessment Insulator characteristics and correction factors Laboratory test method for polymeric insulators

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Old insulators

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Observations: No Activity

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Leakage current < 1 mA

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Observations: Corona

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Leakage current < 10 mA

Observations: Pulsed scintillation

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Leakage current 10-50 mA

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Observations: Continuous scintillation

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Leakage current 40-70 mA

Observations: Pulsed dry-band arcs

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Leakage current 60-100 mA

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Observations: Intense dry-band arcing

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Leakage current > 100 mA

Pollution catch:
Function of the aerodynamic shape
weak vortices LowVelocity turbulence vortices weak vortex vortex wind direction wind direction LowVelocity turbulence

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Protected creepage

Protected areas
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Classification of pollution
Active Pollution
(Form a conductive layer)

Inert Pollution
(Influence conductive layer)

Conductive pollution High solubility salts

NaCl, MgCl, NaSO4, etc

Hydrophilic pollution
Kaolin, clay

Hydrophobic Pollution
Silicone grease

Low solubility salts

Gypsum, Fly ash, Cement

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The Form Factor

ESDD Pollution density surface conductivity ( s ) Resistance is given by S 1 1 k dx Rins = s D( x) 0 or 1 Rins = K f

K f :Form factor

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Hydrophobic properties
1 2 3

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