Investigating the Effect of Rainfall Parameters on the Self-Cleaning of Polluted Suspension Insulators: Insight from Southern China

Zidan Jiang, Xingliang Jiang, Zhijin Zhang, Yujun Guo and Yongfu Li
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Zidan Jiang: State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment & System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China
Xingliang Jiang: State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment & System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China
Zhijin Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment & System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China
Yujun Guo: State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment & System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China
Yongfu Li: State Grid Chongqing Electric Power Co. Electric Power Research Institute, Chongqing 401123, China

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: The cleaning effect of heavy rain (the rainfall reaches 5 mm every day) on surface contamination of insulators is more effective than dew, fog, mist, and other light rain conditions which can initiate leakage currents and increase the likelihood of flashover. It is well understood that heavy rain can wash away contamination from the surface of high voltage (HV) insulators and thereby reduce the risk of pollution flashover. This study examines the cleaning effect of natural wetting conditions on HV insulators on four 500 kV transmission lines in Hunan Province, China. Historical meteorological data, monthly equivalent salt deposit density (ESDD) and non-soluble deposit density (NSDD) measurements taken over a period of five years were analyzed to investigate the relationship between rainfall intensity and insulator cleaning. The measured data show that the ESDD/NSDD changes with the seasonal variation, which accumulates in dry season (January–April, about 117–122 days) and is washed off in the wet season (June–October, about 118–127 days). According to the measured data, the ESDD and NSDD on the surface of insulators were affected by the rainfall intensity (in the dry season it is about 1 mm/day and in the wet season it is about 5 mm/day). Based on a comparison of the four study sites, we propose a mathematical model to show the functional relationship between rainfall intensity and insulator self-cleaning capability. The mathematical model’s coefficient of determination ( R 2 ) is greater than 0.9 and the effective rate of self-cleaning capability reaches 80%.

Keywords: contamination; equivalent salt deposit density (ESDD); non-soluble deposit density (NSDD); rainfall intensity; insulator; functional relationship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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