Lessons to Learn from Post-Installation Pollution Levels Assessment of Some Distribution Insulators

Issouf Fofana, Janvier Sylvestre N’cho, Amidou Betie, Epiphane Hounton, Fethi Meghnefi and Kouba Marie Lucia Yapi
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Issouf Fofana: Research Chair on the Aging of Power Network Infrastructure (ViAHT), Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l’Université, Chicoutimi, QC G7H 2B1, Canada
Janvier Sylvestre N’cho: Département Génie Électrique et Électronique, Institut National Polytechnique Houphouët Boigny (INP-HB), Yamoussoukro BP 1093, Cote D’Ivoire
Amidou Betie: Département Génie Électrique et Électronique, Institut National Polytechnique Houphouët Boigny (INP-HB), Yamoussoukro BP 1093, Cote D’Ivoire
Epiphane Hounton: Research Chair on the Aging of Power Network Infrastructure (ViAHT), Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l’Université, Chicoutimi, QC G7H 2B1, Canada
Fethi Meghnefi: Research Chair on the Aging of Power Network Infrastructure (ViAHT), Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l’Université, Chicoutimi, QC G7H 2B1, Canada
Kouba Marie Lucia Yapi: Research Chair on the Aging of Power Network Infrastructure (ViAHT), Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l’Université, Chicoutimi, QC G7H 2B1, Canada

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-11

Abstract: Among the main causes of outdoor insulation failures is their poor specifications in terms of leakage distances. This happens when the selected criteria are unable to cope with all the stresses imposed by the changes in environmental pollutions. Therefore, it is important for utilities to fully understand the actual pollution characteristics of the service environment in which the insulators are operating. In this paper, the pollution severity and performance of some 13.2 kV ceramic insulators, sampled in different areas of a Canadian aluminum factory, are assessed. The investigations were performed taking into account the influence of air humidity. Various characteristics were investigated to assess the pollution levels of the insulators, such as equivalent salt deposit density (ESDD) and non-soluble deposit density (NSDD), surface resistance, and leakage current characteristics (density, 3rd harmonic amplitude, and phase). It was witnessed that the insulators, collected around the factory, were much more polluted in comparison to the initial expectation. The pollution level should not be considered static due to the environmental parameters’ dynamics. Lessons to learn: the reliability of an electrical grid is dependent on components whose own reliability is strongly affected by external factors, of which there is often a poor awareness. If care is not taken to re-evaluate the post-installation pollution levels of the insulators, the light may simply turn out!

Keywords: insulator; pollution; humidity; equivalent salt deposit density (ESDD); non-soluble deposit density (NSDD); leakage current; post-installation study (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: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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