Replacement Strategy of Insulators Established by Probability of Failure

Simpy Sanyal, Taeyong Kim, Chang-Sung Seok, Junsin Yi, Ja-Bin Koo, Ju-Am Son and In-Hyuk Choi
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Simpy Sanyal: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea
Taeyong Kim: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea
Chang-Sung Seok: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea
Junsin Yi: College of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea
Ja-Bin Koo: 2KEPCO Research Institute, Daejeon 34056, Korea
Ju-Am Son: 2KEPCO Research Institute, Daejeon 34056, Korea
In-Hyuk Choi: 2KEPCO Research Institute, Daejeon 34056, Korea

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Insulators comprise only 5% of the capital cost of transmission lines; they are accountable for 70% of line interruptions and 50% of maintenance costs of transmission lines. Major transmission lines situated in different parts of the world were mostly all constructed 30 years ago. These lines have either completed or are approaching the active life at 30 years. It is not possible to replace all insulators at a time in any utility. From a standpoint of consistency, it is quite important to locate insulators that require replacement prior to the occurrence of failure. Recalling these issues, a replacement strategy was modeled on insulator samples, operated at 154 kV, mechanical and electrical rating (M+E) 25,000 lbs and within the 10–50 years (Y) age group, collected in bulk for laboratory evaluation, based on the probability of mechanical failure (P(F)) of insulators. For conducting these studies, tensile load test such as combined electrical and mechanical failing load test was performed on selected 30 new and aged porcelain insulator samples from bulk to access recent condition. It was observed that insulators under service for 50 years manifested a decrease of 89.3% in quality factor (K), as compared to insulators within 10 years of service. A micro-structural study was carried out by using an optical microscope (OM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for the further confirmation of previous evaluations. P(F) was derived by implementing Weibull distribution on the experimental observations. It was observed that insulators with an age of 50 years depicted a 2.7% increase in P(F), as compared to insulators with an age of 10 years. This article discussed a strategy for accessing the recent condition of new, aged bulk samples and the criteria of the replacement of the insulator string based on P(F).

Keywords: probability of failure; replacement strategy; tensile load test; microstructural study; Weibull distribution (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 complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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