Characteristic of Cup-and-Pin Insulator Flashover Voltage under Fan-Shaped Contamination with Various Types and Levels of Pollutant

Outdoor insulators can be contaminated in a variety of ways. One of them is fan-shaped non-uniform pollution distribution. This type has a point of view that the wind comes continuously from one direction, resulting in a windward side which represents the direction of the incoming flow and a leeward side where the more severe pollutant layer is on a small area of insulator. Not many contaminant parameters have been discussed related to fan-shaped pollution distribution type. This study was to investigate the flashover voltage characteristics of a fan-shaped contaminated insulator by considering the type and level of pollutants. The porcelain cup-and-pin insulators were polluted by various contamination techniques. The flashover testing was conducted after the naturally dried contaminated insulator was subjected to humidity for a certain duration. After the flashover voltages were obtained 10 times, the insulator was measured for the equivalent salt deposit density (ESDD) and non-soluble material deposit density (NSDD) values. The results showed that the proposed contamination technique was quite effective in controlling the level of insulator pollution. The flashover voltage of cup-and-pin insulator with fan-shaped pollution distribution was not only affected by the pollutant weight, but also by the pollutant type.