King Fahd University Of Petroleum & Minerals
Electrical Engineering Department
EE 464
HIGH VOLTAGE ENGINEERING LAB
Experiment#3
AC High voltage application on dry and
wet string of insulators
By:
Mohammed Alghubari
200916430
Objectives: To become familiar with the:
Types of insulators available on the transmission line
system.
High voltage flashover phenomena of the insulators.
The effect of the insulator surface condition (Wet and
Dry) on the insulator HV withstand level.
Procedures: 1. Two insulator units with dry surface will be stressed with
HV till flashover, and
2. Two other insulator units with wet surface will be
stressed with HV till flashover.
Report:
[1]Short literature survey of the insulator testing.
Insulator Testing:-
According to the British Standard, the electrical insulator must undergo the following tests
1. Flashover tests of insulator,
2. Performance tests and
3. Routine tests
Let's have a discussion one by one-
Flashover Test
There are mainly three types of flashover test performed on an insulator and these are-
Power Frequency Dry Flashover Test of Insulator
1. First the insulator to be tested is mounted in the manner in which it would be used
practically.
2. Then terminals of variable power frequency voltage source are connected to
the both electrodes of the insulator.
3. Now the power frequency voltage is applied and gradually increased up to
the specified value. This specified value is below the minimum flashover
voltage.
4. This voltage is maintained for one minute and observe that there should not
be any flash-over or puncher occurred.
The insulator must be capable of sustaining the specified minimum voltage for one minute
without flash over.
Power Frequency Wet Flashover Test or Rain Test of Insulator
1. In this test also the insulator to be tested is mounted in the manner in which it would be
used practically.
2. Then terminals of variable power frequency voltage source are connected to
the both electrodes of the insulator.
3. After that the insulator is sprayed with water at an angle of 45o in such a
manner that its precipitation should not be more 5.08 mm per minute.
The resistance of the water used for spraying must be between 9 kΩ 10 11 kΩ
per cm3 at normal atmospheric pressure and temperature. In this way we
create artificial raining condition.
4. Now the power frequency voltage is applied and gradually increased up to
the specified value.
5. This voltage is maintained for either one minute or 30 second as specified
and observe that there should not be any flash-over or puncher occurred. The
insulator must be capable of sustaining the specified minimum power
frequency voltage for specified period without flash over in the said wet
condition.
Power Frequency Flashover Voltage test of Insulator
1. The insulator is kept in similar manner of previous test.
2. In this test the applied voltage is gradually increased in similar to that of
previous tests.
3. But in that case the voltage when the surroundings air breaks down, is
noted.
Impulse Frequency Flashover Voltage Test of Insulator
The overhead outdoor insulator must be capable of sustaining high voltage surges caused by
lightning etc. So this must be tested against the high voltage surges.
1. The insulator is kept in similar manner of previous test.
2. Then several hundred thousands Hz very high impulse voltage generator is
connected to the insulator.
3. Such a voltage is applied to the insulator and the spark over voltage is
noted.
The ratio of this noted voltage to the voltage reading collected from power
frequency flashovervoltage test is known as impulse ratio of insulator.
This ratio should be approximately 1.4 for pin type insulator and 1.3 for suspension type
insulators.
[2]Report your observation of the available insulator types.
The HV/EHV insulators are broadly divided into two types based on the material used. One is
ceramic and the other is polymer (composite) insulator. In Fig-A is shown the sketch
of a porcelain disc insulator unit and in Fig-B is shown a glass disc insulator.
Traditionally ceramic insulators of porcelain are used in both transmission and distribution lines.
Now polymer or composite insulators are increasingly used in high voltage transmission systems. The
polymer insulators have a fibre rod surrounded by outer sheath of some polymer. Due
to the hydrophobic nature of the polymer insulator surface, dry areas are formed
between wet areas resulting in discontinuities in wet creepage path. This phenomenon
helps improve the performance of the polymer insulator in polluted and coastal areas.
The polymer insulators has one great advantage that it is quite lighter in comparison
to porcelain insulators. It is reported that the polymeric insulator surface degrade
faster in comparison to porcelain insulator. One important disadvantage with
porcelain insulator is that the porcelain insulators can bear large compressive force
but less tensional force. The porcelain insulators surface is hydrophilic in nature,
which means affinity for water. Polymer insulators age faster than ceramic insulators.
[3]Draw schematically the HV testing circuit specifying all parts of the circuit.
Figure 1: Schematic of HV testing circuit.
[4] Draw a table to register your observation regarding the staring of the audio sound, visual
sparks and flashover voltage.
Observation audio sound visual sparks flashover voltage
@Voltage 25-30kV 30kV-35kV 35-40kV
Table1: Observation regarding the staring of the audio sound, visual sparks and
flashover voltage.
[5]Comments on the outcome results of the experiments.
In this experiment we learnt about insulator testing and different types
of flashover test performed on an insulator. Also we saw
the effect when we apply a high voltage on a wet insulator
units and we heart firstly the audio sound and after that we
saw the visual sprarks and finally the flashover voltage.