Influence of Power Source on Contamination Withstand Voltage of Polymer Insulators

Abstract

Generally, heavy leakage currents flow along the contaminated and wetted insulator surface. In case of weak power source, applied voltage is remarkably reduced due to such heavy leakage currents at the flashover/withstand voltage test of contaminated insulators. So, higher flashover/withstand voltages have been obtained on contaminated porcelain insulators by a weak power source. However, the influence of power source on flashover/withstand voltage of contaminated hydrophobic polymer insulators has not been clarified yet.
We investigated the influence of power source on contamination withstand voltage of polymer insulators by a stiff and a weak power source. As the results, in case of light contamination condition, any discernible effects of power source on contamination withstand voltage of hydrophobic polymer insulators couldn't be observed. On the other hand, in case of heavy contamination condition, significant effect was observed.