Lecture: 1 Notes * For voltage rises, inductive compensation and

for voltage drops, capacitive compensation must

Advantages of HVDC Transmission: usually be provided.
* Skin Effect: In HVDC transmission current
distributes uniformly over the cross section of
the conductor. Hence no loss due to skin effect.
HVDC
* Transmission Losses: HVDC transmission
requires only two conductors, hence power loss
in de line will be lower compared to ac
* Voltage Regulation: In dc lines voltage drop
does not exist due to inductive reactance so the
voltage Regulation will be better in HVDC
* Surge Impedance Loading: Long EHV ac lines
are loaded less than 80% of normal load, such
condition is not applicable in HVDC
transmission
* Corona and Radio Interference: Corona loss
directly proportional to frequency, therefore in
DC line corona loss will be lower compared to
AC transmission line.
Operating Voltages:
for voltages beyond 400kV switching surges are
more severe than lightning surges. Switching
surge levels are lesser in de compared to ac line,
hence less insulation requirement.
* Reactive Power Compensation: Unlike AC line
DC line does not require any reactive power
compensation devices. This is because of the
absence of charging currents and power factor
operation.
* Short circuit currents during fault in de line
will be low compared to ас lines.
* Experience has shown that it is Economical
and has greater reliability.

STANDARD TRANSMISSION VOLTAGES

* Voltages adopted for transmission of bulk
power have to conform to standard
specifications formulated in all countries /
internationally.
* Necessary in view of import, export, domestic
manufacture and use.
* in India as per IS-2026 for L-to-L voltages
adopted are:

* Maximum operating voltages specified above

should in no case be exceeded in any part of
system, since insulation levels of all equipment
are based upon them
* Therefore the primary responsibility of a
design engineer to provide sufficient & proper
type of reactive power at suitable places in the
system.
  Service experience with Ceramic / Glass
and NCI - A Comparison
 Failure analysis - Case studies
 Reliability, Basic philosophy of Testing, its
Importance

 History of Transmission Insulators

 Basically grew out of the needs of telegraph
industry - starting in the late 1700s, early
1800s
 Early history centers around what today
we would consider very low
 DC voltages
 Gradually technical needs increased as AC
voltages grew with the development of
electric power industry
 During 1840-50s
 Glass plates used to insulate telegraph lines
 Many, many trials with different materials -
wood - cement - porcelain - beeswax
soaked rag wrapped around the wire, etc.
 Ultimately porcelain and glass prevailed
Lecture No: 2 Notes  During 1893 - 1897
 Wet process porcelain developed for high
Transmission System Development Issues - voltage applications
Advancement  Porcelain insulator industry started
Aim: To develop a strong transmission system  During 1902 - 1920s
between generation complex and bulk  Application voltages increased
consumption centers is required.  Insulator designs became larger, more
However, following issues: complex
* Minimization of Right of Way  Ceramics (porcelain, glass) still only
* Protection of flora & fauna, wild life choices at high voltages
* Creation of long distance high capacity  In 1907 Harold Buck (Niagara falls power
transmission corridors to enable minimum cost Corporation) and Edward Hewlett (of GE)
per MW transfer as well as optimal transmission invented the disc insulator.
losses  During 1960
* Minimal Impact on Environnent  US trials of first "NCIs" - Not successful, but
* Strengthening of National Grid others soon b interested and a new
industry started up
Important COMPONENTS OF A  During 1960 - 1965
TRANSMISSION  Europeans develop "modern" style NCI -
 Insulators fiberglass rod with y polymeric sheds -
 Conductors Now considered "First generation".
 Towers & Foundations  During 1970s - present
 Earth wire  NCI insulator industry really begins in US
 Hardware Fittings with field trials of insulators
 Accessories  Since the time - new manufacturers, new
designs, new materials
TRANSMISSION INSULATORS  NCIs at "generation X" - there have been so
Brief history of Transmission Insulators many improvements in materials, end
How an Insulator functions? fitting designs, etc.
Insulation Co-ordination - Factors determining  Change in materials have meant changes in
insulation design. line design practices, maintenance
 Design Criteria: Mechanical & Electrical practices, etc.
 Design / Selection of Insulator for normal /  Ceramic manufacturers have not been idle
contamination conditions either with development of higher strength
 Importance in design of CC / Grading Rings porcelains, RG glazes, etc.
  Power transmission from Generating  Insulation co-ordination aims at selecting
stations to load centers -- Overhead lines proper insulation level for various voltage
 String Insulators perform dual functions - stresses in a rational manner.
Mechanical support and  •Objective is to assure that insulation has
 Electrically isolate enough strength to meet the stress on it.
 Subjected to prevailing  To see all equipments should be properly
ambient/overvoltage conditions protected, it is desired that insulation of
 Transmission lines run over hundreds of various protective devices must be properly
kms.. coordinated.
 Failure at one point brings down the  INSULATION CO-ORDINATION
system  The maximum over-voltage occurs rarely and
 How an Insulator functions ? ? like wise insulation strength very rarely
 Maintains distance (Air Gap) between Line decreases to its lowest value.
from Ground  The likelihood of both events occurring
- depends on system voltage, safety margin, simultaneously is very limited.
contamination, etc.  •Therefore considerable economy may be
 Withstand Mechanical Stresses achieved by recognizing the probabilistic
- Static, Tension / Compression & dynamic load. nature of both voltage stress and insulation
 Withstand Electrical Stresses strength and by accepting a certain risk of
- system voltage/fields, over-voltages failure.
 Withstand Environmental Stresses  •This leads to substantial decrease in line
- heat, cold, UV, contamination, etc. insulation, spark distances, tower dimensions,
 weight, ROW resulting in decreased cost of
line.
 •The decrease in line cost must be weighed
against the increased risk of failure and the
cost of such failures.
 Overvoltages in power systems
 temporary overoltages - lightly damped
oscillations at supply frequency
 switching overvoltages - damped oscillations at
frequencies of ‹10 kHz
 lightning overvoltages a damped oscillations at
frequencies <100 KHz.
 Design Criteria - Mechanical
 Porcelain / Ceramic Insulators
 When the porcelain begins to crack, it
electrically punctures.
  Never Exceed 50% of the M&E Rating
 Check for Cantilever Rating do not exceed >40%
 NCIs (Polymer Insulators)
 Never Load beyond the
 S.M.L. - Specified Mechanical Load
 S. T.L (Specified Tensile load)
 R.T.L. (Routine Test Load)
 R.C.L (Rated cantilever load)
 Design Criteria - Electrical
 Strike Distance (Dry Arcing Distance)
 "The shortest distance through the surrounding
medium between terminal electrodes...."
 Dry PF Flashover & Impulse Flashover
- based on strike distance
 Wet PF also
 Leakage distance helps to maintain the surface
 Lecture No: 3 Notes resistance of strike distance
 What is Leakage Distance?
 "The sum of the shortest distances measured
 INSULATION CO-ORDINATION along the insulating surfaces between the
 conductive parts, as arranged for dry flashover  Higher leakage current density means more
test." Ohmic Heating.
 Ohmic Heating helps to dry the contaminant
 layer and reduce leakage currents.
 In addition, hydrophobicity helps to minimize
filming.
 Contamination performance of composite
insulators exceeds that of their porcelain
counterparts
 Contamination flashover performance of
silicone insulators exceeds that of EPDM
units... ? ?

 Grading Rings
 Simulate a larger, more spherical object
 Reduce the gradients associated with the
shielded object
 Reduction in gradients helps to minimize RIV &
TVI
  Porcelain or Glass -
- Inorganic - breaks down very slowly
 NCIs
- Polymers are more susceptible to scissioning
due to corona
- UV - short wavelength range - attacks polymer
bonds.
- Most short wavelength UV is filtered by the
environment
- UV due to corona is not filtered

 NCIs and CC-Rings

 Grading (Corona) Rings
 - Due to "corona cutting" and water droplet
corona - NCIs may require the application of
rings to grade the field on the polymer
material of the weathershed housing.
- Rings must be:
 Properly positioned relative to the end fitting on
which they are mounted.
 Oriented to provide grading to the polymer
material.
- As a general rule - rings should be over the
polymer - brackets should be on the hardware.

 Ceramic / Porcelain Insulators

 Used since 1830s (for telegraph lines)
 Used at all voltages for line insulation
 Provides great flexibility (cap and pin)
 Strong in compression
 Lecture No: 4 Notes  Available in various shapes (simple-
complicated)
 Improved Contamination Performance  High degree of standardization.
 Claims:
 Polymer insulators offer better contamination  Lecture No: 5 Notes
flashover performance than porcelain? ?
 Smaller core and weather-shed diameter  Experience with Ceramic Insulators
increase leakage current density.  Electrically- fairly stable with time
 Mechanically - subject to deterioration with time  High leakage distance profiles
 Issues with Ceramic Insulators  Can be coated and washed
 Flashovers  Polymeric
 Punctures  Made from Organic materials = age
 Cement growth Cracking (growth expansion due  Approx: 30years, latest designs < 10years
to hydration - causes radial cracks or  Lighter, less susceptible to vandalism
punctures in head)  Smaller viewing profile
 Pin erosion  Good short term performance in polluted
 Long term M & E Strength Reduction environments
 Coupling Hardware Corrosion  90% weight reduction, Reduced breakage, lower
installation costs
 Glass Suspension Insulators * Aesthetically more pleasing, improved power
 Good contamination performance due to self frequency insulation
cleaning properties
 Good for remote areas with no gun shooting &
helicopter patrols
 Outer glass surface under higher tension than
inside glass
 Damage to outer surface causes violent
shattering of shell
 Spontaneous failures
 Attractive to shoot because the shell " explodes
when hit
 Shattered glass is a safety hazard
 Not popular in US, used in Europe, Canada &
Brazil

 3. Non Ceramic Insulators

 Introduced in 1960s for transmission (GE)
 Used for all voltages
 light flexible, high strength to weight ratio
 Strong in tension
 low degree of standardization
 Service Experience with Polymers
 Surface degradation:
- UV, Electrical stress (tracking/treeing) , leakage
current & arcing..
 Result in - Flashover & mechanical failures
 Internal degradation:
- Cracked rod,
 bad coating between rod & sheath, void
 between rod & sheath - water wicking between
rod & sheath ..
 Result in - flashovers, line lockouts, worker
safety concerns, problems for carrying out live
line maintenance
 Contamination performance- Mold growth etc
 Brittle fracture
 is a stress corrosion failures of fiberglass rod,
factors: Water in the rod, Mechanical loads,
Electrical stres

 Ceramic vs. Polymeric Insulators

 Ceramic
 Made from inorganic materials = do not age
 80 years of experience
 Flexibility in length