INSULATORS

The insulators give necessary insulation between line

conductors and supports and therefore prevent any leakage
current from conductors to ground.

Desirable features:
i. High mechanical strength in order to withstand conductor load, wind load etc.

ii. High electrical resistance of insulator material in order to avoid leakage currents to earth.

iii. High relative permittivity of insulator material in order that dielectric strength is high.

iv. The insulator material should be non-porous, free from impurities and cracks otherwise
the permittivity will be lowered.

v. High ratio of puncture strength to flashover.

The most commonly used material for insulators of
overhead line is porcelain but glass, steatite
and special composition materials are
also used to a limited extent.
Porcelain is stronger mechanically than glass, gives less
trouble from leakage and is less affected by changes of
temperature.
Types of Insulators
Pin type insulator : Pin type insulators are used for
transmission and distribution of electric
power at voltages up to 33 kV. Beyond
operating voltage of 33 kV, the pin type
insulators become too bulky and hence
uneconomical.

Suspension insulator : Each unit or disc is designed

for low voltage, 11 kV. The number of discs in series
depends upon the working voltage.
1. Suspension type insulators are cheaper than pin type insulators for
voltages above 33 KV
2. Each unit or disc of suspension type insulator is made for low voltage,
typically 11 kV.
3. Depending upon the working voltage, the required number of discs can be
connected in series. If any disc is destroyed, the whole string does not
become useless because the damaged disc can be replaced by the new
one.
4. The suspension arrangement gives line bigger flexibility. The connection at
the cross arm is such that insulator string is free to swing in any direction
and can take up the position where mechanical stresses are minimum.
3.Strain insulators
4.Shackle insulators
When there is a dead end of the line or there is corner or
sharp curve, the line is subjected to bigger tension. In order to
relieve the line of excessive tension, strain insulators are
installed. For low voltage lines (< 11 kV), shackle insulators are
used as strain insulators
FLASH OVER and PUNCTURE
Insulators are required to sustain both mechanical and electrical stresses. The
electrical stress is caused by line voltage and may cause the insulator breakdown.
The insulator electrical breakdown can happen either by flash-over or puncture.

Flashover-
• In flashover, an arc happens between the line conductor and insulator pin (i.e.,
ground) and the discharge jumps across the air gaps, to the shortest distance. In
case of flash-over, the insulator will continue to act in its adequate capacity unless
extreme heat generated by the arc destroys the insulator
Puncture-
• In case of puncture, the discharge occurs from conductor to pin through the body of
the insulator. When such breakdown happens, the insulator is completely
destroyed due to significant heat. In reality, proper thickness of porcelain is
provided in the insulator to prevent puncture by the line voltage.
Mutual and Shunt Capacitance
The following points have to be noted regarding the potential
distribution over a string of suspension insulators: -

 The disc closest to the conductor has maximum voltage across it. As we
move towards the cross-arm, the voltage across each disc continues to
decrease.
 The voltage impressed on a string of suspension insulators does not
equally distribute itself across the individual discs due to the shunt
capacitance.
 If the voltage impressed across the string was DC, then voltage across
each unit would be the equal, since insulator capacitances are
ineffective for DC.
 The unit closest to the conductor is under maximum electrical stress
and is likely to be punctured. Hence, methods have to be provided to
equalize the potential across each element.
STRING EFFICIENCY
This one-sided potential distribution is not desirable and is typically expressed in terms of string efficiency.

The ratio of voltage across the whole string to the product of number of discs and the
voltage across the disc closest to the conductor is known as string efficiency.

String Efficiency =
Where: n - number of discs in the string

String efficiency is vital consideration since it defines the potential distribution

along the string. The higher the string efficiency, the more uniform is the
voltage distribution.
Even though it is not possible to reach 100% string efficiency, efforts need to
be made to enhance it.
Methods to improve string efficiency:
• The potential distribution in a string of suspension insulators is not
equal. The maximum voltage appears across the insulator closest to
the line conductor and progressively decreases as the cross arm is
reached.
• To avoid unequal electrical stress, which leads to puncture and lastly
breakdown , it is important to equalize the potential across the
different string elements in order to improve the string efficiency.

• The different methods for this are:

 By using longer cross-arms
 By grading the insulators
 By using a guard ring-
By using longer cross-arms-
The string efficiency is dependent upon the value of K.
i.e. the ratio of shunt capacitance to mutual
capacitance.

The lower the value of K, the higher is the string

efficiency and more uniform is the voltage distribution.

The value of K can be decreased by decreasing the shunt

capacitance. In order to decrease shunt capacitance, the
distance of conductor from tower needs to be increased
By grading the insulators-
In this approach, insulators of various dimensions are
selected in a way that each has a different capacitance.
The insulators are capacitance graded.
Since voltage is inversely proportional to capacitance,
this method tends to equalize the potential distribution
across the string elements.
This approach has the disadvantage that a big number
of different-sized insulators are needed.
By using a guard ring or Grading ring-
A Guard ring is a metal ring linked
electrically to the conductor and
surrounding the bottom insulator.
The guard ring introduces capacitance
between metal parts and the line
conductor. The guard ring is contoured
in a way that shunt capacitance
currents gets neutralized. Finally, there
will be equal potential distribution
across the elements.
Their main purpose is to reduce the potential
gradient along the insulator
 Arcing Horns
• Arcing horns are used to protect the transmission conductors, insulators, transformers
bushings and other transmission equipments from lightning high voltages, transient voltages
and surge voltages which leads to flash over. To prevent Insulator from such an occurrence,
it is very important that flashover do not take place through the Insulator. Arcing Horn serves
this purpose by providing a bypass flashover the high voltage across the insulator using air as a
conductive medium.
•Substation is a part of an electrical
generation, transmission, and distribution system.
Substations transform voltage from high to low, or
the reverse, or perform any of several other
important functions.

• Between the generating station and consumer,

electric power may flow through several substations
at different voltage levels.

• Substations include transformers, insulators and

circuit breakers to help regulate power issues,
changing the frequency, voltage, AC to DC, P.F and
other characteristics.
Classification of Substations broadly falls under the
following four categories based on various aspects
1.Substation Types based on Application
(Step Up/Down, Primary/Secondary)
2.Substation Types based on Service
3.Substation Types based on Operating Voltage Levels
4.Substation Types based on Location/Design
Equipment use in substation-single line diagram
33/11kV
• Lightning Arrestor
• Power Transformer
• Instrument transformer
• Bus-Bar
• Isolator
• Circuit Breaker
• Conductors
• Insulators
• Relays
• Metering and Indicating instruments
Lightning Arrestor
Power Transformer
•
Instrument Transformer
Bus Bar
Isolator
SL.NO Over Head Cable Under Ground cable
The bare conductors are used in open space. The
1 conductor are laid with the help of transmission Conductors are insulated and placed under ground
towers

2
They are not safe. The environmental affect They are very safe.
these conductors frequently.

The fault occurs due to the environmental factor The environmental factor does not cause the fault.
3
such as raining, lightning, snow etc. But some other manual earth evacuation and
chemical present within soil may cause the fault.
4 Conductor size is very less Size of the conductor to be high

5 Very easy expansion Very difficult to expand.

Very difficult to repair. We should go for replacement.

6 Repair is possible
This leads to high expensive

7 Long distance bulk power can be transmitted It cannot be used to long distance. It is suitable of
short distance with low power transmission

8 Compulsory transmitting tower is required. It does not require any transmitting towers.