Debre Markos

University
Institute of Technology

Electrical and Computer

Engineering Department
Introduction to Power Systems

Chapter Five
Overhead line insulators
 Outline

 Introduction
 Type of insulators
 Potential distribution over a string of insulators
 Method of equalizing potential
 Insulators

 The overhead line conductors should be supported on the

poles or towers in such a way that currents from conductors
do not flow to earth through supports i.e. line conductors
must be properly insulated from supports.
 This is achieved by securing line conductors to supports with
the help of insulators.
 The insulators provide necessary insulation between line
conductors and supports and thus prevent any leakage
current from conductors to earth.
 Cont…

 To act as a reliable mechanical link between the structure and

the conductor and keep the mechanical integrity under normal
operating and overload conditions.
 The insulators are mainly made of either glazed, porcelain or
toughened glass.
 The dielectric strength of porcelain should be 15 KV to
750KV for every one tenth inch thickness.
 Porcelain is mechanically strong, less affected by temperature
and has minimum leakage problem.
 Cont…

 In general, the insulators should have the following

desirable properties :
 High mechanical strength in order to withstand conductor load, wind load etc.
 High electrical resistance of insulator material in order to avoid leakage currents to
earth.
 High relative permittivity of insulator material in order that dielectric strength is high.
 The insulator material should be non-porous, free from impurities and cracks
otherwise the permittivity will be lowered.
 High ratio of puncture strength to flashover.
 Types of Insulators

 The successful operation of an overhead line depends to a

considerable extent upon the proper selection of insulators.
 There are several types of insulators but the most commonly
used are:
 pin type insulator ,
 suspension type insulator ,
 strain insulator and
 shackle insulator.
 1. Pin type insulators

The part section of a pin type insulator is shown in Fig.3.4 (i).

As the name suggests, the pin type insulator is secured to the

cross-arm on the pole.

 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 uneconomical.

Fig 3.4 pin type insulators

.
 2. Suspension type insulators

The cost of pin type insulator increases rapidly as the working

voltage is increased.
 Therefore, this type of insulator is not economical beyond 33
kV. For high voltages (>33 kV), it is a usual practice to use
suspension type insulators shown in Fig. 3.4.
Advantages
 Suspension type insulators are cheaper than pin type
insulators for voltages beyond 33 kV.
 Each unit or disc of suspension type insulator is designed
for low voltage, usually 11 kV.
 Depending upon the working voltage, the desired number
of discs can be connected in series.
 Cont…

 If any one disc is damaged, the whole string does not become useless
because the damaged disc can be replaced by the sound one.
 The suspension arrangement provides greater flexibility to the line.
 In case of increased demand on the transmission line, it is found more
satisfactory to supply the greater demand by raising the line voltage
than to provide another set of conductors.
 The suspension type insulators are generally used with steel towers. As
the conductors run below the earthed cross-arm of the tower, therefore,
this arrangement provides partial protection from lightning.
 Cont…

Fig 3.4 Suspension type insulator

Fig 3.5 (i) Pin type insulator (ii) suspension type insulator
 3. Strain insulators

 When there is a dead end of the line or there is corner or sharp curve,
the line is subjected to greater tension.
 In order to relieve the line of excessive tension, strain insulators are
used.
 For low voltage lines (< 11 kV), shackle insulators are used as strain
insulators.
 However, for high voltage transmission lines, strain insulator consists
of an assembly of suspension insulators as shown in Fig. 3.6.
 The discs of strain insulators are used in the vertical plane. When the
tension in lines is exceedingly high, as at long river spans, two or more
strings are used in parallel.
 4. Shackle insulators

 In early days, the shackle insulators were used as strain insulators.

 But now a days, they are frequently used for low voltage distribution lines.
 Such insulators can be used either in a horizontal position or in a vertical
position.

Fig. 3.6. (i) strain insulator (ii) shackle insulators

 Potential distribution over suspension insulator string

 A string of suspension insulators consists of a number of porcelain

discs connected in series through metallic links.

 Fig. 5.1 (i) shows 3-disc string of suspension insulators.
 The porcelain portion of each disc is in between two metal links.
 Therefore, each disc forms a capacitor C as shown in Fig. 5.1 (ii).
This is known as mutual capacitance or self-capacitance.
 If there were mutual capacitance alone, then charging current would
have been the same through all the discs and consequently voltage
across each unit would have been the same i.e., V/3 as shown in Fig.
5.1 (ii).
 Cont…

 However, in actual practice, capacitance also exists between

metal fitting of each disc and tower or earth. This is known
as shunt capacitance C1. Due to shunt capacitance, charging
current is not the same through all the discs of the string [See
Fig. 5.1 (iii)]. Therefore, voltage across each disc will be
different.
 Obviously, the disc nearest to the line conductor will have the
maximum voltage. Thus referring to Fig. 5.1 (iii), V3 will be

much more than V2 or V1

Cont…
Typical example of suspension type insulator

Substation Transmission
 Cont…

 The following points may be noted regarding the potential

distribution over a string of suspension insulators :
 The voltage impressed on a string of suspension insulators does not
distribute itself uniformly across the individual discs due to the
presence of shunt capacitance.
 The disc nearest to the conductor has maximum voltage across it. As
we move towards the cross-arm, the voltage across each disc goes on
decreasing.
 The unit nearest to the conductor is under maximum electrical stress
and is likely to be punctured.Therefore, means must be provided to
equalise the potential across each unit.
 Cont…

 If the voltage impressed across the string were d.c., then voltage across
each unit would be the same. It is because insulator capacitances are
ineffective for d.c.
String Efficiency
 As stated above, the voltage applied across the string of suspension
insulators is not uniformly distributed across various units or discs. The
disc nearest to the conductor has much higher potential than the other
discs. This unequal potential distribution is undesirable and is usually
expressed in terms of string efficiency.
 Cont…

 The ratio of voltage across the whole string to the product

of number of discs and the voltage across the disc nearest to

the conductor is known as string efficiency i.e.,

 String efficiency is an important consideration since it

decides the potential distribution along the string.
 The greater the string efficiency, the more uniform is the
voltage distribution.
 Cont…

 Thus 100% string efficiency is an ideal case for which the voltage

across each disc will be exactly the same.

 Although it is impossible to achieve 100% string efficiency, yet
efforts should be made to improve it as close to this value as
possible.
 Mathematical expression. Fig. 5.2 shows the equivalent circuit for
a 3-disc string.
 Cont…

 Let us suppose that self capacitance of each disc is C.

 Let us further assume that shunt capacitance C1 is some

fraction K of self capacitance i.e., C1 = KC.

 Starting from the cross-arm or tower, the voltage across each

unit is V1,V2 and V3 respectively as shown.

 Cont…

Figure 5.2
Applying Kirchhoff’s current law to node A, we get,
Cont…
 Cont…

 The following points may be noted from the above mathematical

analysis :
(i) If K=0·2 (Say), then from exp. (iv), we get, V2=1·2 V1 and V3=1·64 V1.
This clearly shows that disc nearest to the conductor has maximum
voltage across it; the voltage across other discs decreasing progressively
as the cross-arm in approached.
(ii) The greater the value of (K=C1/C), the more non-uniform is the
potential across the discs and lesser is the string efficiency.
(iii) The inequality in voltage distribution increases with the increase of
number of discs in the string. Therefore, shorter string has more
efficiency than the larger one.
 Methods of Improving String Efficiency

 It has been seen above that potential distribution in a string of

suspension insulators is not uniform. The maximum voltage

appears across the insulator nearest to the line conductor and
decreases progressively as the cross arm is approached. If the
insulation of the highest stressed insulator (i.e. nearest to
conductor) breaks down or flash over takes place, the breakdown
of other units will take place in succession.
 Cont….

 This necessitates to equalize the potential across the various units of the string i.e. to
improve the string efficiency.
 The various methods for this purpose are :
 By using longer cross-arms.
 By grading the insulators
 By using a guard ring

Figure 5.3
 Cont…

a) By using longer cross-arms

 The value of string efficiency depends upon the value of K i.e., ratio of shunt
capacitance to mutual capacitance.
 The lesser the value of K, the greater is the string efficiency and more
uniform is the voltage distribution.
 The value of K can be decreased by reducing the shunt capacitance.
 In order to reduce shunt capacitance, the distance of conductor from tower
must be increased i.e., longer cross-arms should be used.
 Cont…

 However, limitations of cost and strength of tower

do not allow the use of very long cross-arms.
 In practice, K = 0·1 is the limit that can be achieved
by this method.
 Cont…

B) By grading the insulators

 In this method, insulators of different dimensions are so chosen that each

has a different capacitance.

 The insulators are capacitance graded i.e. they are assembled in the string in
such a way that the top unit has the minimum capacitance, increasing
progressively as the bottom unit (i.e., nearest to conductor) is reached.
 Since voltage is inversely proportional to capacitance, this method tends to
equalise the potential distribution across the units in the string.
 Cont…

 This method has the disadvantage that a large number of different-

sized insulators are required.

 However, good results can be obtained by using standard insulators for
most of the string and larger units for that near to the line conductor.
C) By using a guard ring
 The potential across each unit in a string can be equalised by using a
guard ring which is a metal ring electrically connected to the
conductor and surrounding the bottom insulator as shown in the Fig.
5.4
 Cont…

 The guard ring introduces capacitance between metal fittings

and the line conductor. The guard ring is contoured in such a
way that shunt capacitance currents i1, i2 etc. are equal to

metal fitting line capacitance currents i′1, i′2 etc.

Figure 5.4
 Important Points

 While solving problems relating to string efficiency, the following

points must be kept in mind:

(i) The maximum voltage appears across the disc nearest to the conductor
(i.e., line conductor).

(ii) The voltage across the string is equal to phase voltage i.e.,

Voltage across string = Voltage between line and earth = Phase Voltage

(iii) Line Voltage = √3 × Voltage across string

THANK