Assessment of basic contamination withstand voltage characteristics of polymer insulators

An artificial contamination method for hydrophobic polymer insulators has been developed which can provide a uniform contaminant layer, similar to that found in nature, without either damaging the polymer surface or by adding any chemical agent to the conventional contamination slurry. Using this method, the basic contamination withstand voltage characteristics of polymer insulators were investigated compared with those of porcelain insulators. The results show that although hydrophobic polymer insulators generally have excellent contamination withstand voltage characteristics, critical reduction of withstand voltage sometimes occurs under rapid and heavy wetting and contamination conditions.