Outdoor polymeric insulators long-term exposed to HVDC

Field experience from outdoor polymeric insulators exposed to HVDC under natural contamination conditions is presented. This paper summarizes the peak leakage current statistics, the hydrophobicity and the surface material conditions studied by electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The results show a strong interrelation between the surface conditions and the performance with respect to leakage currents. Moreover, the results show that the surface conditions and the performance of the insulators exposed to HVDC are rather similar to those of the insulators exposed to HVAC.