Assessment of Electro-Thermal Runaway Dynamics of AC Conductor Sleeves Designed for Medium Voltage Transmission System

This article presents detailed experimental and simulation investigations on the tracking and electro-thermal runaway in overhead conductor sleeves (CSs). The 90° and 180° overlapping configurations are extensively studied. The interface tracking inception voltage of the sleeve is experimentally determined under ac voltages for different operating conditions. An experimental setup is proposed to measure the surface and interfacial conductivity. The authors present FEM-based simulations to model the sleeve using the measured conductivity, and these simulations are extended until runaway. The results emphasize the effect of overlapping angle on the runaway and tracking. Furthermore, the efficacy of sleeve design is critically evaluated by correlating the simulation results with experimental data and a comparative analysis with covered conductor (CC) is also presented. The results offer insights into optimum design of CSs and are believed to be useful for power utilities.