Study on leakage current characteristics and computer simulation of semiconducting glazed insulator under clean and salt fog condition

The electrical performance of insulator which are installed in polluted area may decrease during operation due to contamination. In long term may lead to the flashover of the insulators. The flashover on polluted insulators can occur easily when the atmosphere is humid. This paper explains the experimental results and its computer simulation of leakage current (LC) characteristics on semiconducting glazed insulator under clean and salt fog conditions and artificial pollution. In order to understand the behavior of the leakage current, computer simulation was conducted by utilizing electrical equivalent circuits using ATP Draw software. Experimental results showed that for kaolin-salt polluted insulators, the LC magnitude was much higher than clean insulators. And also, under salt fog conditions, LC magnitude was much higher than under clean fog conditions. The simulated leakage current were compared with those obtained from experiment. The similarity of the simulated and experimental leakage currents was indicated in the magnitude, THD and dominant harmonic components. The simulation results indicated high similarity between experiment and simulation result.