Performance analysis of silicone rubber cleaning and repairing agent and its application in maintenance of composite external insulation equipment

Due to the arid and rainless environment in northern China and the adsorption of pollution by DC electric field, the surface of EHV/UHV composite bushing and post insulator coated with RTV is seriously polluted and the hydrophobicity is lost, which brings risks to the operation of power grid. Conventional decontamination methods such as high-pressure water flushing and manual wiping can only remove the floating ash on the insulator surface, and the hydrophobicity is damaged after decontamination. In this paper, a special silicone rubber cleaning and repairing agent for composite insulation is developed, but there is a lack of testing standards and methods, which brings concerns to the application. This paper discusses the test methods of silicone rubber cleaning and repairing agent, and the test results are analyzed. The research shows that the cleaning agent has good insulation, pH is neutral, does not support combustion, the residue after volatilization does not reduce the insulation strength of silicone rubber surface, the desalination rate and cleaning rate exceed 80%, and the hydrophobicity of insulator can be restored to HC1 after decontamination. It has a good application prospect in pollution removal and hydrophobic repair for composite external insulation equipment.