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The electrical performance of outdoor insulators decreases under low air pressure conditions. The ac pollution flashover performance of various types of insulators are investigated in the multifunction artificial climate chamber in the State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment and System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University. The field investigation of the ac pollution flashover voltage performance are carried out at three different high altitudes including Wangkun station (altitude of 4484 m), Nachitai station (altitude of 3575 m) along the Qingzang railway and Geermu urban (altitude of 2820 m). The test results indicate that the characteristic exponent n describing the influence degree of air pressure on pollution flashover voltage, which has influence on the pollution flashover voltage of insulators, is variable, and the value of n is related to the pollution, insulator type etc. Under ac voltage, n is 0.45-0.85. The composite insulators are superior in external insulation selection in high altitude and heavy polluted areas. The relative error between the field test results and laboratory test results is less than 8 %, so the research results obtained in the laboratory can be applied to engineering design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in the amount of pollution on the top and bottom surfaces of an insulator have a great influence on the dc pollution flashover voltage. Up to now, many investigations have been carried out on non-uniform pollution flashover performance of porcelain and glass insulators, but very few on composite insulators. In this paper the influence of non-uniform pollution distribution on dc composite insulators on their flashover performance was analyzed, and a correction formula for the non-uniform pollution flashover voltage was proposed, based on artificial pollution tests carried out on short samples of a composite insulator intended for ±800kV UHVDC. The test results showed that, when the ratio (T/B) of the salt deposit density (SDD) on the top surface to that on the bottom surface is between 1/1 and 1/10, the value of the characteristic exponent a indicating the effect of SDD on the flashover voltage ranges from 0.22 to 0.255. The value of a is nearly independent of T/B. However, the flashover voltage U50 decreases with the increase in T/B. The correction formula indicating the influence of non-uniform pollution distribution on the flashover voltage could be expressed as K=1 - b×log(T/B). For the tested composite insulators, the factor b was 0.141 to 0.156, which is smaller than that of porcelain or glass insulator. That is to say, the influence of T/B on the flashover voltage of the composite insulator is weaker than those on the porcelain and glass insulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The newly constructed Qinghai-Tibet Railway connecting Golumd and Lhasa is the highest railway in the world, which is located on the hinterland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with the average altitude of above 4000 m. Therefore, the external insulation of electric equipments will be affected by the atmospheric conditions in the high altitude regions. In contrast to many test investigations in the artificial climate chamber, there are few ones at the high altitude sites of 3000 m and above. In the paper, the ac artificial pollution tests of four types of composite insulators are carried out at three high altitude sites of 2820 m, 3575 m and 4484 m along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. The test results show that the ac pollution flashover voltages in high altitude regions are affected not only by the pollution grades but also by the atmospheric parameters. The pollution flashover voltages will decrease with the increase of air pressure but increase with the decreases of ambient temperature. The exponent characterizing the influence of equivalent salt deposit density is 0.26 to 0.32 and the exponent characterizing the influence of non-soluble deposit density is 0.12 to 0.16, the influence of non-soluble deposit density cannot be neglected. The exponent characterizing the influence of air pressure is 0.507 to 0.587. The exponent characterizing the influence of ambient temperature is about 0.20. Considering the combined influence of the air pressure and ambient temperature, the ac flashover voltage of the polluted composite insulators will decrease by 4.0% to 6.4% for the altitude increased per 1000 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the influence of air pressure, temperature and humidity on the switching impulse (SI) flashover performance of different types of clean and dry insulators at different high altitude sites of 2820 m to 5050 m along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the highest elevation railway in the world. Seven types of insulators are used in the flashover tests: one is a composite insulator, two are glass insulators and four are porcelain insulators. At the test sites, the ambient temperature varies between 6.7 °C to 28.5 °C and the absolute humidity is between 4.11 g/m³ to 9.69 g/m³. The test results show that the 50% switching impulse flashover voltage of different types of insulators at high altitude sites is independent of the materials and sheds of insulators but has a multi-factor non-linear relation with the shortest arc distance, the dry air pressure, the absolute humidity and the ambient temperature. The relative flashover voltage decreased with the ambient temperature is dependent on the voltage polarity, with 0.152% to 0.165% 1°C for negative SI and 0.099% to 0.108% 1°C for positive SI at the ambient temperature of from 6.7 °C to 28.5 °C. The relative flashover voltage increased with the absolute humidity and is dependent on the air pressure. The higher the altitude is, the more the influence is of the absolute humidity on the flashover voltage of insulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method is introduced for testing insulators under icing conditions. The method is based on and developed from those described in the standard of IEC60-1, IEC 60507 and IEEE Task Force on Insulator Icing Test Methods, which give instructions to test insulators under pollution. Then, the paper explores the effects of various factors, including ice thickness, pollution severity on the surface of insulators before ice accretion, atmospheric pressure, and shed profiles, on the flashover performance of short samples of two different types of silicone rubber (SIR) composite long rod insulators intended for ultra high voltage (UHV) ac transmission lines. The experiments were carried out in the multi-function artificial climate chamber in the High Voltage and Insulation Technological Laboratory of Chongqing University, China. The experimental results reveal the regularity of the effects of ice thickness, pollution severity and atmospheric pressure on the average flashover voltage of two types of composite insulators. Those can provide reference for the outdoor insulation design for UHV ac transmission lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the artificial pollution tests, the effects of pollution and high altitude on the flashover performance of short samples of five kinds of UHV/EHV dc composite long rod insulators are analyzed. The exponent characterizing the influence of salt deposit density on the flashover voltage is related with the profile and the material of the insulator shed. The values of the samples' exponents vary between 0.24 and 0.30, which are smaller than those of porcelain or glass cap-and-pin insulators, namely, the influence of the pollution on the composite long rod insulators is less, relatively. Thus, the composite insulators have certain advantages in severe pollution regions. The best ratio of the leakage distance to the arcing distance is about 3.35. The exponent characterizing the influence of air pressure on the flashover voltage is related with the profile and the material of the insulator shed and the pollution severity, the values of the samples' exponents vary between 0.6 and 0.8, which are larger than those of porcelain or glass cap-and-pin insulators. Therefore, the dc composite insulator used in high altitude regions should have enough arcing distance. Based on the test results, if insulator sample Type E is selected for the ±800 kV UHV dc transmission lines, the basic arcing distance should be no less than 8.16 m and the basic leakage distance no less than 30.2 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]