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ABSTRACT
High voltage station and line insulators are vulnerable to volcanic ash-induced
flashover, yet little quantitative data exists on the environmental, volcanological and
electrical parameters most influential in reducing their flashover voltage. This paper
presents the results from clean-fog rapid flashover tests for 5 different suspension
insulators of ceramic, non-ceramic, or RTV-coated design under different
environmental and volcanic ash contamination scenarios. Results suggest that moderate
accumulations (up to 3 mm) of volcanic ash can accumulate on insulator surfaces
without critically reducing the flashover voltage, provided >40% of the creepage
distance remains clean and dry. Composite polymer insulators have higher dielectric
strength than ceramic equivalents under light to heavy pollution severities, however, all
insulators tested here perform comparably when critically contaminated (i.e. both top
and bottom surfaces coated in ash). Based on these and other findings, some basic
discussion of optimal insulator selection in ashy environments is provided.
Index Terms Flashover, insulators, insulator testing, volcanic ash, contamination,
pollution, protective coating, NSDD, ESDD.
1 INTRODUCTION
THE process of insulator contamination, associated flashover
and subsequent loss of service has been a major problem for
power systems since the early 1900s [1]. Volcanic ash is an
infrequent, but potentially highly disruptive form of
contamination capable of causing insulator flashover across
station and line insulators [2]. Whilst pyroclastic flows and
surges, lava flows, sector collapses, lahars and ballistic blocks are
the most destructive of eruption processes and products [3],
volcanic ash is by far the most widely dispersed. Ashfall can be
distributed over hundreds of thousands of square kilometres,
even from relatively modest explosive eruptions, making it a
hazard for extensive, above-ground, corridor systems of
electrical apparatus used in power generation, transformation,
transmission and distribution [2]. Considering 9% of the worlds
Manuscript received on 3 November 2013, in final form 24 January 2014,
accepted 5 February 2014.
DOI 10.1109/TDEI.2014.004449
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J. Wardman et al.: Influence of Volcanic Ash Contamination on the Flashover Voltage of HVAC Outdoor Suspension Insulators
2 METHODOLOGY
An electrical testing programme was designed to
investigate how increasing ash-pollution severity would
influence the flashover voltage of HVAC suspension
insulators. The following sections describe the test facilities,
insulators, testing procedures, and analytical methods used to
assess the individual performance of each insulator specimen.
2.1 PSEUDO ASH
Although naturally occurring variations in volcanic ash
properties may introduce additional effects on the flashover
voltage of HV insulators, challenges in collecting pristine
(e.g. unleached) samples and the large volume of material
needed for artificial pollution tests made it logistically and
practically difficult to collect freshly fallen ash for this
analysis. Thus, a pseudo ash which replicates the chemical,
physical and electrical parameters of freshly fallen ash, was
bulk-manufactured using the procedure developed in [6].
Results from [6] suggest that composition has little effect
on the electrical conductivity of volcanic ash. Given the use
of a basaltic proxy in both [6] and [11], and the large
quantities readily available to the authors, unweathered
Stoddart olivine basalt (from Halswell Quarry, Lyttelton
volcano, New Zealand) [12] was maintained as the nonsoluble volcanic component for the pseudo ash.
To replicate the interactions at the ashgas interface and
other processes occurring between ash and volatiles within a
volcanic plume, the simplified chemical dosing method
developed in [6] was used to produce soluble salts on the
surfaces of the pseudo ash. ESDD values of pseudo ash in
[11] showed that a 0.15 Mole NaCl salt solution added to a
3:1 ratio of ash:brine will create an ash with electrical
properties which are within the bounds of freshly fallen ash (1
mg/cm2 NSDD corresponds to an ESDD of approximately
0.003 mg/cm2) [11]. Thus, this concentration was used as an
appropriate dosing agent for the pseudo ash.
Cherney et al. [13] showed that the particle size of nonsoluble pollution has negligible influence on the flashover
voltage of contaminated HV insulators. Additionally,
Wardman et al. [6] showed that volcanic ash of grain sizes
<32 m to 1.4 mm can exhibit low resistivity when wet, and
should therefore be similarly capable of inducing insulator
flashover. To examine whether the particle size of volcanic
ash has any effect on the flashover voltage of HV insulators,
two different pseudo ashes were created: (1) a predominantly
fine-grained fraction (<0.1 mm) and (2) an ash with a coarse-
1191
Figure 1. Particle size distributions for the 2 pseudo ashes used in this study
(adapted from [11]).
Material
Shed Profile
Porcelain
Glass
Glass
RTV Glass
Polymeric
Standard disc
Standard disc
Aerodynamic
Standard disc
66 kV long-rod
a)
Diameter
240
240
420
240
170
Dry arc
mm
617
526
697
526
700
b)
Creepage
1026
1035
1191
1035
1715
d)
c)
2.4 PROCEDURES
2.4.1 APPLICATION OF THE POLLUTION LAYER
Standard artificial pollution tests recommend applying
pollution via the spraying, flow-on or dipping techniques.
However, considering (1) the importance of retaining
soluble surface salts inherent in freshly fallen volcanic ash
and (2) the potential for volcanic ash to be deposited in
large quantities (e.g. >10 mm thicknesses), the pollution
layer for our electrical tests was applied using dry pseudo
ash.
Eruption plumes are dispersed by prevailing winds and
volcanic ash can be deposited hundreds to thousands of
kilometres from the volcano, depending on wind strength,
ash grain size, ash density, and eruption magnitude [14].
Thus, 9 different ash-contamination scenarios (Table 2)
were devised and replicated based on the depositional
patterns described in existing literature and observations
made in the field of in-service insulators exposed to
ashfall. Contaminated scenarios (described herein as
scenarios 4-9) are representative of worst-cases, as the
entire top and/or bottom surfaces were coated as uniformly
as possible. Given the lab setting, no wind or breeze was
present during electrical tests.
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J. Wardman et al.: Influence of Volcanic Ash Contamination on the Flashover Voltage of HVAC Outdoor Suspension Insulators
a)
b)
c)
Figure 4. Standard glass insulator specimen before running electric tests for
a) scenario 1, b) scenario 4, and c) scenario 9, (see Table 2 for scenarios).
1193
SCENARIO
1
2
3
4
5
6
<1
- <0.1 <1 <0.1
0.02
0.02 0.02 0.2
10.7
8.5 10.7 49.3
175 185 123 108 98 103
166 175 117 102 93
98
SCENARIO
Standard Glass
1
2
3
4
5
6
- <0.1 - <0.1 <1 <0.1
Grain mm
0.03
0.03 0.03 0.2
ESDD mg/cm2
11.8
9.4 11.8 49.3
NSDD mg/cm2
kV
168 173 113 103 113 98
Vmin
kV/m
159 164 106 97 106 92
V50
SCENARIO
Aero. Glass
1
2
3
4
5
6
<1
Grain mm
- <0.1 <1 <0.1
0.04
0.04 0.04 0.2
ESDD mg/cm2
17.9
14.2 17.9 74.7
NSDD mg/cm2
kV
158 158 128 86
96
98
Vmin
kV/m
130 130 105 71
80
80
V50
SCENARIO
66 kV Composite
1
2
3
4
5
6
Grain mm
- <0.1 - <0.1 <1 <0.1
0.04
0.04 0.04 0.3
ESDD mg/cm2
19.1
15.2 19.1 79.6
NSDD mg/cm2
kV
206 208 193 183 178 143
Vmin
kV/m
120 120 111 105 102 82
V50
SCENARIO
RTV Glass
1
2
3
4
5
6
<1
- <0.1 <1 <0.1
Grain mm
0.03
0.03 0.03 0.2
ESDD mg/cm2
11.8
9.4 11.8 49.3
NSDD mg/cm2
kV
178 178 130 113 113 108
Vmin
kV/m
169 169 126 106 106 101
V50
7
8
9
<1 <0.1 <1
0.2 0.4 0.4
65.9 122 152
98
47
36
93
44
34
7
8
9
<1 <0.1 <1
0.2 0.4 0.4
65.9 122 152
111 46
30
106 44
29
7
8
9
<1 <0.1 <1
0.2 0.5 0.5
99.7 166 207
93
46
42
76
38
34
7
8
9
<1 <0.1 <1
0.3 0.5 0.6
106 174 218
163 66
63
93
38
35
7
8
9
<1 <0.1 <1
0.2 0.4 0.4
65.9 122 152
103 41
38
97
39
34
Figure 6. Pollution performance curves for scenarios 3-9. The red shaded
area represents the range of average ESDD/NSDD values for scenarios 4 and
5 (Ave. ESDD/NSDD 0.02/10.7 0.04/19.1 mg/cm2); yellow represents
those for scenarios 6 and 7 (Ave. ESDD/NSDD 0.1/60 0.3/106 mg/cm2);
blue for scenarios 8 and 9 (ESDD/NSDD 0.3/113 0.6/218 mg/cm2).
1194
J. Wardman et al.: Influence of Volcanic Ash Contamination on the Flashover Voltage of HVAC Outdoor Suspension Insulators
Figure 7. V50 (kV/unit) values for the ceramic insulators used in this study
(scenarios 3-9). The NaCl design curve and volcanic ash data from [9] have
been added for comparison.
1195
Figure 9. V50 (kV/unit) values for the ceramic insulators used in this study
(scenarios 3-9). The NaCl design curve and volcanic ash data from [9] have
been added for comparison.
Figure 11. Schematic diagram showing how the profile and dimensions
control the process of ash-induced insulator flashover.
1196
J. Wardman et al.: Influence of Volcanic Ash Contamination on the Flashover Voltage of HVAC Outdoor Suspension Insulators
3)
4)
5)
6)
5 CONCLUSIONS
Five different insulators were artificially contaminated with
volcanic ash and put through a modified clean-fog rapid
flashover testing programme. The following conclusions can
be drawn from this study:
1) All insulators tested in this study performed comparably
when subjected to critical contamination scenarios (i.e.
top and bottom surface coated in ash). However, the
standard glass insulator displayed the lowest V50 value of
all specimens, 29 kV/m or 10 kV/unit (ESDD/NSDD =
0.4/152 mg/cm2), which is comparable to those observed
in the historic investigations of [9] (11 kV/unit) and [10]
(8 kV/unit);
2) Results from this study provide insulator performance
curves to aid the appropriate selection of HVAC
insulators for ashy environments. The composite polymer
insulator exhibited the highest dielectric strength (V50)
for the majority of scenarios and is therefore likely to
outperform ceramic equivalents in ashy environments.
However, anomalous Vmin values for this specimen
during scenarios 6 and 7 suggest that minor amounts of
7)
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to acknowledge Transpower Ltd. New
Zealand (Wardman, Wilson) and the Ministry of Business,
Innovation and Employment Grant C05X0804 (Wilson) for
funding support. We thank George Hooper, Jinsong Chen,
and Hebei Silicone Valley Chemical Co. (China) for
providing RTV coating and are grateful to Jac Woudberg and
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Johnny B. Wardman (S12-M14) was born in Hamilton,
Bermuda in 1984. He received the B.Sc. degree from
Eckerd College, U.S.A. in 2007 and the Ph.D. degree in
hazard and disaster management from the University of
Canterbury, New Zealand in 2013. Dr. Wardman is an
active student-member of the IEEE and the IEEE Dielectrics
and Electrical Insulation Society.
Stewart R. Hardie (M02) received the B.E. (Hons) in 1997
and the Ph.D. degrees in 2006 in electrical and electronic
engineering from the University of Canterbury, New
Zealand. He has been a research engineer within the Electric
Power Engineering Centre and the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering at the University of Canterbury
since 2006. He is a member of the IEEE.
Thomas M. Wilson was born in mid-Canterbury, New
Zealand in 1983. He completed his B.Sc. (Hons) in 2005 and
the Ph.D. degrees in 2009 from the University of
Canterbury. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Hazard and
Disaster Management at the University of Canterbury.
Wilsons main research interests are the impact of natural
hazards on critical infrastructure and primary industries.
Pat S. Bodger completed his B.E. (Hons) and Ph.D. degrees in
electrical engineering from the University of Canterbury in 1972
and 1977, respectively. From 1977-1981 he worked for the
Electricity Division, Ministry of Energy, New Zealand. He was
appointed a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical
Engineering, University of Canterbury in 1982 and a Professor
to the Chair in Electric Power Engineering in 1999. He was
Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 2003-2008
and Director of the Electric Power Engineering. Centre from 2002 until 2010.