NTRODUCTION

 An insulator, also called a dielectric,

is a material that resists the flow of
electric current.

 An insulating material has atoms with

tightly bonded valence electrons.

 Glass, plastic and rubber are excellent

insulators.
 The term is also used more specifically
to refer to insulating supports that
attach electric power transmission
wires to utility poles or pylons.
 NTRODUCTION

 Electric current flows from high voltage to

low voltage. The power line is high voltage.
The earth, or ground, is low voltage.

 Anything in contact with the earth is also at

the same low voltage. That is why there are
insulators between the lines and the poles.
The higher voltage the lines, the bigger the
insulators.
 ISTORY OF INSULATORS

 Insulators have
Insulators havebeen
beenaround
aroundlonger than
longer most
than people
most realize.
people realize.

 The
The first electricalsystems
first electrical systemsto to make
make useuse of insulators
of insulators werewere
telegraph lines
telegraph lines

 The
The first rudimentarytelegraph
first rudimentary telegraph line
line waswas built
built between
between Paris
Paris and
and
Lille,Lille,
France France in 1793.
in 1793.

 There
There were
were aa number
numberofofearly
earlyexperimental
experimental lines
lines in Europe
in Europe andand
the
the United Statesbefore
United States beforeSamuel
SamuelF.F.B.B. Morse
Morse finally
finally developed
developed a
afully
fully functional
functional andand commercial
commercial system
system usingusing his particular
his particular code.
code.
 The first insulators were a beeswax soaked rag wrapped around
The first insulators were a beeswax soaked rag wrapped
the wire.
around the wire.
 ISTORY OF INSULATORS

 In July 25,1865 that a carpenter,

Louis A. Cauvet, invented the
threaded pinhole design we still
find in insulators lying along old
railroad tracks throughout the
country.

 It was a method for threading

the inside pinhole of the
insulator, which then could be
screwed down on a threaded
wood or metal pin as shown in
the figure.
 EQUIREMENTS

 Mechanically strong.

 High dielectric strength.

 Provide high insulation

resistance to leakage current.

 Free from internal

impurities.Should not b porous.
 High range of Puncture
strength to flash over voltage.

 Not affected by the change of

temperature
 EQUIREMENTS

 Resistivity is a measure of how much current will be

drained away from the conductor through the bulk or
along the surface of the dielectric. An insulator with
resistivity equal to or greater than 10^13 ohm-cm may
be considered good.

 For high-voltage (on the order of kilovolts) applications,

dielectric strength is the most important single property
of the insulation.
 YPES OF INSULATORS
 Based on material
1.Porcelain
2.Glass
3.EPDM Rubber
4.PVC

 Based on use (location)

1.Pin insulator
2.Disc insulator(Suspension-Strain)
3.Post insulator
4.long rod insulator
5.Shackle insulator
6.Guy insulator

 Based on Voltage
1.L.T (Low Tension)
2.11kv
3.33kv
4.132kv
5.220kv
6.400kv or above
YPES OF INSULATORS
 IGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS

 High voltage insulators, as the

name suggests, are used to
electrically insulate pylons from
live electrical cables.
 
 H.V. line insulators may consist
of a string of insulator
units,depending on insulator
type and application. 
 IGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS

 Different types of line insulators

are used, in H.V. lines depending
on voltage and mechanical strain
(tension) requirements.  The
more widely used types are as
follows.

 1) Disc type: where insulation

discs (also called insulation
units) are strung together
depending on the insulation level
desired.
 IGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS

 Each disc is typically

rated at 10-12kV, with a
capacitance of 30-40pF.

 Discs are strung together

via their caps and pins. 
Locking mechanisms may
be ball-socket or clevis-
tongue type.  The cap is
insulated form the pin via
the porcelain (or glass)
disc.
 IGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS

 2) Longrod type. These may also be

strung together for higher insulation
and may have similar ball-socket
and clevis-tongue locking
mechanisms.
 Their longer length makes them
applicable for phase-to-phase
insulation to reduce line galloping
during strong winds.

 Both disc and longrod-type

insulators are commonly used in
suspension  or strain (tension)
insulator applications.
 IGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS

 
 3) Pin type.  Pin types are screwed
onto a bolt shank secured on the
cross-arm of the transmission pole
or pylon.  The pin type does not
take main transmission line strain
(tension) , and functions as a
jumper line insulator.
  
 4) Shackle type insulators .  These
are mostly applied to support line
strain (tension), such as at changes
of transmission line direction .
 
 5) Post type. These may have
thicker insulation and more discs
than pin types and can be mounted
via clamp or pin method. These are
only be applied in 11kv & 33kv . 
 IGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS

 6) Hewlett type. A variation of the disc

type, but can take more mechanical
strain due to internally insulated steel
bolt interlocks holding discs together
instead of cement. On the other hand,
the Hewlett type has higher internal
electrical stress due to its internal
steel bolts.  

 7) Pot type [13], which are usually pin

mounted and often used with
telephone lines.
 ERMINOLOGY

 When applying insulators it is necessary to desctribe the insulator dimension

using the following terms:

 CREEPAGE DISTANCE : The shortest distance between the metalware at

the 2 ends of the insulator excluding the intermediate metal fittings.

 SPECIFIC CREEPAGE DISTANCE : It is the ratio of the creepage distance in

mm to the line-to-line rms voltage of the 3-phase system in kv.

 CONNECTING LENGTH : It is the axial length of the insulators between the

two terminals.

 ARCING DISTANCE : The distance between the metalware,measured as the

length of a tightly pulled piece of string.

 INTERSHED SPACING : Distance between corresponding points on adjacent

sheds.
 ESIGN

 Design and manufacturing care is taken to

have both electrical insulation and
mechanical strength .

 1) Dimensions such as shed and

creepage distances may be adjusted for
service in high pollution environments
(with or without rainwashing), areas of
airborne sea salts, icing and bird risk
areas. Extra creepage distances are used
to avoid inadvertent flashover in such
highly ionised atmospheres or areas with
large bird sizes (e.g. Sudan, North
America).

 2) Insulation materials may only be drilled

or cored parallel sided, and may only be
hot-punched at forging temperatures.
 ESIGN

 3) Dirt, pollution, salt, and particularly water on the surface of a

high voltage insulator can create a conductive path across it,
causing leakage currents and flashovers.

 Hence these are shaped to maximise the length of the leakage

path along the surface from one end to the other, called the
creepage length, to minimize these leakage currents.

 Minimum creepage distances are 20-25 mm/kV, but must be

increased in high pollution or airborne sea-salt areas.

 4) Also to identify the fault in its top and the flow of rain water
easily insulators are generally made brown.
OMPANIES
 ONCLUSION

 During the earlier part of this century

ceramics,glass & porecelain have been establised
as reliable materials for high voltage insulation.
Over the past few decades,new technologies
involving polymeric materials have increasingly
been used for transmission & distribution
systems.These insulators have many advantages
over other materials.