Automatic hot line insulator washing device positioned by helicopter

Live line maintenance is an essential tool for fully exploiting existing lines and facing the increasing power quality demand. Among the maintenance operations, insulator washing is of particular interest especially in those regions where the pollution is very high such as coastal areas, desert regions and others. These operations can be classified as environmentally hostile and would benefit from the introduction of robotic equipment. HV Robotics, a branch of Cooperativa Ceramica Industriale Livorno, has developed and tested in its HV laboratories a hot line insulator washing device that works in close proximity of the insulator surface; the washing head works at the potential of the insulator. The washing principle is based on the action of high-pressure water jets emitted by nozzles, which move following a path that guarantees that the jet reaches even the most inaccessible parts of the insulator. This method makes for a more uniform and effective washing action, as well as for a much lower water consumption as compared with methods based on nozzles placed at earth potential, located far from the insulator. The washing device is described.