Investigation on composite insulators in contaminated areas

The usage of composite insulators in various contaminated areas is increasing prominently in recent years. Most of composite insulators are operating in heavy or medium pollution environment in China. As the exposure time in the field prolonging, the change of hydrophobicity and the build-up of pollution layer directly affect pollution performance of the composite insulators. This paper is based on the work of investigation on the pollution performance and aging of nearly 40 composite insulators operated in Jiamusi city, the north east area of China. These composite insulators were removed from 110 kV lines, and they are all made of HTV silicone rubber and mostly are in service for nine years. Four aspects of hydrophobicity of these insulators are studied after the measurement of pollution status.