Nano particle reinforcement of HTV silicone rubber for high voltage insulators

Polymer insulators are used in many utilities in the entire world, its use is expanding due to many advantages that offer to the utilities; they are not only cheap in the initial cost; also along their useful life the maintenance cost is lower than their counterpart, the ceramic insulators. In this work, a base HTV silicone rubber was reinforced with micro and nano particles and its performance was validated using inclined plane tests starting at 3 kV and up to 8 kV. Also, two commercial ready to use HTV formulations were tested in inclined plane test in order to compare them versus the nano particle reinforced HTV composite. The tracking and erosion tests were done according to ASTM D-2303 standard; although, for voltages higher than 6 kV, different flow rate was used due to similar samples´ damage measured in eroded mass. For voltages higher than 6 kV and with an increased flow rate, the eroded mass of the reinforced nano filled silicone composite was lower than the ready to use HTV formulations. With the implementation of composites more resistant to electrical discharges, excessive maintenance in the polymer insulation could be avoided, thereby reducing maintenance costs and extending the life of the insulation. It should be mentioned that a patent has been filed for the developed composite, and it can be used as insulating cover for diverse electrical equipment such as arresters, bushings, etc.