Analysis of particle contamination in gas insulated busducts operating on DC voltages

The need for compact substations in the densely populated areas has led to the development of gas insulated substations (GIS) which offer a best alternative to conventional air insulated substation in technical, environmental and operational features. The entire parts of these substations are housed in earthed metallic enclosures filled with sulphur hexafluoride gas (SF₆). Further research in the field of GIS helps in developing HVDC transmission of power through Gas insulated transmission. The major problem associated with the Gas insulated substations is the particle contamination which generally arises due to manufacturing or operational cycles. The understanding of the particle movement is of vital importance as these tend to increase the breakdown chances of gas insulation. The present work focuses on the determination of lift off fields on commonly encountered metallic particle contaminants in gas insulated busducts working on DC voltages. New dimensions of the busduct are proposed in order to reduce the electrostatic fields on the particles thereby reducing the chances of the breakdown.