A dynamic model of DC arc discharge on polluted porcelain insulators at high altitude

Several dynamic models have been used to predict the flashover voltage of insulators under polluted and icing conditions, but none of them addressed the insulators´ flashover performance at high altitudes. The purpose of this work is to present a dynamic model to study the effect of insulator configuration, equivalent salt deposit density, non-soluble deposit density as well as air pressure on DC flashover voltage of polluted porcelain insulators. As a result of low air pressure, the arc deviates from the surface of insulators with bending and rocking, shortening the arc distance. The computed results of the dynamic model were compared with the experimental results of previous researchers; the average error was 2.85%, showing a very good correlation between them.