Computer package for selecting high voltage insulators for different contamination conditions

This paper presents an interactive computer package enabling to choose insulators used in polluted conditions. This is accomplished by integrating a self consistent dynamic model we developed in previous works and that includes the successive development of the arc on insulator surface based on an equivalent electrical network model and an analytic arc propagation criterion. This package enables to compute the different characteristic parameters of the temporal evolution of discharge (arc) propagating over polluted insulators (current and electrical charge, discharge length, potential, discharge propagation velocity, resistance of discharge channel and time to flashover). Numerous shapes of insulators are incorporated into the package. The package is capable of handling AC, DC and impulse voltages, in addition to different pollution severities. It constitutes a useful tool to choose insulation device for a given voltage system, and as a maintenance tool to determine the critical contamination level (in terms of pollution conductivity) that will cause flashover of insulator at the operating voltage.