Line insulators

Main requirements

- They must be mechanically very strong

- Dielectric strength must be very high
- They must provide very high insulation resistance to leakage
currents
- Must be free from internal impurities or flaws
- Should not be porous
- Must be impervious to the entrance of gases and liquids into the
material
- Should not be affected by changes in temperature
- Must have high ratio of puncture strength to flash over voltage.

Materials for insulators

Various materials have been used for insulators. These are:

1-Porcelain
 Manufactured from china clay. It is mixed with plastic kaolin,
felspar and quartz. The mixture is heated in a kiln at controlled
temperature. Insulators so manufactured must be
- Hard
- Smooth
- Glazed and
- Free from porosity since dielectric strength is
reduced by porosity

If impurity or air bubble is left during

manufacturing, dielectric strength is
reduced.
Effect of manufacturing temperature
If temperature is low, mechanical strength of insulator increases but
material remains porous. On the other hand, if insulators are
manufactured at high temperature, porosity is decreased but material
becomes brittle. Compromise between porosity and strength is
therefore made.

- Dielectric strength = 60 kv/cm2 of thickness

- Tensile strength = 500 kg/cm2

2-Glass

Glass is made tough by annealing.

Advantages of using glass
- Very high dielectric strength of about 140 kv/cm thickness
- When properly annealed , they have high resistively
- Low coefficient of thermal expansion
- Due to high dielectric strength, glass insulators have
simpler design and even one-piece designs can be used
- High compressive strength than porcelain insulators
- Being transparent, any flaw, impurity, air bubbles, cracks
etc can easily be detected
- Cheaper than porcelain

Disadvantages
- Moisture easily condenses over the surface, due to which
dirt will deposit on its surface and it will help to the leakage
of current
- For higher voltages, these insulators can not be
manufactured in irregular shapes. Since this causes irregular
cooling and result into internal strains.

3-Steatite

- Magnesium silicate

Characteristics
- Very high tensile strength as compared to porcelain and
can be used in situation where the insulators are in pure
tension i.e., where the transmission line takes sharp turn
4-Epoxy

- Insulator made of specially formulated cycloaliphatic

epoxy resin material that provides superior performance in
outdoor and indoor applications.

Characteristics
- withstand high power-arcs without damage
- resist ultraviolet radiations
- lighter and more chip resistant than porcelain

Types of insulators (construction wise)

Pin type
- Earliest design
- For lower voltages, one piece construction is used
- In order to decrease leakage over insulator surface,
RAINSHEDS are provided. When the insulator is wet i.e, its
external surface is damped, the rain sheds are so designed
that they provide sufficient dried inner surface
- The insulators are screwed-on and firmly attached to
galvanized steel bolts
- Used only for straight run of line
- For higher voltages, thickness of material has to be
increased which is not feasible from practical point of view.
Hence MULTI PART insulators are used for higher voltages.
In such designs, number of shells are fixed together by
Portland cement.

Suspension type
- When voltage level is increased, pin insulators become
heavier( increased thickness of material) and complex in
construction. In addition to it replacement of faulty insulator
costs high. At higher voltages, suspension type insulators
are, therefore, used.
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Non ceramic insulators- an innovation

• At low voltages , the strength-to-weight ratio of i insulators is of

little significance.
• At high voltages, thickness of insulator material increases. This
makes the insulators much heavier.
• Seeking improvement in strength to weight ratio for UHV
insulators led to the development of Non-ceramic insulators. NCIs
although developed for UHV lines could produce significant
savings in construction cost and yield many improvements at
conventional voltages as well.

Material for NCI:

Weather shed looks, feels and acts like

rubber. But the material is in fact, greatly
sophisticated chemical compound.
Weather shed material carries the technical
description of “Ethylene Propylene
copolymer” contracted to “EPM”. It contains a high percentage of
hydrated Alumina. The alumina and other constituents give the
special characteristics required in high-voltage insulators.
Weather sheds are injection molded under heat and high pressure
and are assembled over the fiberglass strength member. At the
interface of the rod and weather shed, a special silicone grease is
applied to produce a permanent seal.
Principal characteristics:

- Exceptionally high strength suspension insulators are

manufactured for continuous loading as high as 80,000 lbs.
- NCI weigh ten percent or less of their porcelain
counterpart.
- Electrical thickness resistance comparable to glass or
glazed porcelain.
- The insulator is extremely rugged .weather sheds are
flexible. Fiberglass core is strong and elastic.
- Immunity to gun shots and small arm fire and significant
resistance to high-power hunting weapons.
- Because of small diameter, contamination leakage
currents cause quick drying and restoration of higher surface
resistance. NCI are considered to have at least 30 percent
greater contamination resistance than porcelain.
- NCI successfully resists weather, sunlight, ultraviolet, and
ozone. It is stable at temperatures well outside the range of
maximum and minimum encountered under the most severe
field conditions.

Designs:

 Suspension and
 Horizontal posts insulator

-
 OHL support

chief requirements

- They must be mechanically strong with factor 9of safety of 2.5t to

3
- They must be light in weight without the loss of strength
- Must have less number of parts
- Must be cheap
- Maintenance requirements must be minimum
- Easily accessible for point and erection of line conductor
- Must have longer life
- Should have good visual impact

Material

there are a number of materials that may be used for poles and
tower construction

wood
poles made of wood preferably must be straight, strong with
gradual taper and free from knots
 Cheap and provide insulation as well
 Mostly used at distribution level. Transmission towers made
of wood have been found economically viable up to 345 kv.

Disadvantages
- These poles are elastic and tend to rot, hence their life is
short
- Portion of the poles buried in the ground must be treated with
creosote oil or with any other preservative.

Steel
 Steel poles and towers are stronger than wood and hence
posses longer life.
 To increase the life, poles must be galvanized or pointed
regularly.
 Longer spans possible, because they are stronger
 For safety purpose, they must be earthed
 To increase longitudinal strength, they may be supported by
steel rope gays.

Reinforced Concrete Poles

Attractive look
Quite heavy, transportations cost is high
Maintenance cost is low
Mechanically stronger and hence have longer life.

Towers and poles

Steel Tower

- Mostly used at transmission level.

- Generally broad base lattice or steel tower are issued which
are one mechanically very strong and have longer life.
- Due to robust construction, long spans can be used and are
much useful for crossing field valleys, railway lines, rivers
etc.

Tubular Poles VS Tower

- Poles made up of galvanized steel, having telescopic

construction.
- Better mechanical strength.
- 4 – 5 sections need to assemble as compared to 200-300
sections required in lattice towers.
- Time of erection for tubular pole = 1/6 of lattices.
- Require less maintenance than lattice towers.

Some EHV, UHV towers Designs:

Various tower designs at EHV levels have been used. These are
wood, Rigid, Guyed-V and Cross rope suspension (CRS) towers.
The fig A-3 shown below gives a comparison of cost of various
tower structures against the transmission voltage levels. While
considering tower design for selection for particular application,
it is to be noted that tower height is determined by span length
and clearance requirements.

Following fig shows structure cost vs voltage level. Beyod345 kv

span length has to be shortened for wooden pole, to
accommodate increased mechanical loadings and ground
clearance requirements. Therefore wooden structure is not
practical above 345 kv

RIGID METAL TOWERS have bee used at

transmission voltages through 765 kv and
have bee installed on 1200 kv test lines. The most common rigid
towers have been Steel Lattice type construction, although
Aluminum lattice ad concrete and steel columns have found
appropriate applications. They are usually assembled on site
,using mobile cranes to lift the individual sub-assemblies. Where
access is very difficult, Helicopters have been used to transport
complete towers or major sub-assemblies from assembly yard
to the tower site.

FIXED-BRIDGE GUYED TOWERS require only 60 to 75% of the

structural steel used I their rigid equivalents and usually cost
less. Rigid towers are used(favored) I areas where land use is
severely restricted or very rough ground makes anchor
installation and ground structure assembly difficult. If the terrain
is flat ad open with easy access for mobile cranes , the guyed
towers can be readily assembled on site and raised in position.

CROSS ROPE SUSPESION

TOWERS At 765 kv and 1100 kv , Guyed-
V structures become impractical because
of the tower height. At 765 kv, a guyed-V
tower will require a reasonably level,
clear assembly area of about 130 ft by
160 ft. I addition to space requirements,
the heavy bridge structures also impose demands on
construction equipment such as cranes. The alternative solution
would be to replace the conductor-supporting bridge with a steel
able system suspended between two guyed masts. Such a
construction is termed as cross rope suspension (CRS) tower.
The RS towers offer impressive saving in materials.

CRS towers are intended for rural and remote areas where the
ground space required for the guy / anchor space poses few or
no problems. Family of CRS towers include:

• Suspended delta
• Double delta
• W-structure configuration
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