A PRESENTATION

ON
OVERHEAD LINE INSULATORS
FACULTY: GUNJAN
VARSHNEY

The insulators for overhead

lines

provide

insulation

to

the

power conductor from ground.

The insulators are connected to
the cross arm of the tower and the
power conductor passes through
the clamp of the insulator.

Cross
arm

Insulat
or

Characteristics of Solid
Insulators
1. High Mechanical strength.
2. High Electric strength.
3. High insulation resistance.
4. Free from impurities and moisture.
5. Air and gas free (decrease the dielectric
strength)
6. Withstand the flashover phenomenon.

Insulator Materials
1- Toughened Glass
Glass is cheaper than porcelain
Electric Strength is 140 kV/cm
It has lower coefficient of thermal
expansion which reduces the strains
due to temperature changes
Moisture condenses on the surface
increases the leakage current
Glass insulators are used up to 33
kV lines.

Single unit
Glass
Insulator

2- Porcelain
Mechanical strength is higher than
glass
Low leakage current
Less effected by temperature
Electric strength is 60 kV/cm
Used with any number of units to
increase the insulation level

Insulation Failure
High Mechanical stress on insulator.
Defects in insulator material (air, gases,
impurities)
Flashover of insulator (due to over
voltages):
The flashover voltage is the voltage which
will cause an arc through the air
surrounding the insulator. The arc heat can
damage
the
insulator
( the insulators are fitted with arcing horns
to keep the arc away from the insulator).
Faults (short circuits)

Types of Insulators
1- Pin Type Insulator:
Pin type insulator consists of a
single or multiple units.
They are used only up to 33 kV.
For higher voltages the pin type
insulators are very heavy and more
costly.

Single- unit pin

insulator 11 kV

Metal
pin

Double- unit pin

insulator 33 kV

2- Suspension Insulators:
Suspension insulator consists of
porcelain disc units mounted one
above each other.
Each disc is provided with a metal
cap at the top and a metal pin under.
a string of any number of units can
be built according to the line
operating voltage .
The conductor is suspended below
the point of support by means of
insulator string

 The number of discs in a string depends

on the line voltage and the atmospheric
conditions (degree of pollution).
The usual number of discs are:
Voltage (kV)

: 66

132

220

400
Number of discs: 4-5
22-23

9-10

15-16

Insulator disc
(unit)

Insulator
string

3- Strain Insulators :
These are special mechanical strong
suspension insulators.
They are used to take the tension of
the conductors at the line terminals,
at angle towers, and at road crossings.
The strings are placed in horizontal
plane.
Two or three strings of insulators in
parallel can be used when the tension
in conductors is very high.

Arcing horns are used to protect

insulators on high voltage Lines from
damage during flashover. Over voltages
on transmission lines, due to switching
operations,
lightning,
or electrical
faults can cause arcs across insulators
(flashovers) that can damage them. The
horns makes the flashover to occur
between themselves rather than across
the
insulator surface. Horns are
normally paired on either side of the
insulator, one connected to the line
and the other to ground.

Arcing
horn

Strain Insulator with

arcing horn

Voltage Distribution over

Insulator

Ground
or
Tower

Conduc
tor

Cs :

capacitance of each insulator unit.

Ce = m Cs : capacitance to ground
is the capacitance of metal part of
the insulator unit to the tower (m<1).
V1, V2, V3 the voltage across each unit
starting from the cross arm towards
the power conductor.
V = V1 + V2 +V3

Line voltage

At point A:
I2 = I1 +i1
C.V2 = C.V1 + mC.V1
V2 = (1+m).V1
At Point B:
I3 = I 2 + i 2
C.V3 = mC.(V1+V2) + C.V2
V3=m.V1 +(1+m).V2 =(m
+(1+m)2).V1
V3 = (1+3m +m2).V1

For m < 1

V 3 > V 2 > V1

Insulator Efficiency:

= (V/n.Vmax) x 100

V: Voltage across the insulator string,

(phase Volt)
n: number of insulator units.
Vmax: Voltage across the insulator unit near
to the power line (for n = 3, V max = V3).

In general, voltage across the units is

given by:
Vn+1 = Vn.(1+m) + (V1+V2++ Vn-1).m
n= 1

V2 = (1+m). V1

n=2

V3 = V2.(1+m) + V1.m

n=3

V4 = V3.(1+m) + (V1 +V2).m

n=4

V5= V4.(1+m) + (V1 + V2 +V3).m

The voltage across the units cam

also given by:
n= 1

V2 = (1+ m). V1

n=2

V3 = (1+ 3 m +m2). V1

n=3

V4 = V3.(1+ 6 m +5 m2 +

m3). V1
n=4

V5= V4.(1+ 10 m + 15 m2 +

Example
An insulator string for 66 kV line
has 4 units. The capacitance to
ground is 10% of the capacitance
of each insulator unit. Find the
voltage across each insulator
unit and string efficiency.

V2 = (1+m). V1 = 1.1 V1
V3 = V2.(1+m) + V1.m = 1.31 V1
V4 = V3.(1+m) + (V1 +V2).m =1.651 V1
V1 +V2 +V3 +V4 =
66

= 38.1 kV

V1 (1+1.1 +1.31+1.651)=38.1
V1=7.53 kV, V2= 8.28 kV, V3=9.86 kV, V4=
12.43 kV
String efficiency =
(38.1/4x12.43)x100=76.6%

Example
Find the voltage distribution of an
insulator

of

units,

if

the

maximum voltage of each unit is

17 kV, and the capacitance to
ground is 20% of unit capacitance,
also find the insulator efficiency.

V3 = 17 kV, m=20% = 0.2

V2 = (1+m).V1 = 1.2 V1
V3 = V1.m+ V2.(1+m) =1.64 V1
V1 = 17/1.64 = 10.36 kV
V2 = 1.2x10.36 = 12.43 kV
V= V1 + V2 + V3 = 39.8 kV
Insulator efficiency =
(39.8/3x17)x100=78.03%

Improvement of String
Efficiency
Methods of Equalizing Potential
1- Reducing the ground capacitance relative to the

capacitance of insulator unit (reduce m where m

= ce/cs):
This can be done by increasing the length of
cross arm and hence taller supporting tower
which uneconomical.

Improvement of String
Efficiency
2- Grading of insulator units: It can be seen that
the unequal distribution of voltage is due to
the leakage current from the insulator pin to
the tower structure. The solution is to use
insulator units with different capacitances.
This requires that unit nearest the cross arm
should have minimum capacitance (maximum
Xc) and the capacitance should increase as we
go towards the power line.

This means that in order to carry out

unit grading, units of different types
are

required.

stocks

of

This

different

requires
units

large

which

uneconomical and impractical.

is

Improvement of String
Efficiency
3- Static Shielding (Guard Ring):
This method uses a large metal ring
surrounding the bottom insulator unit and
connected to the line. This ring is called

grading

or

guard

ring

which

gives

capacitance which will cancel the charging

current of ground capacitance.

Guard ring serves two purposes:

- Equalizing the voltage drop across
each insulator unit.
- protects the insulator against flash
over.

Guard ring

At point A:
I1=i1
3V.C1= mC.V C1=mC/3
At point B:
I2=i2
2V C2=2V. mC

C2=mC

At point D:
I3 =i3
C3.V=3V. mC C3= 3mC

Example
A 3-unit insulator string with
guard ring. The capacitance to
ground and to guard ring are 25
% and 10 % of the capacitance of
each unit. Determine the voltage
distribution and string efficiency.

At point A:
I1 + I y = I x + i 1
0.1C.(V2+V3) + C.V2= C.V1 + 0.25
C.V1
1.25 V1 -1.1 V2 -0.1 V3 =0.0
At point B:
I2 + Iz = i2 +Iy
0.1C.V3 + C.V3= 0.25C.(V1+V2) +
C.V2
0.25 V1 + 1.25 V2 -1.1V3 =0.0
Also: V1 + V2 + V3 = V

Solve, to get:
V1= 0.295V,
0.406V

V2 = 0.2985V,

V3 =

= V/(3x0.406V)x100= 82.1 %
Find the voltage distribution and
insulator efficiency without a guard
ring.

More Images for

illustration

THANK-YOU