Finite Elementary Modelling for Suspension Glass Type Insulator Under the Contamination Effects

Abstract

This paper presents the modeling of glass insulators, specifically focusing on the effects of contamination with and without Room Temperature Vulcanizing (RTV) coating. The study selected 132 kV cap and pin glass suspension insulators because of their popularity in transmission systems. The glass insulator has strong dielectric strength to ensure the reliability in transmission system. Despite their advantages, glass insulators can suffer significant performance degradation when exposed to contaminants, leading to increased maintenance and instability in transmission systems. To address these challenges, this research employs Finite Element Modeling (FEM) using Ansys Maxwell in a 3D simulation environment. The study examines the electrical performance of clean uncoated insulator, polluted uncoated, and RTV-coated insulators to evaluate the effectiveness of RTV coatings in mitigating contamination effects. Results demonstrate that polluted insulators experience increased in electric field and current density distributions, which can compromise performance and increase the possibility of flashover and arcing. In contrast, RTV-coated insulators exhibit enhanced performance under polluted conditions, showing significant reductions in both electric field and current density distributions. These findings underscore the importance of RTV coatings in improving the reliability of glass insulators in contaminated environments, thereby reducing maintenance and enhancing the overall performance of transmission lines.