Leakage current characterization for estimating the conditions of non-ceramic insulators’ surfaces

In this work both detection of the beginning of dry-band arcing and correlating the average value of leakage current (LC) with non-ceramic insulator surface damage have been investigated. Silicone rubber insulators were tested in salt-fog under different voltage and conductivity levels. The autocorrelation function (ACF) was calculated for both the fundamental and third harmonic components of LC during the early aging period (EAP). It has been observed that distinct differences exist in the behavior of both the fundamental and that of the third harmonic components of the LC during EAP. Although the fundamental component of the LC begins to grow immediately after starting the test, the third harmonic requires a much longer period of time to begin. Dry-band arcing is highly correlated with distortion in the LC and hence to its third harmonic component. But it has been observed that the level of the fundamental component of LC at which the third harmonic component started to increase is different from one case to another. As such, it is more appropriate to use the ACF of the third harmonic component of LC as an indication of dry-band arcing rather than a simple threshold value. Moreover, the average value of LC during late aging period (LAP) was correlated with the damage of non-ceramic insulators. It has been found that the average level of both the fundamental and third harmonic component of LC is well correlated with the different degrees of damage of non-ceramic insulators’ surface.