Failure Trends of High-Voltage Porcelain Insulators Depending on the Constituents of the Porcelain

Abstract

The aging of porcelain insulators is responsible for the failure of power utilities. Porcelain insulators from different places in South Korea, possessing various aging times and years of installation, have been investigated to carry out lifetime statistics. These samples have a mass of 36,000 lbs and are operated at 154 kV. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed on the porcelain bodies of the samples collected. XRF and SEM revealed trends in the weight percentage of SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 in the porcelain bodies of the collected samples. The SiO2 and Fe2O3 weight percentage reduced to 8.93% and 73.17%, respectively, in sample C compared to A. However, the Al2O3 weight percentage increased to 16.23% in sample C compared to sample A. This change in weight percentage of SiO2, Fe2O3, and Al2O3 contributed toward enhancing the mechanical and electrical properties of the insulators. Mechanical load tests with electrical voltage (M&E), thermal and mechanical load tests (T&M), and hardness tests (HRB) were performed to evaluate these characteristics. Experiments revealed an increase of 90.9% in the inequality factor (K) in sample C compared to A. The impact of constituents of porcelain on the lifetime expectancy of a porcelain insulator was reported by implementing statistical strategies, such as the Weibull distribution.