Investigation into alternative solutions for HVDC station post insulators

Dong Wu* Urban Åström Bengt Almgren Svante Söderholm

Swedish Transmission ABB Power Systems ABB Corporate Research
Research Institute SE-771 80 Ludvika, Sweden

Abstract: In the design of HVDC stations, it is often necessary to coatings (e.g. silicone grease or RTV) on porcelain insula-
look into possible alternative solutions for HVDC outdoor insula- tors, using insulators with a semiconducting glaze, using in-
tion which can lead to a reduction in the required insulator length sulators with a smaller diameter, cleaning the insulators, mov-
and, at the same time, provide reliable pollution performance. Some ing the station to a location of a lower pollution level, build-
laboratory investigations related to this subject are presented in this
ing an indoor station, and reducing the numbers of the insula-
paper. Four well designed insulator shed profiles were tested. The
effectiveness of booster sheds was tested under fog conditions. The tors needed. Each of these solutions has its merits and draw-
insulator with its semiconducting glaze was tested in cold fog. The backs. A particular solution may work well at one place but
performances of the silicone grease and RTV coatings were com- not at others. It is necessary to understand the efficacy of these
pared under rain conditions. solutions. In this paper, some of our studies in this direction
are presented.
Keywords: HVDC System, External insulation, Station insulation,
Flashovers, Insulator coatings, Booster sheds, Shed profiles, Semi- II. SUITABLE SHED PROFILE
conducting glaze.
For given site conditions, the criteria for ranking various
I. INTRODUCTION
insulator shed profiles are the amount of pollution they may
collect and the dielectric strength they may have with this
Outdoor insulators operating under DC voltage are more
pollution level. The amount of pollution accumulated on an
susceptible to pollution problems than under AC voltage. This
insulator is determined by the aerodynamic and the self-clean-
is because, first, more pollution may be accumulated on insu-
ing properties of the shed profile. Examination of these prop-
lators under DC voltage, and secondly, discharges under DC
erties has to be made through operational experience or test-
voltage are more stable and ready to propagate. To achieve a
ing in natural pollution test stations. The dielectric strength
reliable performance, a longer creepage distance and total
of an insulator is determined, at a given pollution level, by
insulator length are often required for HVDC insulators com-
the ability of the shed profile to prevent wetting of the pollu-
pared with HVAC insulators. As a result, the insulator length
tion and the effectiveness of the creepage distance on the sheds.
for application in highly polluted areas and/or for ultra-high
The dielectric strength of insulators with various shed pro-
DC voltage levels can become so long that it is unpractical
files is often determined by laboratory tests.
from the mechanical design point of view; this especially be-
The rankings for various insulators, resulting from differ-
ing the case for station insulators which have a relatively large
ent investigations and using different test methods, are often
diameter. It is, therefore, necessary to look into possible solu-
not the same and even contradict each other. However, it is
tions which can lead to a reduction in the required insulator
evident that, at a given pollution level, the dielectric strength
length and, at the same time, provide reliable pollution per-
of different shed profiles can differ by 30-40% [1] [2]. Insu-
formance.
lators with a larger shed spacing give a better performance
The various possible solutions could include: selecting a
than insulators with a smaller shed spacing. Based on this
better insulator shed profile, installing extra parts on the insu-
understanding, a further investigation was performed on in-
lators (e.g. booster sheds or creepage extenders), using insu-
sulators with four different shed profiles [3]. The test results
lators with a hydrophobic surface or applying hydrophobic
are summarized in Table 1.
At this pollution level, the difference in dielectric strength
between these shed profiles is less than 9%. Considering the
uncertainties involved in the test method, this difference is
not significant. With the same creepage distance (differing
only by a few per cent), all these shed profiles have a relative
large shed spacing, which makes it difficult for the discharge
activity to bridge the sheds. This is probably the main reason
for the small difference between them. As indicated by the
test results, a well designed alternating shed profile can have
the same dielectric strength as a deep-underrib shed profile.
The final choice between them should be based on the site
conditions.
* Now with ABB Power Systems
 TABLE 1. PARAMETERS OF TESTED INSULATORS AND TEST
RESULTS: ALL THE INSULATORS HAVE THE SAME CONSTR-
UCTION HEIGHT OF 2.19 M AND A CORE DIAMETER OF 0.22 M.

Fig. 1. The improvement in dielectric strength in percentage as a function

of the number of booster sheds.

The improvement in the withstand voltage resulting from

the installation of booster sheds is significant, even for fog
conditions and for vertically installed insulators. The func-
tion of a booster shed is not only as a rain shield, it also acts
as a barrier to the propagation of the discharges. It may also
be expected that the pollution under a booster shed cannot be
wetted as much as the pollution on other parts of an insulator.
These dry areas under each booster shed may provide a high-
er resistance to the leakage current. Apart from its well prov-
en performance in rain, the booster shed seems to be a good
solution to the flashover problem.
III. BOOSTER SHEDS
IV. INSULATORS WITH SEMICONDUCTING GLAZE
Booster sheds were initially invented to prevent flashovers
caused by heavy wetting, e.g. during live-line washing [ 4]. In the literature, information on the application of insula-
The further major application is to prevent flashovers on tors with a semiconducting glaze (referred to as SG insula-
HVDC wall bushings caused by uneven wetting. Booster sheds tors in the following text) in DC systems is sparse. The prin-
have now been widely used in many countries in both AC and cipal issues concerning the application of the SG insulator
DC stations [5][6]. are: the dielectric strength of this type of insulator under dif-
The effectiveness of booster sheds during fog conditions ferent working conditions, and, more important, their lifetime.
on vertically installed DC station post insulators was also in- In one laboratory study under DC voltage, the SG insulator
vestigated through laboratory pollution tests [3]. The test re- showed superior pollution performance in comparison with
sults are summarized in Table 2. The improvement in with- conventional porcelain insulators [7]. The corrosion problem
stand voltage was about 30% when 20 booster sheds were of the semiconductive glaze under DC voltage was also ad-
installed as shown in Fig 1. dressed in another study [8]. No information on the long-term
performance of the SG insulators under DC voltage in actual
TABLE 2. TEST RESULTS WITH BOOSTER SHEDS: SOLID LAYER
working conditions are to be found in the literature.
METHOD WITH SDD=0.02 MG/CM2; THE HEIGHT OF THE Our investigation into this subject comprises a survey of
INSULATOR STACK IS 8.8 M; THE TEST PROCEDURE USED WAS the knowledge existing in literature of the performance of SG
THREE WITHSTANDS OUT OF FOUR VOLTAGE APPLICATIONS insulators, some laboratory dielectric strength tests, and age-
ing tests on the insulators obtained from several manufactur-
ers, as well as long-term field tests.
To investigate the pollution performance of the SG insula-
tor under DC voltage, a test in cold fog was performed. Since
the SG insulator has the ability to reduce condensation through
having a higher surface temperature than that of the ambient
air, it is of interest to investigate the situation when cold wa-
ter may wet the pollution by direct impact (spray) on the sur-
face, e.g. in light rain. The SG insulator tested has exactly the
same shed profile and parameters as the insulator type A in
Table 1. It has a relatively high glaze resistance of 100 MW/
m of creepage distance at 20oC. The insulator is pre-contam-
inated to a high SDD level of 0.18 mg/cm2 (NSDD=0.04 mg/ of a silicone grease and an RTV coating in rain conditions
cm2). The pollution was dry before the test started. The cold was studied through laboratory testing.
fog was generated by two salt fog ramps located on each side The test objects were three identical porcelain long-rod
of the tested insulator, as shown in Fig 2. Each salt fog ramp insulators with a length of 1.28 m and having flat regular sheds.
consists of 8 salt fog nozzles. Tap water of 16oC and 250 mS/ One of the insulators was coated with an RTV coating. This
cm conductivity was sprayed toward the SG insulator with a RTV coating has been on this insulator for about two years
water flow of 15 litres/hour and a air pressure of 7 bar for and the insulator was kept inside the laboratory. Another in-
each nozzle. sulator was newly coated with a thin layer of silicone grease.
The grease was simply applied by hand with a piece of cloth.
The third insulator, without any coating, was used as a refer-
ence. The hydrophobicity of the RTV coating was about
HC=3-4 according to STRI’s hydrophobicity classification
(HC=1: totally hydrophobic, HC=7: totally hydrophilic). This
insulator was treated by cleaning and drying it in 50oC ambi-
ent air until it reached HC=1. Such treatment was applied
before each test to ensure the HC=1 condition of the RTV.
The insulator coated with grease had HC=1.
Three tests were performed: light rain (0.2 mm/min. for 60
min.), heavy rain (20 mm/min. for 30 min.), and rain on pre-
polluted insulators (3 mm/min. for 60 min.). During the tests,
the axes of the insulators were tilted several degrees from the
horizontal plane (similar to the installation angle of many
HVDC wall bushings). The rain ramp was located over the
insulator and spray was applied vertically to the insulator. For
the rain test with pollution, the dry pollution was applied by
spraying on the insulators. The pollution level was SDD=0.2
mg/cm2 and NSDD=1.0 mg/cm2. After the application of pol-
lution, the insulators were stored in the drying room at 50oC
for 24 hours before the test. The tests were performed under
Fig. 2. Photo of the test set-up. positive DC voltage. The hydrophobicity of the insulators
before and after each test was measured. The leakage current
The insulator was energized by a voltage of -150 kV for was measured during the tests. The test results are summa-
one hour before the start of the spray. The test voltage was rized in Table 3.
increased to -250 kV at the same moment as the spray started. In both the light and the heavy rain test, the silicone grease
As soon as the cold fog started, at -250 kV, strong discharge coated insulator had the lowest leakage current. The RTV
activities were observed. The leakage current pulses soon coating became slightly hydrophilic after the heavy rain test.
reached the level of 100 mA. The leakage current declined to In the test with pollution, the RTV totally lost its hydropho-
a lower level, about 30-40 mA after about 20-30 minutes since bicity and become hydrophilic, while the silicone grease kept
the pollution was washed off from the insulator. In these cir- the hydrophobic property.
cumstances, the SG insulator is considered as withstanding
the test. Four such tests were made resulting in one flashover VI. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
and three withstands. The test result, i.e., a withstand voltage
at -250 kV for the pollution level, SDD=0.18 mg/cm2, has The difference in dielectric strength between the four test-
confirmed the excellent pollution performance of SG insula- ed insulators in our investigation, with alternating and deep-
tors. underrib profiles, is not significant. They are all well designed
To carrying out a laboratory ageing test, the first question shed profiles. This is not to say that selection of the insulator
one should consider is the choice of test method. There is no shed profile is not important. A poorly designed profile with
established ageing test method for SG insulators. Our investi- close shed spacing should be avoided.
gation into this subject is still in progress. Booster sheds are effective in increasing dielectric strength
in both rain and fog, for both vertically and horizontally in-
V. SILICONE GREASES AND RTV COATINGS stalled insulators.
The pollution performance of the insulator with semicon-
Various types of silicone greases and RTV coatings have ducting glaze is superior in comparison with conventional
been widely used as countermeasures for pollution flashover porcelain insulators. It is its lifetime under DC voltage that
problems in AC and DC stations. They have also been used will determine whether or not it will turn out to be a good
on HVDC wall bushings to prevent flashovers caused by un- solution for the HVDC station post insulators.
even wetting. Operational experience of the silicone greases Both silicone grease and RTV coated insulators perform
and RTV coatings in HVDC stations has been continuously much better than uncoated porcelain insulators. However, the
followed by ABB and STRI [9]. Some laboratory tests have loss of hydrophobicity of RTV coated insulators in the situa-
also been performed. In this investigation, the performance tion of pre-pollution under rain must be considered.
 TABLE 3. SUMMARY OF TEST RESULTS. insulation in China” International Conference on Application of Non-
ceramic Outdoor Insulation, Paper 3.5, June 7-8, 1994, Paris.
(A) Light rain (0.2 mm/min, 60 min, 150 kV) [7] EPRI: “Development of optimized DC station post insulators” EPRI
TR-100267, Project2472-3, Final Report, January 1992.
[8] A.C. Baker, J.W. Maney, Z. Szilagyi: “Long term experience with
semi-conductive glaze high voltage post insulators” IEEE Transaction
on Power Delivery, Vol.5, No.1, January 1990.
[9] B. Almgren, U. Åström, D. Wu: “A Survey of the flashover perform
ance of HVDC converter station insulators” Paper submitted for the
publication at the POWERCON’98, August 18-21, 1998 Beijing,
China.

VIII. BIOGRAPHIES

Dong Wu was born in Beijing, China in 1952. He graduated from Xian

(B) Heavy rain (20 mm/min, 10 min, 300 kV) Jiaoton University, received his M.Sc. degree from the Graduate School of
EPRI of China, and gained his Ph.D. from the Royal Institute of Technolo-
gy of Sweden, in 1977, 1982, and 1988 respectively, all in electrical engi-
neering. From 1982 to 1985, and from 1988 to 1992, he worked as a Senior
Research Engineer at EPRI of China. In 1992, he joined a research group as
Project Leader in the Dept. of Electrical Plant Engineering at the Royal
Institute of Technology in Sweden. In the period 1992 to 1997, he worked
as a Project Manager at the High Voltage Research in the Swedish Trans-
mission Research Institute (STRI). Since January 1998, he has been with
ABB Power Systems, working in the Converter Valve Development depart-
ment. He has worked in the field of power electronics and high-voltage
engineering. He is active in CIGRE and IEC task forces for outdoor insula-
tion.
(C) Rain with pre-pollution (3 mm/min, SDD = 0.2 mg/m2 , NSDD = 1.0 Urban Åström was born in Njurunda, Sweden in 1946. He received his
mg/cm2, 200 kV) M.Sc. degree in physical engineering and B.Sc. degree in astronomy from
the University of Uppsala, Sweden in 1973. In 1974 he joined ASEA AB’s
HVDC department and worked with design and development of control
equipment, thyristor valves and valve cooling. In 1978 he joined the trans-
former department and worked with design of converter transformers for
HVDC. In 1986 he joined the HQ/NEH HVDC project team, being respon-
sible for converter equipment. From 1989 to 1995 he was manager of the
HVDC Project Engineering Development department, and since 1995 he
has managed the Converter Valve Development department.
Bengt Almgren was born in Gävle, Sweden in 1939. He graduated at
* the measurement of HC levels on pollution layer may not be accurate Gävle Technical College in 1961. In 1964 he joined the ASEA Central Lab-
oratory in Västerås, working with development design and marketing of
electro-hydraulic equipment. In 1972 he joined ASEA Brazil, first working
VII. REFERENCES with marketing of industrial equipment and latterly as manager of a design
department for HVDC thyristor valves. In 1983 he joined the ASEA AB
[1] A.C. Baker, L..E. Zaffanella, L.D. Anzivino, H.M. Schneider, J.H. HVDC department in Ludvika where he then worked with following up
Moran: “Contamination performance of HVDC station post HVDC converter stations, dimensioning of new ones, and research, all with
insulators” IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol.3, No.4, regard to external insulation. In 1997 he was appointed as Company Spe-
October 1988. cialist in the ‘External insulation of HVDC transmissions’ area.
[2] K. Naito: “Contaminated insulator performance in HVDC lines and Svante Söderholm was born in Åbo, Finland in 1958. He received an
stations” IEEE/PES T & D Conference, New Orleans, April 2-7, 1989. M.Sc. in Engineering Physics in 1982 and a Ph.D. in Solid State Electron
[3] D. Wu, R. Hartings, U. Åström, B. Almgren, S. Nord: “The perform Physics in 1987 from the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. From 1987
ance of station post insulators for UHVDC applications” 10th to 1991 he held various positions at the Department of Materials Physics,
International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, August 25-29, Royal Institute of Technology, nearly two years of this period being spent at
1997, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Universität Stuttgart, Germany. He was assistant professor at the Depart-
[4] C.H.A. Ely, P.J. Lambeth, J.S.T. Looms: “The booster shed: Preven ment of Materials Physics from 1991 to 1995. During this period his main
tion of flashover of polluted substation insulators in heavy wetting” research fields were high temperature superconductors and transition metal
IEEE Transactions on PAS, Vol.PAS-97, No.6, Nov./Dec. 1978. oxides. In Nov. 1995 he joined ABB Corporate Research, Department of
[5] B. Holmgren, P. Söderqvist: Discussion contribution to [4] Materials and Chemical Engineering, as a scientist. At present he mainly
[6] Z. Y. Sun, Z. Y. Su: “Service experience with composite outdoor works with long-term properties of materials, mostly polymers, and mag-
netic materials.