Determining Pollution Performance Curves of HTV SR Insulators Tested in a Severe Coastal Environment

In this paper, we explore a methodology for deriving pollution performance curves of five polymeric insulators with identical materials and profiles, but varying creepage distances. Focusing on High Temperature Vulcanized (HTV) Silicone Rubber (SR) insulators, the tests were conducted under AC voltage in natural pollution and wetting conditions of a severe marine pollution environment. Through analysis of the peak leakage currents recorded during testing at the Koeberg Insulator Pollution Test Station (KIPTS), which is known for its extreme Site Pollution Severity (SPS), we aim to evaluate the pollution performance of these insulators. This research found that pollution performance curves can be determined from natural pollution and wetting data, showing that factors like material, creepage distance, ageing and hydrophobicity loss affect insulator performance. The derived pollution performance curves can be used to conduct statistical selection and dimensioning of the polymeric insulators, thereby optimising their creepage distance.