Investigation of ATH and SiO₂ Nanofillers to Improve the Performance Characteristics of Outdoor Porcelain Insulators under Desert Environment Conditions

Porcelain insulators have been widely used in outdoor conditions due to their higher electrical resistance compared to polymers. This work presents an experimental study of different performance characteristics using Alumina Tri Hydrate [ATH] and Silicon Di Oxide [SiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>] nanofillers with different ratios and proportions. The nanocomposite solution was synthesized and characterized after incorporation with different concentrations. Porcelain insulators are ideal for locations where there are frequent changes in temperature and also extreme and dry conditions. In this paperwork, flashover and performance tests were conducted on nanocoated insulator samples under artificially created sandstorm desert conditions. The addition of nanofillers improved the breakdown voltage and reduced the percentage of porosity and surface roughness and the lifetime of the insulator samples at an appreciable rate. In this study, the effects of sandstorms, and thermal and electrical performances have been investigated in detail.