Pollution Accumulation Simulation of Composite Insulators in Western Inner Mongolia

To study the effect of pollution accumulation on flashover voltage for composite insulators in western Inner Mongolia, COMSOL software was used to simulate the impact of non-uniform pollution deposition, different particle sizes, varying pollution severity levels, and different wind directions on the amount of accumulated pollution and the flashover voltage of composite insulators. The results indicate that after passing through the composite insulator, pollution particles accumulate to varying degrees on the surface, mainly concentrated at the edges of the insulator shed and the ridges of the skirt. The larger the particle size, the more pollutants accumulate on the composite insulator, which leads to a higher degree of distortion in the surface electric field. The accumulation of pollutants under oblique wind conditions is higher than that under horizontal wind conditions, and the lower skirt position of composite insulators is more prone to accumulation. The non-uniform distribution of pollution on composite insulators leads to an uneven distribution of the surface electric field upon energization, thus reducing the flashover voltage of the composite insulator and making it more susceptible to flashover incidents.