Leakage Current Waveforms of Outdoor Polymeric Insulators and Possibility of Application for Diagnostics of Insulator Conditions

This paper reports the investigation results on the leakage currents (LC) on polymeric outdoor insulators. The samples used were EPDM (ethylene prophylene diene monomer) insulators used at 20 kV distribution lines. AC voltage was applied and the LC waveforms were measured under various environmental conditions (humidity and pollution). Digital data of the LC was transferred from a digital storage oscilloscope to a computer for further analysis. The LC waveform parameters such as magnitude and harmonic content (as indicated by the total harmonic distortion (THD)) were analyzed. The experimental results showed that 3rd, 5th and 7th harmonics and higher odd harmonics were observed for symmetrical-distorted LC waveforms while for unsymmetrical-distorted LC waveforms, odd and even harmonics were observed. The LC analysis indicated that there are 5 stages of insulator conditions from normal condition up to flashover correlated with different kind of LC waveforms. The results also showed that in general the magnitude of LC was good enough to show the condition of the insulators. However, under discharge condition (for example as a result of dry band arching) the LC magnitude should be combined by the THD to show a better correlation with the insulator condition. The product between THD and LC magnitude may be used as a diagnostic parameter.