Condition Monitoring System for Outdoor Insulators

Abstract

High Voltage insulators are vital components in transmission and distribution systems in a power network. Most of the insulators are used in open air applications where they are subjected to different environment conditions. Exposure to these different weather conditions and contaminations determine their performance as insulators. Condition monitoring of power line insulators is an important requirement for asset management engineers in a power network in order to maintain a healthy power system. There are several techniques that have been introduced to fulfil this requirement. One of the techniques of measuring surface leakage current is introduced here. This paper highlights the concepts of measuring surface leakage current for insulators under contaminated conditions. Results show that the surface leakage current is closely related to the insulator condition.