Live line work on HV lines equipped with composite insulators: state of the art

A. Pigini Consultant Italy

1

G. Pirovano RSE Italy

G. Rocchetti MPS USA

Introduction At present, non-ceramic insulators (NCI) also called composite insulators are widely used on overhead lines (OHL) all over the world with many advantages, e.g. in terms of weight and performance under polluted conditions. An essential issue that limits an even wider application of NCIs is the difficulty to assess their condition in service before the application of live line working (LLW) techniques for the replacement or repair of the insulators or related hardware. Some utilities already have good experience in inspecting the conditions of NCIs and in working on these components using LLW techniques while others need support in developing of such techniques. Minimal required conditions for LLW are given in [1] [2]. IEC Standard 61472 [2] describes the method for the calculation of working distances in case of porcelain or glass cap-and-pin insulators, and defines the criteria to assess the maximum allowable number of damaged units depending on the voltage class and the overvoltage level considered. Minimum requirements for composite insulators are not covered in the present Standard. A proposal of revision of the abovementioned Standard, in order to include also composite insulators, has been made by the Italian National Committee. Following the proposal IEC 78 demanded to WG 11 and to an ad hoc PT the revision of the Standard. In the following the available information derived from extensive experimental investigations performed is analyzed and discussed as a possible contribution to the foregoing revision. In particular the minimal requirements in case of composites are evaluated with the same methodology used for glass and porcelain insulators and then the methodology to detect the composite insulator defects of interest for LLW is discussed. 2 Stresses of concern LLW is performed in fair weather, far away from conditions that could lead to pollution flashover , thus only the dielectric performance under transient voltages is of concern. If lightning is probable, LLW is usually forbidden. Only long front overvoltages (LFO) are of concern, simulated in laboratory by Switching Impulses (SI). The amplitude of the LFO can vary within a wide range depending on system design (Fig. 1). Furthermore the amplitude to be expected during LLW depends on the overvoltage control set up during LLW (e.g. limitation of some operations, such as reclosure after a fault). Typical ranges of the statistical overvoltages U2 values assumed in the line design [3] are reported in Fig. 2 as a function of the system voltage (continuous lines), taking into account all the possible operations which could occur in the system such as closing or reclosing operations. In practice the U2 value generally decreases when the system voltage increases, due to the specific solution adopted to mitigate such overvoltages. Lower U2 values may also be assumed in the EHV range in case of compact line design. In practice most of the switching operations are not allowed during live line maintenance and thus only overvoltages deriving from fault ignition and fault clearing are to be considered, having a much lower range, as shown in Fig. 2 (dotted lines). In particular for UHV it is feasible to limit such vervoltages to 1.6-1.7 p.u.[4].

Fig. 1 Range of overvoltages depending on system design [1]

3,5 3

U2(p.u)

2,5 2 1,5
1 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Um (kV)

Fig. 2 U2 design values (range between continuous lines) and values expected during maintenance (range between dotted lines) as a function of the system voltage 3 Minimum approach distances During LLW a minimum approach distance (Da), also referred to as the safe approach distance, is to be maintained, being the sum of the electrical distance Du and the ergonomic distance De. As from [2] Du is given by the following equation:

Du=2,17.(e(U90/(1080.Kt) -1) +F

(m)

(1)

Where : F is the floating object length in metres U90 is the phase to earth (or phase to phase) statistical impulse withstand voltage in kV equal to Ks*U2 (with U2 statistical overvoltages, depending on the system and operation limitation and Ks statistical factor) Kt =ks.kg.ka.kf.K i Where ks is a statistical factor relating the withstand voltage to the 50% flashover voltage, kg the gap factor of the configuration on which work is performed, K a a coefficient taking into account the altitude a.s.l. of the line installation place, kf a factor that takes into account the decrease of the strength in presence of floating electrodes in the gap and K i a factor that takes into account the presence of insulators in the gap. 2

As an example Fig. 3 a) and b) report the Du value evaluated for a central window configuration kg=1,2 and a lateral window configuration with a gap factor k g=1,45, in the ideal case of absence of any floating electrode, at sea level and for various overvoltage values assumed during maintenance.

Kg 1,2
14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

Kg 1,45
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

U2 1,8 U2 2,0
U2 2,2
Du (m)

U2 1,8 U2 2,0
U2 2,2

Du (m)

500 Um (kV)

1000

500 Um (kV)

1000

a) b) Fig. 3: Du value as a function of system voltage and overvoltage value 4 Requirements to work close to insulator sets

A large amount of live working is devoted to the replacement of damaged insulator sets . Thus, it is important to know the extent of insulation damage that allows work on or near the insulation system without risk of flashover. The residual electrical strength of a damaged insulator set can vary significantly depending upon the type of insulators, the size and location of the damage, and the degree of damage. 4.1 Performance of cap and pin insulator strings with damaged insulators

The results of tests on string configurations with both glass and porcelain cap and pin insulators are summarized in Fig. 4. In particular the figure reports the residual flashover voltage as a function of the amount N d of failed units when grouped in the most critical place along the string. The flashover voltage is expressed in p.u. of the corresponding value for the sound string and N d is normalized to the totale number of insulators in the string N t . The results are rather scattered, however the following remark can be made: The strength reduction is significantly larger with glass than with porcelain insulators. This is due to the fact that pre-stressed toughened glass insulators always shatter completely, leaving a bare hub, while porcelain insulators may be damaged in different ways, so that the strength depends very much on the portion of porcelain skirt that remains. Obviously the larger the number of damaged units, the greater the strength reduction. But even if all the insulators are damaged, an insulator string still maintains at least 20 % of its strength. The variation of the strength as a function of the type and number of damaged units can be assumed to be linear as a first approximation, and may be expressed by the following equation ki = 1 0,8kd (N d/Nt ) (2) In the Standard K d is assumed equal to 1 for glass insulators while is assumed equal to 0.75 for porcelain insulators to reflect the better performance. 3

Fig. 4 Cap and pin insulator strings. SI tests positive polarity. Flashover voltage in p.u. as a function of the share N d /Nt of failed units in the string ( g glass, p porcelain) 4.2 Performance of composite insulators partially damaged Systematic positive SI tests were carried out to determine the dielectric performance of composite insulators in configurations simulating actual field conditions and different types of defects. Insulator strings for 145 and 420 kV lines were considered (see the test configurations in Fig.5) [8],[9],[10],[11].

Fig. 5 Tested configurations in the RSE HV laboratory Tests were performed simulating external defects by means of thin conductive foils or semiconducting tape (defect Type A) having 5 mm width and variable length Ld applied along the insulator surface (total length L); for semiconductive defects type A the resistivity of the tape (in the order of k .cm) was chosen to reproduce the values obtained from resistance measurements carried out on fibre rod bar in presence of tracking phenomena on insulators removed from service. Internal artificial defects were also made applying on the insulator rod, prior to the application of the housing, thin layers of varnish (defect type B) [6]. Examples of the results obtained by varying the position of the defect along the insulators are given in Fig. 6. 4

a) b) Fig. 6 Positive switching impulse strength U50 for 150 kV (Fig 6a) and 420 kV(Fig. 6 b) configurations as a function of the conductive defect length and position The Figure indicate that the minimum strength for a given defect length is obtained when the defect is close to the high voltage side, but not necessarily when it is just live side. The minimum results obtained for each defect length (minimum of the curves in Fig. 6) are given in Fig. 7) and 8) as a function of the length of the insulator set damaged. In the Figures also the Uo value (50% flashover voltage of the minimum approach distance required according to the Italian practice) is given to get a first idea of the allowable defect size.
800
700 800 700

Flashover voltage U50 [kV]

Flashover voltage U50 [kV]

600

600

Uo = 520 kV
500
400 300

Uo = 520 kV
500

400 300 200 100

0 0,00

200
100 0 0,00

0,20

0,40

0,60

0,80

1,00

0,20

0,40

0,60

0,80

1,00

Defect length (p.u.) Conductive defect; live potential Conductive defect; ground potential Conductive defect; floating potential Semiconductive defect (type A); live potential Semiconductive defect (type A); ground potential Semiconductive defect (type A); floating potential Semiconductive defect (type B); live potential Reference configuration (gap-factor 1,1): Uo = 520 kV Insulator with no defect

Defect length (p.u.)

Semiconductive defect; live potential
Conductiv e defec t; ground potential Semiconductive defect; floating potential Conductiv e defec t; floating potential

Carbonisation along rod; live potential

Ax ial breakings of the rod; floating potential Reference condition (gap-factor 1,1): Uo = 520 kV Insulator with no defect

a) b) Fig. 7 145 kV composite insulator configuration (a)with semi-conductive defect type A, b)with semiconductive defect type B)

2000

Flashover voltage U50 [kV]

1500

1000
Uo = 930 kV

500

0 0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

Defect length (p.u.)

Conductive defect; live potential Conductive defect; ground potential Conductive defect; floating potential Semiconductive defect, live potential Semiconductive defect; ground potential Reference configuration (gap-factor 1,1): Uo = 930 kV Insulator with no defect

Fig. 8 420 kV composite insulator configuration (semi conductive defects type A) The 145 and 420 kV results are summarized in Fig. 9 where the flashover voltages are reported in p.u. of the flashver voltage of the sound unit.
1.2 1.0 0.8

Cd [p.u.]

0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 Ld / L [p.u.] 0.6 0.8 1.0

Fig. 9. Dielectric strength (C d in p.u.) under positive switching impulse for composite insulators as a function of the length of the insulator set damaged (white and grey symbols: conductive type defects, black symbols: semiconductive defects). The minimum dielectric strengths of the experimental data reported in the above figure expressed as: Cd = 1 Ld / L (3) can be

The trend is similar to that of insulator strings with cap and pin units , with the exception that in this case also the case of a conductive defects covering all the insulator length should be contemplated, so that the curve goes to zero for Ld=L The above considerations allow the determination of the insulator string factor for composite insulators as: ki = 1 Kd (Ld / L) (4)

Conservatively in the present revision proposal of IEC 61472 kd value has been assumed equal to 1. However in analogy with the solution adopted in [2] for porcelain insulators and taking into account that actual defects are very likely of semi conductive type it could be possible to assume a lower value for Kd (as the results in Fig. 6 and 7 seem to indicate), for or example Kd=0,75 as for porcelain. More adequate proposals for the value of Kd could be made on the base of extensive measurements of the actual electrical resistance of the so called semi conductive defects (generally produced by tracking phenomena) of composite insulators and of switching impulse tests in presence of this type of defects. 4.3 Determination of safe conditions for LLW with damaged insulators

IEC 61472 Standard [2] prescribes that, when broken glass units affect the dielectric strength of an insulator string, LLW is permitted if the residual strength is higher than the maximum expected switching overvoltage. The first step of the verification consists in the minimum electrical distance calculation that shall be guaranteed in presence of insulator damages, by means of the same relationship prescribed for the electrical distance DU (equ. 1 together with equ. 2 and 3), 4) The second step of the verification consists in verifying that the obtained DU is less or equal to the string length. In this case, the safety conditions for LLW are guaranteed. An example of evaluation for a typical 420 kV line is reported in Fig. 10 making reference for homogeneity also for cap and pin insulator strings to the length Ld corresponding to the number of insulator damaged with respect to the total string length L. The following case is considered: LLW on the central phase equipped with I string (K g=1,2), installation altitude a.s.l 1000 m, U2 assumed in line design 2.8 p.u. (consequent minimum clearance/string length L= 3,3 m), assumed U2 during maintenance 2.0 p.u. For composites two assumptions were made in calculation K d=1 (more conservative assumption, see Fig. 10a) and Kd=0,75 as for porcelain , see Fig. 10b). Assuming Kd =1 the allowable defect size for composite insulators is around 25% while it becomes close to that for glass insulators (about 35%) for K d=0,75 The maximum defect allowable for porcelain insulators is higher (about 45% of the insulator set). As previously indicated, in analogy to the porcelain case it could be considered appropriate to select the coefficient k d=0,75 for composites as for porcelain. Obviously in case of compact lines, with lower U2 assumed in design and consequently lower L values, the allowable defect size would be lower, as can be directly derived from Fig. 10, making LLW problematic. A clear example of the problem can be made with reference to UHV lines, which due to the limitation assumed for the overvoltages in design, are to be considered as compact lines

Um 420 kV ,U2 design 2,8p.u., U2 LLW 2 p.u., Kg 1,2

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
0

composites

glass

porcelain

Du (m)

0,1

0,2

0,3 Ld/L

0,4

0,5

0,6

a) b) Fig. 10 Example of evaluation of the maximum allowable defect size for a 420 kV system. a) k d for composite =1, b) k d for composite =0,75 Dotted line: design value. Continuous lines: requirements during LLW depending on the defect size (in p.u. of the insulator set length) An example of evaluation for a 1100 kV line is reported in Fig. 11. The following case is considered: LLW on the central phase equipped with I string (kg=1,2), altitude a.s.l 1000 m, U2 assumed in line design 1.8 p.u. (consequent minimum clearance/string length L= 8,3 m), assumed U2 during maintenance 1.6 p.u, kd=0,75 for composites.

Um 1100 kV ,U2 design 1,8 p.u., U2 LLW 1,6 p.u., Kg 1,2

12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5

composites

glass

porcelain

Du (m)

0,1 Ld/L

0,2

0,3

Fig. 11 Example of evaluation of the maximum allowable defect size for a 1100 kV system Dotted line: design value. Continuous lines: requirements during LLW depending on the defect size (in p.u. of the insulator set length) In this case only 15% of the insulator length with damage can be accepted for glass and composite and just a little more for porcelain. Since LLW is essential for UHV, the need of less compact solutions may be considered in the final design phase. 5 Detectability of the composite insulator defects critical for LLW

Many types of possible NCI deteriorations in service do not affect the SI dielectric strength and thus are not of importance with respect to LLW feasibility. Examples of these defect types which 8

are pure surface phenomena (external) and do not affect significantly the insulation strength include Chalking, Colour Changes, Crazing, Grease Leakage, Surface Erosion, Minor Debonding, Local Abrasion, Alligatoring, Biological Growth. Even shed damages, e.g. punctures, splitting and cutting, may be not such to cause a reduction of the strength, at least in dry condition, as typical for most of LLW conditions [8]. Only conductive or partially conductive defects may affect the SI strength. Tracking type defects will always be potentially critical since they are conductive or partially conductive even in dry conditions. However the insulator can become partly conductive also following moisture ingress in the core and at the interface. This occurs, as an example, when moisture penetrates toward the rod through the punctures/splitting of the sheath, thus increasing the conductivity of the rod or of part of it [8]. Prior to LLW, the insulation conditions are to be evaluated in order to detect any possible risk of flashover that may expose the maintenance personnel. Specific insulation check procedures are applied for that scope. The aim of this activity is different from the assessment of the functional conditions of insulators (i.e. determination of all types of defects on insulators) and is focused on personnel safety and namely to detect the quite large defects non compatible with the LLW (see examples in Fig.10 indicating that conductive type defects extending to about one third of the insulators are still acceptable during LLW ). This premise is very important for the assessment of the feasibility and suitability of the available diagnostic methods. In the specific case of NCIs, in addition to visual inspection, three other diagnostic methods are generally suggested for the assessment of NCIs condition: infrared (IR)/ ultraviolet (UV) diagnostics and E-field measurements. The efficiency of these methods is analyzed and compared based on laboratory investigation and field experience [8]. Visual inspection is a very useful tool for estimating the conditions of NCIs, as for ceramic ones. As reported in [8], the defects which are long enough to affect the feasibility of LLW are in most cases visible on the outer insulator surface, as they show in terms of local sheath puncture or tracking. On the other end, insulators showing no visual evidence of severe defects are not expected to have severe degradation of the dielectric strength. For this reason, many utilities conduct LLW with NCI after performing a thorough visual inspection of the insulators condition only. Preliminary visual inspection from ground level or from helicopters allows detection of only large defects. The effectiveness of such technique is improved by the use of suitable binoculars or telescopes. Digital photo and video camera recordings allow to carry out both an immediate deeper analysis and to compare subsequent observations. To be effective, visual inspection must be performed from different points of view, in order to cover the entire insulator. Visual inspection from ground may be improved by visual inspection from inside the tower. The latter must be carried out by skilled personnel, trained and certified to climb the tower and to perform activity in the LLW zone. A proper visual inspection may be in general carried out remaining inside the tower body. However a condition assessment based only on visual inspection could lead to very conservative decisions such as to avoid LLW any time that even small signs, which could be related to possible conductive or semi-conductive defects, are evidenced, independently of their gravity. NCI inspection methods can be enhanced by using the various available diagnostic devices. These devices can help to quantify the extent of damage. Infrared IR detection. Large conductive defects emit corona. Corona emission from conductive or semi-conductive defects on the surface produces very limited temperature increase. Thus temperature measurements by means of infrared camera are not suitable to detect critical conductive or semi-conductive defects creating corona on the insulator surface, as proven by the systematic laboratory investigations carried out in [6], [7], [8]: temperature variations measured in laboratory were always lower than a few Kelvin without a clear relation with the position or length of the 9

defect, as shown in Fig. 12 where the difference in K between maximum temperature measured on the insulator (hot spot temperature) and the ambient temperature is reported . Thus the method did not result as the most suitable to detect the most common defects detrimental for LLW. The method to be effective needs a conductive/semi-conductive defect which develops for most of the insulator length thus causing a significant current flow and a consequent significant thermal effect (rather extreme but obviously very critical cases).

Conductive LIVE POT. 145 kV Conductive GROUND POT. 145 kV Conductive FLOATING POT. 145 kV

Semi-Conductive LIVE POT. 145 kV Semi-Conductive GROUND POT. 145 kV Semi-Conductive FLOATING POT. 145 kV

4 3

Tmax - Tamb [K]

3 2 2 1 1 0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

Ld / L [p.u.]

Fig. 12 Over temperature along the insulator as a function of the ratio defect length (Ld)/ insulator length L. Electric Field (EF) Measurements EF longitudinal distribution along the NCI can be assessed by an EF probe handled by skilled LLW personnel. Defects that generate a distortion of the EF (i.e. conductive or semi-conductive defects) can be detected by comparing the EF pattern obtained on the defective insulator with a reference fingerprint obtained on the sound insulator. To enhance the detection of defects the data can be normalized dividing the electric field value measured for each shed by the corresponding value of the plot taken as reference (Fig.13). The maximum EF differences found between the corresponding values on defective and sound insulator (in p.u. of EF of the sound insulator) are shown in Fig. 14 as a function of the defect length and position. It can be noticed that all critical defects (and even defects much lower than the critical level) may be identified by this method. In the attempt to derive general rules measurements were performed on insulators having different defects generated during the manufacturing process (lack of primer, carbonization on the rod, breakings of the rod) or resulting from long duration aging test in different environmental conditions. Electrical field deviations higher than the intrinsic sensitivity of the methodology were confirmed for all types of defects investigated [6]. Beyond being very sensitive, the power of the method relies on its capability of giving indications about defect size and location and thus criticality [9] (Fig. 15). However the method is quite demanding in terms of time/cost and expertise need and thus is not optimal to scan the entire OHL. On the contrary it may be very effective to ensure the safety of LLW on a specific insulator.

10

2.2

Electric Field Deviation[p.u.]

2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Ld/L = 0.05 Ld/L = 0.13 Ld/L = 0.07 NO DEFECT Ld/L = 0.1

Shed n

Fig. 13: Results of electric field measurements with live conductive defects of different lengths
LIVE
MAX Electric Field Deviation [p.u.]
3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5

GROUND

FLOATING

Ld / L [p.u.]

Fig. 14 Conductive type defects. Maximum Electric Field deviation (p.u) as a function of the defect length and position
Defects at live potential - 100 kV
2,4 2,2
1,4 1,3

Defects at ground potential - 100 kV

Electric Field (p.u.)

Electric Field (p.u.)

2,0 1,8 1,6 1,4 1,2 1,0 0,8 0,6 0,4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 C1 C2 C3 C6

1,2 1,1 1,0 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 C4 C7

n. Shed (1 earth side)

n. Shed (1 earth side)

Defects at floating potential - 100 kV

1,3

Electric Field (p.u.)

1,2 1,1 1,0 0,9 0,8 0,7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

cm
C5 C8

n. Shed (1 earth side)

Live side C6 C1 C3 C2 earth side C7 C4 floating C8 C5

6 9 13,5 16,5 11,5 19 15 22,5

Fig. 15 Normalized electric field graphs for live, ground and floating potential defects (conductive type) 11

UV detection As previously mentioned large conductive defects often appear also on the surface (e.g. as tracking or sheath puncture) leading to heavy local field enhancement and possibly to corona in air which can be nowadays detected in day light by special UV cameras. Corona emissions intensity may be evaluated by counting the number of pulses of light emission related to corona (named blobs). The sensitivity of this method was investigated by simulating conductive defects (by metal wires) at live side, ground side and at floating potential (in the middle of the insulator), located on the insulator surface [7]. The insulators were energized at the operating AC voltage and images were taken from about 20 m distance, to simulate service inspection. The defect length was progressively reduced in order to evaluate the limit of sensitivity of the method, defined in terms of the minimum defect length characterized by a stable corona intensity value and a stable corona spot location. The results are summarized in Fig. 16 where the minimum detectable defects length (in p.u. of the insulator length) is presented for different insulator ratings. The UV camera was in general capable to detect any conductive type defect longer than about 20-30%, which is the same order as the critical length for LLW for typical EHV line conditions.
40 35 30

floating potential defects ground potential defects live potential defects

Ld / L [%]

25 20 15 10 5 0 100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Un [kV]

Fig. 16: Minimum conductive defects lengths detectable by UV for different defect positions and for insulators of different ratings Analogous results were obtained by substituting the metallic wire with a semi-conductive tape with resistivity in the order of k .cm, to reproduce typical tracking values. The doubt remained about the capability of the method to detect defects located under the insulator surface, possibly leading to insulator flash-under. To study this aspect several 150 kV composite insulators were produced with a metallic wire purposely inserted by one manufacturer (MLP) between the silicon housing and the fibreglass core during insulator manufacturing. Fig 17 reports the view of the insulators under tests in the RSE high voltage laboratory.

Fig. 17 Insulators installed in the RSE HV laboratory

12

The UV method was not able to detect inner type defects (which on the contrary were easily detected by EM measurements). On some of the above mentioned insulators it was decided to remove small parts of housing, discovering the conductive end of the conductive defects (see Fig. 18).

Fig. 18- View of the insulator with removal of small housing part at the conductive defect tip In this condition UV measurements allowed to detect exposed defects both at earth, live and floating potential defects (see Fig. 19), with results very similar to those obtained with defects laying on the surface (cases of Fig.16). By comparison the same insulators were analysed by IR. Infrared measurements allowed to detect only some of the defects with a maximum variation of the temperature in the range of the centigrade, similarly to the case of fully conductive defects, confirming the inadequacy of IR diagnostics for conductive or semiconductive defects.

Fig. 19 UV measurements on 145 kV insulators with inner type defects after removal of a small part of the housing just to discover the tip of the defect. It has to be pointed out that the condition of defects which fully develop inside the composite insulators are to be considered as a rare case, especially for new insulator vintages which assure a good adhesion between housing and core and a god sealing. The evolution of defects from the inside to the outside is very common as proven by the experimental investigation reported in [8], [13] referring to 420 and 145 kV NCIs insulators with intentional artificial defects, including core rod delamination, core rod to housing interface separation, core voids. In particular the experience reported in [13] refer to investigation carried out without and with moisture ingress [13]. The insulators were first tested in the laboratory and afterwards energized for 2 years at the test station. An important observation after the two years energization was that the types of internal defects considered did not grow inside the insulators. Instead, original internal defects induced further deterioration on the surface. The results were openings and punctures of the sheath and cracks as shown in Fig. 20 [8][13]. This behavior was more pronounced for larger defects, because of higher E-field concentration.

13

Fig. 20: Examples of development of originally internal defects into cracks or punctures of the sheath after two years ageing. Preliminary investigations made with conductive defects have also shown that UV could permit to get information about the defect location, as shown in Fig. 21 which reports the corona intensity as a function of the position of the defect extremity for different defect types (live, earth, floating). As an example Zone 1 identifies live defects while Zone 2 identifies ground defects [9].
30000

25000 1

corona emission [count/min]

2 20000

15000

2 10000 1

5000 3

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Defect extremity position (sheds numbered starting from live side)

Fig. 21 Example of defect identification graph for 220 kV composite insulators. Number of pulses (blobs) per minute as a function of the defect position 6 Specific consideration for diagnostics on site Environmental conditions can influence the measurements. Examples of recordings on site on insulators without defects at humidity level higher than 95% are shown in Figure 22. In this condition the UV emissions were not stable in terms of location and time along the insulator: the number of blobs/min were also very variable. A similar behaviour was observed with IR, with maximum temperature deviation of about 5 K.The examples show that emissions of the same order of those caused by defects can be observed also on insulators without defects in conditions of high humidity, especially for contaminated insulators.

14

Figure 22 IR and UV detection at high humidity level method on insulator without defects.

Feasibility of LLW with Composite Insulators

Based on the recent level of development of diagnostic methods for NCIs it can be concluded that it is possible to identify the absence of critical defects of NCIs and thus to carry out safely LLW with NCIs also. The following procedure is suggested just before LLW: Visual inspection from the ground level or from a helicopter; UV/IR corona inspection from ground level or from a helicopter; Tower climbing and visual inspection from tower body Finally, after having ascertained the absence of critical defects, and only if it is deemed necessary, E-field distribution measurements may be performed Based on the above approach Guidelines were set up and applied for LLW on NCI (fig. 23) [9].

Fig. 23 Example of LLW activity with composite insulators [9] 8 Conclusions Generally speaking, principles and approaches for LLW on the OHL equipped with NCIs are the same as those well-established for the strings of glass and porcelain cap-and-pin insulators. In particular as for porcelain insulators, visual inspections, IR/UV inspections and E-field measurements along the insulator can be applied. Slow Front Overvoltage is the dimensioning stress for the evaluation of critical defects, represented in laboratory by SI. Only conductive or semi-conductive type defects may decrease the strength under SI. In analogy with the solution adopted by the standards for porcelain (to take into account that non all the defects lead to the minimum strength) it is suggested to make reference to the most likely case of semi-conductive type defects. The critical defect size depends on the configuration and maximum Slow Front Overvoltage value assumed during LLW. Examples indicate that conductive type defects extending to about one third of the insulators are still acceptable during LLW for EHV configurations of usual 15

design. LLW can result more problematic for compact solutions and in the UHV range. The LLW requirements are thus to be considered when analysing the benefits of compacting. Usually large defects have an impact on the housing, independently of their origin. In fact even if defects may originate internally, they would most likely induce some surface defects. Thus visual inspection is always the first option. A number of guides for visual inspection of NCIs is available and the work on their standardization is on the way within IEEE and CIGRE. Visual inspection only can lead to rather conservative conclusions. Quantitative condition assessment of NCIs can be performed by the use of UV/IR cameras. E-field measurements can a be a complement to increase the level of information in specific cases. Based on the available knowledge it is nowadays possible to safely carry out LLW and to set up Guidelines for a safe LLW for OHL equipped by both ceramic insulators and NCIs. 9 [1] [2] [3] [4] References CIGRE WG 33.07 Guidelines for insulation coordination in live working Cigre Brochure 151 February 2000 IEC 61472 2004 Live working - Minimum approach distances for a.c. systems in the voltage range 72,5 kV to 800 kV - A method of calculation CEI 11- 1 1999 Power installations exceeding 1 kV a.c. HuYi, Wang Li Nong, Shao Gui Wei, Liu Kai, Xu Ying, Liu Ting, Hu Jan Xun Research of live working on UHV AC transmission line IEC CIGRE UHV Symposium beijing 1721-July 2007 R.Bonzano, M. Ricca, E. Garbagnati, G. Marrone, A. Pigini Experimental research on the behaviour of HV cap and pin insulator strings with failed units ETEP Vol.1 1991 M. de Nigris, F. Tavano, F. Zagliani R. Rendina Diagnostic methods of non-ceramic insulators for HV lines Cigre General Session 2000 paper 22-207 A. Pigini, A. Colombo, M. de Nigris, "Diagnostics and Monitoring of Insulators for Power System," CMD 2006 International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis, Changwon (South Korea) M. de Nigris, I. Gutman, A. Pigini Live-Line Maintenance of AC Overhead Lines Equipped with Non Ceramic Insulators (NCI) TD conference and Exhibition, New Orleans 2010 paper TDC.2010.5484679 G. De Don, C. Milanello, A. Posati, R. Gallo, C. Valagussa, U. Leva, Dielectric behaviour of damaged composite insulating strings. Minimum approach distances calculation and individuation of the limit conditions for the safe live work, ICOLIM 2008, Torun (POLAND) C. Valagussa, R. Brambilla, A. Colombo Diagnostics of composite insulators based on electric field measurement (EFDM). Laboratory tests and computer aided simulation for the assessment of the sensitivity and the effectiveness of the method ISH 2007 C. Valagussa, N. Kuljaca, P. Mazza, G. Pirovano, G. De Don, R. Rendina, Minimum approach distance calculation for safe live works in presence of line composite insulators according to IEC 61472 criteria, ISH 2009, Cape Town, 2009 De Don, G. Lanzavecchia, P. Guzzini, C. Valagussa, U. Leva, M. de Nigris, Composite insulators diagnostic in Italian HV transmission system. Laboratory and on-site activities for the definition of effective and safe criteria for the location of damages", ICOLIM, Torum, Poland, 2008. I. Gutman, K. Halsan, L. Wallin, T. Goodwin, G. Sakata, Application of Helicopter-Based IR Technology for Detection of Internal Defects in Composite Insulators, World Congress on Insulators, Crete, 2009. 16

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