Development of Nano-Structured Surfaces for High Voltage Insulators

E.A. Cherney
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Waterloo

HIGH voltage outdoor electrical insulators (see Fig. 1) play an important role in the safe and
reliable transmission and distribution of electrical power. Although the cost of insulators in an
overhead line may be as low as 5% of the total cost of the line, their performance is of vital
importance in the electrical power system. During service conditions, outdoor insulators are
exposed to mechanical, electrical and environmental stresses. Mechanical design specifications for
outdoor insulators are well developed, however, the electrical performance of outdoor insulators
in harsh environments is more challenging and it follows that the reliability of the electrical power
system is dependent on the performance of outdoor insulators under adverse weather conditions.

Fig.1. High voltage electrical power insulators (https://cnruisen.com)

In contaminated environments, both soluble and non-soluble contaminants deposit on

insulators. Under conditions of atmospheric moisture, namely rain, fog, and mist, the pollution
layer becomes wet, and soluble contaminants such as road salt dissolve in water leading to the
formation of an electrolyte. This causes the flow of electrical current over the surface of insulators,
heating of the electrolyte layer, and evaporation of the electrolyte in regions of the insulator,
forming dry regions or bands on the insulators. The system voltage is sustained by these dry
regions on the insulators, and under certain conditions, electrical arcing across the dry regions,
leads to an electrical arc across the insulator, or flashover, shorting out the power system, which
disrupts the supply of electrical power.
In addition, in cold climate countries such as Canada, ice accretion on the insulator surface
along with pollution is yet another problem and of concern to power utilities as the possibility of
flashover and electrical power outages are high when ice and snow accretion is followed by thaw.
In particular, flashover due to icing is of more concern near highways which are regularly salted
thus exposing the insulators to salt spray and contamination buildup. The problems of ice and
pollution buildup resulting in insulator flashovers are not new and incidents of power outages due
to pollution, ice and snow are reported annually from various countries and the cost of these
outages have been reported to be in the billions of dollars.
 Different preventative measures are applied to reduce ice and snow buildups on the surface of
insulators, conductors and structures, some of which have been shown to be somewhat effective,
but none have been completely satisfactory. Present day efforts have focused on modification of
the surface properties of insulators, conductors and structures. For this purpose, silicone rubber is
being applied for electrical insulators and silicone rubber coatings are in use for application on
glass and porcelain insulators, and on structures to improve their performance against moisture,
ice and snow.
The characteristic property of silicone rubber that is beneficial to electrical insulators is
hydrophobicity, in which water droplets on the surface simply bead-up and somewhat analogous
to water droplets on a freshly waxed automobile (see Fig. 2). This aids in preventing flashovers
of electrical insulators and also reduces the accumulation of ice during ice storms. However,
hydrophobicity of silicone rubber is effected by moisture, temperature, ultra-violet, soluble and
non-soluble deposits, so in the long term, silicone rubber does not prevent the accumulation of
pollutants and although somewhat effective in reducing flashovers, the problem has not been
completely solved.

Fig. 2. Hydrophobicity on silicone rubber coated insulator (https://cnruisen.com)

Superhydrophobic surfaces are observed in nature in many plants and animal furs and the most
commonly studied being the lotus leaf (see Fig 3).

Fig. 3. Superhydrophobic surface in nature (Lotus leaf) from (http://www.ramehart.com)

 Such natural surfaces exhibit water contact angles greater than >150° with intrinsic properties
of self-cleaning thereby preventing the accumulation of pollutants, water and ice. This behavior
has lead researchers to duplicate such behaviour in the laboratory by creating a nanostructured
surface and with recent developments in the fabrication techniques of such surfaces, the self-
cleaning and low wettability properties of superhydrophobic surfaces are being exploited to reduce
surface contamination and ice buildup on outdoor insulators. This has been actively studied in the
laboratory, but as yet not studied on actual insulators in service where outdoor ageing degradation
mechanisms are expected to destroy their unique properties over time.

Fig. 4. Self-cleaning superhydrophobic surfaces in nature.

(https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-04474-9_11)

In nature, superhydrophobic surfaces are self-replenishing, or self-healing, in that as the

nanostructured surface ages, a mechanism of replenishment prevents the destruction of their
unique properties with time (see Fig. 4). The self-cleaning and self-healing properties of artificially
created nanostructured surfaces on high voltage insulators are of vital importance as this will help
in reducing ice and pollution build up on insulator surface thereby increasing service life.
However, to date, self-replenishing nanostructured surfaces, as in nature, have yet to be duplicated.

For further reading:

1. S. Bian, S. Jayaram, and E. Cherney, “Erosion resistance of electrospun silicone rubber

nanocomposites,” IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., vol. 20, pp. 185–193, 2013.
2. P. Zylka, “On the Surface Performance of Superhydrophobic Silicone Rubber Specimens
Fabricated by Direct Replica Method,” IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., vol. 21, pp. 1183-
1185, 2014.
3. K. Maghsoudi, E. Vazirinasab, G. Momen, and R. Jafari, “Advances in the Fabrication of
Superhydrophobic Polymeric Surfaces by Polymer Molding Processes,” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.
2020, vol. 59,pp. 9343−9363.
4. Task Force of the IEEE DEIS Outdoor Insulation Technical Committee, “Development and
Application of Superhydrophobic Outdoor Insulation: A Review,” submitted for publication to
the IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul.