IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 11, No.
4, October 1996
Assessment of Basic Contamination Withstand Voltage Characteristics of Polymer Insulators
R Matsuoka H Shinokubo K Kondo
Senior member Non-member Non-member
NGK Insulators, Ltd
Abstract - An artificial contamination method for
hydrophobic polymer insulators was newly developed, which can
provide a uniform contaminant layer similar to thc natural one
neither by damaging the polymer surface nor by adding any
chemical agent to the conventional contamination slurry.
Using this method, basic contamination withstand voltage
characteristics of polymer insulators were investigated comparing
with those of porcelain insulators. The results show that although
hydrophobic polymer insulators generally have exccllent
contamination withstand voltage characteristics critical reduction
of withstand voltage occurs sometimes undcr rapid and heavy
wetting and contamination conditions.
1. INTRODUCTION
Polymer insulators are considered to have a highcr
withstand voltage under contaminated conditions compared with
porcelain or glass ones. It was reported, however, that the
flashover probability of polymer insulators in service was higher
than that of porcelain ones with the same leakage distance [l].
Polymer insulators generally have high hydrophobicity
cspecially just after production but generally show reduction in it
with time. In the case of polymer insulators with silicone rubber
(SiR) sheds, it is said that hydrophobicity on the surface is
maintaincd for a long period because of migration of low
molecular silicone from the bulk of silicone rubber to the surface
[2]. Hydrophobicity, however, may not be fully expected when
the hydrophobic surface of silicone rubbcr insulators is covered
with a large amount of contaminant and/or water. Under such
contamination and/or wetting conditions, contamination
withstand voltage of silicone rubber insulators may not be
significantly different from that of porcelain insulators.
Clean fog test method prescribed in IEC-507-1991, as it is.
is tried to use for evaluating contamination withstand voltage
characteristics of polymer insulators in laboratories, though it was
developed for porcelain or glass ones. But, it is necessary to judge
the validity of this method and to modify when found necessary
the contamination test method for polymer insulators including a
method of forming a contaminant layer on them. It is first
necessary to examine the distribution of contaminants on
hydrophobic polymer insulators in servicc, which should bc
simulated in the artificial contamination test method. It should bc
noted that the conventional contamination method by using
contamination slurry could not make a uniform contaminant layer
on hydrophobic polymer insulators.
96 WM 102-4 PWRD A paper recommended and approved by the IEEE
Transmission and Distribution Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering
Society for presentation at the 1996 IEEEiPES Winter Meeting, January 21-
25, 1996, Baltimore, MD. Manuscript submitted January 3, 1995; made
available for printing December 5, 1995.
0885-8977/96/$05.00
1895
Y Mizuno K Naito T Fujimura T Terada
Member Fellow Fellow Non-member
Nagoya Institute of Technology Chubu University
JAPAN
In the present study, an artificial contamination method for
hydrophobic polymer insulators is newly developed, providing <a
uniform contaminant layer on the hydrophobic silicone rubbcr,
which is usually observed in field. Using this method, effects of
wetting conditions, salt deposit density (SDD), non-soluble
material deposit density (NSDD) and time lapse after
contamination of specimcn insulators, on contamination
withstand voltages were invcstigated in detail.
2. DEVELOPMENT OF CONTAMINATION METHOD OF
POLYMER INSULATORS
Figure 1 shows the surface of a SiR insulator contaminated
in the field. The insulator is contaminated uniformly in spite oif
the hydrophobicity on its surface. In the artificial contamination
tests in laboratories, the surface of polymer insulators should be
contaminated uniformly simulating such a natural contamination
condition in the field.
The conventional method of formation of contaminant layer
which has been used on porcelain and glass insulators in the clean
fog method, however, could not produce the well-dispersed
uniform contaminant layer on a new polymer insulator because of
the hydrophobicity on polymer surface. Some attempts have been
carried out in order to get a uniform contaminant layer on surface
of polymer insulators by temporarily destroying hydrophobicity
by sandblasting, by using wetting agents like photoflo, and so on
[3,4]. But any practical contamination mcthod has not been
established yet, which neither damages the surface of polymcr
insulators nor necessitates the use of any additional chemical
agents.
A new contamination method was developed under such a
circumstance. The processes are as follows:
(1) Minutc water droplets are sprayed ovcr the
hydrophobic insulator surface.
(2) Powdered Tonoko is sprinkled over the insulator
surface with minutc water droplets by using a sieve so
that powdered Tonoko dcposits on all over the surface
of thc insulator.
Fig. 1 Surface of a SIR insulator contaminated in the field
(White part is the surface washed out.)
0 1996 IEEE
 The contaminated surface shall be dried under natural
ambient condition.
The deposited Tonoko is roughly washed off by
exposing the contaminated insulator surface to the
running tap water.
The insulator is immersed in the slurry of contaminant,
pulled up and then dried.
Figure 2 shows the schematic process of this contamination
method. Enlarged surface of an artificially contaminated silicone
rubber insulator by this method is shown in Fig. 3 compared with
that contaminated without any special treatment. A uniform
contaminant layer is obtained by this method in spite of the
hydrophobic surface of the polymer insulator. When a polymer
insulator is contaminated in the process (2), not so uniform and
continuous contaminant layer can be formed. After the wash-off
process (4), residual traces of Tonoko powders still exist on the
polymer surface. These traces enable the formation of the
uniform and continuous contaminant layer in the process (5).
In the artificial contamination method in Reference 2, dry
cotton swabs are used to apply dry kaolin powder directly over
the specimen surface and then light dabbling is required to make
the kaolin stick to the surface. On the contrary, the present

Process (1)
Spraying of water

Process (2)
Tonoko Powder
I Sprinkling of Tonoko Powder

I I
I I
Process (3) k Drying + . -,
1 cm

Contaminated surface of silicone rubber

Naturally contaminated in the field
Artificially contaminated by the newly developed method
Artificially contaminated without any special treatment
Process (4) Washing
artificial contamination method gives no physical or chemical
damage to the hydrophobic surface. A large number of specimens
or big-sized specimens can be contaminated more easily with less
labor by using this method.
Process (5) Contaminating by slurry Figure 4 shows the measurement results of NSDD on the
silicone rubber insulators contaminated by this method. A
T?noko contamination slurry including 10 &/litre of Tonoko resulted in
NSDD of about 0.1 mg/cm2. Compared with the case of porcelain
insulators, much heavier NSDD values werc obtained by the samc
contamination slurry. Deviation of NSDD was about f 20%. For
the reference test, porcelain insulators were contaminated by the
conventional method specified in IEC-507-1991.
Process (6) 1 Drying 3. TEST METHOD AND RESULTS

Silicone rubber, EPDM and porcelain long-rod insulators

Fig. 2 Schematic process of the new contamination method on
hydrophobic polymer insulators
were used as specimens. Their dimensional particulars are shown
in Table 1. SIR and EPDM insulators wcre contaminated by the
method described in the previous chapter. The clean fog
procedure was used. A specimen insulator was installed at the
center of the fog room of 5.3m X 6.4m X 4.8m (height) and steam
 1897

0.3 I I 3.1 Effect of Fog Density on Withstand Voltage

1 n=6 In order to investigate the effect of degree of wetting on
withstand voltage, tests were performed under three differenit
artificial fog conditions; 0.3-0.5, 3-5 and 13-15 g/m3. The fog;
density was measured with a cloud density meter [5]. The
artificial fog conditions adopted here represent the various;
wetting conditions such as dew, fog, rain, etc., although the
natural fog density is 0.5 g/m3 at most. Leakage current along the
specimen insulator was measured by intermittently applying a
voltage of AC 2kV.
The resultant time variations of surface resistance of the
specimcns are shown in Fig. 5 for various fog conditions. SiR.
insulators show higher surface resistances at any condition
compared with porcelain ones. EPDM insulators show, however,
almost the same values with porcelain ones. As the fog density
0 I increases, surface resistance of the SiR insulator decreases ancl
approaches towards the value of porcelain ones. In the case of
0 10 20 30 40 50 EPDM and porcelain insulators, the time required to reach the
Tonoko in contamination slurry, g/l itre minimum surface resistance becomes shorter with increase in fog
density: 30-50 minutes for 0.3-0.5 g/m3, 15-25 minutes for 3-5
Fig 4 Relationship between NSDD and quantity of Tonoko in g/m3 and 5-15 minutes for 13-15 g/m3. This phenomenon is
contamination slurry attributed to the accelerated wetting and washing-down of
contaminants, especially salt, by the heavier water deposited on
the insulator surface. On the other hand, surface resistance of SiR
insulators decreases very slowly with time and does not show
fog was generated from nozzles. A 70/200kV transformer with
minimum value even after 60 minutes.
capacity of 173kVA placed outside the fog room was used. The
Withstand voltages were determined by four-times
specimen was connected to the transformer through a wall
withstand method [6]. Specimens four days after the formation oE
bushing.
the artificial contaminant layer were used. Figure 6 shows the
It is sometimes observed that withstand voltage of polymer effect of fog density on contamination withstand voltage.
insulators decreases after the occurrence of a flashover. This Withstand voltage of porcelain insulators seems to level off at a
phenomenon is explained by the loss of hydrophobicity on the given fog density above 3-5 g/m3: about 80% of the withstand
polymer surface along the flashover path. In the present study, voltage at 0.3-0.5 g/m3. This tendency is very close to the
withstand voltages were determined by eliminating the influence reported one [SI. In the case of SiR insulators, increase of fog
of flashovers on hydrophobic insulator surfaces. density results in decrease of withstand voltage all over the range
of the fog density used. Withstand voltage under fog density of
13-15 g/m3 is 60% of that under 0.3-0.5 g/m3. There is a good
correlation between the withstand voltage and the surface
resistance of a contaminated SiR insulator. It is understood that
Number Shed Trunk Leakage Unit
Specimen Insulators of diameter diameter distance spacing
hydrophobicity on SiR insulator surface can not fully function
sheds mm mm mm mm under dcnse fog conditions. resulting in lower surface resistance
Porcelain insulator
and lower withstand voltage.
n 10 160 80 1020 585
3.2 Hydrophobicity of SiR Insulator Surface
Polymer insulator (SIR & EPDM) Excellent withstand voltage characteristics of silicone
7 126 26 980 623 rubber insulators under contaminated conditions are generally
attributed to the migration of low molecular silicone from the
bulk of silicone rubber to the surface, which keeps

1000 1000 - (b) Fog density, 3-5 g/m3

1000
(c) Fog dens i t y , 13-1 5 g/m3
G
= 100
0
W

+. +-
....-..
m
2 10 10 ~

Porcelain
(0 a,
m
I
L

2
U
W

7
v)
1 ”. -.- .....
.*. .*.
m
U

E
3
v)
1 . EPDM

0 1
0 IO 20 30 40 50 60
0.1 ‘
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
0.1 I
0 10 20
I ,

30 40 50
J
-

60
T i m e lapse, m i n Time lapse, min Time lapse min

Fig. 5 Surface resistance - time lapse characteristics of contaminated insulators in artificial fog
1898

100 70 1
NSDD : 0. lmg/cm2
SDD : 0. lmg/cm2
U

-
$60
6 50
I
_ _ _ _ _ d_Clean
_ _and
_ _d _
ry _

S I I icone rubber
s i_
l i c_
o n_
e_rubber
__...
_ ___. . . . . . _ . . . . .
~

6
M
L
bo

40
422
Y,. 60
- 0
4m
- /=- SDD o img/cm2
>
0 5 30 NSDD o ~mg/cm*
0
Porce I a i n
1 = P x
e -
0 ' ' " " " " ' " ' "' ' " , ' , s J
1 3 10 30 100 300 1000
T e s t s conducted 4 days a f t e r c o n t a m i n a t i o n Time lapse a f t e r contamination. hour

Fig. 7 Time variation of receding contact angle after formation

of contamination layer

Fog d e n s i t y 13-15 g/m3

C NSDD o 1mg/cm2
z
4 days a f t e r c o n t a m i n a t l o n

ar
5 hours a f t e r c o n t a m i n a t i o n

Specimen : S i I icone Rubber

1
0 20 40 60
Time lapse, m i n

Fig. 8 Time variation of surface resistance in artificial fog

90
>
x
SDD o Img/cm2

680 - NSDD o 1mg/cm2 0

M
m
CI SIR i n s u l a t o r
- _._______.___.-_---
9 70 -O -.*...-
_ _ * - -
_ * - -
m W

U
m
K a
.m- -
CI
60 -
+
.-
iz
1 1
50

3.3 Influence of SDD on Withstand Voltage

Withstand voltage was obtained by the stepped-up voltage
application method. Polymer insulators were tested 3-5 hours
after formation of contaminant layer. Fog density was 13-15
g/m3 and 3-5 g/m3 for polymer and porcelain insulators,
respectively. Figure 11 shows the effect of SDD on withstand
voltage. Withstand voltages of SiR and EPDM insulators were
about 1.5 and 1.2 times compared with porcelain insulators,
respectively. Higher withstand voltages of EPDM insulators
compared with porcelain insulators may be erratic considering the
almost same surface resistance characteristics shown in Fig. 5.
Withstand voltage of polymer insulators is also almost
proportional to -1/5 power of SDD, which is the same tendency
with porcelain ones [7].
3.4 Influence of NSDD on Withstand Voltage
Figure 12 shows the effect of the amount of NSDD on
 100
=-9

n- 80
n
v, 60
-
," 40
13
.z 20
LL
0
0 1 4 8
Rest time f o r contamination test. day -
+J
m
S

Fig. 10 Residual SDD measured on SiR insulators after SDD, Fog density
contamination withstand voltage test
$ 0 4 -
+J mg/cm2 g/m3
0 Pocelain Long-rod 0 5 3-5
a, x Porcelain LP 0 12 3-5
100
NSDD : 0.1 mg/cm2
5 0 2 - * S I R Long-rod 0 1 13-15
m
I SIR Long-rod 01 3-5
m
a
Non-soluble material Tonoko
80 0
>
Y EF'DM = o
oi
+ 60
-
9
V
5 40
c
.'
+
(I)
c
.-
s= 1000
20 Fog density : 13-15 g/m:
Tests conducted within 5 hours SDD : o.1mg/cm2
after contamination NSDD : 0. Img/cm2
0
0.01 0.03 0.1 0. 3 1
SDD. mg/cm2

Fig. 11 Effect of SDD on withstand voltage o f contaminated

insulators \t------2.. Tonoko

withstand voltage. SiR insulators were tested 4 days after

formation of contaminant layer. Data of porcelain insulators in Kaolin
the figure were cited from Reference 8. Increase of NSDD makes
Tests conducted 5 hours after
the contaminant layer thicker and reduces hydrophobicity on the contami nat i,on
contaminated SiR surface, leading to reduction in withstand
voltage of SiR insulators. 0 20 40 60
The effects of kind of non-soluble material on surface Time lapse, min
resistance and on withstand voltage of hydrophobic SiR insulators
were also investigated. Tonoko and Roger's Kaolin, which are Fig. 13 Surface resistance - time lapse characteristics of SiR
specified in IEC 507-1991, were used for this purpose. Figure 13 insulators in artificial fog
shows time variation of surface resistance. Results of DC
withstand voltage test are summarized in Table 2. Both surface
resistance and withstand voltage were lower for Roger's Kaolin.
Surface resistance decreased gradually within 60 minutes
regardless of the kind of non-soluble material. Resistance for
Roger's Kaolin was about one-third of that for Tonoko. In the Kind of SDD, NSDD, WSV,
case of porcelain suspension insulators, however, surface non-soluble material mg/cm' mg/cm2 kV
resistance with the case of Roger's Kaolin decreased very rapidly Tonoko 0.12 0.12 60
and then increased gradually with time owing to wash-down of Kaolin 0.12 0.13 45
contaminants and the minimum value of surface resistance was
about one-tenth of that with the case of Tonoko [9]. The
difference may be attributed to the surface state and the shape of
the insulator. DC withstand voltage with Roger's Kaolin was 75%
of that with Tonoko. This value is almost the same with the case 4. CONCLUSIONS
of porcelain insulators [lo]. The results confirm that the kind of
non-soluble materials affected contamination withstand voltage (I) A novel artificial contamination method simulating the:
of hydrophobic polymer insulators almost in the same way with natural contamination was developed for polymer insulators,
porcelain insulators. Examined was the effect of the kind of non- which can provide a uniform contaminant layer on the
soluble materials on DC withstand voltage considering its higher hydrophobic polymer insulator surface neither by physical
sensitivity in the case of DC than AC. damaging nor by adding any chemical agent.
 Contamination withstand voltage of SiR insulators is much
more largely influenced by the fog density than porcelain
insulators.
Longer time lapse after formation of contaminant layer
resulted in higher contamination withstand voltage of
polymer insulators. The results suggest that temporary
reduction in contamination withstand voltage of SiR
insulators is likely to occur under rapid and severe
contamination conditions, where full hydrophobicity of SiR
insulator surface can not be expected.
Withstand voltage of polymer insulators obtained by the
clean fog method was almost proportional to -1/5 power of
SDD and was also affected by the amount of NSDD,
showing almost the same tendencies with the case of
porcelain ones.
DC withstand voltage of hydrophobic SiR insulators was also
influenced by the kind of non-soluble materials, Roger's
Kaolin and Tonoko, almost in the same degree with the case
of porcelain insulators.
5. REFERENCES
J.T.Burnham, D.W.Busch and J.D.Renowden, "FPL's
Christmas 1991 Transmission Outages", IEEE 93WM 094-3
PWRD, 1993.
A.De La 0, R.S.Gorur and J.Chang, "AC Clean Fog Test on
Non-ceramic Insulating Materials and A Comparison with
Porcelain", IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, Vo1.9, No.4,
pp.2000-2009,1994.
LUrushihara, K.Naito, KSakanishi and R.Matsuoka, "A
Method of Artificial Contamination Test on Composite
Insulators", 8th ISH, Yokohama, Paper No.47.10, 1993.
CIGRE TF33.04.07, "Report from CIGRE TF33-04-07
(Non-ceramic insulators)", Doc.33-91(WG04)34-IWD,
1991.
K.Naito, T.Kawaguchi, M.Ito, H.Katsukawa and Y.Suzuki,
"Influence of Fog Parameters on Withstand Voltage of
Contaminated Insulators", IEEE Trans. on PAS, V01.102,
N0.3, pp.729-737, 1983.
Y.Ozaki, TSeta, T.Fujimura and K.Naito, "Flashover
Voltage Characteristics of Contaminated Bushing Shells for
UHV Transmission Systems", IEEE Trans. on PAS, Vo1.100,
No.8, pp.3733-3743, 1981.
G.Ramos N., M.T.Campillo R. and K.Naito, "Flashover
Voltage Characteristics of Withstand Voltage of
Contaminated Insulators", IEEE 92 SM 463-0 PWRD, 1992.
R.Matsuoka, K.Sakanishi, K.Doi and LNakamura, "An
Investigation of Insulator Contamination Performance in
Desert Areas", NGK Review, No.50, pp.37-48, 1990 (In
Japanese).
R.Matsuoka, K.Kondo, K.Naito and M.Ishii, "Influence of
Nonsoluble Contaminants on the Flashover Voltages of
Artificially Contaminated insulators", IEEE 95WM 249-3
PWRD, 1995.
[lo]Y.Hasegawa, K.Naito, K h a k a w a , H.M.Schneider and
L.E.Zaffanella, "A Comparative Program on HVDC
Contamination Test", IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, Vo1.3,
NO.4, pp.1986-1993, 1988.
BIOGRAPHIES
Ryosuke Matsuoka (SM'90) was born in Gifu Prefecture, Japan
in 1941. He received his BSc., MSc. and Ph.D. degrees from
Nagoya University in 1964, 1966 and 1994, respectively, all in
electrical engineering. In 1966 he joined NGK Insulators, Ltd.,
and is now General Manager of the NGK High Voltage
Laboratory.
Dr. Matsuoka is a member of the IEE of Japan.
Hiroyuki Shinokubo was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1940. He
received his B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Musashi
Institute of Technology in 1964. In 1964, he joined NGK
Insulators, Ltd., and is now a supervisor of the NGK High
Voltage Laboratory.
Mr. Shinokubo is a member of the IEE of Japan.
Kuniaki Kondo was bom in Aichi Prefecture, Japan in 1967. He
received his BSc. and M.Sc. degrees from Nagoya Institute of
Technology in 1990 and 1992, respectively, both in electrical and
computer engineering. In 1992 he joined NGK Insulators, Ltd.,
and is now an electrical engineer of the NGK High Voltage
Laboratory.
Mr. Kondo is a member oC the IEE of Japan.
Yukio Mizuno (M'94) was born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan in
1958. He received his BSc., MSc. and Ph.D. degrees from
Nagoya University in 1981, 1983 and 1986, respectively, all in
electrical engineering. From 1986 to 1993, he was employed as a
research associate at Toyohashi University of Technology. In
1993 he joined Nagoya Institute of Technology as an associate
professor of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
Dr. Mizuno is a member of the IEE of Japan and the
Cryogenic Association of Japan.
Katsuhiko Naito (M'66-SM'80-F'90) was born in Aichi
Prefecture, Japan in 1934. He received his B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D.
degrees from Nagoya University in 1958, 1960 and 1976,
respectively, all in electrical engineering. In 1960 he joined NGK
Insulators, Ltd. He served as General Manager of the NGK High
Voltage Laboratory and finally as Executive Chief Engineer of
Power Business Group of the company. In 1991 he left the
company and joined Nagoya Institute of Technology as a full
Professor of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
Professor Naito is a member of the IEE of Japan and a
member of CIGRE.
Tetsuo Fuiimura (M156-SM'80-F'85) was born in Yamaguchi
Prefecture, Japan in 1928. He received his B.Sc and Ph.D.
degrees in electrical cngineering from the University o f Tokyo in
Japan, in 1954 and 1980, respectively. In 1954, he joined NGK
Insulators, Ltd., Japan. He served as General Manager o f the
NGK High Voltage Laboratory and finally as Executive Director
supervising the Research and Development Group. He is now an
I
advisor for the company. In 1989, he joined Chubu University as
a full Professor of the Electrical Engineering Department.
Professor Fujimura is a member of the IEE of Japan.
Tsutomu Terada was born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan in 1972.
Ile rcccived his BSc. degree in electrical engineering from
Chubu University in 1993, and is currently studying towards the
MSc. degree.
Mr. Terada is a member of the IEE of Japan.