Applications Of Insulating

Materials
• There is no piece of electrical equipment that does not depend on electrical
insulation in one form or other to maintain the flow of electric current in desired
paths or circuits.
• An example of this is a short circuit and this should always be avoided.
• This is done by proper choice and application of insulation wherever there is a
potential difference between neighbouring conducting bodies that carry current.
 Installation Principle Areas

There are four principal areas where insulation must be applied,

 between coils and earth (phase-to-earth)
 between coils of different phases (phase-to-phase)
 between turns in a coil (inter-turn)
 between the coils of the same phase (inter-coil).
Cont…

 there are three broad categories of insulating materials, gases, liquids and solids.
The insulating materials are classified mainly based on the thermal endurance.
The insulation is primarily meant to resist electrical stresses.
 The performance of the insulation depends on its operating temperature. The
higher the temperature, the higher will be the rate of its chemical deterioration,
and hence the lower will be its useful life. If a reasonably long life of an insulation
is expected, its operating temperature must be maintained low. Therefore, it is
necessary to determine the limits of temperature for the insulation, which will
ensure safe operation over its expected life.
 Classes Of Insulating Material
 the insulating materials are grouped into different classes O, A, B, and C with temperature
limits.
 IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) to come up with the new categories:
 Class Y (formerly O): 9O0C: Paper, cotton, silk, natural rubber, poly vinyl chloride, etc.
without impregnation.
 Class A: 1050C: Same as class Y but impregnated, plus nylon.
 Class E: 12O0C: Polythylene terephthalate (terylene fibre, melinex film), cellulose triacetate,
polyurethanes, poly vinyl acetate enamel.
 Class B: 13O0C: Mica, fibreglass (alkali free alumino borosilicate), bitumenized asbestos,
bakelite, polyester enamel.
 Class F: 1550C: As class B but with alkyd and epoxy based resins.
 Class H: 18O0C: As class B with silicone resin binder, silicone rubber, aromatic polyamide
(nomex paper and fibre), polymide film (enamel, varnish and film) and estermide enamel.
 Class C: Above 18O0C: As class B but with suitable non-organic binders; teflon
(polytetraflouroethylene).
 Applications In Power Transformers

 Transformers are the first to encounter lightning and other high voltage surges.
The transformer insulation has to withstand very high impulse voltages many
times the power frequency operating voltages.
 The transformer insulation is broadly divided,
a) Conductor or turn-to-turn insulation.
b) Coil-to-coil insulation.
c) Low voltage coil-to-earth insulation.
d) High voltage coil-to-low voltage coil insulation
e) High voltage coil-to-ground insulation.
 Transformer Insulation

 The low voltage coil-to-ground and the high voltage coil-to-low voltage coil
insulations normally consist of solid tubes combined with liquid or gas filled
spaces.
 The liquid or gas in the spaces help to remove the heat from the core and coil
structure and also help to improve the insulation strengths.
 . In the large transformers paper or glass tape is wrapped on the rectangular
conductors.
 In the case of layer to layer, coil-to-coil and coil-to-ground insulations, Kraft
paper is used in smaller transformers, whereas thick radial spacers made of
pressboard, glass fabric, or porcelain are used in the case of higher rating
transformers.
 Applications In Rotating Machines
 Rotating machines are normally divided into two categories,
 low voltage machines (voltage ratings less than 6,600 V)
 high voltage machines.
 Applications In Circuit Breakers

 A circuit breaker is a switch which automatically interrupts the circuit when a

critical current or voltage rating is exceeded.
 Circuit breakers are also divided into two categories,
 low voltage
 high voltage
 Low voltage breakers use synthetic resin mouldings to carry the metallic parts.
For higher temperatures ceramic parts are used. When the arc is likely to come
into contact with moulded parts, melanine or some special kind of alkyd resins are
used because of their greater arc resistance.
 Applications In Circuit Breakers

 The high voltage circuit breakers are further classified into,

 air circuit breakers
 oil circuit breakers.
 The insulating fluids commonly used are atmospheric air, compressed air, high
vacuum, SF6 and oil.
 Applications In Cables

 In the recent years natural rubber has been completely replaced by synthetic
rubbers and plastics as cable insulation.
 The physical properties required for wire and cable insulation depend on the type
of application.
 This necessitates the insulation to have excellent resistance to ageing at high
temperatures. The insulation should also be able to withstand long exposure to
sunlight and various chemicals.
 Cables are also laid in rivers and under the sea. For these applications-it should
have very low water absorption. When cables have to operate at low temperature
the insulation should not become stiff and brittle. The partial discharges in the
cable insulation should also be kept as low as possible.
 Applications In Cables

 The main types of insulants used in the cable industries are paper, rubber, plastics
and compressed gas. Paper insulated lead sheathed cables are still used because of
their reliability, high dielectric strength, low dielectric loss, and long life.
 The most commonly used insulating materials for low and medium voltage (up to
3.3 kV) cables is polyvinylychloride (P.V.C.).
 The best material for high voltage and high temperature operation is teflon
(P.T.F.E.) which can be used up to 25O0C.
 Generation of High
Voltages and Currents
 In the fields of electrical engineering and applied physics, high voltages (d.c., a.c.,
and impulse) are required for several applications.
 electron microscopes and x-ray units require high d.c. voltages of the order of 100
kV or more.
 High impulse voltages are required for testing purposes to simulate overvoltage's
that occur in power systems due to lightning or switching surges.
 Generation of High
Voltages and Currents
 For electrical engineers, the main concern of high voltages is for the insulation
testing of various components in power systems for different types of voltages,
namely, power frequency a.c., high frequency, switching or lightning impulses.
 Different forms of high voltages mentioned above are classified as
 high d.c. voltages
 high a.c. voltages of power frequency.
 high a.c. voltages of high frequency.
 high transient or impulse voltages of very short duration such as lightning over
voltages.
 transient voltages of longer duration such as switching surges.
Half and Full Wave Rectifier Circuits

 Commonly used half wave and full wave rectifiers are

shown in Fig. 6.1. In the half wave rectifier (Fig. 6.Ia) the
capacitor is charged to Vmax, the maximum a.c. voltage of
the secondary of the high voltage transformer in the
conducting half cycle. In the other half cycle, the capacitor
is discharged into the load. The value of the capacitor C is
chosen such that the time constant CR^ is at least 10 times
that of the period of the a.c. supply. The rectifier valve
must have a peak inverse rating of at least 2 Vmax.
 A full wave rectifier circuit is shown in Fig. 6.1b. In the
positive half cycle, the rectifier A conducts and charges the
capacitor C, while in the negative half cycle the rectifier B
conducts and charges the capacitor. The source transformer
requires a centre tapped secondary with a rating of 2V.
Ripple Voltage with Half Wave and Full
Wave Rectifiers
 When a full wave or a half wave rectifier is used along
with the smoothing condenser C, the voltage on no load
will be the maximum a.c. voltage. But when on load, the
condenser gets charged from the supply voltage and
discharges into load resistance RI whenever the supply
voltage waveform varies from peak value to zero value.
 These waveforms are shown in Fig. 6.2. When loaded, a
fluctuation in the output d.c. voltage 6V appears, and is
called a ripple.
 The ripple SV depends on
 (a) the supply voltage frequency
 (b) the time constant CRL
 (c) the reactance of the supply transformer XL.
GENERATION OF HIGH
ALTERNATING VOLTAGES
 When test voltage requirements are less than about 300 kV, a single transformer can
be used for test purposes.
 For higher voltage requirements, a single unit construction becomes difficult and
costly due to insulation problems.
 Moreover, transportation and erection of large transformers become difficult.
 These drawbacks are overcome by series connection or cascading of the several
identical units of transformers, wherein the high voltage windings of all the units
effectively come in series.
 Cascade Transformers. (Transformers in series)
 Resonant Transformers. (Transformer in which one or both windings have a
capacitor across it and act as a regulator circuit)