At the moment, there are no standardised tests than allow
us to know the long-term performance of NCls [1–4]. Also,
there is no suitable diagnostic methodology to evaluate
when the NCl has reached its useful life [2, 4–8].
The Mexican utility CFE reports that lightning and
contamination are the top two causes of power outages,
respectively. Different alternatives have been attempted to
solve the pollution problem using conventional glass or
porcelain insulators. These methods include installing
insulators with increased arcing or leakage distance, the
use of hydrophobic coatings, preventive maintenance using
water washing and the use of NCIs. NCIs have been
installed in heavily polluted conditions where their
hydrophobic property was lost after being subjected to
pollution and wetting, leading to degradation by erosion
and tracking. In these areas, some insulators were removed
from the transmission lines before failure; however, in a
few cases the insulators failed even with preventive
maintenance [28]. This suggests that pollution levels are
extremely high even for NCIs in spite of these insulators
passed successfully international standard design tests.
Apparently, the standard test methods do not appear to
reflect properly the field conditions.
The advances in manufacturing methods and better
insulating materials have allowed non-ceramic components
to be included in electrical equipment such as circuit
breakers, transformer bushings, surge arresters and station
posts. These equipments work mainly in substations where
reliability requirements are higher than for transmission
lines. Therefore it is important to determine the long-term
performance of NCIs under heavily polluted conditions
and to develop diagnostic tools for monitoring their
operative conditions [4]. These research actions will allow
establishing maintenance programmes in order to prevent
At the moment, there are no standardised tests than allow
us to know the long-term performance of NCls [1–4]. Also,
there is no suitable diagnostic methodology to evaluate
when the NCl has reached its useful life [2, 4–8].
The Mexican utility CFE reports that lightning and
contamination are the top two causes of power outages,
respectively. Different alternatives have been attempted to
solve the pollution problem using conventional glass or
porcelain insulators. These methods include installing
insulators with increased arcing or leakage distance, the
use of hydrophobic coatings, preventive maintenance using
water washing and the use of NCIs. NCIs have been
installed in heavily polluted conditions where their
hydrophobic property was lost after being subjected to
pollution and wetting, leading to degradation by erosion
and tracking. In these areas, some insulators were removed
from the transmission lines before failure; however, in a
few cases the insulators failed even with preventive
maintenance [28]. This suggests that pollution levels are
extremely high even for NCIs in spite of these insulators
passed successfully international standard design tests.
Apparently, the standard test methods do not appear to
reflect properly the field conditions.
The advances in manufacturing methods and better
insulating materials have allowed non-ceramic components
to be included in electrical equipment such as circuit
breakers, transformer bushings, surge arresters and station
posts. These equipments work mainly in substations where
reliability requirements are higher than for transmission
lines. Therefore it is important to determine the long-term
performance of NCIs under heavily polluted conditions
and to develop diagnostic tools for monitoring their
operative conditions [4]. These research actions will allow
establishing maintenance programmes in order to prevent
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