IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 17, No.

2; April 2010
1070-9878/10/$25.00 2010 IEEE
425
Influence of Low Atmospheric Pressure on AC Pollution
Flashover Performance of Various Types of Insulators
Zhijin Zhang, Xinliang Jiang, Yafeng Chao, Caixin Sun and Jianlin Hu
The State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment & System Security and New Technology,
College of Electrical Engineering,
Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
ABSTRACT
The electrical performance of outdoor insulators decreases under low air pressure
conditions. The ac pollution flashover performance of various types of insulators are
investigated in the multifunction artificial climate chamber in the State Key
Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment and System Security and New
Technology, Chongqing University. The field investigation of the ac pollution flashover
voltage performance are carried out at three different high altitudes including
Wangkun station (altitude of 4484 m), Nachitai station (altitude of 3575 m) along the
Qingzang railway and Geermu urban (altitude of 2820 m). The test results indicate that
the characteristic exponent n describing the influence degree of air pressure on
pollution flashover voltage, which has influence on the pollution flashover voltage of
insulators, is variable, and the value of n is related to the pollution, insulator type etc.
Under ac voltage, n is 0.45-0.85. The composite insulators are superior in external
insulation selection in high altitude and heavy polluted areas. The relative error
between the field test results and laboratory test results is less than 8 %, so the research
results obtained in the laboratory can be applied to engineering design.
Index Terms Low air pressure, pollution, flashover performance, insulator string,
ac flashover, external insulator.
1 INTRODUCTION
THE outdoor insulators of transmission lines and substations
suffer from industrial contaminants, coastal fog, natural dust,
bird feces, etc.. These contaminations have very high resistance
and do not affect the reliable operation of outdoor insulators
under dry conditions; while under wet conditions, such as fog,
mist, drizzle, sleet or ice, etc., the resistivity of the surface
pollution layer decreases and the leakage current increases
significantly and consequently lead to flashover of the
insulators.
As far back as 1902, a flashover accident of high voltage line
near the coast in Britain was reported. Flashover of insulators
due to pollution is the second main accident in the power grid,
according to statistics. Therefore, since the first flashover
accident occurred, many researchers exhibited a great interest in
the flashover performance and mechanics of the contaminated
insulators and also carried out many investigations [1-21].
China has a vast territory, and two-thirds of which are
plateau areas and mountains with altitude over 1 km. In
China, due to the unbalance of energy and power load, it is
necessary to develop the high-capacity EHV and UHV power
transmission techniques. Because of special geographical
conditions and the increasingly serious air pollution in China,
the transmission lines will face the threats of complex
environments such as high altitude and contamination.
Many researchers consider that the dc and ac flashover
voltages of the polluted insulators decrease with the decrease
of the air pressure, and the relationship between pollution
flashover voltage U and air pressure P is nonlinear and can
be expressed as follows [1-10, 16, 21, 22]:
n
P
P
U U ) (
0
0
= (1)
where U
0
is the pollution flashover voltage at the normal air
pressure P
0
, n is the exponent describing the influence degree
of air pressure on pollution flashover voltage. Different
researchers give the different values of n according to their
test results:
Kawamura [1] performed the dc flashover experiments on
the polluted triangle plate model, the half sized standard
suspension insulators and the anti-pollution suspension
insulators. In the tests, the even-rising voltage method was
used. The results indicate that the values of exponent n are
respectively 0.35 and 0.4 under the negative and positive dc
voltage. Manuscript received on 15 May 2009, in final form 3 September 2009.
Z. Zhang et al.: Influence of Low Atmospheric Pressure on AC Pollution Flashover Performance of Various Types of Insulators 426
M. Ishii [2] performed the ac flashover experiments on the
same samples with up-and-down method. The results indicate
that n is 0.50 for the standard suspension insulators, and n is
0.55 for the anti-pollution suspension insulators.
Rudakova and Tikhodeev summarized [3] the artificial
pollution test results of suspension insulators, post insulators,
bushing and outer sleeve under various air pressure
conditions in former Soviet Union. Under ac or dc voltage,
the value of n is about 0.5. However, if the distance between
the insulator sheds is very short, the value of n can reach 0.8
or even higher. Bergman and Kolobova performed [4] the ac
pollution flashover experiments on the standard suspension
insulators and the anti-pollution suspension insulators under
the normal pressure and the air pressure of 68 kPa, and the
results show that the values of n are 0.50 and 0.60
respectively.
Frywell and Schei [5] conducted the flashover experiments
on the clean insulators and polluted insulators under low air
pressure. The test results show that, under dc and ac
conditions, the results of n are 0.50 and 0.29 respectively.
Mercure [6] performed the pollution flashover experiments
on the narrow rectangle plate model. The test results show
that, under negative and positive dc voltage, the results of n
are 0.35 and 0.4 respectively. The test results obtained by
various researchers in recent years have been summarized,
and the values of n under different types of voltage are
recommended, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1. The value of n recommended by researchers abroad.
ac dc(-) dc(+) Remark
Japan 0.5
*
, 0.55
**
0.35 0.40
Former
Soviet
Union
0.5
*
, 0.60
**
0.50
*
/
* Standard suspension insulators
** Anti-pollution suspension insulator
Sweden 0.29 0.50 / /
Canada 0.50 0.35 0.40 /
In Chongqing University, the ac and dc pollution flashover
tests of suspension and post insulators have been carried out in
the multifunction artificial climate chamber, which has a
diameter of 2.0 m and a length of 4.0 m. The test results show
that the value of n is related to the insulator material, insulator
configuration, voltage type, the pollution severity and so on.
For porcelain and glass suspension insulators, the value of n
under ac voltage conditions is 0.36-0.90, and, the value of n
under negative dc voltage conditions is 0.14-0.30. For post
insulators, the value of n is 0.23-0.63 under negative dc voltage
conditions. That is to say, the value of n under ac voltage is
greater than that under dc voltage conditions [7-10].
Besides, in Qinghua University, the ac and dc pollution
flashover experiments of various types of short insulator
strings have been conducted in the multifunction artificial
climate chamber which has a volume of 2 m1.5 m2 m. For
porcelain and glass suspension insulators, the value of n is
0.37-0.60 under ac voltage conditions, and n is 0.23-0.77
under negative dc voltage conditions. For post insulators, the
value of n is 0.40-0.84 under ac voltage conditions, and n is
0.60-0.72 under negative dc voltage conditions. For
composite insulators, the value of n is 0.18-0.52 under ac
voltage conditions. It can be seen that the value of n under ac
voltage is greater than that under dc voltage conditions,
which is consistent with the test results of Chongqing
University [11-14].
Up to now, both at home and abroad, in the investigation
of the pollution flashover performances of insulators under
low air pressure, the short strings are mainly used. There is
great difference between the research results from different
research institutes. Besides, the relationship between the
characteristic exponent describing the influence degree of air
pressure on pollution flashover voltage and the voltage types,
pollution, insulator types and materials is still unknown [15].
At present, the artificial pollution experiments are usually
conducted when studying the pollution flashover
performance under low pressure. The equivalence of the
artificial test results and the field test results, and whether the
artificial experiment results can be used to guide the
engineering application are very concerned to the external
insulation designers and the researchers. However, up to
now, the reports about the high altitude field experiments are
very few.
The ac pollution flashover performance of 4 types of
porcelain and glass insulator strings of 21 units as well as 4
types of composite insulators under low air pressure
conditions are investigated in the multifunction artificial
climate chamber in Chongqing University. And the field
investigations of the ac pollution flashover performance are
also carried out at three different high altitudes including
Wangkun station (height of altitude 4484 m), Nachitai station
(height of altitude 3575 m) located along the Qingzang
railway and Geermu urban (height of altitude 2820 m).
Besides, the relationship between the results of artificial
experiment and field experiment is studied in this paper. The
research results have certain academic significance and
engineering application value to further understanding of the
pollution flashover performance under low pressure
conditions and the external insulation design in high altitude
contamination localities.
2 TEST FACILITIES, SPECIMENS AND
TEST OPERATING PROCEDURE
2.1 TEST FACILITIES
The experimental investigations were carried out in the
multifunction artificial climate chamber in the State Key
Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment and System
Security and New Technology, Chongqing University. The
artificial climate chamber has a diameter of 7.8 m and a height
of 11.6 m, as shown in Figure 1. The air pressure in the
chamber can be controlled as low as 30 kPa by vacuum pump.
The temperature in the chamber can be adjusted between -45-
50 C. The relative humidity in the chamber can be adjusted
from 10% to 100%. The atmospheric conditions at an altitude
as high as 7000 m can be simulated in the chamber. The power
supply is fed in through a 330 kV wall bushing.
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 17, No. 2; April 2010 427
The power was supplied by YDTW-500-kV/2000-kVA
pollution test transformer, as shown in Figure 1. The main
technical parameters are as follows: rated capacity 2000
kVA, rated current 4 A and short-circuit impedance less than
6% under a rated voltage of 500 kV. The ac pollution test
requirements recommended by IEC Standard 60507 are
satisfied. The test circuit is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1. The multifunctional artificial climate chamber.
Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the ac test circuit.
where T is a voltage regulator, B represents a 500 kV/ 2000
kVA Transformer, R
0
and R
x
are protective resistors of 5000
and 100 , respectively, H is a 330kV HV Bushing, K
represents the climate chamber, S represents the tested
insulators, F is the voltage divider, G is the oscilloscope, R
i
is a 1 current shunt resistor. In the field ac pollution
flashover test in the high altitude locations, 100 kV/2 A
power frequency testing transformer was used.
2.2 TEST SPECIMENS
The specimens are three types of insulators: porcelain, glass
and composite insulators. The profiles, dimensions as well as
basic parameters are shown in Figure 3 and Table 2, in which
H is the configuration height, D is the disc diameter, L is the
creepage distance and A is the superficial area of the insulator.
(a) XP-160 (b) XWP
2
-160
(c)LXY
4
-160 (d) LXHY
3
-160
3 9 3 9
4 1 5
2 2 5
2
2
1
0
0
1
3
0

(e) FXBW-10/70
1
1
5
1
5
0
2
8
1190
1040
39 39
(f) FXBW
3
-110/70
1200
1060
4
0
1
1
5
1
5
5
1
9
5
35 35 35 35
(g) FXBW-750/A
1200
1060
46 46
3
4
1
2
1
1
5
6
(h) FXBW-750/B
Figure 3. The profiles of test insulators.
Table 2. The parameters of test insulators.
Types Materials H(mm) D(mm) L(mm)
XP-160 porcelain 155 255 305
XWP
2
-160 porcelain 155 300 450
LXY
4
-160 glass 155 280 380
LXHY
3
-160 glass 155 280 450
FXBW-10/70 SIR 415 130/100 600
FXBW
3
-110/70 SIR 1190 150/115 3200
FXBW-750/A SIR 1200 195/155/115 3854
FXBW-750/B SIR 1200 156/121 3163

2.3 TEST PROCEDURE

2.3.1 ARTIFICIAL SIMULATION TEST
2.3.1.1 POLLUTING MANNERS
Based on large number of experiments carried out in
artificial climate chamber, the ac pollution flashover
performance of various types of long insulator strings were
studied in this paper. The solid layer method with dipping
technique was used to pollute the samples. Sodium chloride
was used to simulate the conducting material and the
kieselguhr was used to simulate the inert materials. The
polluting suspension was prepared with the required salt
deposit density (SDD) and non-soluble deposit density
(NSDD). The samples were immersed into the suspension
stirred uniformly and rotated so that the surface of the
insulators could be coated uniformly with contamination.
Z. Zhang et al.: Influence of Low Atmospheric Pressure on AC Pollution Flashover Performance of Various Types of Insulators 428
Then, the samples were taken out and dried naturally. The
ratios of SDD to NSDD in the test were determined as
follows: when the SDD was 0.15 mg/cm
2
or even below, the
NSDD was 1.0 mg/cm
2
, and if SDD was higher than 0.15
mg/cm
2
, NSDD was 2.0 mg/cm
2
.
2.3.1.2 ARRANGEMENT
After 24 h of natural drying, the test insulators were hung
up vertically in the chamber. The minimum clearance
between any part of the samples and any earthed object was
greater than 0.5 m per 100 kV, and the minimum clearance
was larger than 3.5 m.
2.3.1.3 WETTING
The polluted insulators were wetted by the steam fog. the
stream fog was generated by a 1.5 t/h boiler, the outlet
direction of the stream fog was perpendicular to the axis of
the insulator string, and the distance between them was
greater than 3.5 m, the inputting intensity of fog was
0.050.01 kg/hm
3
, and the temperature in the chamber was
controlled between 30-35 C. The wetness degree of the
pollution layer on the insulators was estimated through
measuring the electric conductivity of the pollution layer. The
test voltage would be immediately applied to the samples
when the electric conductivity reached the maximum.
2.3.1.4 VOLTAGE APPLICATION METHODS
In this test, even-rising voltage method was adopted. For
each contaminated sample, the flashover tests were carried
out 4-5 times, and for the same pollution grade, 3-4 strings of
insulators should be tested repeatedly. The average of the
flashover voltages whose deviation was less than 10%
compared to the mean value of all flashover voltages, and
this result was defined as U
f
under that pollution grade.
N
U
U
N
i
i
f
_
=
=
1
(2)
( ) ( )
% 100
1 /
%
1
2

|
.
|

\
|

=
_
=
f
N
i
f i
U
N U U
o (3)
where U
f
is the average pollution flashover voltage of the
insulators, kV; U
i
is the pollution flashover voltage for the i
time, kV; N is the test frequency; (%) is the relative standard
deviation of the test results.
2.3.1.5 FLASHOVER TEST UNDER LOW
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE CONDITIONS IN THE
CLIMATE CHAMBER
Because of the input steam fog and the pressure
difference between the internal and external, the air
pressure will increase in the climate chamber and the
input speed of the steam fog will increase at the same
time. So the test procedure should be dealt with as
follows.
Firstly, the air in the climate chamber was pumped out
by vacuum pump until the pressure reaches a level lower
5-7 kPa than the predetermined value. Then, the valve of
the fog generator was turned on to let the steam fog into
the climate chamber. The open degree of the valve was
adjusted to one-third to half of normal pressure state which
can ensure the flow rate of fog maintain the same level of
normal condition. When the pollution layer was wetted
adequately and the air pressure reached to the
predetermined value, the voltage would be applied. The
wetness degree of the pollution layer on the insulators was
estimated through measuring the electric conductivity of
the pollution layer. The test voltage would be immediately
applied to the samples when the electric conductivity
reached the maximum. Even-rising voltage method was
adopted in this test, and the step-up speed was 3 kV/s, this
method is similar to the voltage raising method which is
proposed by Fujitaka in 1968 [23].
2.3.2 FIELD TEST
Due to the limitation of the field test conditions, the slurry
method was used to pollute the test samples. Firstly, the
surfaces of the samples were coated with a very thin layer of
dry kieselguhr so as to destroy the hydrophobicity. And then,
the samples were polluted. Then, the polluted insulators were
suspended on the test shelf. When there was no water droplet
dripping from the edge of the insulator sheds, the test voltage
was applied with the even-rising voltage method immediately.
After the flashover experiment, the dry part of the insulator
surface caused by the partial arcs would be wetted again.
Table 3. Test results with different methods.
SDD (mg/cm
2
)
0.03 0.08 0.15
Steam fog
method
Slurry
method
Steam fog
method
Slurry
method
Steam fog
method
Slurry
method
P(kPa)
U
1
U
2

U
U
1
U
2

U
U
1
U
2

U
98.6 41.8
4.6
38.1
3.2
8.9 31.5
3.1
29.1
2.6
7.6 27.8
4.6
25.5
3.2
9.0
89.8 39.3
5.1
35.8
1.4
8.8 30.4
2.6
27.4
4.8
9.9 26.3
2.1
24.2
5.8
8.7
79.5 35.8
3.2
33.4
2.5
6.7 28.4
5.6
25.8
3.5
9.2 24.5
5.4
22.7
2.6
7.9
70.1 33.6
2.4
31.0
3.4
7.8 26.7
3.4
24.1
6.1
9.7 22.5
3.8
21.0
3.9
7.1
61.6 31.4
4.4
28.7
4.3
8.6 24.5
1.8
22.7
1.8
7.3 20.8
5.6
19.1
6.2
8.9
Remark % 100 / ) (
1 2 1
= A U U U U
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 17, No. 2; April 2010 429
In order to verify the feasibility and the rationality of the
test method adopted in the field, before the field experiment,
the ac pollution flashover contrast tests of the FXBW-10/70
composite insulator were investigated in the climate chamber,
the test results obtained with the slurry method and solid
layer (steam fog) method are shown in Table 3.
It can be seen from Table 3 that, the results obtained with
different test methods are different. For the same insulator,
the pollution flashover voltage obtained with the steam fog
method is about 7-10% greater than that obtained with the
slurry method. However, both the flashover voltages obtained
with these two methods decrease with the decrease of the air
pressure. Fitting the test results in Table 3 with equation (1),
the values of U
0
and n can be obtained and shown in Table 4.
The fitting curves are shown in Figure 4.
Table 4. Values of U
0
and n in equation (1) according to the test data of Table 3.
SDD(mg/cm
2
)
0.03 0.08 0.15 Method
U
0
n U
0
n U
0
n
Steam fog method 42.2 0.61 32.2 0.53 28.3 0.62
Slurry method 38.6 0.60 29.3 0.52 26.1 0.61
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
P/P0
U
f
/
k
V
steam fog method
slurry method
Figure 4. Relationship between U
f
of polluted insulator and P/P
0
.
It can be concluded from Table 4 and Figure 4 that, when the
salt deposit density is 0.03 mg/cm
2
, the values of n obtained with
the fog method and the slurry method are 0.61 and 0.60
respectively. When the salt deposit density is 0.08 mg/cm
2
, the
values of n obtained with the two methods are 0.53 and 0.52
respectively. When the salt deposit density is 0.15 mg/cm
2
, the
values of n obtained with the two methods are 0.62 and 0.61,
respectively. Thus, according to the results of the two different test
methods, the changing laws of the pollution flashover voltage with
the air pressure are basically identical. Therefore, when discussing
the influence law of the air pressure on the pollution flashover
voltage, the field experiment method is feasible.
3 TEST RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
The ac pollution flashover performances of various types of
insulators are studied according to the test procedure above
mentioned, and the results are shown in Tables 5 and 6.
According to Tables 5 and 6, the following conclusions can be
reached.
(1) Because of the dipping technique, the dispersion of the test
results is relatively small and all of the relative standard deviations
(%) are less than 7%.
(2) The ac pollution flashover voltage of the insulators decreases
with the increase of SDD or the decrease of the air pressure.
(3) With the increase of SDD, the influence of the air pressure
on the pollution ac flashover voltage will become weaker. For
example, for XP-160 insulator with SDD of 0.03mg/cm
2
, when
the air pressure decreases from 98.6 kPa to 70.1 kPa, U
f
will
decrease from 238.5 kV to 191.0 kV at the same time, namely the
variation of U
f
is 47.5kV, and the relative changing rate is 19.9%.
For XP-160 insulator with SDD of 0.15 mg/cm
2
, when the air
pressure decreases from 98.6 kPa to 70.1 kPa, U
f
will decrease
from 162.0 kV to 138.6 kV at the same time, namely the variation
of U
f
is 23.4kV, and the relative changing rate is 14.4%.
Fitting the test results in Tables 5 and 6 according to equation
(1), the fitting curves are shown in Figure 5. The values of U
0
and
n in the air pressure correction formula (1) of various types
insulators with different SDD can be obtained and shown in Table
7.
Table 5. Pollution flashover voltages of porcelain and glass insulators at low air pressure (N=21).
P(kPa)
98.6 89.7 79.7 70.1 61.6 Types
SDD
mg/cm
2
U
f
(kV) (%) U
f
(kV) (%) U
f
(kV) (%) U
f
(kV) (%) U
f
(kV) (%)
0.03 238.5 3.8 218.0 5.5 205.8 3.3 191.0 3.8 173.7 4.2
0.05 210.3 4.6 197.7 6.4 186.0 3.2 171.6 6.3 157.0 1.3
0.08 184.0 2.8 177.3 5.8 166.5 1.8 152.0 2.5 146.1 2.8
XP-160
0.15 162.0 5.9 153.6 3.9 150.0 4.1 138.6 3.6 130.8 4.1
0.03 313.5 3.2 293.0 3.5 270.7 3.4 245.5 4.6 227.0 5.2
0.05 276.0 3.6 259.8 4.7 244.6 3.2 221.8 2.7 202.0 6.3
0.08 245.4 5.8 226.2 3.9 219.8 5.1 200.0 1.4 180.0 3.5
XWP
2
-160
0.15 210.0 4.2 200.4 2.1 191.3 6.2 177.7 3.2 161.1 4.8
0.03 282.6 3.3 258.0 2.8 231.0 2.3 210.0 4.1 196.5 4.9
0.05 254.1 3.8 234.0 4.8 211.2 3.6 193.8 3.5 183.0 5.7
0.08 230.1 5.6 213.9 2.6 194.7 5.4 180.3 3.8 171.0 4.2
LXY
4
-160
0.15 201.9 6.9 189.6 5.4 174.0 3.6 163.2 2.9 156.9 4.3
0.03 378.1 2.9 356.0 4.8 318.1 4.5 287.0 3.2 259.1 3.2
0.05 341.2 4.8 313.0 5.3 292.0 4.2 260.3 5.6 241.2 1.6
0.08 304.0 3.7 285.0 6.1 269.9 5.7 248.1 4.8 218.0 6.4
LXHY
3
-160
0.15 273.2 5.3 256.0 5.2 241.2 4.5 218.0 3.5 207.1 5.8
Z. Zhang et al.: Influence of Low Atmospheric Pressure on AC Pollution Flashover Performance of Various Types of Insulators 430
Table 6. Pollution flashover voltages of composite insulators at low air pressure.
P(kPa)
98.6 89.7 79.7 70.1 61.6 Types
SDD
mg/cm
2
U
f
U
f
(kV) (%) U
f
(kV) (%) U
f
(kV) (%) U
f
(kV) (%) U
f
(kV) (%)
0.03 209.9 4.3 189.9 3.9 172.4 5.2 156.1 2.3 141.6 2.4
0.05 185.0 5.4 168.2 5.1 153.2 6.4 138.2 6.2 128.1 3.6
0.08 164.4 6.1 151.1 6.6 138.9 3.3 126.4 3.1 118.5 4.2
FXBW
3
-110/70
0.15 140.4 4.2 129.0 4.9 119.1 1.8 113.0 5.3 107.2 5.6
0.03 223.0 6.8 203.1 3.6 184.2 2.6 167.3 5.1 151.6 6.1
0.05 195.4 6.7 178.6 2.8 163.5 2.8 149.2 4.2 134.2 3.1
0.08 171.0 4.8 158.4 5.1 145.2 3.4 134.5 6.3 121.3 2.4
0.15 145.5 1.2 136.2 6.1 125.4 3.8 117.2 2.4 109.1 5.8
FXBW-750/A
0.25 124.7 3.4 117.5 2.6 110.0 5.5 103.3 2.6 98.0 1.9
0.03 208.6 3.5 188.3 3.8 171.0 4.2 155.1 1.8 138.8 6.3
0.05 184.1 2.4 167.4 4.2 153.4 3.6 137.8 6.5 127.4 5.2
0.08 163.2 4.5 151.3 5.1 138.2 2.5 124.9 4.8 114.0 1.8
0.15 142.5 4.8 130.4 2.0 121.1 1.9 111.2 3.7 104.9 2.4
FXBW-750/B
0.25 121.1 5.1 113.8 2.5 106.2 3.8 99.0 4.2 92.1 2.8
Table 7. The values of U
0
and n in equation (1) under different SDD.
SDD
(mg/cm
2
)
correlation
coefficient
XP-160 XWP
2
-160 LXY
4
-160 LXHY
3
-160 FXBW
3
-110/70 FXBW-750/A FXBW-750/B
U
0
240.0 319.0 284.1 388.9 212.0 225.7 211.0
0.03
n 0.64 0.69 0.78 0.82 0.83 0.81 0.85
U
0
214.0 282.6 255.2 345.8 186.4 198.1 185.8
0.05
n 0.61 0.66 0.71 0.74 0.78 0.78 0.78
U
0
187.4 249.4 231.1 313.3 165.5 173.6 166.2
0.08
n 0.52 0.63 0.64 0.68 0.70 0.72 0.77
U
0
164.0 215.1 202.3 276.6 139.5 146.8 142.6
0.15
n 0.45 0.55 0.55 0.60 0.56 0.61 0.65
U
0
- - - - - 125.4 122.5
0.25
n - - - - - 0.51 0.58
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
P/P0
U
f
/
k
V
XP-160 XWP2-160
LXY4-160 LXHY3-160
100
150
200
250
300
0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
P /P
0
U
f
/
k
V
XP-160 XWP2-160
LXY4-160 LXHY3-160
(a) SDD=0.03 mg/cm
2
(b) SDD=0.15 mg/cm
2
100
150
200
250
0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
P /P
0
U
f
/
k
V
FXBW3-110/70 FXBW-750/A
FXBW-750/B
80
100
120
140
160
0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
P /P
0
U
f
/
k
V
FXBW3-110/70 FXBW-750/A
FXBW-750/B
(c) SDD=0.03 mg/cm
2
(d) SDD=0.15 mg/cm
2
Figure 5. The relation of U
f
of polluted insulators and P/P
0
.
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 17, No. 2; April 2010 431
The conclusions according to Table 7 are as follows:
(1) The value of n is related to the material and the
structure of the insulators as well as the contamination
severity. Under ac voltage, the value of n is 0.45-0.85.
(2) The characteristic exponent describing the influence
degree of air pressure on pollution flashover voltage of XP-
160 is the minimum value under the same contamination
grades. That is to say, compared with other types of
insulators, the influence of air pressure on the electrical
performance of the XP-160 insulator is the weakest.
Define the insulators creepage flashover gradient as the
ratio of pollution flashover voltage U
f
to creepage distance L,
namely E
L
U
f
/L. According to the test results and the basic
technical parameters of the insulators in Table 2, the creepage
flashover gradients of various types of contaminated
insulators can be calculated, as shown in Figure 6.
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
P/P0
E
L
/
(
k
V
.
c
m
-
1
)
XP-160 XWP2-160
LXY-160 LXY4-160
FXBW-110/70 FXBW-750/A
FXBW-750/B
Figure 6. The creepage flashover gradient of various types of insulators
(SDD=0.03 mg/cm
2
).
From Figure 6, the following conclusions may be reached.
(1) For different types of insulators, E
L
s are different.
Under the same pollution degree and the same pressure, the
creepage flashover gradient of the composite insulators is
higher than those of porcelain and glass insulators. The
FXBW
3
-110/70 composite insulator has the maximal
creepage flashover gradient, which indicates the efficiency of
the leakage distance of this composite insulator is the
maximum.
(2) The influence degree of the air pressure on the
creepage flashover gradient of various types of insulators is
different. Compared with porcelain and glass insulators, the
creepage flashover gradient of the composite insulators is
easy to be affected by air pressure.
4 HIGH ALTITUDE FIELD EXPERIMENT
VERIFICATION
The relationship between the results of artificial
experiment and field experiment, and whether the artificial
experiment results can be used to guide the engineering
application are very concerned to the external insulation
designers and the researchers. Therefore, the field
investigation of the ac pollution flashover performance of the
FXBW-10/70 composite insulator were carried out at three
different high altitude sites including Wangkun station (57.8
kPa), Nachitai station (65.1 kPa) located along the Qingzang
railway and Geermu urban (71.7 kPa). Besides, an
experiment with the same test procedure was carried out in
the artificial climate chamber to compare with the field
experimental results. The test results are shown in Table 8.
Table 8. Test results under different places.
Field test results Lab. test results SDD
(mg/cm
2
)
P
(kPa) U
3
U
4

U
71.7 32.3 2.3 31.5 2.4 2.5
65.1 29.9 1.4 29.4 3.1 1.7 0.03
57.8 28.4 3.2 27.7 2.8 2.5
71.7 23.4 3.6 24.2 2.6 -3.4
65.1 22.1 1.3 23.7 4.1 -7.2 0.08
57.8 20.9 2.4 21.7 3.2 -3.8
71.7 22.1 3.4 21.2 2.6 4.1
65.1 20.9 2.1 19.8 2.4 5.3 0.15
57.8 19.4 2.8 18.6 3.7 4.1
Remark
% 100 / ) (
3 4 3
= A U U U U
It can be seen from Table 8 that, when the test is carried
out in climate chamber under low air pressure conditions, the
relationship between pollution flashover voltages and salt
deposit density and air pressure is basically identical to the
relationship obtained in the field experiment. The ac
pollution flashover voltage of the insulators decreases with
the decrease of the air pressure, and decreases with increase
of the pollution level. The deviation between artificial
experiments results and field experiments results is less than
8%, which may be caused by the cosmic ray and ultraviolet
ray in the fields which are not identically simulated in climate
chamber. Therefore, the pollution flashover test carried out in
climate chamber is feasible.
15
20
25
30
35
0.55 0.65 0.75
P/P0
U
f
/
k
V
Field test results
Laboratory test results
Figure 7. Relationship between U
f
and P/P
0
Fitting the test results of Table 8 with equation (1), the
fitting curves can be obtained and are shown in Figure 7. The
values of U
0
and n can be obtained and are shown in Table 9.
It can be concluded from Table 9 that, according to the
results of two different test methods, the changing laws of the
pollution flashover voltage with the air pressure are basically
identical.
Z. Zhang et al.: Influence of Low Atmospheric Pressure on AC Pollution Flashover Performance of Various Types of Insulators 432
Table 9. Fitting value of U
0
n.
SDD (mg/cm
2
)
0.03 0.08 0.15 Test place
U
0 n U
0 n U
0 n
Laboratory 38.5 0.59 29.2 0.52 26.0 0.60
Field 39.4 0.59 28.0 0.52 27.3 0.61
5 CONCLUSION
(1) The influence of the pollution and air pressure on the
ac flashover voltage is related to the material of the
insulators. The composite insulator is superior in external
insulation selection in severely contaminated areas. The ac
pollution flashover voltage of insulators decreases with the
decrease of the air pressure, and n is related with the insulator
types, pollution level and so on. For XP-160, XWP
2
-160,
LXY
4
-160, LXHY
3
-160, FXBW-10/70, FXBW
3
-110/70,
FXBW-750/A and FXBW-750/B insulators, the value of n is
0.45-0.85.
(2) As to the same insulator string, the different test
procedure will cause different ac pollution flashover voltage.
The ac pollution flashover voltage obtained with steam fog
method is about 7-10% greater than that obtained with slurry
method.
(3) The deviation between test results with the artificial
and field experiments is less than 8%. When the test carried
out in climate chamber under low air pressure conditions, the
relationship between pollution flashover voltages and salt
deposit density and air pressure is basically identical to the
relationship obtained in field experiment. That is to say, the
test results obtained in artificial climate chamber can be used
to guide the external insulation design.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is supported by the National Basic Research
Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2009CB724503). The
authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Yongji
Zhang, Feng Mao, Jihe Yuan, Liyun Luo, Rong Xue for their
work on the test of this document. The authors also are
grateful to Shaohua Wang for his work on the original
version of this document.
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Zhijin Zhang was born in Fujian province, China,
in 1976. He graduate from Chongqing University
and obtained the B.Sc., M.Sc and Ph.D. degrees in
1999, 2002 and 2007, respectively. He is an
associate professor of the College of Electrical
Engineering, Chongqing University. His main
research interests include high voltage, external
insulation, numerical modeling and simulation. He
is the author or coauthor of several technical papers.
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 17, No. 2; April 2010 433
Xingliang Jiang was born in Hunan province,
China, on 31 July 1961. He graduated from Hunan
University in 1982 and got his M.Sc. and Ph.D.
degrees from Chongqing University in 1988 and
1997, respectively. His employment experience
include the Shaoyang Glass Plant, Shaoyang,
Hunan Province, Wuhan High Voltage Research
Institute, Wuhan, Hubei province, and College of
Electrical Engineering, Chongqing University,
Chongqing China. His special fields of interest
include high voltage external insulation, transmission lines icing and
protection. He published his first monographTransmission Lines Icing and
Protection in 2001, and has published over 80 papers about his professional
work. He received the Second-class Award for Science and Technology
Advancement from Ministry of Power in 1995, Beijing Government in 1998,
Ministry of Education in 1991 and 2001, respectively, the First-class Award
for Science and Technology Advancement from Ministry of Power in 2004,
the Third-class Award for Science and Technology Advancement from
Ministry of Power in 2005, the Second-class Award for Science and
Technology Advancement from Ministry of Technology in 2005, the
Firstclass Award for Science and Technology Advancement from Ministry of
Education in 2007, and the First-class Award for Science and Technology
Advancement from Chongqing City in 2007.
Yafeng Chao was born in Hubei province, China, on
19 February 1982. He graduated from Hubei
University for nationalities in 2005 and got his M.Sc.
degree in Chongqing University in 2008. He is now
working toward the Ph.D. degree in College of
Electric Engineering, Chongqing University. His
main research interests include high voltage
technology, external insulation and transmission
lines icing. He is the author or coauthor of several
technical papers.
Jianlin Hu was born in Hubei province, China, in
1978. He received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from
Chongqing University, Chongqing, China, in 2001
and 2003, respectively. He is now working toward
the Ph.D. degree in the College of Electrical
Engineering, Chongqing University. He has been a
teacher in the College of Electrical Engineering,
Chongqing University since 2003. His main research
interests include high voltage external insulation
Caixin Sun was born in Chongqing, China, on Dec.
13, 1944. He Graduated from Chongqing University.
He is a member of the Chinese Academy of
Engineering, professor and doctorate advisor of the
College of Electrical Engineering, Chongqing
University. His current researches include electrical
external insulation technology in complex climatic
environments, online detection of insulation
condition and insulation fault diagnosis for HV
apparatus, and high voltage technique applied in
biomedicine.