Artificial Pollution Testing of HVDC Insulators

A review is presented on the performance of insulators under artificial pollution testing of HVDC insulators in the laboratory as per the test methods described in the standards which establishes the test facility required to meet technical specifications. Also, another test facility established as per the requirements of the standard for insulators used in the DC system is the puncture test. These two tests form an important characteristic for designing the insulators and reducing outages in transmission lines. Creepage length forms an important designing criterion for the insulators which influences the pollution performance wherein the puncture in an insulator reduces the creepage. The pollution test results had compared with the available literature and the results are found to be within the specified limits. In addition to the various tests specified in the relevant standard for DC insulators, establishing the test facility cater to one of the important test requirements for DC insulators i.e., artificial pollution test and puncture test which is the vision of Govt. of India in line with to make in India and atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.