Comprehensive Comparison of High Voltage Polymer and Porcelain Insulators in AC Systems

In electrical power system insulator are connected to provide isolation between live parts to ground and also to provide the mechanical support to conductors. Insulators are made with ceramic, toughen glass or composite materials. Now a days composite insulators are more popularly connected in the system. For the system reliability the quality of the insulators needs to be verified before insulators are connected in to the system. The failures of the insulators must be reduced to improve the system reliability. Generally the utility decides the type of insulators based on the environmental conditions, performance of insulators under polluted atmosphere, level of pollution, requirements of dielectric strength as insulation coordination and mechanical strength etc. In this paper the comprehensive comparison of ceramic and polymer insulators used in HVAC system have been presented. Comparison of various electrical and mechanical performance parameters, life span, etc for ceramic and composite insulators have been described in details.