PATTERNS OF POLLUTION ON INSULATORS - CLUSTERING BY SEASONAL-VARIATION AND EXPOSURE PERIOD

In Mexico, a country with a great variety of climates and topographical conditions, pollution on insulators is considered as the second major cause of power system outages. By this reason, a research program was developed and the paper presents the part related to the analysis of field data. This approach can be used to analyse the problems found in testing sites, as well as, to develop an experimentation procedure for designing future transmission and distribution installations operating in polluted ambients. As a result of the analysis, a clustering of testing sites was obtained. Each group is characterized by patterns which define the process of accumulation of contaminants on insulators. Furthermore, the necessary exposure periods to carry out a reliable assessment of pollution severity are given. © 1989 IEEE