A review of artificial contamination withstand test methods of high voltage outdoor insulators

In this paper several important test methods for artificially polluted ceramic and non-ceramic insulators have been reviewed. There is no standard test for non-ceramic insulators. The research has shown that it is necessary to modify the standard 5000h salt fog test to evaluate the long-term performance of non-ceramic insulators. Although the main parameter for selection of proper ceramic and glass insulators is the amount of pollution, it seems to be necessary to consider other environmental factors for selection of composite insulators. These are average humidity, UV radiation level, wind velocity, rain fall, and dominant type of wetting. This is necessary because research has shown that they directly effect the performance,of non-ceramic insulators.