Degradation of a silicone-based coating in a substation application

Author

Eldridge, Kevin ; Xu, James ; Yin, Weijun ; Jeffery, Anne-Marie ; Ronzello, JoAnne ; Boggs, Steven A.

Author_Institution

Northeast Utilities, Hartford, CT, USA

Volume

14

Issue

1

fYear

1999

fDate

1/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

188

Lastpage

193

Abstract

An RTV silicone rubber coating applied to insulators in a 345 kV switchyard located near Long Island Sound has depolymerized and become putty-like after six years of service. Coating samples were taken from high creep insulators which were energized and weathered, weathered but not energized, and neither weathered or energized (warehouse storage). The unweathered and unenergized coating did not appear to degrade. The weathered but unenergized coating had degraded measurably but was still in an operational state. The energized and weathered coating has become putty-line and lost all physical integrity. This suggests aging by a combination of chemical, photochemical (weathering), and electrochemical mechanisms

Keywords

ageing; electric breakdown; insulator contamination; insulator testing; silicone rubber insulators; substation insulation; 345 kV; RTV silicone rubber coating; aging mechanisms; depolymerization; electric breakdown; energization; high creep insulators; insulators; physical integrity; substation; switchyard; weathering; Aging; Chemicals; Coatings; Creep; Degradation; Energy storage; Insulation; Photochemistry; Rubber; Substations;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Power Delivery, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0885-8977

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/61.736713

Filename

736713