A review of AC/DC flashover characteristics of contaminated insulators covered with artificial ice

The flashover of contaminated insulators is the one of the key issues to threaten the safe operation of transmission line. Especially for the transmission line operated in the complicated atmospheric environment, the descending flashover characteristic of insulator would be the major factor which caused grid accidents. This paper status on ac and dc flashover characteristics of iced-covered contaminated insulators in different environment at the artificial contaminated experimentation, including artificial contamination experimentation equipment and method, ac and dc flashover performance with varied altitude and contamination degree, the relationship between flashover voltage and ice weight, types of ice, freezing water conductivity, pollution level and air pressure, and problems to be clarified are summarized.