PERFORMANCE COMPARISON STUDY OF POLYMER, CERAMIC, AND GLASS INSULATORS UNDER EXPOSURE TO NICKEL INDUSTRIAL POLLUTANTS

• Main Author: Akmal Quadri, Muh.
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/87113
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Abstract- PT PLN (Persero), provides electricity services to various industries, including premium customers such as Bay Line Switching-Smelter. This research discusses the importance of proper insulator selection to maintain the reliability of the electricity transmission system, particularly for the Bay Line Switching-Smelter which operates at a load capacity of 198.66 Megawatts. This research investigates the performance of polymer, glass, and ceramic insulators under pollution and high humidity conditions common in the nickel industry. Experimental evaluations were conducted on the three types of insulators in clean and contaminated environments, focusing on insulation strength, surface hydrophobicity, flashover voltage (FOV), as well as economic analysis to compare the cost of insulator procurement and maintenance. The results show that polymer insulators have superior performance compared to glass and ceramic insulators. The flashover voltage of polymer insulators was recorded to be the highest, reaching 49.56 kV under salt fog conditions, 65% higher than that of ceramics (30.06 kV) and 70% higher than that of glass (29.12 kV) under the same conditions. Polymer insulators also maintain good insulation performance as well as high surface hydrophobicity, which helps reduce the risk of current jumping. In addition, the economic analysis results show that polymer insulators are more efficient in terms of maintenance and replacement costs than glass and ceramic insulators.