The pollution-related electrical flashover occurs in the working conditions and can lead to blackouts and collapse of the system. Cleaning the polluted insulator under the working condition, while technically quite challenging, seems to be the fool-proof way of resolving the problem.
The IIT Madras Research Team is planning to approach NTPC, Power Grid, and other utilities to demonstrate this technology and its use in the real power system network.
The reliability of an electric power system largely depends on the performance of the electrical insulation. The outdoor insulation on the transmission lines running over a few lakh kilometres and the substation equipment, in addition to the electrical, thermal, and mechanical stresses, are subjected to environmental pollution.
However, due to the high operating voltages and huge spatial span of the electrical transmission system, it would be essential to ascertain the level of pollution deposition and the type of pollutant before such a mammoth exercise can be planned.
