S-Transform Based Time-Frequency Analysis of Leakage Current Signals of Transmission Line Insulators under Polluted Conditions

Flashover of power transmission line insulators due to contamination is a major threat to the reliable operation of power system. This paper deals with the analysis of leakage current characteristics of polymeric insulator using S-Transform technique in order to develop a better diagnostic tool to identify the surface condition of outdoor polymeric insulators. In this work, experiments were carried out on 11 kV silicone rubber insulator under AC voltage at different pollution levels. Moving average technique was adopted to find the trend followed by LC peak at different relative humidity conditions. S-Transform was used to find the relationship between energy and frequency content of the leakage current signal with respect to increase in pollution level over a period of time. From the S-Transform time-frequency contour analysis, point of transition to severe arcing due to increase in pollution and its thershold limit were evaluated. Reported results show that the surface condition of insulators could be easily identified from the S-Transform time-frequency analysis of leakage current signals.