Enhancing flashover performance of alumina/epoxy spacers by adaptive surface charge regulation using graded conductivity coating

Surface flashover properties of alumina/epoxy spacers, involving a surface charge accumulation process, are critical for the safe and reliable operation of a high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) gas-insulated transmission line (GIL). This study reports surface charging behavior and flashover performance of alumina/epoxy spacers with different surface conductivity graded coating (SCGC) schemes in SF₆/N₂ mixtures under DC stress. Four kinds of SCGC schemes, i.e. localized coating near high voltage (HV-coating), near grounded electrode (GND-coating), at the middle of spacer surface (SPM-coating) and near both high voltage and grounded electrode (HV-GND-coating), are designed by partially spraying SiC/epoxy composites on the spacer surface. Surface charge distribution patterns exhibit varied features with different SCGC schemes. The HV-coating and GND-coating schemes lead to aggravated homo-charge and hetero-charge accumulation respectively, whereas in the SPM-coating scheme surface charge shows a multi-tier distribution pattern with alternating polarity. A transition of the dominant surface charge mechanism from bulk conductivity to surface conductivity with increasing conductivity on the coated area is found. Flashover performance differs a lot with different SCGC schemes: the HV-coating and HV-GND-coating schemes increase the flashover voltage while the SPM-coating and GND-coating schemes degrade it. The optimal surface insulation strength is achieved in the HV-coating scheme with a coating width of about 10 mm. The impact of different SCGC schemes on flashover performance is revealed based on the electric field analysis by considering the effect of surface charges.