A Tool to Determine the Hydrophobicity of Insulators using Contact Angle of a Water Droplet

Abstract

Measurement of hydrophobicity can be used to determine the surface condition of polymeric and polymer coated porcelain insulators. This paper presents a monitoring and diagnostic tool to determine the hydrophobicity of a polymeric surface in a laboratory environment. Image processing techniques are used to measure the hydrophobicity of insulator surface using the contact angle method. STRI hydrophobicity classification guide is used to determine surface condition of insulators using contact angles of water droplets which are placed on the insulator surface. Results show that the surface degradation of the insulators due to aging can be identified so that the degraded insulators, which have a higher probability of having flashovers, can be replaced early to increase the reliability of the power system.