Quantifying Electric Charge on Cap-Pin Glass Insulator: Investigating the Impact of Pollution through Simulation and Experimental Approaches

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to investigate the behavior of electric charges on cap-pin glass insulator under 50 Hz AC voltage. The study is conducted using COMSOL Multiphysics to understand the charge location, polarity, and parameters affecting their behavior. A 2D axisymmetric insulator design is used to visualize the overall charges on the insulating system (space charge) and along the insulating surface (surface charge density) under uniform and non-uniform pollution conditions. The research shows that the total charge accumulates over the surface area of the glass material. To quantify the amount of this charge, a simulation method based on using the surface integral of the electric displacement field over this area is introduced, which is supported by experimental tests. Comparing both simulation and experimental results provides insights into the simulation reliability and the parameters affinity used to those of the real model. Moreover, the simulation helps to identify the critical area where a high amount of charges is accumulated. The  findings of this study are presented and examined.