A Method of Automatic Washing for Salt Contaminated Insulators

Described in this paper is a method of automatic washing for salt contaminated insulators. An average value of leakage current through the surface of the pilot insulator in a duration is measured, for this is a function of the quantity of salt adhered and its moisture content. In each cycle, the program signals give one by one the instructions on a start and an end of the integration of leakage current, a detection of the integrated value, a stop of the washing device and a reset of the integrator. The integrator consists of RC circuit and the main detecting part consists of the thyristor whose firing gate voltage is used as a reference value. If the integrator output rises above the firing gate voltage, the pulse signals are made in the signal conversion part at the same time that the thyristor turns on, which are distributed to the pump motor or the electromagnetic valve. Then the insulators on hot-line are washed all together in the appointed duration. Finally, by the various experiments this method was proved to have enough accuracy and reliability in practical use. The conclusions are summarized as follows. (1) An average value of leakage current is justified to be the detecting variable. (2) The RC circuit used as the integrator is proved to be easy in maintenance. (3) Because of the fairly short duration of the detecting action, the integrator is kept in a sufficiently safe condition under expected environment.