Coupled Field Thermoelectric Simulation of High Voltage Ceramic Cap and Pin Disc Type Insulator Assembly

Transmission of high power at high voltages over very long distances has become very imperative. At present, throughout the globe, this task performed by overhead transmission lines. The dual task of mechanically supporting and electrically isolating the live phase conductors from the support tower is performed by insulators. The electrical potential, field and temperature distribution along the insulators governs the possible effects, which is quite detrimental to the system. However, a reliable data on electrical potential, field and temperature distribution in commonly employed insulators are rather scarce or access individually for thermal or electrical load only. Considering this, the present work has made an attempt to study accurately, thermal and electrical characteristics of 11 kV single cap and pin type ceramic disc distribution insulator assembly used for high voltage transmission. The coupled field thermo electrical finite element by using commercially available FEM software Ansys-11 is employed for the required field computations. This new set of ANSYS coupled-field elements enables users to accurately and efficiently analyze thermoelectric devices. This paper review the finite element formulation, which in addition to Joule heating, includes Seebeck, Peltier, Thomson effects and electrical load, i. e. by considering thermal and electric loads acting simultaneously. The Electrical voltage, electrical field and temperature distribution is deduced and compared with various other/individual analyses.