ALTERNATIVES FOR THE USE OF SPACER CABLE SYSTEM IN MEDIUM AND HIGH POLLUTED AREAS

Spacer cable system has been widely used in Brazil in low polluted areas such as rural and urban areas. However, Brazilian national standards do not recommend installing spacer cable systems in medium and high-polluted areas, such as industrial areas a nd seacoast due to the accelerated aging process of th e electrical equipment and accessories. In this paper is presented the evaluation of alternatives for the us e of spacer cable system in medium and high-polluted are as by using new materials on the interface between the covered conductor and the spacer aiming the equalization of the electrical field due to its intensification caused by the setup geometry that c generate electrical tracking and erosion. Spacers ( 35 kV polyethylene), insulators (15 kV polymeric an d hybrid and 25 kV porcelain) and covered conductors with semiconducting shield were submitted to the test. T he leakage currents of the insulators were measured. Besides the traditional configuration, other types were submitted to the tests on the interface between the cable and the spacer: semiconducting tubes on the cable, autofusion semiconducting tape on the cable and semiconducting tape on the spacer. The results show ed the semiconductive tube as a better solution to the electrical tracking on the cable/spacer interface. The values of leakages currents from the ceramic insula tors reached from 1 to 4 mA, while the current on the polymeric and hybrid reached values from 30 to 70 µ A. The obtained results will serve to improve the development of new materials and prototypes applied to spacer cable systems.