Porcelain insulators are typically exposed to surface discharge and lightning impulse in service. This study investigates the insulation characteristics of the external and internal discharges of a porcelain insulator with respect to its flashover for a 154 kV transmission line. The experiments are also conducted using a wet flashover test and an impulse test based on the external discharge and the internal penetration, to classify the flashover voltage-time curve of the porcelain insulator. When an impulse with a strength of 2,500 kV/μs was applied three times to 6.5 mm ceramic samples, electrical penetration of approximately 70% occurred. The impulse experiment confirmed that the electrical penetration inside the porcelain insulator coincided with the area where the electric field was concentrated. The wet flashover voltage test revealed that the flashover threshold voltage increases by approximately 7% after cleaning of the surface.

This paper carried out the comparative analysis on ground impedance of a carbon block and a copper rod. Two types of grounding electrode were compared; a carbon block (L: 1 m, ф : 245 mm)buried at depth of 0.8m and a three-linked copper rod (L : 1 m, : ф : 10 mm) of equilateral triangles with 1 m spacing. Ground impedance depending on applied current was evaluated by the application of a sine wave current with 60 Hz~3.5 MHz, fast-rise pulse with rising time of 200 ns, a standard lightning impulse of 8/20 ㎲ and a 600 Hz square wave. Ground impedance for both electrodes were almost the value below 100 KHz, and increased rapidly afterwards. The maximum ground impedance appeared 400 Ω at around 1.5 MHz. Ground impedance of the block was lower at the square wave and was higher at fast-rise pulse that of the copper rod. Also, impedance as ages showed no difference for the 8 months. From the results, it is likely that ground performance for both electrodes shows no difference against commercial frequency and lighting impulse current, while the copper rod shows better performance against fast-rise pulse with rise-time of a few hundred ns.