Adaptive Neurofuzzy Inference System‐Based Pollution Severity Prediction of Polymeric Insulators in Power Transmission Lines

Abstract

This paper presents the prediction of pollution severity of the polymeric insulators used in power transmission lines using adaptive neurofuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model. In this work, laboratory‐based pollution performance tests were carried out on 11 kV silicone rubber polymeric insulator under AC voltage at different pollution levels with sodium chloride as a contaminant. Leakage current was measured during the laboratory tests. Time domain and frequency domain characteristics of leakage current, such as mean value, maximum value, standard deviation, and total harmonics distortion (THD), have been extracted, which jointly describe the pollution severity of the polymeric insulator surface. Leakage current characteristics are used as the inputs of ANFIS model. The pollution severity index “equivalent salt deposit density” (ESDD) is used as the output of the proposed model. Results of the research can give sufficient prewarning time before pollution flashover and help in the condition based maintenance (CBM) chart preparation.