Experiences on pollution level measurement in Mexico

The pollution on overhead insulators is influenced by the pollutant type as well as by the climate of the site. In Mexico, due to its orography and diversity of lands, there are several areas where the failures on the overhead insulation are mainly caused by the pollution. Since the decade of 1980s, various studies have been performed to solve or at least alleviate such transmission and distribution power line pollution-related problems. This paper presents a description of several studies conducted by the Mexican Electrical Research Institute “Instituto de Investigaciones Eléctricas” (IIE) together with the Mexican electrical utility “Comisión Federal de Electricidad” (CFE), from the elaboration of a contamination map to the development of a system for measuring leakage current, which is used as a tool for the in-service diagnostic of insulators installed on lines of transmission.