RTV silicone coatings, with their unique benefits, play a significant role in the operation of auxiliary components and structures in Substations and Transmission Lines. Their distinct advantages set them apart from other solutions, making them a compelling choice for improving the reliability and efficiency of electrical power transmission.
Because of population growth and industrialisation, much of the electrical infrastructure is affected by pollution and corrosion. Another stressing factor is global climate change, which has altered weather patterns and is severely affected by specifications for electric transmission systems created in the past. In addition, the global electric power industry is looking to operate at higher transmission voltages, requiring longer insulation strings. As is well known, contamination of insulators will lead to leakage currents and flashovers. This has a negative impact on the reliability and efficiency of electrical power transmission. Unfortunately, leakage current is assumed to be a "cost of doing business" and has never been widely discussed. If the leakage current could be eliminated globally, the total energy recovered would be staggering and directly contribute to increasing the margin between supply and demand.
The intuitive reaction to the unreliability of power grids is to increase generation capacity. However, in a world with increasingly limited resources, economic capital-generating projects should only be considered as an additional effort to improve the electricity grid's reliability. The sad reality is that projects and investments are prioritised to increase reliability – no matter how big or small – for their economic returns in a short period and without a long-term vision. A conscious review of the power grid in South American countries concludes that much more needs to be done to improve the performance, durability and reliability of components used as auxiliary structures in substations and transmission lines. Attempts to replace conventional glass and ceramic insulators with polymeric insulators have only partially succeeded in low-pollution areas. The critical property to maintain the long-term performance of an RTV Silicone coated insulator is HYDROPHOBICITY, where RTV's siliconised coatings are incomparable and superior. Corrosion in auxiliary and supporting structures is also a growing problem, which ultimately has a negative impact on the reliability of the power grid.
Although conventional industrial coatings based on urethane, acrylic, and epoxy chemistry offer only a partial solution to keep auxiliary structures free from corrosion, a corrosion-resistant RTV silicone coating provides excellent added value to the power grid's reliability. CSL Silicones Inc., a company with unlimited reach in Polysiloxane chemistry, has focused on developing RTV silicones since 1984. CSL Silicones has developed and patented high-performance materials, ranging from RTV coatings for high-voltage insulators to high-performance anti-corrosion coatings. Millions of insulators globally have been coated with RTV coatings from CSL Silicones. CSL Silicones is focused on new developments and patents for the latest generation of coatings for high-voltage insulators.
This new generation of coatings could enable higher performance and reliability of coated insulators, leading to effective and innovative solutions that contribute to greater power grid efficiency. The silicone application solutions developed by CSL Silicones Inc. are fundamental to the business vision and contribute to improving the electric grid's reliability.