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2nd Joint Conference on Green Engineering Technology & Applied Computing 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 864 (2020) 012188 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/864/1/012188

Review on RTV Silicone Rubber Coatings Insulator for

Transmission Lines

Siti Huzaimah Kamal Hamadi, Muzamir Isa, Syahrun Nizam Md Arshad @

Hashim and Mardianaliza Othman.
School of Electrical System Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Perlis, Malaysia

E-mail: huzaimah_93@yahoo.com

Abstract. Nowadays, the usage of RTV Silicone Rubber as Insulator coatings are increased due
to its advantages to avoid pollution flashover of contaminated insulator. Besides, the coatings
can reduce the maintenance cost and scheduled routine. This paper had introduced the advantage
of RTV Silicone Rubber coatings on insulator, such as good adhesion, nominal thickness range
and good hydrophobicity. There are three method of coatings application, such as brushing,
spraying and dipping. Suitable method is used to specific insulator application. Meanwhile, this
paper also explained about installation of coated insulator in the field.

1. Introduction
High voltage insulators are essential for the reliable performance of electric power systems. Insulators
are used to separate and support conductors in high voltage transmission system[1]. High voltage
insulators are mounted outdoors and exposed to various factors such as electrical, mechanical and
environmental stresses.
The electrical stresses are the consequences of regular voltages and over voltages. The mechanical
stresses are related to the presence of various loads such as the weight of conductors and hardware. The
environmental stresses are consisting of UV radiation, rainfall, dew formation and pollution. According
to [2], under the polluted condition, high leakage current will flow on the insulator surface and dry band
arching may take place. This may lead to flashover and failure of the transmission lines.
Insulator flashover results in undesirable power outages which are expensive and wasted. Dry
conditions of contaminants, which is non-conductive medium does not affect the electrical distribution
system. Meanwhile, for wet condition, the contaminants will have ability to conduct electricity [3].
When these pollution deposits become wet, their resistance drops, and leakage current can flow over the
surface of insulator.
Under high voltage stress, the current will heat the contaminants area and form dry band region. It
will give rise to a leakage current and leads to complete insulator flashover. The washing of insulators
is a common method used to remove the accumulations of surface contaminants in polluted areas. This
work is laboured intensive, and therefore expensi

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2nd Joint Conference on Green Engineering Technology & Applied Computing 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 864 (2020) 012188 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/864/1/012188

2. Room Temperature Vulcanizing (RTV) Silicone Rubber

The application of RTV silicone rubber coating to these insulators eliminates the requirement for
frequent washing, thus reducing maintenance costs. RTV coatings are the most widely used as solution
to contamination flashovers in high voltage insulators.
RTV coatings have proved as maintenance product with high withstand capability is desired from
the viewpoint of seacoast environment and industrial environment due to its effectiveness in preventing
contaminations outages [4]. The main advantage of RTV coatings is its hydrophobicity which used to
improve the insulator performance in the presence of heavy pollution. Researcher in [5] said that the
hydrophobicity of a surface indicates the ability of the surface in repelling water.

2.1 Advantages of RTV Silicon Rubber Coating

Insulation properties of the insulator had improved by coating the surface of insulator with layer of RTV
silicone rubber coatings, particularly under wet and polluted conditions. The advantages of RTV silicone
rubber coatings are long service life, good dielectric, and flexibility over wide range of temperature can
be varied by application of a few dirty environments in service.
As researcher in [6], this environments can make the coatings last for fifteen years and more without
maintenance or periodic cleaning schedule. Meanwhile, these coatings also have excellent resistance to
ultraviolet radiation, chemical, degradation of thermal and corona discharge. The most significant
property of RTV silicone rubber as insulator coating is hydrophobicity and migration of the
hydrophobicity. This migration can restore the surface hydrophobicity after the layer of contamination
has built up on it [6]. For example in [7], comparison of hydrophobicity effects on coated insulator as
shown in figure 1.

(a) (b)

Figure 1. Hydrophobicity on coated insulator. (a) Aged RTV before recoating and (b) coated insulator
after recoating [7].

3. Experience of RTV Silicon Rubber Coating Application

Over the past few years, RTV silicone rubber coatings have attracted increasing attention and have been
considered for applications on ceramic and glass insulator. Some countries that located in Gulf region
may experience severe salt conditions. As shown in figure 2, the failure of 400kV overhead line. Thus,
RTV coatings are suitable for Gulf region area.
In 1991, Qatar had introduced earliest RTV coatings application of suspension insulators to
transmission lines. The application was installed on a 132 kV lines located in desert sand and coastal
salt environment. Normally, insulator located in this environment need schedule water washing for every
six months and greased every two years. After 5 years of installation, this lines successfully operate as

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2nd Joint Conference on Green Engineering Technology & Applied Computing 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 864 (2020) 012188 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/864/1/012188

flashover-free without maintenance. Later, another 132 kV transmission lines was installed with RTV
coated insulator. The lines distance was 85 km from Doha to Dukhan required 55,000 toughened glass
suspension insulators.
This newly constructed line was located at extreme service conditions which included frequent
sandstorms, salt fog contamination, and carbon pollution from oil operations in Dukhan. Initial purpose
for this installation to reduce scheduled water washing, however, the lines had operated nearly 15 years
with no flashover and the need for water washing was entirely eliminated. Based on this experience,
more coated insulators had been completely installed in 1998, 2006 and 2008 [4].
Meanwhile, in China, the first studies of RTV silicone rubber coating take place at Tsinghua
University, 1985 [6]. In 1986, Tianjin Power Supply Bureau had used RTV silicone rubber coatings for
the first time to 35 kV transmission line insulator with a small-scaled trial. Next, 1990, the large-scaled
applications were installed in Henan Power Supply Bureau and Shandong Power Supply Bureau.
In Hangu of Tianjin Power Supply Bureau, both RTV coated insulators and uncoated insulators were
installed with the same pollution and wetting environments. In 1987, there was a heavy fog occur as
explained in [4] and [6], active discharge phenomenon acted on uncoated insulator but there was no
discharge phenomenon on coated insulator and successfully operated without maintenance until the
present day.
Nowadays, most of the substation and transmission in China have been covered with RTV silicone
rubber coated in voltage range 10 kV to 500 kV. The first generation of RTV coated insulator have been
in service for 15 years and more without flashover and maintenance even there were heavy fog occur in
1987, 1992 and 2001 [6].

Figure 2. Failure a 400kV overhead line in Gulf region [4]

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2nd Joint Conference on Green Engineering Technology & Applied Computing 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 864 (2020) 012188 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/864/1/012188

4. Composition of RTV Silicone Rubber Coatings System

RTV is a short form for Room Temperature Vulcanizing which involve the vulcanization process. This
is the chemical process that involved the conversion of polymer or rubber into long-lasting material. As
stated in [3], RTV Silicone Rubber coatings is a liquid polymer layer that vulcanize inside a flexible
rubber layer when exposed to moisture.
RTV coatings consist of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer, a reinforcing filler, PDMS fluid,
alumina trihydrate (ATH) filler, colorant pigment, a crosslinking agent, condensation catalyst and an
adhesion promoter [8]. ATH is an inorganic filler for tracking and erosion resistance. The solvent
namely as naphtha and 1,1,1 trichloroethane are needed as medium to facilitate the transfer of RTV
coating to the insulator surface.
Evaporation solvent will form a solid rubber coating when moisture from the air affects the
vulcanization. Type of solvent and relative humidity will affect the speed of this process. 1,1,1
trichloroethane solvent act much quicker than naphtha solvent. If the system is drying faster, it will be
allowed multiple coats then produced smooth and uniform coats. 1,1,1 trichloroethane solvent is non-
flammable compare to naphtha and is suitable for insulator application.

5. Specification of RTV Silicon Rubber Coating on Insulator

The coatings are applied on the surface of porcelain and toughened glass insulator. However, coating
on the bottom surface of insulator give no benefit in the cement industry environment. This is because,
cement does not bond well with RTV coatings and will lift off from the insulator. Visual appearance of
coatings on insulator must be smooth, free of bubbles and lumps. This smooth coating surface help to
minimizes the contamination collections and prevent the channelling of leakage current.

5.1 RTV Coatings Adhesion

RTV coatings consist adhesion promoter for bonding to insulator surface. This important element acts
as water repellent and help to withstand leakage current development. Otherwise, poor adhesion can
cause tearing of coating by the wind and may affect the insulator performance.
Thus, three tests are introduced to the adhesion, such as boiling water test, high pressure wash and
scratch test [4]. The boiling water test required the insulator to immersed into boiled water for 100 hours
and the insulator coatings is observed. The bubbles and blister will show up if the coating is weak or not
bonded to the insulator. The author [4] said, high pressure wash is the power wash using 6.90 MPa with
2 m distance towards the insulator. Good adhesion coating can endure the pressure for 3 minutes, or else
the coatings surface will be blown off.
Lastly, the scratch test is performed using a specific tool defined in the standard EN-ISO 2409 [9].
Orthogonal cuts are scratch on the insulator surface as shown in the figure 3 [4]. Good adhere coatings
show the orthogonal cuts clearly, while orthogonal cut on poor adhere coatings will lift off the surface.

(a) (b)
Figure 3. Result of scratch test. (a) On the good adhesion coating and (b) On the poor adhesion
coating [4].

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2nd Joint Conference on Green Engineering Technology & Applied Computing 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 864 (2020) 012188 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/864/1/012188

5.2 Thickness
Thickness of RTV Silicone Rubber coating can affect the insulator performance. Thickness coatings can
imply the damaging magnitude of leakage current around the insulator surface. Thus, previous research
in [3] stated the nominal thickness range is specified as 0.3 to 0.5 mm. Thicker coating increased thermal
resistance which is slowly conducted the heat away from the insulator. Thus, result in higher hot spot
temperature and caused thermal degradation to become more rapidly. Even though thinner coating can
allow the heat conducted away quickly, but it will degrade by the environmental forces. Hence, suitable
thickness gauge is used to measure the coatings thickness between 0.3 mm and 0.5 mm. Recent research
in [10], had introduced Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy method to measure coatings thickness
in short time. However, coatings thickness is not a critical factor compared to other specifications of
RTV silicone rubber.

5.3 Hydrophobicity
Hydrophobicity that is the ability of surface to repeal water. This is the most important factors that have
been discussed by the previous researcher. Sweden Transmission Research Institute (STRI) had
introduced hydrophobicity classification (HC) method which is divided into seven class [11]. The first
class is HC1 shows the most hydrophobic surface and HC7 shows the most hydrophilic surface.
Hydrophobicity is indicated by contact angle to measure the wettability of surface which the ability of
liquids to form boundary surfaces with solid states. The contact angle for hydrophobic surface is between
90 and 180, while the contact angle for hydrophilic surface is 0 and 90 [12].
RTV coating can provide good hydrophobicity by inhibiting development of continues water films.
Due to outdoor service of insulator, the coating hydrophobicity can be lost temporarily but can regain
after a certain period. Silicone rubber has the ability of hydrophobicity transfer or migration. The
property of hydrophobicity can be migrated to the surface of contamination and RTV coating can
recover the hydrophobicity properties. Hence, failure of RTV coating can be verified by identifying the
hydrophobicity classification as stated in STRI guide.

6. Method of Application
Cleaned insulator is compulsory before coated procedure has been applied. This is to avoid contaminant
from wrecking the form of RTV layer and may lead to bad insulation performance. Effective cleaning
method to remove common contaminant is washing with high pressure water. However, this method is
not suitable for insulator that have coated with grease or silicone rubber because the coating is difficult
to peel off. If the coated insulator had been on service for long time, the ability as anti-pollution flashover
will be decreased.
As stated in [13], insulator shows several problem, such as coating cracking, peeling and poor
adhesive force after 12 years in operation. Thus, new coating is needed to maintain good performance
of insulator service in transmission line. To clean the old coating of insulator, manual scraping method
is used [14]. Scraper is used to remove the old coating and then hand wiping the residual. Researcher in
[10], has studied the feasibility of cleaning RTV coatings with fiber lasers. This paper test two kinds of
fiber laser, which is pulsed laser and continuous laser.
There are three method for coating application to insulator, such as brushing, dipping and spraying.
Brushing is the most economical method but difficult to apply uniformly and quickly. Suspension
insulator used dipping method to apply the coating. Spraying method is the best method because it can
form smooth silicone surface. For brushing and dipping method, one layer is enough to obtain complete
coverage while, for spraying method required two or three layer which depends on the equipment that
has been used. Each layer can be applied after the surface of previous layer is tacky.
Packaging of new coated insulator is needed to protect the coating from injury during transport. The
insulator can be wrapping using bubble packaging or else crating using Styrofoam lined. The crates need
to be stacked vertically on pallets during shipment to reduce the damage on the coating layer.

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2nd Joint Conference on Green Engineering Technology & Applied Computing 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 864 (2020) 012188 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/864/1/012188

7. Installation Coated Insulator in the Field

In [15], coated insulator has low tear strength and need to be handled with care to minimize damage on
RTV coatings. Strings insulator cannot be assembled in the ground which is the usual way to installed
uncoated insulator. To minimize the damage on insulator during installation, the insulator is remained
in crates until ready to be raised into position. However, the insulator needs to be replaced or repaired
with spray kit, if there is major scrape especially along the creepage path. Based on previous experience,
there is no maintenance needed after RTV coated insulators were installed in lines. Nevertheless,
monitoring only be done when there is high severity of pollution occurred. Insulator condition can
monitor by audible detection of partial discharge. When the contaminant accumulates surround the
insulator, audible noise of corona discharge and dry band arcing will increase. Thus, corona ultrasound
sensor is used to locate the source of noise. Besides, the polluted insulator can be monitor using visual
detection. Binoculars is used to view at close range the evidence of dry band arcing and possibly lead to
poor coating adhesion. Otherwise, corona camera is used to view the insulator during wet condition. If
the condition of polluted insulators is worst, water washing is needed to prolong the coated insulator’s
life and reduce the dry band arcing damage.

8. Conclusions
In this paper, understanding of RTV Silicone Rubber coatings is increased for transmission line
insulators. Usage of RTV Silicone rubber as insulator coatings are worldwide that can increase
efficiency of insulator in transmission and reduce maintenance cost. Main advantage of RTV coatings
is good hydrophobicity. This advantage help to reduce the formation of contaminant surround the
insulator and increased the lifetime of insulator. Besides, suitable composition of RTV silicone rubber
coating is needed to produce good coatings. This paper had highlighted, the specification of RTV coating
for insulator, such as coating adhesion, thickness and hydrophobicity. Lastly, method of application and
installation are crucial in development of RTV coating insulator to increase the insulator effectiveness.

References
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2nd Joint Conference on Green Engineering Technology & Applied Computing 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 864 (2020) 012188 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/864/1/012188

[10] Wang X, Wang H, Jia Z, Wang L, Zhang X, Gan D, and Li Y 2016 IEEE Electrical Insulation
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