Case Studies
KAHRAMAA
| Customer name | Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation |
| Location | Qatar |
| Problem | Salt Fog and Desert Sand requiring Water Washing every 6 months |
| Product Selected | High Voltage Insulator Coating |
| Contract Type | Turnkey (Supply and Application by Corus/Indigo Power) |
| Completion Date | 2009 |
Background:
Kahramaa were convinced of the benefits of High voltage Insulator Coatings for their desert style glass insulators in 2003. Since 2003 Indigo Power have completed the coating of over 500,000 disc insulators to date. This represents approximately 350 KM of 132 kV to 400 kV overhead lines in Qatar. Most of this work was in association with Corus UK.
Detail (2007 Project):
220 kV & 400 kV overhead line in Qatar. Approximately 239,000 insulator discs to be coated which required in excess of 82 tonnes of HVIC.
- Adopted the turnkey approach directly to the utility from the announcement of the project.
- Gained technical approval for the product.
- Gained applicator approval on behalf of our sub-contractors.
Bid the project using our own dedicated applicators who had applied the material many times on similar type projects.
Project execution:
Critical to completing the entire project on time was the throughput of coated insulators. Indigo Power commissioned a semi automated and dedicated coating system to ensure both high production with consistent quality. The system delivered in excess of 1000 insulators per day.
Semi automated coating process adopted for Qatar Project
Benefits:
- Single Source solution for utility. Responsibility taken by Indigo Power in association with Corus to ensure correct material is selected for the project.
- Consistent quality of application.
- Single product + application warranty.
- Long term cost savings due to quality package.
TATA POWER
| Customer name | TATA Power |
| Location | Mumbai (Trombay), India |
| Problem | Salt Fog and Coal Dust requiring Water Washing very frequently |
| Product Selected | High Voltage Insulator Coating |
| Contract Type | Turnkey (Supply and Application by Corus India/Indigo Power) |
| Completion Date | 2007 |
Background:
Tata Power were approached in 2004 by Indigo Power in association with Corus India, to utilize RTV Silicone Coating for their switchyard in Trombay. Tata Power deliver over 80% of the power requirements for the city of Mumbai and they were rightly apprehensive about using HVIC. Their primary concerns were “what if it did not work” and the massive impact this would have on the critical power supply to Mumbai, this would also be compounded by the time required to remove the coating.
Tata Power decided to carry out an in-depth study into not only their water washing regime, but also into different methods of assuring a reliable power supply for Mumbai. This study included High Voltage Insulator Coating as a potential solution. In order to ensure the study was as complete as possible, a small section of switchyard was to have HVIC applied to the insulators.
Detail:
220 Kv Power Station Switchyard in Trombay, India. Several 220Kv circuits to be coated with HVIC, approximately 1700 insulators requiring 500 kgs of HVIC
Uncoated Insulator shows Wetting whilst Coated Insulator Shows Hydrophobicity
Benefits:
- Reduction in corona
- Increased reliability and elimination of possibility of flashover
- Reduction in requirement for cold line washing
- Outage reduction
- Water saving
- Better utilization of manpower
- Reduction in Transmission losses due to elimination of corona.
The above Infrared image clearly shows the temperature difference between a coated insulator (2) and uncoated insulator (1).
ADANA CIMENTO
| Customer name | Adana Cimento |
| Location | Adana, Turkey |
| Problem | Salt Fog and Cement Dust requiring Water Washing every 2 months |
| Product Selected | High Voltage Insulator Coating |
| Contract Type | Turnkey (Carried out in association with Corus Celik) |
| Completion Date | 2006 |
Background:
The substation serves the cement production facility of Adana Cimento. The substation insulators had to be cleaned every 2 months, requiring the substation to be shut down, which also badly affected production.
Application at Adana Cimento in 2006
Indigo Power, in association with Corus Celik approached Adana Cimento with a solution to their ongoing problems of shutdowns to perform water washing. As a result of previous case histories and our supply and application warranty, Adana Cimento decided to coat all insulators within the substation with High Voltage Insulator Coating.
Detail:
220 Kv Switchyard in Turkey. Complete switchyard to be coated requiring 5 tonnes of HVIC
- Adopted the turnkey approach directly to the utility.
- Gained technical approval for the product.
- Gained applicator approval on behalf of our sub-contractors.
Benefits:
The Switchyard has remained operational without any water washing since being brought online following coating with HVIC.
The costs associated with the turnkey project were recovered within the first 6 months of operation.