Shipboard Creepage and Clearance Analysis

Medium Voltage (MV) electrical power systems, particularly those operating in harsh marine environments, face difficult challenges. Surface contaminants and changes in the ambient air environment due to the presence of pollutants, salts and other contaminants play a significant role in the empirical properties of air within these environments. Without an effective way to measure the in-situ electrical properties of air and the impact of environmental pollutants on insulating surfaces, it is difficult to impose effective design and safety requirements on the power systems. Specifically, creepage and clearance requirements drive size and space requirements for these systems. Overly conservative creepage and clearance distances can result in large and impractical equipment/installations. Improper distances can lead to arcing and flashovers that can cause significant damage to equipment and safety issues for personnel. Environmental properties change over time, which introduces challenges to system and installations as well. This project involves the development of a portable measurement system that can determine the impacts of environmental factors on the electrical properties of air and insulators in order to allow for predictive, prognostic, and forensic evaluations of the shipboard environments. Ultimately, the measurement system will be used to develop and determine safe creepage and clearance requirements in a variety of naval and commercial sectors. EMA has been involved in the measurement and analysis of high voltage effects in harsh environments for decades. EMA staff are internationally recognized for their test and measurement expertise across several disciplines (aerospace, marine, space, rail, automotive etc.) and the concept of arc flashover and breakdown of insulators is common in many contaminated environments. The National Institute of Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University will serve as the research institution on this STTR. NIAR will provide measurement and characterization of both pristine and polluted/contaminated cases to validate the approaches on a variety of commonly used insulators and replicated in-situ environments of interest to the Navy.