“ If you have a material, such as silicone, with a property that is advantageous, it makes no sense to destroy this benefit right before you test it. It would be like striking porcelain with a hammer before testing it.”
Fritz, Hammer, Managing Director( retired) HSP Hochspannungsgeräte Porz, March 1994
Photos: INMR ©
� Early in 1994, INMR interviewed the‘ fathers’ of Italian insulator research through the 1970s and 80s,( from left) ENEL’ s Adalberto Porrino, Gian Pietro Fini and Giovanni Marrone. In spite of over 20 years’ experience with composite insulators in Italy, all were clearly worried about brittle fracture, given recent such problems with locally made PTFE insulators. They therefore proposed a severe new 5000-hour accelerated ageing cycle followed by a special ENEL-developed mechanical test.
�Our beloved Claude de Tourreil stands alongside Martin Portíllo and Jose Maria Cabeza Muñoz of RED Electrica on the ramparts of Arcos de la Frontera, in southern Spain. Together, all were about to conduct a nighttime inspection of silicone insulated 400 kV lines that would see Claude approach the live conductors raised in a bucket and under complete darkness, armed only with his dedication and an early generation UV camera. But that was Claude!
“ My goal at this utility is to take full advantage of the attributes of polymeric insulators to save my company money and improve reliability.”
Jeffrey Burnham, Transmission Design Engineer( retired) Florida Power & Light, February 1994
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