Butler, Jeff

Mr. Butler graduated from Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology) in Mechanical Engineering before entering the power utility industry in 2006. Since then, he has held various roles of international and U.S. domestic responsibilities in engineering, business development, sales and marketing. He is an internationally published author and presenter as well as a licensed professional engineer. In his current role, he is based in the manufacturing facility in Aiken, South Carolina.

1. The advantages of braced line post assemblies has led to a rise in their use as an option in transmission line design and these assemblies are also seeing application at increasingly higher voltages and mechanical ratings. However, the standards do not well define proper testing techniques to determine the electrical and mechanical ratings for these assemblies. Yet the complexity of these assemblies, as a combination of a post insulator and a braced suspension insulator, results in challenges to properly test and rate them according to current procedures. This presentation will outline efforts toward acceptable standardization of the important aspects of these assemblies and propose advancements in test procedures and rating methods.

2. One of the factors affecting performance of network assets is electric field that can impact service life of transmission hardware and insulator assemblies, particularly polymeric types. Increased use of this technology means it is crucial to evaluate design and materials to mitigate any potentially damaging effects due to corona. This presentation will provide a better understanding of the phenomenon referred to as corona and how to evaluate the effectiveness of various solutions to mitigate its occurrence. It will also review the tools that are available to engineers to design transmission lines with suitable shielding to mitigate corona on polymer insulators and support the expected long-term performance of critical infrastructure.