Niedospial, Ed
Biography
Mr. Niedospial holds a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from Elmhurst College as well as an MBA in Project Management and Marketing from Keller Graduate School of Management at Devry University. He has worked for Maclean Power Systems since 1996 as part of the Technical Engineering Team where his focus is on high strength mechanical applications. This includes development of features for improved insulator performance and service life through product testing and validation. He is an active member of IEEE and other Technical Committees
1. E-field modeling of insulator and hardware has become a valuable tool to determine proper corona protection for a transmission assembly before submitting for laboratory testing or field installation and energization. One of the benefits is that multiple combinations of corona rings, shields, hardware and insulators can be tried to achieve desired customer requirements, whether for new projects or if ‘troubleshooting’ applications that may have insufficient corona protection. This presentation will explore how this process is accomplished using a case study involving a 138 kV braced post application originally designed and applied without corona rings but which no longer met today’s corona performance criteria
2. Not all polymer insulators are the same. In fact, there are numerous design and manufacturing variations on how these insulators can be made. This presentation (Parts 1 of 2) will cover the basic composition of a polymer insulator and review the components and various production processes used to assemble the components into a finished product. There will also be discussion of the design differences and how these can impact service performance. Ultimately, the main focus of Part 1 is to explain why polymer insulators are not all the same.
3. Not all polymer insulators are the same. Part 2 of this presentation will explain the process needed to properly evaluate and approve different polymer insulator designs. It will also provide insight into how best to evaluate and qualify a supplier, above and beyond ANSI / IEC / CSA Standards. Finally, suggestions will be provided on how to evaluate alternative different designs based on performance criteria as well as what details that should ideally be defined in a customer specification and why.