Pal, Raghvendra Singh

High Performance Silicones for Transmission & Distribution Applications

Mr. Pal holds a Master’s Degree in physical chemistry and a M. Tech in plastics engineering. He started working with Wacker in 2013 as Technical Manager for Elastomers with responsibility for India and South East Asia and now heads the Elastomer Business for India and the sub-continent. He has wide application and engineering knowledge of silicone elastomers in T&D applications among other industrial areas.

Silicones have become the preferred solution for most insulation applications in the transmission and distribution sector thanks to their molecular structure and properties. Silicone composite insulators, even when covered with pollution, have much lower leakage currents than insulators made of porcelain, glass or other polymers, such as EPDM. This prevents pollution flashovers, even if the surface is extremely dirty. This presentation will explain that not only insulators benefit from the unique properties of silicone elastomers and will outline how, these days, silicone insulation materials are also being used in MV and HV applications requiring both operational safety and long service life – from silicone fluid in transformers to silicone terminations in high voltage cables.