Advantages And Disadvantages Of Electric Insulators

SAFE DISPOSAL OF INSULATION MATERIAL

An electric insulator is defined as which resist the flow of charge and make an internal electric charge of an insulator impossible to conduct an electric current under the influence of electric field. The property that distinguishes insulators from conductors and semi- conductors is its resistivity (Arora and Mosch, 2011) and there have been evidences that prove insulating materials are harmful for the human body and environment, being short- term or long- term exposures. A perfect insulator does not exist (Arora and Mosch, 2011) and an insulator becomes electrically conductive when plenty of large voltage is applied to them. A majority of insulating materials have been known to cause risks to human health

Materials like PVC, glass, asbestos; Teflon, plastic and rubber are considered as good insulators which come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Liquid insulators such as oil and distilled water are quite commonly used such as Transformer oil, which is widely used as insulator to prevent arching in transformers, circuit breakers and stabilizers among others (Grigsby, 2012). Some high pressure insulating gas such as SF6 (Sulfur hexafluoride) are used in high power voltage systems, though not yet proven harmful for the human body is however, proven to be harmful to the environment. We will put focus on five insulating hazardous materials, namely Asbestos, SF6 (Sulfur hexafluoride), PCB, PVC and wood which logically shouldn’t be harmful, but when it has been treated with Arsenic and Creosote to prevent rotting and termites it

PVC is a relatively lower cost than most of other insulators and is commonly used as an insulation of electric wires (Malik, 1997). The dielectric constant and the volume resistivity of PVD are quite high is considered quite suitable for medium or low voltage insulation materials. PVC is widely used in a range of applications such as electric cables, household electrical appliances and wire coverings as high fire resistant protectors are required for such applications in which PVC has high such property (Bohle and Quinlan, 2000). PVC coated wires can form HCL fumes when contacted with fire provides material fire retardants. PVC when reaches a temperature of 450o F causes HCl to come out which cause health hazards and is very irritating to eyes, nose and lungs (Adams et al, 1994). Sufficient exposure to HCl can cause serious respiratory problems which ultimately can lead to death. Also, PVC produces large amounts of Carbon Monoxide and other gas which it can produce is benzene, which is highly flammable and carcinogenic (Loyd, 2004). There are other concerns such as leaching of phthalates and lead from the PVC packaging, which also poses human and environmental health problems. In the applications where smoke is considered as the major hazard LSZH insulation also known as low smoke zero halogen insulation is preferred to