A research team at Qatar University’s (QU) Center for Advanced Materials (CAM), with the help of the Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, has developed and tested coatings for insulators used in electrical transmission lines. The research team focuses on improving long-term performance and developing sustainable coatings for high-voltage insulation systems for electric power transmission in the State of Qatar and the Gulf region.

The work is a collaboration between Texas A&M University - Qatar and the University of Waterloo in Canada, and is funded by the Qatar National Research Fund. The work also involves Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) and the industrial partner CSL-Canada, one of the leading companies developing this kind of coating worldwide. QU now has a testing unit to evaluate the performance of the coating (erosion and tracking) behavior of the newly designed coatings, and the testing is done according to the industrial standards.

Qatar has been adapting this type of coatings for more than two decades. The use of silicone rubber (SIR) coating material on ceramic insulators has been proposed successfully. However, in the long term – and particularly in Qatar and the Gulf – humidity, high UV-radiation, temperature, and lack of rain could lead to the temporary loss of hydrophobicity, which causes a degradation of the coatings. The degradation could result in leaving the overall infrastructure supplying critical clients, such as the oil and gas industry, at risk of electrical power interruption.

For more information, visit: https://www.qu.edu.qa/.