Insulator flashover at cryogenic temperatures

This thesis describes the development and construction of a cryogenic surface flashover system. A brief discussion of surface flashover theory and the expected characteristics of cryogenic surface flashover is included in this thesis. Although the apparatus from a previous project was used, minor modifications were made to adapt the apparatus for this research. Therefore, a brief description of the apparatus is followed by a detailed description of the two dififerent set-ups tested for this research. And fínally, results are presented for the two cooling systems. First experiments do not show discemible dififerences to flashover initiation at room temperature for Lexan samples.