Utilization of Birbhum China Clay, West Bengal for Manufacturing of Electrical Porcelain Insulators

Abstract The electrical porcelain insulator was fabricated using local clay raw materials collected from Birbhum, West Bengal, with the objective to evaluate its suitability as a potential raw material. The prepared electrical porcelain bodies were characterized by using instruments such as dilatometer, high voltage testing machine, and Universal Testing Machine to evaluate thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties. The prepared porcelain bodies’ microstructures and phase composition were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction analysis. The measured values of the physical, mechanical, and electrical properties of the porcelain bodies consist of Birbhum clay is well within the IEC 60672-2 specification and also comparable with the standard bodies which contain Rajmahal China Clay.