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6, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1979
Abstract-With the increasing trend toward electrical power distribution of the surge arrester are important in protecting equipment
to industrials at primary voltages, it is important to provide proper surge from harmful overvoltages. In order to help the engineer in
protection for primary stepdown transformers. To provide adequate industry who is concerned about the surge protection of his
protective margins for this equipment, it is essential for the application
engineer to understand the operation of a surge arrester and how the electrical system and equipment such as stepdown trans-
arrestor provides overvoltage protection. The operation of a surge formers, it is important to understand the operation of a surge
arrester, arrester protective characteristics, and the establishment of arrester before exploring the factors affecting arrester applica-
parameters necessary to provide appropriate insulation coordination for tion.
surge protection of transformers are discussed.
SURGE ARRESTER OPERATION
INTRODUCTION As technical a subject as overvoltage protection is, the
E LECTRICAL distribution systems, by nature, involve two basic operation of a surge arrester is simple. In its normal state,
an arrester must act as an insulator. When a high-voltage surge
forms of protection: overcurrent and overvoltage. Famili-
occurs, the arrester must cease to be an insulator and must
arity with overcurrent protection in industry is practically uni-
turn into a short-to-ground in millionthis of a second.
versal because of the carryover of knowledge from overcurrent
In this discussion we will deal with the operation of the
protection in the home. Overvoltage protection, on the other
most widely used type of surge arrester: the valve-type arrester.
hand, remains a relatively new subject to many engineers. Both
types of protection, however, are equally necessary for safe Other types of arresters, such as expulsion arresters and metal-
system operation. oxide varistors (MOV), are either on the decline or too new for
The importance of overvoltage protection for an industrial a general discussion at this time.
power system cannot be overemphasized. Major equipment The active elements of a valve-type arrester are the spark
failures, expensive repairs, personnel safety, and plant down- gap and the valve block. These are housed in a porcelain shell
time are certain consequences of inadequate protection from for atmospheric protection and external insulation (Fig. 1).
voltage surges. The gap assembly consists of a number of in-series air gaps
Surge arresters are designed to limit dangerous system over- with sufficient dielectric strength to withstand the highest 60-
voltages, whether lightning- or system-produced, to safe values Hz crest voltage on the system (Fig. 2). During severe over-
when they occur on plant power systems. An arrester is a volt- voltage conditions, the gap must always break down at a volt-
age-limiting device. Its functions are to discharge energy associ- age level somewhat below the insulation withstand-voltage
ated with a system overvoltage condition, limit (and interrupt)
level of the equipment it is protecting; otherwise, equipment
the system fault current that follows the transient current damage and/or plant downtime will result. The gap, therefore,
through the arrester, and return to an insulating state prepared serves as the switch which turns on the arrester. The voltage
for the next overvoltage occurrence. level at which the arrester goes from the passive (insulating) to
In performing its voltage-limiting function, certain protec- the active (conductive) state is called the sparkover voltage.
tive characteristics of the arrester must be coordinated with The valve block controls what happens after the arrester has
the prevailing insulation levels on the system being protected. been turned on. If only a gap is used, once a surge has been di-
Insulation is a basic factor that must be considered in the ap- verted to ground, a dead short exists between line and ground
plication of arresters on a system. Insulation coordination, and the 60-Hz system energy tries to flow to ground, causing a
however, is only a small part of the overall subject of arrester fuse, recloser, or breaker to operate to interrupt the system
application. Several other factors must also be considered by fault current.
the application engineer when selecting surge protection. The The valve element does exactly as its name implies: it con-
location of the arrester, the interconnection of ground leads, ducts when surge current is flowing and it ceases to conduct
the insulation level of the protected equipment, and the rating when 60-Hz line current begins to flow. The valve block is able
to do this because it is made of a nonilinear resistance material,
Paper PID 78-65, approved by the Petroleum and Chemical Industry silicon-carbide. The valve block offers a very high resistatnce to
Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society for presentation 60-Hz current while displaying a very low resistance to surge
at the 1978 Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, currents.
ON, Canada, October 1-5. Manuscript released for publication July 24, Because the valve element is basically a resistor, current
1979.
The author is with the Power Systems Division, McGraw-Edison flow through it produces an associated voltage drop. This volt-
Company, Pittsburgh, PA 15230. age, called the IR discharge voltage, must also be safely below
0093-9994/79/1 100-0634$00.75 © 1979 IEEE
ZALAR: SURGE ARRESTORS AND TRANSFORMER PROTECTION 635
LINE-LEAD TERMINAL
MOUNTING BRACKET
(not shown)
POLYETHYLENE 2
TERMINAL COVER
(not shown)
RESISTANCE-GRADED GAP
WET-PROCESS
PORCELAIN HOUSING -
IDENTIFICATION
INFORMATION
(not shown)
COMPRESSION SPRING _
SPUN-COPPER CAP-
AND-GASKET SEAL
PRESSURE-SENSITIVE
DIAPHRAGM I
RESISTANCE-SHUNTED
ISOLATOR
Fig. I. Cutaway of a Type E7 surge arrester.
the insulation withstand-voltage level of the equipment the protection plus the capability of discharging larger surge levels.
surge arrester is protecting. Intermediate arresters have a pressure-relief system to safely
Sparkover and discharge voltage, as we will see later, are the vent internal pressure if the unit fails before the procelain shell
two protective characteristics of an arrester which are used in has a chance to rupture.
calculating margins of protection when studying insulation 3) Station: These arresters typically offer the best protec-
coordination. These protective characteristics are published by tive characteristics and the highest thermal capability, but they
arrester manufacturers (Table I) as maximum values in order cost about twice as much as equivalent intermediate units.
to calculate the most conservative margin of protection for the Like intermediate arresters, station arresters have a pressure-
equipment to be protected. relief system to safely vent internal pressure if the unit fails
before the procelain shell has a chance to rupture.
ARRESTER CLASSIFICATION
BASIC INSULATION LEVEL
There are three classifications of surge arresters used for
primary distribution system overvoltage protection. Basic impulse insulation level (BIL) is the voltage level that
I)Distribution: These arresters are the most widely used equipment insulation is capable of withstanding without sus-
for equipment protection. They are also the lowest in cost. taining damage. The voltage withstand of insulation is a func-
Standard distribution arresters are used for protecting oil- tion of time. In other words, a time-voltage plot of the insula-
insulated transformers. For dry-insulated transformers or ro- tion withstand level shows that, for oil-insulated transformers,
tating machinery, a special, low-sparkover distribution arrester the insulation can withstand higher voltage waves of short
is recommended. duration. For dry-type transformers, the insulation strength
2) Intermediate: These units cost approximately five to does not increase as the duration of the applied impulse volt-
seven times as much as equivalent distribution units. For this age decreases. Fig. 3 is a comparison of the withstand charac-
premium, the arrester offers lower maximum sparkover and teristics of the two insulation systems.
discharge voltage characteristics that afford a greater margin of Industry standards, in order to establish volt-time impulse
-636 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. IA-1 5, NO. 6, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1979
move into the application area and consider the several fac-
tors which comprise surge arrester application as it relates to
v overvoltage protection of transformers.
\ ~~~~~~OIL
INSULATION
Arrester Rating
BIL The voltage rating of an arrester is defined as the highest
60-Hz voltage at which the arrester is designed to operate and
DRY INSUlATION reseal effectively after a surge has passed. Because of system
grounding and connections, this voltage is typically higher
than the phase-to-ground voltage of the system because system
conditions can exist where the normal voltage on the system
MICROSECONDS t will increase temporarily. These conditions normally exist dur-
Fig. 3. Insulation characteristics. ing fault conditions.
Consider a grounded-wye, 12 470-V line-to-line power sys-
tem rated 7200 V line-to-ground. For this system, the maxi-
insulation levels of equipment, requires that practically all
mum 60-Hz ground voltage that can occur, based on an equa-
equipment be given an impulse test. Since impulse tests of tion developed from various system parameters, is 9 kV. Thus
equipment such as transformers could destroy the integrity
a 9-kV surge arrester is recommended for use on this system.
of the insulation, the industry has adopted a standard voltage
While selection of an arrester voltage rating for a particular
withstand test for transformers to avoid sacrificing large num-
distribution power system is usually based on past experience,
bers of units in order to establish a volt-time withstand level.
it is also possible to calculate the rating using such parameters
Transformers are subjected to impulse voltage tests (at
as grounding, system connection, and system voltage rating.
rated BIL) and a chopped-wave test (15 percent above BIL).
Table II shows the voltage ratings of arresters used on typical
A steep-front-of-wave test (65 percent above BIL) is also per-
formed on some units. These test waves differ only in the time power distribution systems.
they take to achieve the desired crest values. A curve plotted
Also, the voltage impressed across an arrester during a surge
discharge is directly proportional to the arrester voltage rating;
through these three points defines the minimum insulation that is, a 10 000-A surge produces a higher discharge voltage
withstand curve for insulation coordination (Fig. 4). The true
withstand level for the transformer lies above the plotted curve.
if it flows through a I 0-kV arrester than it does flowing through
a 9-kV arrester. Therefore, it is desirable, from the standpoint
As will be seen later, the insulation withstand curve for a
of equipment protection, to select the lowest voltage rating for
transformer is an important part in calculating margins of pro- the application.
tection.
SURGE ARRESTER APPLICATION Arrester Location
With an understanding of how an arrester performs its func- Surge arresters should always be located as close as possible
tions and a knowledge of equipment insulation, we can now to the terminals of the equipment to be protected. In the case
ZALAR: SURGE ARRESTORS AND TRANSFORMER PROTECTION 637
TABLE II
RECOMMENDED ARRESTER APPLICATIONS
System Voltage (kv) Recommended Arrester Rating (kv)
Four- Three- elta and
Wire Wye, Wire Wye, DetUnd
Nominal Maximum Multi- Solidly
Grounded Grounded grounded
un-
Neutral Neutral Wye
2.4 2.54 3
4.16Y/2.4 4.4Y/2.54 3
4.16 4.4 6 6 BIL
4.8 5.08 6 6
6.9 7.26 6 9
8.32Y/4.8 8.8Y/5.08 6
12.OY/6.93 12.7Y/7.33 9
12.4Y/7.2 13.2Y/7.62 9
13.2Y/7.62 13.97Y/8.07 10
13.8Y/7.97 14.5Y/8.4 10
13.8 14.5 12 15
20.8Y/ 12.0 22Y/ 12.7 15
22.9Y/ 13.2 24.2Y/ 14.0 18
23 24.3 21 24
MICROSECONDS
24.9Y/ 14.4 26.4Y/ 15.2 18 Fig. 4. Minimum insulation withstand curve.
Common System Voltages Used Outside the United States
and Canada
3.3 3.7 3 N
6.6 7.3 6 0
10.0 11.5 9 12 A
1.15 (125)-73
MP1). (Remember, the chopped-wave insulation is 15 percent X 100 percent
more than the BIL.)
1.15 (125)
2) The discharge voltage of the arrester is compared with 70.75
the transformer BIL (Fig. 6, MP2). X 100 percent
Discharge voltage for a 10 000-A surge is normally used- for 143.75
these calculations. If a more conservative margin of protection MP1 = 49.2 percent
is required or a higher surge current level is typical of the ap-
lication area, a 20 000-A surge discharge voltage level is used. BIL-(DV1okA+ IX) 125 -(66 + 511.6])
The following formulas define these two margins of protection BIL 125
calculation:
51
X 100 percent = - X 100 percent
CWW - FOWSO 125
MP1 = X 100 percent
CWW
MP2 = 40.8 percent.
BIL - (DVl o kA+ IX) X The only change in calculating margins of protection for
BIL dry-type insulated transformers is that the BIL level for the
chopped-wave withstand is used. Sometimes, in these situa-
where tions, the standard arrester sparkover reduces the margin of
protection below the 20-percent minimum defined by stand-
CWW chopped-wave withstand, ards. In these applications, using a special low-sparkover ar-
FOWSO front-of-wave sparkover, rester improves the protective levels to those minimums re-
IX voltage contribution of connecting leads, commended.
BIL basic insulation level,
CONCLUSION
MP margin of protection,
DV1OkA discharge voltage created by a 10-kA surge. Surge protection of equipment, especially transformers,
on industrial power systems is not an impossible task if the
Normally, for power systems up through 15 kV, insulation engineer responsible for surge protection recognizes the ap-
coordination has not been a problem because the protective plication factors involved: 1) voltage rating, 2) location, 3)
margin between standard BIL transformers and the protective interconnection of leads, and 4) insulation coordination.
characteristics of modern arresters is substantially in excess of For the special protection required for dry-type insulated
20 percent. However, insulation coordination becomes a pri- transformers, the arresters suggested in Table II for various
mary consideration for higher voltage systems, particularly distribution systems should give good results in most applica-
when reduced BIL's are used. tions. If a special problem appears, the knowledge of arrester
To illustrate the process of insulation coordination, assume application, arrester operation, and equipment insulation will
primary surge protection is required for a three-phase, oil-in- help the engineer in discussing the problem with either the
sulated transformer at a glass manufacturing facility which is arrester or the transformer manufacturer [1] .
ZALAR: SURGE ARRESTORS AND TRANSFORMER PROTECTION 639
REFERENCES Dennis A. Zalar (S'70-M'71) was born on
[11 E. P. Smith. "Lightning arrester application for mine power systems." December 30, 1949 in Pennsylvania. He received the
in Conf. Rec. 1976 IEEE Ind. Appl. Soc. Annu, Meeting. pp. 469-471. B.S. degree in electrical engineering from West
121 ANSI Standard C62.1-1975. Virgina University, Morgantown, in 1971 and the
[31 H. P. Stoelting, "Overvoltage protection of oil-insulated and dry-type M.S. degree in management from Massachusetts
electric power equipment," IEEE 1969 Study Group, Cincinnati Institute of Technology, Cambridge, in 1979 as an
Section. Alfred P. Sloan Fellow.
141 IEEE Working Group of Surge Protective Devices Committee H"Voltage He started with McGraw-Edison Company Power
rating investigation for application of lightning arresters on distribution Systems Division in January 1972 as a Sales Engineer
systems." IEEE Transactions on Power App. Svst.. vol. PAS-91, 1972. in Hartford, CT. In July of 1975 he was promoted to
pp. 1067-1974. Assistant Marketing Manager of McGraw's Supply
[51 H. 0. Stoelting, "Analysis of lightning arrester application," The Line. Products Group. In June 1979. after completing the Sloan Fellows Program at
Sept./Oct./Nov. 1961. M.I.T., he moved into the Division Planning and Business Development Group
[61 C. F. Clinkenbeard. "Lightning arrester application fundamentals," The as Business Development Coordinator. He is currently Product Marketing
Line, First Quarter. 1970. Manager of McGraw Edison's Protective Devices Group.
171 McGraw-Edison Company, Distribution System Protection Manual. Mr. Zalar is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, and the Society ofSloan
Bulletin 71022, 1971. Fellows.