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High Voltage Surge Arrester

Product programme
Safe, secure and economic supply of electricity
– with ABB surge arresters

A new generation of overvoltage protec- meets the demands of quality assurance as stipu-
tion – backed by 65 years of experience lated in ISO 9001. The products and the manufac-
The ABB factory in Ludvika, Sweden is a pioneer turing process also comply with ISO14000 and we
in overvoltage protection of power equipment. continuously strive to reduce any negative envi-
Our surge arresters are the Silent Sentinels pro- ronmental impact.
tecting electrical equipment in power systems
and industries all over the world since 1938. ABB Safety
was also one of the pioneers in the introduction In order to protect other power equipment from
of gapless ZnO (metal-oxide) arresters in the late dangerous overvoltages, the arresters themselves are
seventies. The porcelain-housed arresters, type employed in the most exposed locations. Hence,
EXLIM, and silicone polymer-housed arresters, under extreme adverse conditions, they may be
type PEXLIM are the latest generation of ABB overstressed. However, our arresters are designed
ZnO arresters. Both types use the same blocks to fail safely and thus protect the other equipment
known for their excellent energy capability and even during such an event. Both the porcelain-
low protection levels. PEXLIM arresters are enclo- housed and polymer-housed designs are tested
sed in composite housings of silicone polymer according to the stringent criteria of IEC standard
developed after years of research. While EXLIM 60099-4 for safe short-circuit capability.
arresters have a given place in the substation, the
PEXLIM arrester range permits greater flexibility Insurance
in substation installations and opens new areas In a typical substation, the cost of providing
of application, e.g. as transmission line arresters adequate overvoltage protection using arresters
using the PEXLINK concept. is a very small fraction of the cost of the substa-
tion. This cost can easily be accepted if it is seen
Availability as an insurance premium for overall economy.
Secure availability of power supply is high on Naturally, only the best insurance cover should
the list of user demands. Users have difficulty to be considered.
accept interruptions in supply that cost them loss
of production or damage to sensitive equipment Economy
connected to the network. With the continued Proper selection and placement of arresters per-
privatisation of the electrical industry, consu- mits the reduction in the insulation withstand
mers can now collect steep fines or change strength of the major equipment in a station. This
suppliers with ease. Quality, both in design and can have a significant impact on reducing the
manufacture, is the essential ingredient in buil- overall cost of the station. With their exceptional
ding reliable equipment. Correct application of protection performance, ABB arresters are there-
our arresters ensures reliable supply with mini- fore the logical choice to protect the heavy invest-
mum interruptions to the consumers. Expensive ment in other capital equipment. They make a
“down-time” for overhaul and repairs of major very attractive investment that improves both
equipment is also reduced or eliminated. ABB short-term and long-term profitability.

ABB 
EXLIM Porcelain housed arresters
— Our experience is your assurance

Experience quickly transferred


ABB ZnO arresters have been in service since safely outside the hou-
1979, which speaks of our long experience with sing by specially desig-
this technology. Our arresters are in service in all ned pressure-relief
climates and conditions, including devices. This avoids
– Cold northern countries with very low violent shattering of
temperatures (-60 ˚C) and ice the housing and thus
– Hot deserts, with very high temperatures the risk for damage to
(+60 ˚C) and sand pollution nearby equipment or
– Earthquake-prone areas injury to personnel is
– Coastal locations with continuous salt pollu- extremely low.
tion and strong winds.
Wide range of application
Stability and security The range of EXLIM arresters is very wide.
EXLIM arresters have a robust and stable con- Single-column arresters are available with diffe-
struction, well matched with that of the other rent rated voltages in a variety of energy ratings
apparatus in the substation. In the unlikely from IEC Line Discharge Class 2 to Class 5 (hig-
event of an overstress beyond design parame- hest as per IEC) for all the transmission voltages
ters, EXLIM arresters fail in a safe mode. During worldwide. Built-up of standard components, the
such an event, the internal arc created by the designs cater to both standard and non-standard
short-circuiting of the inner components is very applications.

EXLIM R EXLIM Q EXLIM P EXLIM T


System voltages 52 - 170 kV 52 - 420 kV 52 - 550 kV 245 - 800 kV
Rated voltages 42 - 168 kV 42 - 420 kV 42 - 444 kV 180 - 624 kV
Nominal discharge 10 kA 10 kA 20 kA 20 kA
current (IEC)

Line discharge class Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5

ABB 
ABB

6
PEXLIM silicone housed arresters — Flexibility at its best

Building on experience This results in high mechanical strength and excel-


PEXLIM arresters, using the same blocks as the lent short-circuit performance.
EXLIM arresters, match their electrical performance. During manufacture, each arrester module is pas-
The substitution of a composite polymer material sed through a computer-controlled cleaning and
for porcelain leads to additional advantages by way priming process before being loaded in a vulca-
of minimised weight, flexibility of erection and nizing press wherein silicone is injected to bond
highly improved pollution, seismic and short-circuit directly to the active parts, leaving no inter¬nal
performance. voids or air spaces. The result is a complete seal
along the entire length of the arrester and hence
Unique characteristics no gaskets or sealing rings are required.
Silicone is highly hydrophobic. This is an advan-
tage in its performance under polluted conditions Flexibility with strength
– better still, any reduction in hydrophobicity The low weight and slim profile permits erection
under constant heavy pollution is recouped auto- in locations where space is limited. The arresters
matically after the pollution episode has passed or can be mounted at any angle, including under-
reduced. This unique feature of silicone is made hung from the station structures or even the con-
possible via low molecular weight (LMV) silicone ductor themselves.
oil propagating through the pollution layer to keep
leakage currents low and ultimately restore surface Super safety
hydrophobicity. Silicone insulators therefore requi- During overstress conditions, the “open-cage”
re little or no cleaning in service. design permits the arc to escape directly through
The PEXLIM family of silicone-housed arresters the housing at several points; eliminating the need
comes in two different designs: Directly moulded for any pressure-relief devices. Further, since sili-
and High strength (HS) tube design. cone is a very soft material compared to porcelain,
there is no chance of any damage to other equip-
Design highlights – Directly moulded ment even very close to the arresters. Additionally,
ABB employs a unique patented design to enclose the material is self-extinguishing and easily fulfils
the ZnO blocks under axial pre-compression in a the IEC standard in this regard. Hence, PEXLIM
cage formed of fibreglass-reinforced loops fixed arresters may be employed on transformer tanks
between two yokes. An aramide fibre is wound close to the bushings or on transmission towers at
over the loops resulting in an “open cage” design. any point in the line without any danger.

PEXLIM R PEXLIM Q PEXLIM P


System voltages 52 - 170 kV 52 - 420 kV 52 - 420 kV
Rated voltages 42 - 192 kV 42 - 360 kV 42 - 360 kV
Nominal discharge current (IEC) 10 kA 10 kA 20 kA
Line discharge class Class 2 Class 3 Class 4

ABB 
 ABB
HS PEXLIM — High strength silicone housed arrester

Tube design for higher mechanical PEXLIM arresters and thus superior to conven-
strength tional porcelain designs.
In special cases with very high demands for
mechanical strength, the moulded design may Design highlights - HS tube
not provide the optimal solution, particularly The basic concept is the replacement of the
at system voltages above 420 kV. Instead, what porcelain housing used with EXLIM arresters by
is required is a mix between the features of a fibreglass tube housing onto which the silico-
the standard EXLIM and the moulded PEXLIM ne sheds are vulcanised. The metal flanges are
designs. The high strength PEXLIM tube design integrated onto the tube prior to the vulcanising
provides the solution by offering comparable process. The ZnO blocks, internal arrangement,
mechanical strength to EXLIM arresters, but pressure-relief and sealing devices are similar to
with much less mass. The seismic and pollu- those used for EXLIM arresters.
tion performance is in line with the moulded

HS PEXLIM P HS PEXLIM T
System voltages 245 - 550 kV 245 - 800 kV
Rated voltages 180 - 444 kV 180 - 264 kV
Nominal discharge current (IEC) 20 kA 20 kA
Line discharge class Class 4 Class 5

ABB 
10 ABB
PEXLINK – Secure supply all the way

The concept heavy for easy suspension in the


The low weight and flexibility towers or lines and the risk of
in erection associated with PEXLIM damage from falling porcelain was too great.
arresters, combined with automatic PEXLIM arresters are the ideal choice for this
disconnecting device and suitable application and the PEXLINK concept per-
linkages, opens up interesting appli- mits quick and automatic disconnection of
cations and is the basis of the PEXLINK overstressed arresters; eliminating the need
Transmission Line Arrester (TLA) concept. for immediate replacement to permit line-re-
energization.
Lightning protection for transmission
line insulators Switching surge control of long
While substations are well protected from transmission lines
direct lightning by earth mats and shield Long EHV lines are prone to high over-
wires, the transmission lines themselves have voltages along the line during switching
often been neglected in this respect. In areas operations. Traditionally, the solutions have
exposed to high lightning activity, this may been higher line insulation or the use of pre-
lead to frequent interruptions in the power insertion resistors for the switching circuit
supply. Even with fast re-closing of lines breakers. The modern solution, which is more
after a fault, brief interruptions are economical and maintenance-free, is the use of
nonetheless unwelcome to consumers with pro- arresters at the line ends and, where required,
cess industries or sensitive equipment. at other points along the line. Here too, PEXLIM
Surge arresters connected across the insulators arresters have obvious advantages in view of their
at specific locations (e.g. high tower footing impe- low weight and flexible erection as they can be
dance) along a transmission line minimize such attached directly to the breakers or the lines.
interruptions and often eliminate them altogether. Further details of the above as well as
While the idea is not new, it could not be realized other applications can be found in catalogue
earlier since porcelain-housed arresters were too 1HSM9543 12-10en.

ABB 11
12 ABB
Monitoring the health of surge arresters

Watching and waiting ultimately occurs, leading to an arrester over-


Well-designed and tested, ABB surge arresters load. Early detection of this harmful increase may
are maintenance-free and have a long in-service prevent a failure and an unplanned shutdown.
life. Since they are sealed units, they cannot be Hence, a good monitor should be able to detect
examined periodically (in contrast with other HV the arrester leakage current and isolate and mea-
equipment) and live-line tests are difficult and sure its resistive component. This may be done
expensive – often costing more than the arresters continuously or at intervals coinciding with regu-
themselves. The general principle is therefore to lar maintenance of the station equipment.
limit maintenance to occasional cleaning of the
housing and to estimate their condition based on Monitoring system – EXCOUNT-II
service years only. ABB’s advanced monitoring system, EXCOUNT-
Increasing interest for on-line monitoring of all II, may be installed for direct monitoring of surge
equipment, however, has resulted in development arresters while in-service and on-line.
of some special equipment even for arresters. This system comprises a sensor unit mounted
on each arrester; a common hand-held trans-
Surge counter, EXCOUNT-A ceiver unit for remote reading and software for
The simplest monitoring equipment is a surge downloading and analysis of the readings. The
counter. The main sensor unit is connected at the earth terminal of
purpose of this the arrester and is fully short-circuit proof. Its
instrument is to built-in power supply is charged by solar cells as
record the number well as the electric field surrounding the arrester.
of significant surges The sensor unit registers not only the number
through the arrester of discharges through the arrester but also notes
to which it is per- their amplitude and time-stamps each event. In
manently connected. addition, the total and resistive leakage currents
An abnormally hig- are able to be measured. The information is fed
her count of surges by radio link from a safe distance to the trans-
in one phase as compared to the other two may ceiver whenever called upon to do so. By using
indicate potential problems. However, the infor- suitable software, complete records can be stored
mation may not be sufficient for making a definite for analysis.
decision regarding the need for replacement. EXCOUNT-II can be used with any gapless
ZnO arrester, irrespective of its make.
Resistive current is the key
When a ZnO block ages or otherwise deterio-
rates, the arrester’s resistive current and hence
power losses increase permanently. This results
in an increase in the temperature, which, in turn,
increases the resistive leakage current and so
on until the housing can no longer dissipate the
heat generated, and a so-called thermal runaway

ABB 13
Special solutions for high energy applications

Optimized savings Energy varistors, MXE


Enormous savings can be achie- Depending on the desired protection
ved in the design and cost of levels, temporary overvoltage con-
special equipment, e.g. thyristors ditions and the energy absorption
in the HVDC valves, capacitors in capability, the varistors are built up
series compensation and similar, of multiple columns of series-con-
when the arresters and varistors nected ZnO blocks. ABB has the
(multi-column high-energy ZnO technique and the experience to
blocks) are carefully designed for manufacture such varistors. The ener-
each special application. gy impulses have a high-frequency
component, leading to increased
Series Compensation (SC) stress on the blocks and the housings
Overvoltage protection for series which must be taken into account in
capacitors consists primarily of a the design of the varistors.
large bank of high-energy ZnO Varistors may be housed in por-
blocks (termed “varistors” by ABB) connected celain or polymer. The former has the advan-
in parallel with the capacitors. For both external tage of accommodating multiple columns in
and internal faults, the varistors must maintain each housing. The latter has the advantage of
the desired protection levels across the capaci- flexible and easy erection combined with com-
tors by shunting and absorbing a large amount pactness and low weight in the form of rack-
of energy. It is sometimes uneconomic to design assembly. This alternative has a great advantage
the varistors for every possible fault condition. In when expensive EHV insulated platforms are to
such cases, the varistors themselves are protected be designed for accommodating them. Varistors
by parallel-connected spark gaps. When a pre-set with a single-impulse energy up to 140 MJ have
level of energy has been absorbed or when the been delivered.
set temperature of the varistors is exceeded, the
varistors are bi-passed by forced triggering of spe- Static Var Compensation (SVC)
cially designed outdoor-type spark gaps. Since the SVC schemes often require arresters with
gaps are not self-extinguishing, the current in the energy capability exceeding that provided by
arc is interrupted by parallel-connected rapid-clo- a single ZnO column. However, they are much
sing contacts of a specially designed breaker. ABB smaller than those for SC schemes. Standard
manufacturers all the required components for surge arresters (EXLIM and PEXLIM) are easily
overvoltage protection in close co-operation with adapted to cope with these requirements.
the supplier of the compensation scheme.
Special standards govern the design and testing High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC)
of components for this application and a high The electrical stresses in a HVDC scheme range
degree of specialized competence is required. from sinusoidal stresses at power frequency
(standard AC equipment) to complex stresses at
high frequencies (AC and DC filters) to unidi-
rectional stresses (DC equipment). Special care
has to be taken when dimensioning the blocks
and the arresters to account for the different
effects of these stresses. Blocks for normal AC
applications are unsuitable for DC application.
The energy stresses can be substantial and
must be taken into special consideration during
the design to ensure adequate energy capability
and current sharing. Arresters for HVDC sche-
mes are specially designed and tested in accor-
dance with CIGRÉ recommendations, which are
universally accepted.

14 ABB
Expanding frontiers with continuous research and development

One step ahead of the competition margins. Different dimensions permit


ABB in Ludvika welcomes the challenges of new a large variety of standard arresters as
designs and applications and has always been at well as client-specific solutions with
the forefront in arrester technology. This is possible regards protection levels and energy
thanks to our teams of dedicated technical staff, capability. Continuous
good management, allocation of large resources basic and applied
and the presence of three internationally recogni- research is carried
sed laboratories within walking distance from each out in our labora-
other. We also have the good fortune to be actively tories with a view
associated with internationally reputed utilities in to improvement of
their search for better material and performance. energy capability,
impulse-current,
Technical facilities protective levels,
Two specially designed and equipped laboratories mechanical strength, etc.
for ZnO material testing and for performing elec- At the same time, research in
trical tests on ZnO blocks are at the heart of our process techniques, coupled
innovative and quality products. The former is also with intensive monitoring and
a pilot plant where new processes and recipes can frequent tests during produc-
be trialled full scale before being released to pro- tion, ensures both reduced
duction. The latter has throughput times and rejects.
all the special equipment
for running the tests Resources
and is, in fact, better ABB re-invests a very high
equipped in this regard percentage of its turnover in
than most independent R&D. Our technical staff take
laboratories. There are an active role in International
three large, well-equip- Standards work and our
ped and independent designs are often tested to
laboratories (STRI, ABB meet forthcoming standards
High Voltage Laboratory where they are deemed more
and ABB High Power Laboratory) within walking stringent. This is an added
distance from the manufacturing plant in Ludvika. benefit to the user since he
This permits us to thoroughly and continuously test can be confident that the
our designs and products. arrester purchased today will
Where needed, we employ other large inde- also likely fulfil forthcoming
pendent laboratories like KEMA (Netherlands), requirements.
CESI (Italy), IREQ (Canada), etc. All these labora-
tories are equipped with the most modern equip-
ment for the purpose at hand.

ZnO blocks, the heart of all operations


The most important component for the arresters
(and varistors) is the ZnO block. The sizes of
blocks are matched to the demands for different
line discharge (energy) classes as per IEC 60099-
4 and ABB is one of the very few manufacturers
to develop and manufacture class 5 blocks.
Strong focus on quality, from raw material until
finished ZnO blocks, ensure that they survive
the designed stresses with ease and with good

ABB 15
Photo: Hasse Eriksson, Mats Findell
Publication 1HSM 9543 11-01en, 2006-03 Edition 4, High Voltage Surge Arresters

NOTE: ABB Power Technologies AB is working continuously to improve the products.


We therefore reserve the right to change designs, dimensions and data without prior notice.

ABB Power Technologies


High Voltage Products
771 80 LUDVIKA
Tel: +46 (0)240 78 20 00
Fax: +46 (0)240 78 36 50
E-post: arresters.div@se.abb.com
Internet: www.abb.cm/arrestersonline

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