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Tower Air-gaps Discharge Characteristics and Insulation
Coordination for UHV AC Double-circuit Line
Huo Feng*, Nan Jing, Ye Qiming, Ma Yeming
State Key Laboratory of Power Grid Environmental Protection, China Electric Power Research Institute,
Wuhan 430074, China
*
hfnm11010@163.com
Keywords: UHV AC TRANSMISSION LINE, DISCHARGE CHARACTERISTICS, LONG WAVE-FRONT
SWITCHING IMPULSE, INSULATION CONFIGURATION
Abstract
In order to give out inverse V-type insulator tower air-gaps
configuration of double-circuit UHV AC power transmission
line, different distance air-gaps from high voltage electrode to
tower frame discharge tests of inverse V-string are carried
out. Discharge characteristics curves of power frequency
voltage, 1000μs long wave-front switching impulse voltage
and lightning impulse of UHV AC double-circuit tower are
obtained. Results show that the 50% discharge voltage
gradient of bottom phase air-gaps is higher than middle
phase. 1000μs wave-front switching impulse 50% discharge
voltage gradient of bottom phase air-gaps is 4.6% higher than
the middle phase. Based on the test results and the characters
of operating voltage and over-voltage of UHV AC power
transmission system, the UHV AC double-circuit tower
inverse V-type insulator air-gaps configuration is proposed.
The air-gaps configuration of power frequency voltage and
switching overvoltage are 2.9m and 6.5m, and the lightning
protection air-gaps are 6.7m and 7.2m, in mountains and
plains.
1 Introduction
Insulator string is one important part of transmission line and
substation, which is used in conductor suspension and high
voltage external insulation, and has an important influence on
the safety and economy of power system. In recent years, for
the UHV AC transmission system, many research works have
been carried out in power research institutes and universities,
such as external insulation characteristics, corona
characteristics and mechanical properties of I and V type
insulator strings. UHV insulator string has formed a
relatively fixed structure design, and it is used in the UHV
project. With the development of UHV power network, the
environment of UHV transmission lines is more complex,
such as high altitude, heavy pollution, and heavy ice, and so
on. In some areas, the transmission corridor land resource is
lack and the cost of demolition is expensive, which has a
negative impulse on the investment and safety operation of
construction.
In order to deal with all kinds of disadvantages and enhance
the economy and safety of the project design, we should
innovate bravely, optimize the design of tower type, string
type and conductor , and further improve the technical and
economic nature of the project design. In view of the design
method of I-type and V-type string in UHV project, we
continue to study deeply and enrich the string design.
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One insulator string structure arranged by two I insulators
like ‘Λ’ font, can improve the suspension height of the
conductor, lowering the height of tower and electromagnetic
environment effects. For example, when the insulators angle
is 60°, the conductor height is can be increased by about
1.5m than I string. In some areas especially lack of land
resources, this insulator structure has more technical and
economic advantage. Therefore, in this paper, the external
insulation discharge characteristics of the inverse V-string
have been researched.
2 research conditions and methods
2.1 conditions of experimental study
The test was carried out at the SGCC UHV AC test base. The
nominal voltage of test transformer used in the tower gap
power frequency voltage test is 1500kV. The maximum
current of high voltage side is 1.0A. The voltage regulator is
TYDZ-4800kVA /10.5kV. The voltage and capacity of the
test equipment meet the requirements of the test. The
7500kV/750kJ impulse voltage generator can generate
1.2/50μs standard lightning impulse, and 250/2500μs
standard switching impulse. This generator has adjustable
wide range and high voltage output efficiency, and can
generate 1000~2500μs long wave-front switching impulse
voltage wave meeting the test requirement.
2.2 experimental research methods
This test method is based on GB/T16927.1–2011 High-
Voltage Test Techniques—part 1:General Definitions and
Test Requirements.[1] One group power frequency voltage
test is including 5 times voltage application. The average
voltage value is the gap discharge voltage. The impulse
voltage test is based on the lifting method. The magnitude of
the voltage difference is about 3% to 5% of the expected
voltage peak value. standard switching impulse test, each
group test is including 40 times impulse application, while
lightning impulse test is 20 times. Test results are corrected
according to the test field atmospheric conditions.
2 inverse v type insulator string structure
Test samples of full-scale tower head test include: tower
cross-arm, tower body, inverse V-string, simulation
conductor(8-subconductor bundle), shielding rings and
connecting fittings, etc. As shown in fig.1, the integrated
inverse V-string can improve the effect of force
characteristics of wire, and the angle between the strings is
60°. Total length of the test composite insulator string
2
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including the insulator, conductor, connecting fittings is 11m,
in which the insulator is 9.0m long. The composite insulators
consist of large and small umbrella. The diameter of the large
umbrella is 180 mm, the small umbrella is 150 mm, and the
distance between adjacent two umbrellas is 53 mm. The 8-
split steel conductor was used to simulate the actual
conductor bundle of lines, with the diameter of 32mm and the
split spacing of 400mm[2].
Fig.1 UHV inverse V-type insulator string structure
3 Experimental results and analysis of
discharge characteristics
3.1 power frequency voltage test results
In the power transmission line operation, if the windage yaw
reaches maximum, the minimum insulation gap from
conductor to the tower body is controlled by the power
frequency voltage. In order to design reasonable air-gap
distance, we need to get UHV tower and inverse V-string gap
power frequency voltage discharge characteristics parameters
through tests, and design reasonable configuration. The
discharge characteristic curve of this paper under the
different gap distance of the inverse V-string is shown in fig.
2.
Fig.2 Power frequency voltage discharge
It is shown from the experimental results that the relation
between the voltage value and the gap distance are basically
linear, and the average discharge voltage gradient is 441kV/m
in the range of 2.0~3.5m. With the increase of gap distance,
the voltage gradient of discharge gradually decreases from
485kV/m to 406kV/m. In the range of 2.7~3.5m, the average
value of middle phase clearance is 407kV/m. The average
value of the lower phase gap is 3.2% higher than that of the
middle phase, indicating that the difference of UHV Tower
electrode structure has little influence on the power frequency
discharge voltage in the range of the gap.[3-5] The test results
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can provide the basis for the minimum gap configuration
under the operating voltage of UHV inverse V-string.
3.2 long wave-front switching impulse test results
According to the characteristics of UHV AC transmission
system with long wave-front switching overvoltage, this
paper carries out UHV inverse v-string gap 1000μs long
wave-front switching impulse voltage test. Fig. 3 is a typical
1000μs wave-front impulse voltage test waveform.
Fig.3 1000μs wave-front switching impulse voltage
waveform
The tower head sample structure as shown in fig.4, the
minimum insulation distance of insulator is 8.5m, and the
distance between conductor and cross-arm is 10.1m, and the
height of conductor is 20m. In the test, main insulation
distance is 5.0m ~7.5m. The half peak time is 5000μs, which
has no effect on the discharge of the long wave-front
voltage.Fig.4 and fig.5 are the typical discharge picture of
middle phase and bottom phase for UHV AC double circuit
transmission line .
Fig.4 middle phase air-gap switching impulse voltage
typical discharge picture
Fig.5 bottom phase air-gaps switching impulse voltage
typical discharge picture
Through different gap distance tests, the characteristics
curves of the 5.0~7.5m 1000μs long wave-front switching
impulse discharge of the UHV double circuit tower are
shown in fig. 6.
3
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distance. The clearance distance from the conductor to tower

body or to the lower cross-arm frame is within the range of
5.0~7.0m, and the lift degree of the lightning impulse voltage
is 573kV/m, which is 3.7% lower than that of the lower
phase .

The wave-front time used in the test of the standard lightning

Fig.6 1000μs wave-front switching impulse discharge characteristics
curves of UHV inverse V-type string
impulse voltage is 1.2μs, the voltage waveform of the
frequency is nearly a thousand times of 1000μs impulse
voltage, and the discharge process is mainly the streamer
process. The research shows that the development of streamer
discharge voltage gradient several times in the pilot process,
therefore, the discharge voltage of lightning impulse
discharge voltage gradient is higher than 1000μs front
switching impulse voltage.

Test data from fig. 6 shows that, in the 5.0~7.5m range, the 4 Insulation coordination of inverse V-string
1000μs long wave-front impulse average discharge voltage of air-gaps for UHV AC double-circuit tower
the middle and bottom phase gaps is 313 kV/m and 327kV/m
respectively. The average discharge voltage of the bottom According to the inverse V-string and UHV AC double-
phase gap is 4.6% higher than that of the middle phase. The circuit tower structure, insulation distance requires
statistical results of the discharge path of the middle phase consideration switching overvoltage, lightning overvoltage,
are shown in tab. 1. and working voltage, so in this paper will put forward the
clearance configuration under different voltage type.
Tab.1 discharge path statistics results of middle phase
air-gap switching impulse test 4.1 Analysis of power frequency voltage insulation
Discharge number coordination
Clearance
/m Conductor to tower Conductor to bottom cross-arm The 50% power frequency discharge voltage requirements for
the single gap of UHV tower are as follows:
5.0 7 8
6.0 6 9 U 50.1.r = Kc Ka KsU n.m (1)
7.5 9 7
3.3 lightning impulse voltage test results In the formula, Un.m is the peak value of the highest operating
phase voltage, kV, U n.m = 1100 2 / 3 kV; Kc is the
In the lightning impulse voltage test, height of test conductor
is 20m, conductor to cross-arm is 10m, and the distance coordination coefficient, Ka is the altitude correction
between conductor and tower body changes in 4.0~6.5m. The coefficient, and Ks is the safety factor.
discharge characteristics curves of lightning impulse are
Un  2 / 3
shown in fig. 7. U 50.1.r = = 1.119U n.m (2)
(1 − 2.45  0.03)(1 − 3  0.012)

The altitude correction coefficient Ka is calculated by the

IEC60071-2 method. Among them, H is altitude, m; m is the
correction factor. H=1000m, Ka=1.131; considering the safety
margin of 5% [6,7], Ks is 1.05. The power frequency discharge
voltage of air-gaps is U50.1.r=1194kV.

According to the discharge voltage gradient of the power

frequency voltage of inverse V-string and system operating
voltage, the clearance between conductor and tower body of
the middle phase is 2.90m, and the bottom phase gap is
2.76m. Therefore, according to the safety considerations, the
minimum insulation distance of the UHV inverse V-string
power frequency voltage requirements under the altitude of
Fig.7 lightning impulse discharge characteristics curves of UHV
1000m is recommended to be 2.9m.
inverse V-type string

As shown in fig.7, in the range of 4.5~6.5m clearance, the
gradient of lightning impulse voltage release is 595kV/m,
which has a good linearity with the change of clearance
4.2 Analysis of switching overvoltage insulation coordination
The switching overvoltage insulation coordination is
similar to the working voltage gap coordination

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method. Among them, the standard deviation  of important reference value. The lightning trip rate of the
1000μs long wave-front impulse voltage is 6%, and the 1000kV double circuit line in Japan is up to 0.94 times
switching overvoltage per-unit value is 1.7p.u.. At the /100km·a. The main reasons are two aspects, on the one
altitude of 1000m, the single gap 50% discharge voltage hand, the tower is high, on the other hand, the arcing
required by the operating overvoltage is: gap is short [8,9]. The arcing gap is 6.3m, and the
distance between the conductor and the lower cross-arm
1.7 1100  2 / 3 is 6.62m.
U 50.1.r = =2023kV (3)
(1 − 2.45  0.06)(1 − 3  0.024) If the insulation distance is less or very close to the
distance of the arcing clearance in Japan, there may be a
According to the test results, the middle phase
threat of higher lightning stroke tripping rate.
minimum electrical distance is 6.5m; the bottom phase
Therefore, it is recommended that lightning protection
electric distance is 6.24m. Considering switching safety
gap should be larger than the control gap interval. The
and the unity of design, it is suggested that the
lightning protection gap in the plain area is
minimum gap distance between the conductor and the
recommended to be 6.7m. The protection gap in the
tower frame is 6.5m.
mountain area is 7.2m.
4.3 Analysis of lightning overvoltage insulation coordination
5 Conclusion
For the UHV double circuit tower, the distance between
the conductor and the lower cross-arm has an obvious UHV AC double circuit full-scale test tower inverse V-
influence on the lightning insulation level and the string test results show that the average discharge
lightning trip rate. The air-gap distance required by the voltage gradient of lower phase is 441kV/m, when the
lightning impulse may be greater than the clearance test distance is in 2.0~3.5m. The voltage gradient of
distance determined by the operating overvoltage. middle phase is 407kV/m in the range of 2.7m~3.5m. In
Besides, for the double circuit transmission lines on the the corresponding 2.7~3.5m range, the value of lower
same tower, the most important thing is not to increase phase clearance is 3.2% higher than the middle phase,
the number of insulator strings, but the distance so, it is closer.
between the conductor and the tower, especially the
In 5.0~7.5m range, 1000μs long wave-front switching
distance between the conductor and the lower arm. Tab.
impulse 50% discharge voltage gradient is 313kV/m
2 is the results of the lightning shielding failure trip rate
and 327kV/m respectively. The voltage gradient of the
of the double tower under different gap distance. In the
lower phase gap is 4.6% higher than that of the middle
calculation, various conditions of different protection
phase.
angles and different ground angles are taken into
account. In the range of 4.5~6.5m, the middle phase gap
lightning impulse 50% discharge voltage gradient is
Tab.2 Calculation results of shielding failure trip rate of
double-circuit lines on the same tower 595kV/m. For the lower phase gap, the discharge
Protection shielding failure trip rate /(time·(100km·a)-1) voltage gradient is 573kV/m.
air-gap
angle weighted
distance/m θ=0° θ=10° θ=20° Under the condition of 1000m altitude, the minimum
α/(°) average
6.7 0.0149 0.2151 1.1389 0.1312 clearance of UHV AC double-circuit tower under the
-1.53 7.2 0.0025 0.0967 0.7425 0.0678 control of power frequency voltage is 2.9m, the
7.7 0.0015 0.0632 0.5672 0.0483 minimum clearance of switching over voltage is 6.5m,
6.7 0.0099 0.1632 0.8264 0.0967
-2.56 7.2 0.0038 0.0856 0.6444 0.0604
the lightning protection clearance in plain area is 6.7m,
7.7 0.0012 0.0515 0.5104 0.0417 and it in mountain area is 7.2m.
6.7 0.0067 0.1228 0.7478 0.0786
-3.58 7.2 0.0036 0.0596 0.5014 0.0453 6 Acknowledgements
7.7 0.0018 0.0298 0.3497 0.0276
From tab.2, we can see that in order to reduce the This work was supported by Science and Technology Project
tripping rate of lightning stroke, it is appropriate to of SGCC: Research on the Air-gaps Insulation Characteristics
and Waveform Parameters Effect of the Complex Tower
increase the minimum air gap distance under the
Structures for UHV AC Power Transmission Project. (Grant
lightning impulse. The distance between the conductor No. GY71-16-015)
and the lower cross-arm may be greater than the
minimum gap distance required by the switching
impulse. In determining the insulation level, the
operation experience of the same type of line has

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