81 SM 361-5
April 1982, p. 960
Lightning-Induced Overvoltages on
Overhead Distribution Lines
A. J. Eriksson, Member IEEE, and D. V. Meal
National Electrical Engineering Research Institute,
Pretoria, South Africa
M. F. Stringfellow
Electricity Supply Commission, Johannesburg,
South Africa
Abstract.Recent measurements on induced overvoltages caused
by indirect strikes recorded on a 10 km-long experimental dis¬
tribution line are presented. It is shown that a simple theoretical
model satisfactorily predicts the measured induced voltage am¬
plitudes, and it is deduced that lightning return-stroke currents to
open ground are similar to those measured on structures. It is
concluded that line insulation coordination must take indirect strikes
into account and that surge arrester duty may be aggravated by
multi-stoke induced surge operations.
Lightning remains the largest single cause of faults and damage
on overhead distribution lines even in areas of moderate lightning
activity. Indirect strikes, although less energetic than direct strikes,
are a serious problem because of their high frequency of occurrence.
Experimental data of induced overvoltages on distribution lines
are comparatively rare and many studies have suffered from
complications of surge arresters, transformers and terminal
equipment. In order to study comprehensively the processes of
interaction between lightning and overhead lines, an experimental
distribution line has been constructed and instrumented jointly by
the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and the National
Electrical Engineering Research Institute of South Africa.
The 11 kV three-phase wood-pole line is 9.9 km (6.2 miles) long,
has no sharp deviations and is located in open country near Pretoria.
Two recording stations have been set up on the line, one (ESCOM) at
the eastern end of the line, and the other (NEERI) 4.3 km (2.7 miles)
from the western end.
Lightning surges are recorded by means of automatic photgraphic
oscillographs and digital transient recording systems. All-sky
cameras, closed-circuit television cameras and videotape recorders
and time-to-thunder ranging are used to identify and locate flashes.
Over the past two thunderstorm seasons, the NEERI station has been
operated for a total of over 500 hours during 174 storms which
produced an annual ground flash density of 6.5 per km2 per year, or 13
per km2 (33 per mile2) for the two seasons.
Approximately 300 overvoltages greater than 12 kV have been
recorded, and more than 20 direct strikes to the line identified. The
majority of the induced overvoltages were found to be unipolar
waves of positive polarity. It is deduced that these surges result from
the return-strokes of negative ground-flashes.
Using a simple return-stroke model, a Monte-Carlo simulation
was carried out to predict the incidence of induced surges on the test
line caused by both first and subsequent strokes of multiple-stroke
flashes. (Fig. 1). Agreement with the test line measurements of
surges from first strokes is seen to be reasonable. The peak return-
stroke current of 32 flashes were calculated from their surge am¬
plitudes and known positions, and their frequency distribution was
found to be similar to the CIGRe reference distribution for flashes to
structures, with a median value exceeding 30 kA.
From the measured incidence of induced surges, it is concluded
that indirect strikes may overstress equipment with a similar
frequency to direct strikes and that line insulation levels to ground of
about 300 kV appear optimal to minimize flashovers. It is also
concluded that the duty of induced overvoltages on surge arresters
may be severe owing to the relatively high frequency of occurrence
of multiple-stroke surges. Although induced surge currents are
small, the possibility of arrester failure through the repeated
passage of power-follow current at intervals of about 50 mS is
considered likely.
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TEST LINE DATA
CALCULATED FIRST STROKES
.-CALCULATED SUBSEQUENT
STROKES
30 50 70 I00 200 300 500
INDUCED VOLTAGE IN kV
Fig. 1. Calculated and measured annual incidence of induced
overvoltage magnitudes on 10 km experimental line.
81 SM 346-6
April 1982, p. 969
Load Representation in Power System
Stability Studies
C. Concordia, IEEE Fellow
Consulting Engineer Venice, FL
S. Ihara, Member IEEE
General Electric Co., Schenectady, NY
Proper representation of load is important in power system
stability studies, but it is a difficult task. Load modeling is qual¬
itatively different from generator modeling in many aspects.
Composition of load needs to be reliably estimated, models of
different components must be combined to obtain a reasonably
manageable overall system model, and field measurements are not
at all easy. This paper discusses in turn the effects of load
characteristics on system performance, the load composition and
component characteristics, and the available test results by re¬
viewing the literature.
Load characteristics affect the dynamic behavior of a power
system. However, except for rather special cases, stability was often
regarded as a problem of holding generators together. The
emphasis was placed thus on generating unit characteristics and
their representations, and the loads were regarded as secondary, as
affecting the system transfer impedances. Recently, much more
attention has been devoted to load modeling. With the present trend
to try to make stability calculations quantitatively as well as
qualitatively valid, and in view of the many refinements that have
been made in the representation of the generators and their
controls, it seems appropriate that the load representation should
also be made more realistic. Also, with the broadening of stability
studies to include what one may call, more generally, studies of
dynamic performance, load representaion becomes more impor¬
tant. Some of the reported results of computer simulations are
reviewed, and the effects of load characteristics on system per¬
formance are discussed.
Load modeling is qualitatively different from generator modeling.
It is relatively simple and straightforward to construct models of
practically any of the "typical" load components such as lamps,
refrigerators, and air conditioners. Data on component charac-
41
teristics have been accumulated. Some of the reported component
data are reviewed and summarized in a table.
However, this is only a small part of the problem. The exact
composition of the load is often very difficult to estimate. Load
composition changes continually reflecting the customers' pattern
of using various appliances and devices. It depends on the cus¬
tomer's lifestyle, the weather, the state of economy, and many other
factors. It is important to estimate the load composition at time of
critical interest such as under a heavy or light load condition. Much
work still seems necessary for a reliable estimation of load com¬
position. Even if the load composition were known exactly, it would
be impractical to represent each individual load component, as there
are usually many thousands of components. There is a compu¬
tational problem. Even if one succeeds in getting relatively simple
models of each component, if they are not of similar mathematical
forms, the model of the composite load will be impractically
complex and will require considerable mathematical processing to
obtain a reasonably manageable overall system model. Thus, in
one's zeal to obtain the optimum and most elegant form of a
component model, one may aggravate the difficulties of the ag¬
gregation problem. There is, in fact, a problem even in combining
models of the same type in the case of dynamic loads such as
induction motors.
One might be inclined to give up this constructive approach and to
turn directly to measurements of the actual behavior of the major
bus loads. But this also has its limitations. In the first place, it is
difficult to make voltage changes of much more than ± 10%. One is
often interested in a much larger range, especially on the low side.
Frequency changes of any appreciable magnitude are practically
impossible to make except by special isolation of, possibly, un¬
typical loads. In the second place, unless the load composition is
analyzed in some detail, and unless buses having loads of fairly
different compositions are measured, there will be no under¬
standing of the results so that they can be extrapolated to different
conditions. Thus, one cannot escape a necessity to relate bus load
behavior to component behavior. Further, there are always con¬
tinual variations in the load itself and slight transient effects that
complicate the interpretation of results. In spite of these limitations,
such field measurements are essential as a final, even if only partial,
check on the validity of load models, however they may have been
obtained. Many measurements have been reported in the literature.
Some of the reported results of field tests are discussed.
It is hoped that this paper will encourage further work in the area of
load modeling.
Acknowledgments
The preparation of this paper was partly funded by a research
contract DEAC01-28ET29028, "Physically Based Load Modeling
Methodology", from U.S. Department of Energy. The authors wish
to thank Dr. T. Trygar of DOE for his support.
81 SM 325-0
April 1982, p. 978
Evaluation of Surge Degradation of
Metal Oxide Surge Arrester
Y. Fujiwara, Y. Shibuya, M. Imataki and T. Nitta,
Member IEEE
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Amagasaki, Japan
Metal oxide surge arrester (M.O.A.) utilizing highly nonlinear zinc
oxide element is an innovative surge protection device in power
systems [1]. However, the zinc oxide elements show a degradation
under a constant ac voltage and by high current surge operations.
42
In the present paper, the surge degradation of zinc oxide elements
under a constant ac stress is investigated experimentally. Two types
of elements having different degradation patterns are studied
concurrently.Formation I the standard material in production and
Formation II a new material found to show virtually no ac de¬
terioration.
The surge degradation with ac stress is formulated based on
experimental data. Fig. 1 shows an example of the leakage current
growth in a long term test. The full lines indicate the case, that 10
shots of 8 x 24 fis surges were superimposed to ac stress, the dotted
lines indicate the case of ac stress only. Since the difference between
full and dotted lines, m, is kept constant throughout the experiment,
m is used as an indicator of the surge degradation. The value of m
depends on the surge waveform, surge current, temperature,
number of shots and ac stress level.
The dependence of m on the number of surges N takes the form
m = a + b(N *\), where a and b are constants which depend on
other factors.
The experimental results are summed up in a set of figures so that
the degradation of M.O.A. can be estimated for any given condition.
It is shown that the overall degradation during the life of M.O.A. is
much smaller in Formation II compared to Formation I.
The influence of degradation on the life of M.O.A. is investigated
on the basis of a dynamic thermal stability [2] considering the
temperature rise (A7 60°C) due to switching surge absorptions at
=
the elevated ambient temperature {T0 60°C). Fig. 2 shows the
=
estimated permissible number of surges during the life of M.O.A. by
Formations I and II, respectively. Comparing (a) and (b) of the figure,
the curve of applied voltage ratio 80% for Formation II is comparable
to that of 65% for Formation I assuming the life of 50 years. This
shows the performance of M.O.A. is expected to be greatly improved
by using the Formation II elements.
References
[1] F. S. Sakshaug, et al., IEEE Trans., vol. PAS-96, No. 2,1977.
[2] S. Tominaga, et al., IEEE Trans., vol. PAS-99, No. 4,1980.
0 IO I00 500
fr
time fh)
Fig. 1 Leakage current growth observed in the two types of
elements, Formations I and If. (Surge: 8 x 24\is, 440 A/cm2,
Applied voltage: 85%, Temperature: 81°C1
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