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Over Voltage

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Overvoltage
Power systems are always subjected to overvoltages that have their origin
in :
• atmospheric discharges in which case they are called external or lightning
overvoltages, or - The latter type are called internal overvoltages - This class may be further subdivided
• into (i) temporary overvoltages, if they are oscillatory of power frequency or
• harmonics, and Temporary overvoltages occur almost without exception
• under no load or very light load conditions. Because of their common origin
• the temporary and switching overvoltages occur together and their combined
• effect has to be taken into account in the design of h.v. systems insulation.

• (ii) switching overvoltages, if they are heavily damped and

• of short duration.

they are generated internally by connecting or disconnecting the system, or due to the systems fault initiation or extinction.
• The magnitude of the external or lightning overvoltages remains essentially
• independent of the system’s design, whereas that of internal or switching
• overvoltages increases with increasing the operating voltage of the system.
• Hence, with increasing the system’s operating voltage a point is reached
• when the switching overvoltages become the dominant factor in designing
• the system’s insulation

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• Up to approximately 300 kV, the system’s insulation

• has to be designed to withstand primarily lightning
surges. Above that
• voltage, both lightning and switching surges have to
be considered. For ultrah.
• v. systems, 765 kV and above switching overvoltages
in combination with
• insulator contamination become the predominating
factor in the insulation
• design.

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Lightiegning

• Physical manifestations of lightning have been

noted in ancient times, but the
• understanding of lightning is relatively recent.
The real incentive to study lightning came when electric
transmission lines had to be protected against lightning.

The methods
include measurements of (i) lightning currents, (ii)
magnetic and electromagnetic
radiated fields, (iii) voltages, (iv) use of high-speed
photography and radar.
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lightening
• Fundamentally, lightning is a manifestation of a very large electric discharge
• and spark.
• In an active thunder cloud the larger particles usually possess negative
• charge and the smaller carriers are positive. Thus the base of a thunder cloud
• generally carries a negative charge and the upper part is positive, with the
• whole being electrically neutral. The physical mechanism of charge separation
• is still a topic of research and will not be treated here. As will be discussed
• later, there may be several charge centres within a single cloud. Typically the
• negative charge centre may be located anywhere between 500m and 10 000m
• above ground. Lightning discharge to earth is usually initiated at the fringe of
• a negative charge centre.
• together with the current to ground. The stroke is initiated in the region of the
• negative charge centre where the local field intensity approaches ionization
• field intensity ( ｾ D30 kV/cm in atmospheric air, or ｾ 10 kV/cm in the presence
• of water droplets).

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lightening
• To the eye a lightning discharge appears as a single luminous
discharge,
• although at times branches of variable intensity may be
observed which terminate
• in mid-air, while the luminous main channel continues in a
zig-zag path
• to earth. High-speed photographic technique studies reveal
that most lightning
• strokes are followed by repeat or multiple strokes which travel
along the path
• established by the first stroke. The latter ones are not usually
branched and
• their path is brightly illuminated.

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lightening

Diagrammatic representation of lightning mechanism and

ground curren
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• During the first stage the leader discharge, known as the ‘stepped leader’,
• moves rapidly downwards in steps of 50m to 100 m, and pauses after each
• step for a few tens of microseconds. From the tip of the discharge a ‘pilot
• streamer’ having low luminosity and current of a few amperes propagates into
• the virgin air with a velocity of about 1 ・ 105 m/sec. The pilot streamer is
• followed by the stepped leader with an average velocity of about 5 ・ 105 m/sec
• and a current of some 100 A. For a stepped leader from a cloud some
• 3 km above ground shown in Fig. 8.1 it takes about 60 m/sec to reach the
• ground. As the leader approaches ground, the electric field between the leader
• and earth increases and causes point discharges from earth objects such
• as tall buildings, trees, etc. At some point the charge concentration at the
• earthed object is high enough to initiate an upwards positive streamer. At
• the instance when the two leaders meet, the ‘main’ or ‘return’ stroke starts
• from ground to cloud, travelling much faster ( ｾ 50 ・ 106 m/sec) along the
• previously established ionized channel. The current in the return stroke is in
• the order of a few kA to 250 kA and the temperatures within the channel
• are 15 000 ｰ C to 20 000 ｰ C and are responsible for the destructive effects
• of lightning giving high luminosity and causing explosive air expansion.
• The return stroke causes the destructive effects generally associated with
• lightning.

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• The return stroke is followed by several strokes at 10- to 300-m/sec intervals.

• The leader of the second and subsequent strokes is known as the ‘dart
• leader’ because of its dart-like appearance. The dart leader follows the path of
• the first stepped leader with a velocity about 10 times faster than the stepped
• leader. The path is usually not branched and is brightly illuminated.
• A diagrammatic representation of the various stages of the lightning stroke
• development from cloud to ground in Figs 8.2(a) to (f) gives a clearer appreciation
• of the process involved. In a cloud several charge centres of high
• concentration may exist. In the present case only two negative charge centres
• are shown. In (a) the stepped leader has been initiated and the pilot streamer
• and stepped leader propagate to ground, lowering the negative charges in the
• cloud. At this instance the striking point still has not been decided; in (b) the
• pilot streamer is about to make contact with the upwards positive streamer
• from earth; in (c) the stroke is completed, a heavy return stroke returns to
• cloud and the negative charge of cloud begins to discharge; in (d) the first
• centre is completely discharged and streamers begin developing in the second
• charge centre; in (e) the second charge centre is discharging to ground via
• the first charge centre and dart leader, distributing negative charge along the
• channel. Positive streamers are rising up from ground to meet the dart leader;

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representation of various stages of

lightning stroke
between cloud and ground

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• (f) contact is made with streamers from earth, heavy return

stroke proceeds
• upwards and begins to discharge negatively charged space
beneath the cloud
• and the second charge centre in the cloud.
• Lightning strokes from cloud to ground account only for about
10 per
• cent of lightning discharges, the majority of discharges during
thunderstorms
• take place between clouds. Discharges within clouds often
provide general
• illumination known as ‘sheath lightning’.

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• characterized by a fast rise to crest (1 to 10 μsec) followed by a longer

• decay time of 50–1000 μsec to half-time. Figure 8.3 gives the probability
• distribution of times to crest for lightning strokes as prepared by Anderson.7
• There is evidence that very high stroke currents do not coincide with very
• short times to crest. Field data3,20 indicate that 50 per cent of stroke currents
• including multiple strokes have a rate of rise exceeding 20 kA/μsec and 10
• per cent exceed 50 kA/μsec. The mean duration of stroke currents above half
• value is 30 μsec and 18 per cent have longer half-times than 50 μsec. Thus
• for a typical maximum stroke current of 10 000A a transmission line of surge
• impedance (say) Z D 400 and assuming the strike takes place in the middle
• of the line with half of the current flowing in each direction Z ｾ D 200
• the lightning overvoltage becomes V D 5000 ・ 400 D 2MV. Based on many
• investigations the AIEE Committee8 has produced the frequency distribution
• of current magnitudes, shown in Fig. 8.4, which is often used for performance
• calculations. Included in Fig. 8.4 is a curve proposed by Anderson.

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Distribution of times to crest of

lightning stroke currents (after
Anderson
The data on lightning strokes
and voltages has formed the
basis for establishing
the standard impulse or
lightning surge for testing
equipment in laboratories.

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• Energy in lightning
• To estimate the amount of energy in a typical lightning discharge let us assume
• a value of potential difference of 107 V for a breakdown between a cloud
• and ground and a total charge of 20 coulombs. Then the energy released
• 20 ・ 107 Ws or about 55 kWh in one or more strokes that make the discharge.
• The energy of the discharge dissipated in the air channel is expended in several
• processes. Small amounts of this energy are used in ionization of molecules,
• excitations, radiation, etc. Most of the energy is consumed in the sudden
• expansion of the air channel. Some fraction of the total causes heating
• the struck earthed objects. In general, lightning processes return to the global
• system the energy that was used originally to create the charged cloud.

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Cumulative distributions of
lightning stroke current
magnitudes:
1. After AIEE Committee.

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Nature of danger

• The degree of hazard depends on circumstances. To minimize

the chances of
• being struck by lightning during thunderstorm, one should be
sufficiently far
• away from tall objects likely to be struck, remain inside
buildings or be well
• insulated.
• A direct hit on a human or animal is rare; they are more at risk
from
• indirect striking, usually: (a) when the subject is close to a
parallel hit or
• other tall object, (b) due to an intense electric field from a
stroke which can

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• induce sufficient current to cause death, and (c) when lightning terminating
on
• earth sets up high potential gradients over the ground surface in an
outwards
• direction from the point or object struck. Figure 8.5 illustrates qualitatively
• the current distribution in the ground and the voltage distribution along the
• ground extending outwards from the edge of a building struck by
lightning.9
• The potential difference between the person’s feet will be largest if his feet
are
• separated along a radial line from the source of voltage and will be
negligible
• if he moves at a right angle to such a radial line. In the latter case the
person
• would be safe due to element of chance.

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Current distribution and voltage

distribution in ground due to
lightning stroke to a building
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• Current distribution and voltage distribution

in ground due to
• lightning stroke to a building

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• When the voltage in a circuit or part of it is raised

above its upper design limit, this is known as over
voltage.

• The conditions may be hazardous. Depending on its

duration, the over voltage event can be permanent or
transient, the latter case also being known as a
voltage spike.

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Explanation

• Electronic and electrical devices are designed

to operate at a certain maximum supply
voltage, and considerable damage can be
caused by voltage that is higher than that for
which the devices are rated.

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• For example an electric light bulb has a wire in it that

at the given rated voltage will carry a current just
large enough for the wire to get very hot (giving off
light and heat), but not hot enough for it to melt.

• The amount of current in a circuit depends on the

voltage supplied: if the voltage is too high, then the
wire may melt and the light bulb has "burned out".

• Similarly other electrical devices may stop working,

or even maybe burst into flames if an over voltage is
supplied to the circuit of which these devices are
part.

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Sources
Natural
• A typical natural source of transient over voltage
events is lightning. Man-made sources are spikes
usually caused by electromagnetic induction when
switching on or off inductive loads (such as electric
motors or electromagnets), or by switching heavy
resistive AC loads when zero-crossing circuitry is not
used - anywhere where a large change of current takes
place.

• One of the purposes of electromagnetic compatibility

compliance is to eliminate such sources.
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Man made
• An important potential source of dangerous over
voltages is electronic warfare. There is intensive
military research in this field, whose goal is to
produce various transient electromagnetic devices
designed to generate electromagnetic pulses that will
disable an enemy's electronic equipment.

• A recent military development is that of the exploding

capacitor designed to radiate a high voltage
electromagnetic pulse. Another intense source of an
electromagnetic pulse is a nuclear explosion.

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Conduction path
• The transient pulses can get into the equipment either
by power or data lines, or over the air from a strong
electromagnetic field change - an electromagnetic
pulse (EMP).

• Filters are used to prevent spikes entering or leaving

the equipment through wires, and the
electromagnetically coupled ones are attenuated by
shielding.

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 Any disturbance on a transmission line or system such as a

sudden opening or closing of line, a short circuit or a fault results
in the development of overvoltage or overcurrent at that point.

 This disturbance propagates as a traveling wave to the ends

of the line or to a termination, such as, a sub-station.

 Usually these traveling waves are high frequency

disturbances and travel as waves. They may be reflected,
transmitted, attenuated or distorted during propagation until the
energy is absorbed.

 Long transmission lines are to be considered as electrical

networks with distributed electrical elements.

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• As a traveling wave moves along a line, it suffers both attenuation

and distortion. The decrease in the magnitude of the wave as it
propagates along the line is called attenuation

• The elongation or change of wave shape that occurs is called

distortion. Sometimes, the steepness of the wave is reduced by
distortion. Also, the current and voltage wave shape become
dissimilar even though they maybe the same initially.

• Attenuation is caused due to the energy loss in the line and

distortion is caused due to the inductance and capacitance of the
line.

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Reflection and Transmission of Waves at Transition Points

• Whenever there is an abrupt change in parameters of a

transmission line, such as an open circuit or a
termination, the traveling wave undergoes a transition,
part of the wave is reflected or sent back and only a
portion is transmitted forward.

• At the transition point, the voltage or current wave may

attain a value which can vary from zero to two times its
initial value.

• The incoming wave is called the incident wave and the

other wave are called the reflected and transmitted waves
at the transition point.
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 Overvoltage Due to Switching Surges, System Faults and
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Other Abnormal Condition

• Unlike the lightning voltages, the switching and other type of

overvoltages depend on the normal voltage of the system and
hence increase with increased system voltage.

• In insulation coordination, where the protective level of any

particular kind of surge diverter is proportional to the maximum
voltage, the insulation level and the cost of the equipment depends
on the magnitudes of these overvoltages.

• In the EHV range, it is the switching surge and other types of

overvoltages that determine the insulation level of the lines and
other equipment and consequently, they also determine their and
costs.

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Origin of Switching Surge

• The making and breaking of electric circuits with switch

gear may results in abnormal overvoltage in power
systems having karge inductance and capacitances.

• The overvoltages may go as high as 6 times the normal

power frequency voltage.

• In circuit breaking operation, switching surges with a

high rate of rise of voltage may cause repeated restriking
of the arc between the contacts of a circuit breaker,
thereby causing destruction of the circuit breaker
contacts.

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 Control of Overvoltages Due to Switching
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• Insertion of Resistors

• Phase Controlled Switching

• Drainage of Trapped Charge

• Shunt Reactor

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