Lightning induced disturbances in the power network considering losses, frequency effect and non-linearities

Abstract

The malfunctions and even the material damage caused by lightning stroke are generally significant in electrical networks.. To help design equipment that can withstand lightning disturbances (e.g. electrical insulation, surge arresters, etc.), while compromising with the economic problem, researchers and engineers use numerical simulation. In this paper, we propose a new modeling to study the direct or indirect impact of lightning stroke on an electrical network of power transmission overhead lines or overhead or underground power cables. This modeling is carried out directly in the time domain and takes into account the losses, the frequency dependence and the presence of components with non-linear behavior (example: surge arresters). The new formalism that we propose uses the transmission line equations, the numerical method of Finite Differences Time Domain (FDTD) and the approximation technique called vector fitting. To stimulate the direct or indirect effects of lightning, our modeling is carried out with only the 1D spatial discretization (1D meshing) of the conductive parts, and provides access simoulenatlously to transient voltages and currents at any point of the network. Also consideration to surge arresters is rendered easy in our modeling.