Modelling and validation of metal oxide surge arrester for very fast transients

Abstract

Metal oxide surge arrester models that are currently on rounds suffer from certain deficiencies and as a consequence, they are not in position to portray accurately the arrester residual voltages. This drawback is mainly attributed to their inherent features. The prevailing pressing need demands accurate performance assessment of zinc oxide arrester under all types of overvoltages including very fast transient overvoltages (VFTOs). So immediate corrective measures like the formation of a new arrester model or rejig of the existing one are urgently warranted. This issue constitutes the centre piece/core of this study. In consideration of its various merits, which includes its capacity to bring out the virtual representation of arrester activities, electromagnetic transient programme software has been chosen for this study. With its aid, the arrester model recommended by IEEE Working Group has been aptly reshaped to suit the needs of VFTOs studies. The end results of the simulations thus carried out have clearly established its suitability for the studies involving nanosecond waves; additionally, it got its validation and endorsement from the test data obtained from different arrester manufacturers. The commendable endorsements got from these studies shed clear light on it. All these aspects are dealt with this work.