Study on the thermal behaviour and non‐linear coefficient of the 10 kV ZnO surge arrester

Abstract

The thermal behaviour of the surge arrester is vital to assess its operational condition. The surge arrester usually shows a process of temperature rising during a long-term operation, particularly after subjecting to a surge. Therefore, the research on the temperature characteristics of ZnO arresters contributes to achieve the goal of the performance changes of the ZnO arresters over different temperatures. In this study, based on four types of ZnO arresters from different factories, the variation of the volt–ampere curve, DC characteristic parameters and non-linear coefficient of the whole ZnO arrester at different temperatures were analysed. The relationship between the temperature and non-linear coefficients was obtained through the method of the extraction of the non-linear coefficients. Through the multiple impulse current tests, the temperature of the arrester was well calculated by measuring the corresponding volt–ampere curve, and the relationship between the surface temperature and V–I characteristics of the arrester is verified by the impulse test results. The obtained results provide a new idea for the application of the surface temperature of the arrester in the performance monitoring of the arrester.