Question 1

The towers of a transmission line are 36 m tall and spaced 300 m apart. They are joined at
their tops by a ground wire whose surge impedance is 540 Ω. The tower footing resistance is
25 Ω. One tower is struck by lightning. The lightning current rises linearly to a peak of 60 kA
in 2 µs before commencing to decline. Compute the tower top potential and the tower base
potential for the first microsecond after the stroke makes contact. The tower surge impedance
is 140 Ω; that of the lightning channel can be neglected. Assume all waves travel at 2.98 x
108 m/s.

Answer

Figure 1.1: Lightning strike

Find: Z equivalent Equivalent

Imax
circuit
1 1 1 1
= + +
Z eq Z T Z g Z g
1 1 1 1
= + +
Z eq 140 540 540 ZT Zg Zg
60KA

Zeq = 92.195Ω

Figure 2.2: Equivalent circuit

Find V surge

Vsurge = Imax x Zeq

= 60 x 103 x 92.195
= 5.53 MV. = u (t)

1
Find α and β
R − ZT 25 − 140
αR = = = −0.697
R + ZT 25 + 140

Z g // Z g − Z T 270 − 140 1 1
α1 = = = 0.317 , Z g // Z g = + = 270
Z g // Z g + Z T 270 + 140 540 540

β = 1 + α 1 = 1 + 0.317 = 1.317

Time taken for wave travel from the top of tower to tower base.

Dis tan ce 36
∆t = = = 0.121µs = 1T
Velocity 2.98 x10 8

No of travel in 1 µs after the stroke (time frame).

= 1 µs / 0.121 µs
= 8.27T

Figure 1.3: Wave traveling

2
Potential at the top of tower.

Vtt = V1 + V2 + V3 + V4 + V5
= u (t ) + βα Ru (t − 2T ) + βα R2α1u (t − 4T ) + βα R3α12u (t − 6T ) + βα R4α13u (t − 8T )
= u (t ) + (1.317 )(− 0.697 )u (t − 2T ) + (1.317 )(0.317 )(− 0.697 ) u (t − 4T ) + (1.317 )(0.317 ) (− 0.697 ) u (t − 6T )
2 2 3

+ (1.317 )(0.317 ) (− 0.697 ) u (t − 8T ).

3 4

= u (t ) − 0.918u (t − 2T ) + 0.203u (t − 4T ) − 0.045u (t − 6T ) + 0.0099u (t − 8T )

0.8

0.6
Vpeak=0.31
0.4
Vresultant
0.2
U(t)

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
time(t)

Figure 1.4: Potential at the top of tower

From the graph Vresult = 0.31U (t )

Vtt = Vresult × Vsurge

Vtt = 0.31 × 5.53MV
= 1.7143MV

Potential at the base of tower.

Vtb = Va + Vb + Vc + Vd

[ ] [
= [u (t − T ) + α R u (t − T )] + α Rα1u (t − 3T ) + α1α R2u (t − 3T ) + α R2α12u (t − 5T ) + α12α R3 u (t − 5T ) ]
[
+ α α u (t − 7T ) + α α u (t − 7T )
3
R
3
1
3
1
4
R ]
[ 2 2
][
= [(1 − 0.697 )u (t − T )] + [(0.317 )(− 0.697 )u (t − 3T )] + (0.317 ) (− 0.697 ) u (t − 5T ) + (0.317) (− 0.697) u (t − 7T )
3 3
]
= 0.303u (t − T ) − 0.067u (t − 3T ) + 0.051u (t − 5T ) − 0.0033u (t − 7T )

3
 0.35

0.3
V peak=0.253
0.25

0.2

0.15
U(t)

0.1

0.05

-0.05

-0.1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
time(t)

Figure 1.5: Potential at the base of tower

From the graph Vresult = 0.255U (t )

Vbb = Vresult × Vsurge

Vbb = 0.253 × 5.53MV
= 1.399 MV

4
Question 2

The towers of a transmission line are 38 m tall. They are spaced 280m apart and are joined at
their tops by a single ground wire of surge impedance 520Ω. The surge impedance of the
towers themselves is 135 Ω. Lightning strikes the ground wire 100 m from a tower. The
stroke current rises to a peak of 50 kA in 1.5 µs. Determine the voltage of the closest tower
top 0.75 µs after the lightning contacts the ground wire. Assume the impedance of the
lightning channel is 1500Ω and the footing resistance is 25Ω. Waves on the tower travel at
90% of the speed of light.

Answer

Figure 2.1: Lightning strike

Find Z equivalent Equivalent circuit

Imax

Z L = 1500 Ω
Z g = 520 Ω
1 1 1 1
= + +
Z eq Zg Zg ZL ZL Zg Zg
50KA
1 1 1 1
= + +
Z eq 520 520 1500
Z eqv = 221 . 59 Ω

Figure 2.2: Equivalent circuit

Find V surge

V surge= I max × Z eqv

V surge = 50 KA × 221.59Ω = 11.1MV

5
Find α and β

Z T // Z g − Z g 107.2 − 520
α1 = = = −0.658
Z T // Z g + Z g 107.2 + 520

β1 = 1 + α 1 = 0.342

R − Z T 25 − 135
αR = = = −0.688
R + Z T 25 + 135

Z g // Z g − Z T 260 − 135
α2 = = = 0.316
Z g // Z g + Z T 260 + 135

β 2 = 1 + α 2 = 1 + 0.316 = 1.316

Time taken for the wave travel from the top of tower to the base

dis tan ce 38m

∆t = =
velocity 0.9 × 2.98 × 10 8 m / s

∆t = 1T = 0.14 µs

Time taken from the point of lightning to the tower A (100m)

dis tan ce 100m

∆t100 = = = 0.37 µs
velocity 0.9 × 2.98 × 10 8 m / s

∆t = 1T = 0.14 µs
0.37 µs → 2.64T

No of travel in 0.75µs after stroke (Time frame)

0.14 µs = 1T
0.75
0.75µs → = 5.36T
0.14

6
 Figure 2.3: Wave traveling

Potential at the top of tower

Vtt = V1 + V2

V1 = β 1U (t − 2.64T ) = 0.342U (t − 2.64T )

V2 = α R β 1 β 2U (t − 4.64T )= (− 0.688)(0.342 )(1.316 )U (t − 4.64T )

= −0.309U (t − 4.64T )

0.4

0.3

0.2
V peak=0.13

0.1
U(t)

-0.1

-0.2

-0.3

-0.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
time(T)

Figure 2.4: Voltage potential

From the graph
Vtt = Vresult × Vsurge
Vtt = 0.13 × 11.1MV
= 1.44 MV