Fuses and Arresters

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 Introduction
 An overcurrent protective device with a circuit-
opening fusible part that is heated and severed by the
passage of overcurrent through it.
 The simplest of all circuit interrupting devices
 Inserted in series with the circuit to be protected.
 Provides full automatic protection operation
 Detection
 Isolation
 Melts in case of high current
 Carries normal current without heating.
 In case of short-circuit or overload, the current through the
fuse increases beyond i2R capability.
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 Introduction ..
 Desirable characteristics
 Low melting point: sufficient to melt in
case of overcurrent
 High conductivity: conducts without
significant losses under normal
operation.
 Free from deterioration due to
oxidation.
 Low cost
 Fuses can be designed for all
voltage and power ratings
 Low voltage fuses / distribution fuse
cut-outs
 High voltage fuses / Power fuses
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 Inverse Time-Current Characteristics
 Fuse operation shows inverse time-current characteristics
 Time required to blow out the fuse depends upon the current
magnitude.
 Greater the current, the smaller the time taken by the fuse to blow
out.

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 Important Terms
 Current rating is the rated
current under normal operation
 Fusing current is the
minimum current to melt fuse
element.
 Fusing factor is the ration of
fusing current to current rating
Fusing Current
 Fusing Factor =
Current Rating
• Common value is 2
 Prospective current is the rms value of first loop of
fault current in the absence of fusing action.
 Cut-off current is the actual value reached before the
fuse melts.
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 Important Terms ..
 Total operating time is the sum of pre-arcing time
and arcing time.
 Pre-arcing time is the time between commencement of fault
and the instant when the cut-off occurs.
 Arcing time is the time between the end of pre-arcing time
and the instant when the arc is extinguished.
 Circuits protected by fuses can be designed to
withstand maximum current equal to the cut-off value
of fuses at significantly reduced costs and complexity
as compared to circuit breakers.

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 Low Voltage Fuses
Semi-enclosed rewireable fuse
 Base of porcelain and provides
fixed contacts to incoming and
outgoing wires.
 Fuse carrier of porcelain holds
the fuse element
 The fuse carrier is taken out
after the fuse element is blown
and re-inserted after replacing
the fuse element.
 Also provides visible isolation
for maintenance works
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 Low Voltage Fuses ..
High Reputing Capacity (HRC) Cartridge Fuse
 Made of heat resisting ceramic body having metal end-
cap.
 The space surrounding the element is completely packed
with a filling powder (chalk, quartz, plaster of paris etc).
 No deterioration with age and high speed operation with
increased certainty in breaking capacity
 Complete replacement after operation

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 High Voltage Fuses
 Cartridge Type
 Similar to low voltage cartridge fuses
 Helix shapes to avoid corona at high voltages
 Paralleled element at different resistances
• Low resistance element carries the normal current
• When a fault occurs, the low-resistance element is
blown out and the high resistance element reduces
the short-circuit current and finally breaks the
circuit.

 Liquid Type
 Filled with carbon tetrachloride and have the
widest range of application to HV systems.
 Arc quenching: As the fuse melts, the spring
retracts part of it through a baffle (or liquid
director) and draws it well into the liquid.
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 Over Voltage Protection
 Transients or surges are of temporary nature and exist for a
very short duration (a few hundred μs) but they cause over
voltages on the power system.
 They originate from switching and from other causes
 The most important transients are those caused by
lightning striking a transmission line.
 It is necessary to ground overvoltage surges to avoid
damage to power system equipment.
 Lightening surges:
 Magnitudes: 10kA to 200kA
 Front time – time to reach peak
 Tail time – time to drop the
current to 50% of peak
magnitude.
• 1.2/50 10/350 µs
• Voltage gradients in kV/μs range
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 Overhead Ground Wires
 The most effective method of
providing protection to transmission
lines against direct lightning strokes
is by the use of overhead ground
wires.
 Placed above the line conductors at such
positions that practically all lightning
strokes are intercepted by them
 Grounded at each tower or pole through Insulator flashover may
as low resistance as possible. occur if Vt exceeds the
flashover voltage (minimum
voltage across insulator
 Degree of protection depends upon string to cause flashover).
the footing resistance of the tower. Therefore, Rt must be as
𝑉𝑡 = 𝐼𝐿 𝑅𝑡 small as possible to reduce
the risk of insulator
• Vt: Tower potential, flashover, which s the most
• IL: Lightening current, common cause of transient
faults
• Rt: Tower footing resistance

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 Overhead Ground Wires..

 Effective shielding angle should be as small as possible.

 Best values are below 30°.
 High shielding angle increase the chances of shielding failure.
 Shielding failure is the occurrence of a lightning stroke
that bypasses the overhead ground wires and terminates on
the phase conductors.
 The correct design to improve the shielding effect of transmission
line to lightning is one of the key problems of transmission line
design.
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 Surge Arresters
 Ground wires (and earthing screens over
apparatus)
 Well protect the electrical system against direct
lightning strokes.
 Fail to provide protection against travelling
waves due to
• Indirect strokes
• Shielding failure
• Overvoltage due to any other reason

 Surge arrester is a protective device which

conducts the high voltage surges on the
power system to the ground.
 Consists of a spark gap in series with a non-
linear resistor.
 One end is connected to the terminal of the
equipment to be protected.
 The other end is effectively grounded.
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 Surge Arresters
 The length of the gap is so set that normal line voltage is
not enough to cause an arc across the gap
 When voltage exceeds spark over voltage, an arc is
established due to breakdown of air insulation.
 The resistance of non-linear resistor decreases as the
voltage (or current) increases and vice-versa.
 After the surge is over, the resistor offers high resistance to make
the gap non-conducting (arc extinguished).
 If the arc does not go out, the current would continue to flow
through the resistor and both resistor and gap may be destroyed.
 IR drop across the arrester when carrying surge current should not
exceed the breakdown strength of the insulation of the equipment
to be protected.
 In actual practice, it may conduct current to ground even at normal
supply due to capacitive effects. R offers high resistance to normal
voltage, this current is extremely small.
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 Rod Gap Arrester
 Simplest type of arrestor
 Commonly used for backup
purposes.
 One rod is connected to the
line circuit and the other rod
is connected to earth.
 Arc extinguishment is
difficult
 The normal supply voltage
may not be able to initiate the
arc across the gap.
 But once the arc is started by
the surge, the normal voltage is
enough to maintain it.
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 Horn Gap Arrester

 Two horn shaped metal rods A and B separated by a small

air gap.
 Distance between horns gradually increases towards the top.
 One end is connected to the line through a resistance R and choke
coil L and other end is effectively grounded.
 On the occurrence of an overvoltage
 Spark-over takes place across the small gap G.
 The heated air around the arc and the magnetic effect of the arc
cause the arc to travel up the gap.
 At some position of the arc (perhaps position 3), the distance may
be too great for the voltage to maintain the arc. 17
 Multi-gap Arresters

 It consists of a series of metallic

cylinders insulated from one another
and separated by small intervals of
air gaps.
 On the occurrence of an overvoltage,
 Breakdown of series gaps A to B occurs.
 The heavy current after breakdown will choose the straight -
through path to earth via the shunted gaps B and C.
 When the surge is over, the arcs B to C go out and
remaining current is limited by the two resistances
 The current is too small to maintain the arcs in the gaps A
to B and normal conditions are restored.
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 Expulsion Type Arrestors
 It is an improvement over the rod gap.
 A rod gap is connected in series with a
second gap enclosed within the fibre
tube.
 During operation, the arc due to the
impulse spark-over inside the fibrous
tube causes some fibrous material to
volatile in the form of the gas.
 Gas is expelled through a vent from
the bottom of the tube, extinguishing
the arc just like in circuit breakers.
 But it can perform only limited
number of operations.
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 Valve type arrestors
 Incorporate non-linear resistors and are extensively
used on systems operating at high voltages.

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 MOSA
 A gapless surge arrester comprising a nonlinear resistor
element composed mainly of zinc oxide (ZnO) has been
used and applied on a world-wide scale under the name of
Metal Oxide Surge Arrester (MOSA).
 Highly non-linear voltage versus current characteristic.
 The V-I characteristic is dependent upon wave shape
of the arrester current.
 MOSAs are installed at substations and on transmission
lines with the purpose of limiting lightning and switching
induced over-voltages to a specified protection level.
 Higher voltage is achieved by adding disks in series.
 Higher energy ratings are achieved by using larger
diameter discs or parallel columns of discs
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 MOSA ..
The ASEA XAP-A characteristics
I (kA) , V (pu)

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