ARRESTER LEAD LENGTH Definition and Importance in Surge Protection of Distribution Systems he fist step in reducing voltage stress to extend the life of insulated equipment isthe use of MOV arresters which have lower discharge voltage levels than slicon-carbide (SiC) designs. The 50 year old SIC design was produced until recently by some ‘manufacturers, and some utilities still have SiC arresters in service protecting pole-mounted transformers. However, ‘most utilities have replaced these with MOV arrestrs forthe protection ofthe ‘mote critical, and costly to replace, portions oftheir systems. The next step is the use of optimum connection methods for the arestr lead wires. ‘The highest surge voltage stress occurs ‘when lightning strokes to the overhead Tine have fast rates-of-rise. An arrester discharge current which reaches its crest {n I ,sec will produce 10% more voltage across an MOV arrester, and 30% more voltage across a SiC arrester, than will the standard 8/20 test waves used to establish the comparative IR discharge voltage data shown in arrester catalogs. Adding to the surge voltage across the arrester i the L divat inductive voltage drop in lead wire ‘anrying the surge current. Wire inductance (L) is a constant, typically ‘04 microhenties per foot. The surge ‘current rate-oF rise (A/a) varies with Bulletin EU 1202-H rev. Acach lightning stroke discharge. Multiplying the two ‘quantities gives an inductive drop in KV per foot of ‘ie. For example, a 10 kA discharge current cresting in 1 ,sec makes di/dt = 10 kA/,se, and produces a lead wire drop of 0.4 x 10 = 4 kV/foot. Ifthe 10 kA surge took 8 ,sec to crest, the inductive drop would be only 0.5 KV/foot. Itis now known that fast rising arestr discharge currents are much more common than previously believed, Prior to 1980, lightning induced arrester discharges with rtes-orise above 4 kA per micro- second had been measured, but were thought to be a low probability event that could be safely ignored in practice. Inthe late 1970's, more accurate measure- ments of arrester surge currents were taken which showed rates-of-riseat 13 KA/,sec in haf ofthe discharges, with a maximum value of 60 kA/,sec Consistent with this relatively new data, a realistic ‘timate forthe lead wire voltage drop in arrester {installations exposed to lightning is 6 kV foot - this value is now used for calculating the protective margins under fast-front surge conditions. Protective margin isthe percent by which equipment insulation strength exceeds maximum surge voltage allowed on the system by the aresters. Insulation strength is the BIL (Basic Insulation Level for surges, cresting in the 8 ,sec time region (slow lightning), and CWW (Chopped Wave Withstand) for surges cresting in the region under 2 sec (fst lightning) for oil filled insulation. CWW is typically 15% higher than BIL for a given system. For cable, the CWW is assumed equal to the BIL. to be conservative. Protec tive margin is determined by comparing insulation strength with maximum surge voltage - looking at both time regions and taking the smaller of the two ‘margins asthe realized overvoltage protection forthe system, Areucarion (Overhead transformers are well protected with tank ‘mounted aresters, because ths installation method Virtually eliminates series arrester leads. However, many URD installations use arresters mounted as shown in Figure 1. This construction practice is quite common. Such installations tend to have very long arrester leads which greatly increase surge voltage stress on switch and cable insulation. Arrestr lead is athe combined length of line and ground lead wire in series with the arrester AND in parallel with the protected device. Figure 1 shows an installation with significant series arester lead on the line side. The length of lead wire from the top of these arestes to the equipment is about 4 feet. Thus, the line lead of 4 feet can be expected to add 24 KV to the arrester voltage during fast-font lightning surges. ‘The protective margin ofthe Figure 1 installation could be greatly improved bby moving the line connection in such a ‘way as to make the connection to the restr frst then tothe equipment. ‘Table 1 shows how the protective margins in an overhead pole-mounted installation varies with various distribution arrester types and lead lengths. ND and HD abbreviations designate Normal Duty and Heavy Duty arrestes. Unlity studies of URD system performance have shown that reliability is increased by reducing surge voltage stress on transformers and cable. Surge voltage stress damage to standard URD cable is cumulative. Unlike transformer insulation, most solid dielectric cable insulation has a “memory”. Each voltage impulse contributes to deterioration and ultimate cable failure, Cable manufacturers are improv- ing insulation compounds to retard this cumulative damage cect. However, forthe many miles of cable now installed, maximum service life canbe achieved by reduction of unneces- sary overvoltage stress ‘Surge voltage waves travel ‘through the cable at 500 feet/see, about half the speed of light. When a surge reaches a point of high impedance such as an open switch or transformer, it reflects upon itself, like a wave of Water hitting a seawall ‘This doubles the voltage atthe reflec tion point, and along the cable, as the incoming and reflective waves overlap. Even with an arrester at each high impedance point in the system, some reflection occurs in the short time it takes an arrester to “turn on” and limiting voltage. With an MOV arrester atthe high impedance point, these patil reflections are roughly ‘equal to 1.3 times the arester's MCOV rating. In either case, i is important to minimize surge voltage allowed into the system by installing, with short connecting leads, a low discharge arrester atthe riser pole Junction between overhead line and ‘able system terminator. wed unless any high impedance reflection points are equipped witharesters, or eliminated by using Joop feed construction with no open points Tables 2 and 3 compare protective margins realized on two diferent URD systems, 13.2 and 24.9 KV, using three diferent arrester types. The RP abbreviation designates a Riser Pole arrester specifically designed for such applications ‘The 24.9 kV examples in Table 4 have arresters at the reflection points in addition to those on the riser pole. These ex- amples are based on. severe, but common, fast front lightning discharges which produce 6 KV/Rt inductive voltage drop in eres arrester Jeads. Note the dramatic Improvement in protec- tive margin when lead length effect is mini- mized or eliminated,Protective margin examples in Tables 2 through 4 allow for some “memory” effect lass of cable insula- tion strength by assuming CWW is equal to system BIL. Figure 2 shows an arrester installation which corresponds to the “2” Lead! ‘examples in Tables 2 through 4 ‘Again, arester lead i the combined Jength of line and ground lead wire in series with the arester AND in parallel with the protected device (cable terminator in tis case). Or in other words, arrester leads ae those wires which carry surge current through the arrester AND are connected across the terminator. Figure 3 shows a similar installation except with ine connection taken to the arester and then to the termina- tor. Ths installation eliminates ll anreste lead nthe line side since the line connection wire canying surge current through the arrester is notin parallel with the cable terminator ‘The Figure 4 instalation takes Figure 3 one step further by mounting the avester between terminator and pole ¢ground so the ground lead can be Carsed tothe arrester first and then to the base ofthe terminator. This connection method eliminates all arrester lead and corresponds tothe eae omnes eee ‘The key to installing arrester, to utlize thelr ull protective capabilites, ito follow flows in either line or ground leads _tis procedure as closely as possible: hetmeenarresterand teminator Cafty the line and ground connections to the arrester terminals frst, and then on to ‘Th surge voltage on the cable the Cerminals of the protected equipment. This applies to overhead and underground terminators minimized since the full stallions. With underground systems, where surge voltages cause cumulative protective benefit of the arestersdaliagein most solid dielectric cable, and protective margins are reduce by voltage cen” by the cable sytem reflections itis imperative to keep arester lead length as short as posible. Ml NOTE: Because Hubbel has a poly of contnuous product improvement we reserve the right o change design and specications wihout note. a = Hubbel ono srass ena) PARA W nin St, Corin, MO 6240 Tahir oonsse1 Fon or) sozari6 POWER SYSTEMS, INC. © Copyright 2001 Hubbell / Ohio Brass. Printed in U.S.A. Bulletin EU 1202-H rev. AABBoower and productivity Cortacircuito-Fusible (Cutout) tipo NCX El cortacircuito-fusible NCX de ABB dispone de una extensa experiencia suministrando proteccién segura y fiable contra sobreintensidad. El disefio NCX faeilita proteccién contra sobreintensidad para equipos que pueden ser dafiados por sobrecargas 0 condiciones de falta. NCX es un cortacircuito-fusible de expulsién, seccionable sin carga, que ofrece valores de interrupcién extendidos hasta 20 kA. Tensién nominal (kV) 15-27 Nivel nominal de aislamiento basico BIL (kV) 110 - 200 Corriente continua (A) 100 - 300 Interrupcién (krms Asym.) 2-20 Adicionalmente, el NCX facilita al usuario una larga lista de caracteristicas que redundan en flexibilidad de aplicacién, facilidad de instalacién, operacién sin problemas y larga vida itil. ‘Aislador polimérico, combinacién con descargador de sobretensién y proteccién tubular a prueba de humedad estén disponibles para ciertos valores nominales.CUTOUT Design Test Report TYPE NCX OPEN CUTOUT 7.8 - 38 kV November 1990 | F. Brown Senior Design Engineer ABB Power T&D Company Inc. ASEA BROWN BOVERI