Advancing MOV Block Technology:

Improving Performance, Stability & Protection

Ge Ping An

Chairman of Tian Gong Electric Co., Ltd

 Xi 'an Tian Gong Electric Co., LTD (TGE)
TGE is located in Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, China. TGE has focused on R&D and production of Metal
Oxide Varistors (MOV). AC, DC and HG MOV with diameter D30-D136mm.

OEM MOA
R&D and manufacture Complete MOV workshop
manufacturing Living area
of high performance MOA core
Workshop
MOVs technology system

≥38 years AC/DC/HG MOV

Independent intellectual
property rights about Complete MOV
MOV manufacture process production line MOV
workshop R&D
Center
Office
building

28 Patents 12million pcs/year

TGE covers an area of about 46,600 square meters, and the floor
space is about 70,000 square meters.
 Manufacturing Process of MOV

Pressing and molding Binder volatilization and pre-sintering

Additive production and drying spray
Manufacturing Process of MOV (Continued)

Side glass insulation layer production Grinding and cleaning Aluminum Spraying electrode
 TGE’s R&D and Test Center

LPS, analyze particle size distribution ICP, analyze impurity content

Materials Analysis Laboratory XRF, analyze composition BET, analyze specific surface area
Small batch testing furnace

Artificial accelerated aging test equipment Ures & Power loss & Uref test High current test and Qrs test
 Background of TGE Technology Development
The performance of MOV in China, when compared with the end
of last century, has been greatly improved, and the MOV’s
technical performances have all met the standard requirements.
However, there are still several areas that need to be improved：
Optimize Develop glass
MOV formula coated
The hidden risks in the organic side & Sintering insulation
insulation layer process layer

The gap with the international advanced

level in the stability of the AC MOV Improve
manufacturing
equipment
The gap with latest standards in polarity
reversal performance in the aging test of DC
MOV
R&D direction
 Improvement of MOV Formula and Sintering Process
Add new chemical elements and
change from 9 to 10-element formula
Formula
Adjust the formula proportion of AC,
DC and High Gradient MOVs
Adjust the cooling rate of the
Sintering temperature falling period in the
sintering process
• The grain boundary layer of the MOV becomes more stable
• The change rate of current impulse withstand is even lower
• The original excellent protection performance of the MOV is still preserved
• Excellent protection performance
•Strong absorption capability
•Better performance stability
• Increased the nonlinear coefficient
• Widen heat treatment temperature range
• Laying a good foundation for R&D of MOV glass coating.
 The R&D of the MOV Side Glass Coated Insulation Layer

Low-temperature glass powder material with high stability, outstanding

insulation and 510℃ vitrification temperature.

The glass glaze

spraying process
insulation layer

After repeated tests, as a result, compared to slurry spraying process, the

Glass coated

electrostatic spraying method showed a more excellent appearance and better

adhesion.

Through repeated tests, TGE has finally found out the appropriate
temperature curve, and successfully produced uniform and densely glass
coated layer.
The optimization of glass
glaze sintering process
This insulation layer has high electrical insulation strength and mechanical
strength, and is closely combined with the MOV body.
Conclusion After The Above Optimization Measures

Improvement

• Optimize MOV formula • Enhance MOV’s stability

• Optimize sintering
process • Reduce the change rate of MOV
• Develop glass coating reference voltage after high
insulation layer current impulses
• Improve the effect of polarity-
reversal aging performance of
Optimization DC MOV
 The Polarity-reversal Test in the Aging Test of the DC MOV

DC D71H22.5 polarity reverse aging test

1.6

01 1.4

1.2
Pi Power loss PI/P0
P0 0.591 1.00 1
04

power loss (w)

P1 0.209 0.35
P2 0.389 0.66 0.8
P3 0.166 0.28
P4 0.352 0.60 0.6
P5 0.159 0.27
P6 0.420 0.98 0.4

P7 0.155 0.26
0.2
P8 0.490 1.08
P9 0.187 0.32
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
DC D71H22.5 polarity reverse aging test data Time(h)
 Improved Aging Performance of AC MOV

02
AC MOV
MOV type
D36 D42 D60 D71 D115

Test temperature(°C) 115 115 115 115 115

Time period(h) 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

Applied voltage
0.85 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9
（U*1.414/U1mADC）

Pend/Pstart before
0.88 0.89 0.92 0.89 0.91
technology improvement

Pend/Pstart after
0.75 0.69 0.83 0.74 0.78
technology improvement

Comparison of aging performance of MOV before and after The aging characteristics of D41H36 (with 2.5mm epoxy glass fiber winding layer) at 90% AVR
technology improvement and 115°C, 2000h.
Change Rate of MOV Ur has been greatly reduced

Comparison of High Current withstand of MOV

03 before and after technology improvement

Change rate before Change rate after

High current
MOV type technology improvement technology improvement
withstand, 2 times

02 Uref Ures Uref Ures

D36H31 100kA -5.60% 1.35% -2.44% 1.09%

D42H29.4 100kA -4.76% 1.02% -1.65% 0.85%

D60H35.4 100kA -3.24% 0.90% -1.47% 0.73%

D78H35.4 100kA -2.07% 0.21% -1.02% 0.15%

 Improvement of Manufacturing Equipment

Development of glass glaze spraying equipment

 Developed automatic electrostatic dry glass coating equipment.

 This system uses an electrostatic spraying process to apply

granulated glass powder vertically downward onto the MOV's
surface.

 This approach eliminates the non-uniformity in the glaze layer

Schematic diagram for glass coating equipment
caused by gravitational effects during horizontal spraying.

 This approach ensures even heating of the internal and

external glass powder layers during the sintering
process, resulting in a uniform, dense, and highly
adhesive glass insulation layer.
Glass coating application
 Development of Glass Glaze Spraying Equipment

This design incorporates two alternating spraying modules, significantly boosting efficiency.

Automatic glass powder coating machine Glass coating application (passivation process) – precision of process
Improvement of Manufacturing Equipment
Development of Aluminum Spraying Equipment

• The design employs high-speed airflow along

the edges during spraying to remove molten
aluminum particles, preventing edge
contamination and enabling a rubber-ring-free
Traditional electrode with empty edge process.

• TGE’s fast-flipping technology enables

simultaneous spraying on both sides, greatly
enhancing production efficiency.

• For MOV smaller than 48 mm, the speed can

reach 2.5s/pcs.
Development of Aluminum Spraying Equipment

This full-electrode technology increases

MOV energy absorption capability by
15%.

Aluminium Spraying Equipment MOV with full-electrode and traditional electrode

 Application of R&D Achievement in D36

Improvement • Meet the standards of

IEC60099-4:2014, IEEE
• Formulations
Std C62.11-2020, and
• Manufacturing GB11032-2020
processes • Protection level
• Energy absorption • Enable arrester design
• Specialized production miniaturization and
equipment capability
cost reduction
• Stability

Optimization Enhancement

Specifically, TGE has developed MOV with a diameter of 36mm and a gradient of 235V/mm for
distribution type arresters (Heavy Duty HD & Distribution High DH).
 Technical Parameters of Glass Coated D36 MOV
In order to ensure that the operating duty test conditions for the
MOV Spec
D36H34.5 MOV are more stringent than the heat dissipation conditions of
NO. Item the surge arresters, the D36 MOV are placed in a heat-insulated
insulating cylinder.
1 Applicable Classification (DH) for IEC / (HD) for IEEE

2 Nominal Discharge Current (kA) 10

3 Repetitive Charge Transfer (C) 0.4

4 Thermal Energy Qth (C) 1.1

5 1000 hours aging coefficient at 115°C ≤1.00

6 4/10μs high current impulse, 2 times (kA) 100

2ms long duration current impulse withstand, 20 times
7 400
(A)
8 Recommended value of rated voltage（kV） 5

9 Reference Voltage U1mA DC (kV) 8.1±0.5

10 Reference Voltage at 5mA, Uref (kV rms） 5.92±0.37

11 Ures/Ur 2.7-3.3

Heat dissipation characteristics

 TGE Employed Test Parameters More Stringent Than Required by
Standards.

Standards TGE

Graphical depiction of steps of the operating duty test for non-gapped distribution
arresters (source IEEE C62.11)
Results of D36 MOV Operating Duty Test
Thermal proportional unit with two pieces of D36H22 wrapped
Samples
by 2.5mm thick epoxy fiber glass as insulating layer
Sample No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Ur (kV） 7.17 7.19 7.16 7.43 7.53 7.54 7.56 7.57
Feature Parameters MCOV (kV） 0.8Ur 0.8Ur 0.8Ur 0.85Ur 0.85Ur 0.85Ur 0.85Ur 0.85Ur
Ur*1.414/U1mADC 0.96 0.96 0.96 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
Apply 4/10μs high First time 103.89 101.83 103.06 102.34 102.34 102.52 102.72 102.45
current（kA) Second time 102.88 101.37 102.05 101.97
Cool down to room temperature 21°C
Actual preheating temperature（°C） 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75

applied voltage (kV） 7.16 7.22 7.17 7.49 7.53 7.47 7.47 7.55
Apply Ur 10S
time of duration (s） 10 15 15 20 10 10 20 20
applied voltage (kV） 5.75 5.78 5.77 6.34 6.45 6.48 6.4 6.4
Apply MCOV 1800s time of duration (s） 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800
(30min)
Thermal stability
OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK
judgment
Test results qualified qualified qualified qualified qualified qualified qualified qualified

The test results indicate that the D36 MOV can

successfully pass the operating duty test, even
under conditions more stringent than those
specified in the standard.
Therefore, D36 MOV is suitable for use in the
production of distribution type arresters as
specified in both IEC and IEEE standards.
 Typical Specifications of TGE’s MOV

Ur Gradient NDA High

Type Iref (mA) Uref (kV) Ures(kV) Uref/Ur Ures/Ur Qrs(C)
(kV) (V/mm) (kA) current

D36H31 5.02 235 10 2 5.26 13.11 1.05 2.61 100kA 8/20μs 0.40

D42H29.4 5.14 250 10 3 5.35 12.79 1.04 2.49 100kA 2ms 1.00

D60H35.4 5.52 220 10 3 5.73 12.93 1.04 2.34 100kA 2ms 2.40

D70H35.4 5.64 220 10 5 5.76 12.69 1.02 2.25 100kA 2ms 3.20

D78H35.3 5.69 220 10 5 5.78 12.54 1.02 2.2 100kA 2ms 4.00

D105H22.5 3.66 220 20 5 3.73 8.12 1.02 2.22 100kA 2ms 6.00
 Optimized
Conclusions
Improvement of MOV formula
manufacturing & Sintering
equipment process
 Optimized formula from 9 to 10 elements
Developed
glass coated  Optimized sintering process
insulation
layer
 Developed glass coated insulation layer

 Improved manufacturing equipment

High performance MOV Blocks
 Developed specialized MOV for heavy-duty

distribution arresters

Epoxy fiber glass wound core

Thank you!
Ge Ping An

Email: P: +86 13909255175

Gepingan@xatge.com

TGE Booth 40