Line surge arrester application for a 380 kV power transmission line

In this study, an application of a line surge arrester was presented for a 380 kV Turkish Power Transmission Line by using PSCAD simulation software. Simulations were limited to the over-voltages caused by the lightning surges. Real system data was used for a representative transmission line, which was subjected to relatively higher number of outages in the past. The simulations were performed to determine the lightning impulse voltages across the insulator terminals. Effects of several parameters, such as configuration of the transmission tower, tower grounding resistances, surge impedances of the transmission and ground wires, front time and the magnitude of the lightning impulse currents to the overvoltage across the insulator terminals were considered in the simulations. Moreover, locational effects of the lightning strikes on the overvoltages across the insulators were investigated. After modeling the transmission lines and the lightning current, line surge arrester was modeled by its non-linear behavior in the simulations. Finally, optimal allocation of the line surge arrester was determined in the transmission lines, satisfying the desired insulation for the transmission system. All the scenarios were compared in terms of the magnitude of the lightning overvoltage across the insulator units.