MODULE 5

• Fuses: Introductions, Definitions, Fuse Characteristics, Types of Fuses,

Applications of HRC Fuses, Selection Of Fuses, Discrimination.
• Protection Against Overvoltages: Causes of Overvoltages, Lightning
Phenomena, Wave Shape of Voltage Due To Lightning, Over Voltage Due To
Lightning, Klydonograph And Magnetic Link, Protection Of Transmission
Lines Against Direct Lightning Strokes, Protection Of Stations And Sub
Stations From Direct Strokes, Protection Against Travelling Waves, Insulation
Coordination, Basic Impulse Insulation Level (Bil).
• Modern Trends In Power System Protection: Introduction, Gas Insulated
Substation/Switchgear (Gis).
Fuse :
• A fuse is a protective device used for protecting cables and electrical equipment against
overloads and/or short-circuits.
• It breaks the circuit by fusing (melting) the fuse element (or fuse wire) when the current
flowing in the circuit exceeds a certain predetermined value. The term fuse in general refers
to all parts of the device.

Fuse element (or fuse wire):

• It is that part of the fuse which melts when the current flowing in the circuit exceeds
a certain predetermined value and thus breaks the circuit.
• Materials commonly used for fuse element (or fuse wires) are tin, lead, zinc, silver, copper,
aluminium, etc. because of its low melting point.
• For a given current rating, the fuse element made from low melting point metal of high
specific resistance will have greater diameter and hence, greater mass of the metal than
those made from high melting point metal of low specific resistance.
Rated current:
• The rated current of a fuse is the current it can carry indefinitely without fusing.

Minimum fusing current: It is the minimum current (rms value) at which the fuse clement
will melt.
• The minimum fusing current depends upon various factors, such as the material
length, shape and area of cross-section of the fuse element, size and location of the
terminals, the type of enclosure employed and the number of strands in the stranded
fuse wire.
• The minimum fusing current for a stranded fuse wire will be less than the
product of the minimum fusing current for one strand and the number of strands.
Fusing factor: It is defined as the ratio of the minimum fusing current to rated current, i.e.

This factor is always more than unity

Prospective current: Fig shows the first major loop of the fault current.
• The prospective current (shown dotted) is the current which would have flown in the
circuit if the fuse had been absent, i.e. it had been replaced by a link of negligible
resistance.
It is measured in terms of the rms value of the A.C. (Symmetrical) component of the fault
current in the first major loop. In fig., Ip is the peak value of the prospective current.

Cut-off current: The current at which the fuse element melts is called the cut-off current (ic in
fig.) and is measured as an instantaneous value.
• It is thus possible for a prospective current (rms value) to be numerically less than the cut-
off current.
• Since the fault current normally having a large first loop generates sufficient heat energy,
the fuse element melts well before the peak of the prospective current is reached.
• Fig illustrates the cut-off action. On occurrence of a fault, the current starts increasing.
• It would have reached the peak of the prospective current (ip), if no fuse were there to
protect. But the cut-off action of the fuse does not allow the current to reach Ip.
• Pre-arcing time or melting time: This is the time taken from the instant of the
commencement of the current which causes cut-off to the instant of cut-off and arc
initiation. In fig., oa is the prearcing time (tpa).
• Arcing time: This is the time taken from the instant of cut-off (arc initiation) to the
instant of arc being extinguished or the current finally becoming zero. In fig., ab is the
arcing time (ta).
 • Total operating time: It is the sum of the pre-arcing time and the arcing time. In fig.,
ob is the total operating time, i.e. Tpa + ta.
• Rupturing capacity (or breaking capacity): It is the MVA rating of the fuse
corresponding to the largest prospective current which the fuse is capable of breaking
(rupturing) at the system voltage.
Fuse characteristics
• ig shows a typical time-current characteristic of a fuse, the current scale being in multiples
of the rated current (= 1) and the time scale being logarithm.
• In practice, this graph is usually given in terms of pre-arcing time and prospective current.
• The characteristic, it is clear that as the prospective current increases, the pre-arcing time
decreases
• It is also clear that the characteristic becomes asymptotic and there is a minimum current
below which the fuse does not operate. This current is called the minimum fusing current.
• The operating time of the fuse for currents near the minimum fusing current is long.

Types of Fuses

Rewirable type :
This type of fuse is rewirable, i.e. The blown-out fuse element can be replaced
by a new one. The fuse element can be either open or semi-enclosed. Therefore, this type of fuse
is further of two types.
(a) open type, and
(b) semi-enclosed type.

• Totally enclosed or cartridge fuse:

The fuse element of this type of fuse is enclosed in a totally enclosed container
and is provided with metal contacts on both sides. This type of fuse is also
of two types.
a. D-type cartridge fuse, and
b. Link type cartridge fuse or high rupturing capacity (HRC) cartridge fuse.

• Open fuse: an open fuse element is a thin piece of wire of tin, lead or copper inserted
directly in a circuit.
• Semi-enclosed rewirable fuse : This fuse is most commonly used in house wiring and
small current circuits.
• Whenever the fuse wire blows off due to overload or short-circuit, the fuse carrier can be
pulled out, the new wire can be placed and service can be restored.
Because of its simplicity and low cost, this type of fuse is extensively used as a protective device
on low voltage circuits.
Rewirable fuses suffer from the following disadvantages.
(i) Unreliable operation: The operation of these fuses is unreliable because of the following
factors.
(a) Since the fuse wire is exposed to the atmosphere, it gets oxidized and deteriorated, resulting
in a reduction of the wire section with the passage of time. This increases the resistance, causing
operation or the fuse at lower currents
(b) Local heating caused by loose connection, etc.
(ii) Lack of discrimination: Proper discrimination cannot be ensured due to unreliable operation.
(iii) Small time lag: Because of the small time lag, these fuses can blow with large transient
currents encountered during the starting of motors and switching-on operation of transformers,
capacitors and fluorescent lamps, etc. unless fuses of sufficiently high rating are used.
(iv) Risk of external flame and fire

D-type cartridge fuse

• The cartridge is pushed into the fuse cap.
• The fuse-link is clamped into the fuse base by the fuse carrier.
• The fuse cap is screwed on the fuse base. After complete screwing, the cartridge tip
touches the conductor and circuit between two terminals is completed through the fuse
link.
• Due to their reliable operation, coordination and discrimination to a reasonable extent can
be achieved with them.
 High rupturing capacity (HRC) cartridge fuse

In an HRC fuse, the fuse element surrounded by an inert arc quenching medium is
completely enclosed in an outer body of ceramic material having good mechanical
strength.
• The unit in which the fuse element is enclosed is called ‘fuse link’. The fuse link is
replaced when it blows off.
• In its simplest form, an HRC fuse consists of a cylindrical body of ceramic material
usually steatite, pure silver (or bimetalic) element, pure quartz powder, brass end-caps and
copper contact blades.
• The fuse element is fitted inside the ceramic body and the space within the body
surrounding the clement is completely filled with pure powdered quartz.
 • The ends of the fuse element arc connected to the metal end-caps which are screwed to the
ceramic body by means of special forged screws.
• End contacts (contact blades) are welded to the metal end-caps.
• The contact blades arc bolted on the stationary contacts on the panel.
• The fuse element is either pure silver or bimetallic in nature. Normally, the fuse element
has two or more sections joined together by means of a tin joint.
Advantages of HRC fuses
The HRC cartridge fuses possess the following advantages.
(i) capability of clearing high values of fault currents
(ii) fast operation
(iii) non-deterioration for long periods
(iv) no maintenance needed
(v) reliable discrimination
(vi) consistent in performance
(vii) cheaper than other circuit interrupting devices
(viii) current limitation by cut-off action
(ix) inverse time-current characteristic disadvantages of HRC fuses

Disadvantages of HRC fuses

The following are the main disadvantages of these fuses.
(i) it requires replacement after each operation.
(ii) inter-locking is not possible.
(iii)it produces overheating of the adjacent contacts.
Applications of HRC fuses
The applications of HRC fuses arc enormous but some very important applications
are as follows.
[Link] of low voltage distribution systems against overloads and short-circuits
[Link] of cables
[Link] of bus bars
[Link] of motors
[Link] of semiconductor devices
[Link] up protection to circuit breakers.

Selection of fuses
• The following points should be taken into account while selecting a fuse.
(i) it should be able to withstand momentary over-current due to starting a motor and transient
current surges due to switching on transformers, capacitors and fluorescent lighting, etc.
(ii) its operation must be ensured when sustained overload or short-circuit occurs.
(iii) it should provide proper discrimination with the other protective devices.
(iv) its selection should depend upon the load circuit.
• Fuses for motors :The fuses for protection of motors are selected keeping in view the
starting current, its duration and frequency.
• When the starting-current of the motor is known, it is assumed that the starting-current
surge will persist for about 20 seconds and a suitable cartridge fuse which will withstand
the starting current for this time is selected.
• When the starting current is not known, it is assumed to be about five times the full-load
current .
• Fuses for capacitors: Protection of capacitors is a particularly difficult task due to the
presence of transient current surges during switching operations.
• Therefore, cartridge fuse links having rated current about 50% greater than the rated
currents of the capacitors are selected.
• Fuses for transformers and fluorescent lighting: The selected fuse should be capable
of withstanding the transient current surges during switching on.
• Generally fuses having rated current about 25 to 50% greater than the normal full load
current of the apparatus are selected.

Discrimination
• When two or more protective devices, e.g. two or more fuses, a fuse and a circuit
breaker, etc. are used for the protection of the same circuit, the term discrimination
concerns the correct operation of the correct device on occurrence of a fault.
• For proper discrimination, there should be coordination between the protective devices.
• In order to obtain proper discrimination between two adjacent fuses carrying the
same current, the pre-arcing time of the major fuse (nearer the source) must exceed
the total operating time of the minor fuse (far from the source) .
 • In order to understand this type of discrimination, consider a radial circuit as shown in
fig.

• The power to the radial line is being fed at the left end. The fuse F1 which is nearer the
feeder is called the major fuse, and the fuse F2 which is far from the feeder is called the
minor fuse.
• If a fault occurs at the far end of the feeder, i.e. at point F, the fault current will flow
through both the fuses F1 and F2. If the fuses used do not have discriminative character,
there is a likelihood that the major fuse F1 is blown out and thus supply to the whole line
will be interrupted, although there is no fault between F1 and F2.
• Therefore, when a fault occurs beyond F2, only F2 should operate and F1 should remain
unaffected. This is called proper discrimination.
• For proper discrimination in this case, the pre-arcing time of the major fuse F1 must be
greater than the total operating time of the minor fuse F2.

Discrimination between Fuses and Overcurrent Protective Devices

• In motor circuits, fuses provide short-circuit protection and the over current relay provides
over current (overload) protection.
• The characteristics of the fuses and over current relay are coordinated in such a way that
the over current relay operates for currents within the breaking capacity of the circuit
breaker (or the contactor), and the fuses operate for faults of larger current.
• For this purpose, the characteristic of the over current protective device should be below
the characteristic of the fuse, as shown in the fig.

• The fuse is so selected that the intersection of the characteristics of these two protective
devices must take place at a point (A) corresponding to six times the full-load current,
keeping in view that the protective devices do not operate unduly during starting.
 • In this case, the fuse provides back-up protection to the motor and is connected on the
supply side.

Protection Against Overvoltages

Causes of over voltages
• Overvoltages (or surges) on power systems are due to various causes. The normal
operating voltages of the system do not stress the insulation severely.
• The voltage stresses due to over voltages can be so high that they may become dangerous
to both the lines as well as the connected equipment and may cause damage unless some
protective measures against these over voltages are taken.
Generally classified into two main categories as follows
External Overvoltages: These over voltages originate from atmospheric disturbances, mainly
due to lightning.
• These over voltages take the form of a unidirectional impulse (or surge) whose maximum
possible amplitude has no direct relationship with the operating voltage of the system.
External over voltages may be due to any of the following causes.
• Direct lightning strokes
• Electromagnetically induced over voltages due to lightning discharge taking place near
the line (commonly known as ‘side stroke’)
• Voltages induced due to changing atmospheric conditions along the line length
• Electrostatically induced over voltages due to the presence of charge clouds nearby
• Electrostatically induced over voltages due to the frictional effects of small particles such
as dust or dry snow in the atmosphere or due to change in the altitude of the line.
Internal over voltages
These over voltages are caused by changes in the operating conditions of the network.
Internal over voltages can further be divided into two groups as follows.
Switching over voltages (or transient over voltages of high frequency) :These over voltages
are caused by the transient phenomena which appear when the state of the network is changed by
a switching operation or fault condition.
• These over voltages are generally oscillatory and take the form of a damped sinusoid. The
frequency of these over voltages may vary from a few hundred Hz to a few kHz, and it is
governed by the inherent capacitances and inductances of the circuit.
• For example, switching on and off of equipment, such as switching of high voltage
reactors and switching of a transformer at no load causes over voltages of transient nature.
• Other examples of this type of overvoltage are if a fault occurs on any phase, the voltage
with respect to ground of the other two healthy phases can exceed the normal value until
the fault is cleared; when the contacts of a circuit breaker open in order to clear the fault,
 the final extinction of current is followed by the appearance of a restriking voltage across
the contacts whose characteristics are a high amplitude which may reach twice that of the
system voltage, and a relatively high frequency.
Lightning Phenomena
• The discharge of the charged cloud to the ground is called lightning phenomenon.
• A lightning discharge through air occurs when a cloud is raised to such a high potential
with respect to the ground (or to a nearby cloud) that the air breaks down and the insulating
property of the surrounding air is destroyed.
• This raising of potential is caused by frictional effects due to atmospheric disturbances
(e.g., Thunderstorms) acting on the particles forming the cloud.
• The cloud and the ground form two plates of a gigantic capacitor whose dielectric medium
is air.
• During thunderstorms, positive and negative charges are separated by the movement of air
currents forming ice crystals in the upper layer of cloud and rain in the lower part.
• The cloud becomes negatively charged and has a larger layer of positive charge at its
top.
• As the separation of charge proceeds in the cloud, the potential difference between
concentrations of charges increases and the vertical electric field along the cloud also
increases.
• The total potential difference between the two main charge centres may vary from 100 to
1000 MV.
• Only a part of the total charge is released to the ground by lightning, and the rest is
consumed in inter-cloud discharges.
• Though the electric field (potential gradient) required for the breakdown of air at STP is
30 kv/ cm peak in a cloud where the moisture content in the air is large and also because
of the high altitude (i.e., Lower pressure) the electric field required for breakdown of air
is only about 10 kv/cm. The lightning discharge mechanism is well explained with the
help of fig.
• When a potential gradient of about 10 kV/cm is set up in the cloud, the air immediately
surrounding the cloud gets ionised and the first process of the actual lightning discharge
starts.
• At this instant, a streamer called a ‘pilot streamer’ starts from the cloud towards the
ground which is not visible.
• The current associated with this streamer is of the order of 100 amperes, and the most
frequent velocity of propagation of the streamer is about 0.15 m/m s (i.e. 0.05 per cent of
the velocity of light).

• Depending upon the state of ionisation of the air surrounding the pilot streamer, it is
branched into several paths, a stepped leader is formed, as shown in Fig.(a)
• It is called a stepped leader because of its zig-zag shape. It contains a series of steps about
50 m in length.
• The velocity of propagation of these steps should be more than 16.6 per cent that of light.
• A portion of the charge in the centre from which the strike originated is lowered and
distributed over this entire system of temporary conductors.
• This process continues until one of the leaders strikes the ground.
• When one of the stepped leaders strikes the ground, an extremely bright return streamer, as
shown in fig.(b) propagates upward from the ground to the cloud following the same path
as the main channel of the downward leader.
• After the neutralization of the most of the negative charge on the cloud any further
discharge from the cloud may have to originate from another charge centre within the
cloud near the already neutralized charge centre.
• Such a discharge from another charge centre will, however, make use of the already
ionised path, and consequently it will have a single branch and will be associated with a
high current.
• This streamer of discharge is called a dart leader as shown in fig.(c).
Wave shape of voltage due to lightning
• Lightning sets up steep-fronted, unidirectional voltage waves which can be

represented as the difference of two exponentials. Thus

• Where a and b are constants which determine the shape and v is magnitude of the steep
voltage and V is equal to the crest (peak) value of the impulse voltage wave.
• The steep is dependent on whether the surge is induced or is the result of a direct stroke.
• The wave shape of this type is shown in fig. The wave shape is generally defined in terms
of the times t1 and t2 in microseconds.
• Where t1 is the time taken by the voltage wave front to reach its peak value, and t2 is the
time taken for the tail to fall to 50 per cent of the peak value.
• Both times are measured from the virtual zero time point (i.e., From the start of the wave).
• The wave is then referred to as t1/t2 wave. The standard wave chosen for the testing
purpose is a 1/50 wave which implies that t1 is 1 ms and t2 is 50 ms.

Overvoltages due to lightning

• Lightning causes two kinds of voltage surges (overvoltage), one by direct stroke to a line
conductor, and the other induced by indirect stroke when bound charges are dissipated
following a lightning discharge to an object near the line conductor.
• A direct stroke to a phase (line) conductor is the most severe lightning stroke as it produces
the highest overvoltage for a given stroke current.
• The current in a direct stroke to a phase conductor is hardly affected by the voltage which it
sets up between the conductor and ground, so that a direct lightning stroke approximates to
a constant current source.
• If a current I flows in a direct stroke to a phase conductor, forward and backward travelling
currents if and ib, each of magnitude I/2 flow in the conductor away from the point of
strike in both directions of the line as shown in Fig.
• Therefore, the voltage surge magnitude at the striking point is given by

• The lightning current magnitude (I) is rarely less than 10 kA. Therefore, for a typical
overhead line having a surge impedance Z0 of 400 W, the lightning surge voltage will
probably have a magnitude in excess of 2000 kV.
• Any overvoltage surge appearing on a transmission line due to internal or external
disturbances propagates in the form of a travelling wave towards the ends of the line.
• The lightning surge is rapidly attenuated, partly due to corona as it travels along the line. In
this way, corona acts as a natural safety valve to some extent.
• When a tower of the transmission system is directly struck by lightning, the resistance
offered to the lightning current is that of the tower footing and any ground rods or
counterpoise wires in parallel.
• In calculation of overvoltage developed due to lightning in this case, certain assumptions
must be made concerning several of the factors such as wave shape and magnitude of
lightning current, surge impedance of lightning stroke channel, shape of potential wave at
tower top, effect of surges on tower and footing impedance, etc.

• All these assumptions can be thrown into the lightning current and tower footing
resistance, thus giving
where, V = voltage across insulation at tower, R = tower footing resistance, and I =
lightning current in tower.
• For very high towers, such as the ones at river crossings, which are subjected to direct
strokes of very high rate of change of current, the tower inductance may be taken into
account.
• The voltage (v) which may be sufficient to cause insulator flashover is given by

where, L = tower inductance, and di/dt = rate of change of current due to

direct stroke.
• In the case of an indirect stroke, a negative charge in a cloud base causes bound positive
charges on the conductors of a nearby transmission line, and discharge of the cloud due to
a lightning stroke in the neighborhood causes the conductor potential to rise to v since high
insulation resistance prevents rapid dissipation of the charge.
Klydonograph
• The Klydonograph is an instrument for the measurement of surge voltage on transmission
lines caused by lightning.
• It measures voltage by means of Lichtenberg figures, when suitably coupled to the line
whose surge voltage is to be measured.
• The Klydonograph contains a rounded electrode connected to the line whose surge voltage
is to be measured.
• The electrode rests on the emulsion side of a photographic film or plate, which in turn rests
on the smooth surface of an insulating plate made of homogeneous insulating material,
backed by a metal plate electrode as shown in Fig.
• The photographic plate or the film is turned or moved by a clockwork mechanism for
bringing in the element of time.
• Three assemblies are generally placed in the same box, for simultaneously measuring the
voltages on the three phases of a transmission line.

• With this arrangement, a positive Lichtenberg figure is produced by a positive surge, and a
negative Lichtenberg figure by a negative surge, as illustrated in fig.
• Positive Lichtenberg figures are found to be superior to the negative ones for voltage
measurement purpose, since they are much larger than the negative figures for the same
voltage, as shown in fig.
• Diameter of positive Lichtenberg figure is a function of the maximum value of the
impressed voltage.
• The shape and configuration of the figure depend on the wave shape of the impressed
voltage.
Magnetic link
• The magnetic link is an instrument for the measurement of surge currents due to lightning.
• It contains a small bundle of laminations made of cobalt-steel inserted in a cylindrical
molded plastic container, with the open end sealed in.
• It is placed in an unmagnetised state in the vicinity of the conductor whose surge current is
desired to be measured when the current flows through the conductor, a magnetic field is
set up around it which is proportional to the current.
• The magnetising force of this field magnetizes the magnetic link which is placed in the
vicinity of the conductor.
• After the current has passed, the link is left with a residual magnetism which is a function
of the magnitude of the current producing it for unidirectional surges.
• The residual magnetism may be measured by a suitable instrument, and the magnitude of
the current which produces it may be determined by an experimentally obtained
calibration curve of current versus residual magnetism, or deflection on the instruments.
• The principle of operation of the magnetic link is based on the assumption that the surge
current is unidirectional in polarity and that surge currents of any duration, no matter how
short, leave the same residual magnetism as a direct current of the same magnitude.
• The magnetic link is extensively used to measure currents in direct strokes, in
transmission line tower legs, ground wires, phase conductors, in counterpoise conductors
and in ground leads of arresters.
• Magnetic links are generally placed in brackets fastened to the conductor so that
their axes coincide with the normal direction of the magnetic lines of force.
Protection of transmission lines against direct lightning strokes
• The most generally accepted and effective method of protecting lines against direct strokes
is by the use of overhead ground wires.
• This method of protection is known as shielding method which does not allow an arc path
to form between the line conductor and ground.
• Ground wires are conductors running parallel to the main conductors of the transmission
line, supported on the same towers (or supports) and adequately grounded at every tower
or support.
• They are made of galvanised steel wires or ACSR conductors. They are provided to shield
the lines against direct strokes by attracting the lightning strokes to themselves rather than
allowing them to strike the lines (phase conductors).
• When a ground wire is struck by direct lightning stroke, the impedance through which the
current flows is very much reduced and a correspondingly higher current is required to
cause flashover.
• Overhead ground wires protect the lines by intercepting the direct strokes, keeping them
off the phase conductors (lines), and by providing multiple paths for conducting the
strokes current to ground.
• The multiple paths for the stroke current result in a reduced voltage drop. When the
ground wire is struck in midspan, the current gets divided and flows towards both towers.
• At the tower, the current again gets divided between the tower and the outgoing ground
wire.
• When the tower is struck by a direct lightning stroke and there is only one overhead
ground wire, the current gets divided into three-path, one through the tower and two
through the branches of the ground wire.
• In order to provide efficient protection to lines against direct strokes, the ground wires
must satisfy the following requirements.
[Link] should be an adequate clearance between the line conductors and the ground or the
tower structure.
[Link] should be an adequate clearance between the ground wires and line conductors,
especially at the midspan, in order to prevent flashover to the line conductors up to the
protective voltage level used for the line design.
[Link] tower footing resistance should be as low as economically justifiable.
• The ground wires should be placed at such a height above the conductors and so
located that they should be well out on towers and should not be exactly over the
conductors in order to avoid any possibility of a short circuit occurring in the event of
conductors swinging under ice loading, etc.
Protection of stations and sub-stations from direct strokes
• The station structure itself is commonly built of steel members on which lines terminate
and which support the buses, isolating switches, etc.
• The power transformers and circuit breakers usually rest on concrete pads on the ground.
• The task of protection of such stations can be resolved into two parts.
• The first being the protection of stations (including sub-stations) from direct lightning
strokes, and the second is the protection of electrical equipment of stations from travelling
waves coming in over the lines.
• Wherever it is likely for direct strokes of lightning to strike the line at or near
the station, there is a possibility of exceedingly high rates of surge-voltage rise and
large magnitude of surge-current discharge.
• If the stroke is severe enough, the margin of protection provided by the protective device
may be inadequate.
• The installation may, therefore, require shielding of the station and the incoming lines
enough to limit the severity of surges particularly in the higher voltage class of 66 kV and
above.
• If supports are available for overhead ground wires, these may be run over the station in
such a way that the station and all apparatus will lie in the protected zone.
• Sufficient ground wires should be strung so that the entire station is covered, including any
apparatus outside the main structure and any apparatus on top of the structure as shown in
above Fig.
• For a small station, it is sometimes sufficient to run one or two ground wires across the
station from adjacent line towers as shown in fig.(a).
• For a more extensive station, extra ground wire may be used, fanning out from the towers
to the station structure, as also over the station if mechanically feasible as shown in fig.
(b).
• If there are no isolating switches or other apparatus above the station structure, then the
steel of this structure will act as a grounded object to protect the apparatus and buses
below it.

(a) Overhead ground wires carried over a small station between adjacent towers (plan view)
(b) Overhead ground wires carried over a large station between adjacent towers (plan view)
 • If it is not feasible to run ground wires over the station, then it may be possible to erect
masts or rods at the corners or over vertical columns, so that the buses and apparatus in the
station will fall within the cone of protection of the masts or rods as in fig.(a).
• Such a cone may be assumed to have a base radius equal to twice the height of the mast.
• Fig.(b) illustrates this method of protection.

Protection against travelling waves

• Shielding the lines and stations (including sub-stations) by overhead ground wires, masts
or rods undoubtedly provides adequate protection against direct lightning strokes and also
reduces electrostatically or electromagnetically induced over voltages, but such shielding
docs not provide protection against travelling waves which may come in over the lines and
reach the terminal equipment.
• Such travelling waves can cause the following damage to electrical equipment.
[Link] flashover caused by the high peak voltage of the surge may damage the insulation of the
winding.
[Link] flashover between inter turn of the transformer may be caused by the steep-fronted
voltage wave.
[Link] flashover between the terminals of the electrical equipment caused by
the high peak voltage of the surge may result in damage to the insulators.
Resonance and high voltages resulting from the steep-fronted wave may cause internal or
external flashover of an unpredictable nature causing building up of oscillations in the electrical
equipment.
Hence it is absolutely necessary to provide some protective devices at the stations or sub-stations
for the protection of equipment against the travelling waves (surges) caused by lightning.
Rod gap : A rod gap provides the simplest and cheapest protection to line insulators, equipment
insulators and bushings of transformers.
It is clear that in case of serious over voltages, the over-insulation of any one part of the power
system may cause the breakdown of the insulation of some vital and perhaps inaccessible part.
• Rod gaps provide back-up protection to the bushings of transformers in case of the primary
protective devices, i.e. lightning arresters fail.
• A rod gap consists of two rods of approximately 1.2 cm diameter or square, which are bent
at right angles as shown in fig.
 • One rod is connected to the line while the other rod is connected to ground. In case of a
transformer, they are fixed between bushing insulators.
• In order to avoid cascading across the insulator surface under very steep-fronted waves, the
rod gap should be adjusted to breakdown at about 20 per cent below the impulse flashover
voltage of the insulation of the equipment to be protected (i.e. bushing insulator of a
transformer in Fig).

• The distance between the gap and the insulator should be more than one-third of the gap
length (i.e. L1 > L/3) in order to prevent the arc from being blown to the insulator.
• The major disadvantage of the rod gap is that it does not interrupt the power frequency
follow current after the surge has disappeared.
• This means that every operation of the rod gap creates an L-G fault which can only be
cleared by the operation of the circuit breaker. Thus, the operation of the rod gap results in
circuit outage and interruption of power supply.
Arcing Horn: The damage to line insulators from heavy arcs formed due to overvoltages is a
serious maintenance problem.
• Several protective devices have been developed to keep it consists of small horns attached
to the clamp of the line insulator string.
• Horns with a large spread, both at the top of the insulator and at the clamp are required to
be effective, as shown in fig.
 • In the case of lightning impulse, the arc formed tends to cascade the string. In order to
avoid
this cascading, the gap between horns should be considerably less than the length of the
string.
• Protection of line insulators by arcing horns thus results in reduced flashover voltage. In
any
event, flashover persists as a power arc until the line trips out.
• The protection of line insulators by arcing horns is especially used in
hilly areas.
• The grading ring when used in conjunction with an arcing horn fixed at the top
of the insulator string serves the purpose of an arcing shield.
• In the event of an arc forming following a flashover caused by some type of overvoltage,
the arc will usually take the path between the horn and the shield and the insulator string
will remain clear from the arc.

Lightning arresters or surge diverters

They are connected between the line and ground at the substation and always act in shunt
(parallel) with the equipment to be protected, and perform their protective function by
providing a low-impedance path for the surge currents so that the surge arrester’s
protective level is less than the surge voltage withstanding capacity of the insulation of
equipment being protected.
A lightning arrester’s protective level is the voltage appearing across the terminals of the arrester
at spark over or during the flow of current through the arrester after spark over. The main
purpose of lightning arresters is to divert or discharge the surge to the ground.
• The action of the surge diverter can be studied with the help of fig. When the travelling
surge reaches the diverter, it sparks over at a certain prefixed voltage as shown by point P
and provides a relatively low-impedance path to ground for the surge current.
• The current flowing to ground through the surge impedance of the line limits the amplitude
of the overvoltage across the line and ground known as ‘residual voltage’ (as shown by
point Q in fig.) to such a value which will protect the insulation of the equipment being
protected.
 • An ideal lightning arrester or surge diverter should possess the following characteristics.
(i)It should not draw any current at normal power frequency voltage, i.e. during
the normal operation.
(ii)It should breakdown very quickly when the abnormal transient voltage above its breakdown
value appears, so that a low-impedance path to ground can be provided.
(iii)The discharge current after breakdown should not be so excessive so as to damage the surge
diverter itself.
(iv)It must be capable of interrupting the power frequency follow-up current after the surge is
discharged to ground.
Impulse ratio of lightning arresters
• It is defined as the ratio of the breakdown impulse voltage of a wave of specified duration
to the breakdown voltage of a power-frequency wave. The impulse ratio of any lightning
arrester is therefore a function of time duration of the transient wave.
Types of Lightning Arresters (or Surge Diverters)
The following are the main types of lightning arresters.
[Link] Type Lightning Arrester
[Link]-linear Surge Diverter
[Link] oxide Surge Arrester (MOA)
Expulsion type lightning arrester
• This type of arrester is also known as expulsion gap or protector tube.
• It consists of a fiber tube with an electrode at each end. The lower electrode is solidly
grounded.
• The upper electrode forms a series gap with the line conductor, as shown in fig.
• When a surge appears on the conductor, the series gap breaks down, resulting in formation
of arc in the fiber tube between the two electrodes.
 • The heat of the arc vaporizes some of the fiber of the tube walls resulting in the
generation of an inert gas.
• This gas is expelled violently through the arc so that arc is extinguished and the power
frequency current is prevented from flowing after the surge discharge.
• The expulsion arrester derives its name from the fact that gases formed during its
operation are
expelled from the tube through a vent.
This type of arrester is mainly used to prevent flashover of line insulators, isolators and bus
insulators.
Non-linear surge diverter
• This type of diverter is also called valve type lightning arrester, or conventional non-linear
type lightning arrester.
• It consists of a divided spark-gap (i.e. several short gaps in series) in series with non-linear
• resistor elements.
• The divided spark-gap and the nonlinear resistor elements are placed in leak tight porcelain
housing which ensures reliable protection against atmospheric moisture, condensation and
humidity (see Fig.). Fig shows a typical valve type lightning arrester.

The functions of the diverter’s divided spark-gap are as follows

(a) It prevents the flow of current through the diverter under normal conditions.
(b) It sparks over at a predetermined voltage.
(c) It discharges high-energy surges without any change in spark over characteristics.
(d) It interrupts the flow of power-frequency follow current from the power system after the
surge has been dissipated.
The functions of the non-linear resistors are as follows:
(a) They provide a low-impedance path for the flow of surge current after gap sparks over.
(b) They dissipate surge energy.
(c) They provide a relatively high-resistance path for the flow of power frequency follow current
from the power system, thereby assisting the divided gap to interrupt the power frequency
current (i.e. reseal against system voltage).
• The divided spark-gap consists of a number of short-gaps in series. Each of them has two
electrodes across which a grading resistor of high ohmic value is connected.
• The grading resistors ensure even grading of voltage between the various gaps.
• The system is similar to that of a number of capacitors connected in series and across each
of these capacitors is a high value resistor.
• The voltage grading by means of resistors also makes it possible to raise the interrupting
capacity of the divided spark gap.

The non-linear resistor is in the form of discs of 9 cm diameter and 2.5 cm thickness.
• The material used for non-linear resistors for the arrester is known by trade name as
thyrite, this type of lightning arrester is also sometimes called thyrite type lightning
arrester.
• Fig shows the volt-ampere characteristic of the non-linear resistor, the dotted curve being
the static characteristic, while the solid curve is the dynamic characteristic corresponding
to the application of a voltage surge.
• If a horizontal line, tangential to the dynamic characteristic is drawn, then its intercept with
the voltage axis gives the residual voltage.
• This voltage varies between 3 kV and 6 kV, depending on the type i.e. station type or line
type, the discharge current and the rate of change of this current.
• A non-linear resistor type lightning arrester is also known as valve type lightning
arrester.
Metal-oxide surge arrester (MOA)
• The metal oxide surge arrester abbreviated as MOA is a recently developed ideal surge
arrester.
• It is a revolutionary advanced surge protective device for power systems. It is constructed
by a series connection of zinc oxide (ZnO) elements having a highly non-linear resistance.
• The excellent non-linear characteristic of zinc oxide element has enabled to make surge
arresters without series connected spark gaps, i.e. fully solid-state arresters suitable for
system protection up to the highest voltages.
• The metal oxide surge arrester (MOA) which consists of a series connected stack of discs
of zinc oxide elements, operates in a very simple fashion.
• It is dimensioned so that the peak value of the phase to ground voltage in normal operation
never exceeds the sum of the rated voltages of the series-connected discs.
 MOA Conventional arrester
where Z0 is the surge impedance of the line and i is the instantaneous current of the
arrester.

• The resistive losses in the arrester in normal operation are therefore very small.
• When an overvoltage occurs, the current will rise with the wave front according to the
characteristics without delay. No breakdown occurs but a rather continuous transition to
the conducting state is observed.
• At the end of the voltage transient, the current is reduced closely following the I-V curve
(i.e. in contrast to the conventional arrester, there is no follow-up current).
• MOA is especially suitable for gas insulated sub-stations (GIS), since it can be installed
directly in SF6.
• Fig illustrates the difference in the operations of MOA and conventional arresters,
responding to an on-coming surge v(t).
• The voltage wave shape of MOA is smooth and can be expressed as follows.

Insulation coordination
• Insulation coordination is the correlation of the insulation of electrical equipment and lines
with the characteristics of protective devices such that the insulation of the whole power
system is protected from excessive over voltages.
• The main aim of insulation coordination is the selection of suitable values for the
insulation level of the different components in any power system and their arrangement in
a reasonable manner so that the whole power system is protected from overvoltages of
excessive magnitude.
• Thus, the insulation strength of various equipment, like transformers, circuit breakers, etc.
should be higher than that of the lightning arresters and other surge protective devices.
 • The insulation coordination is thus the matching of the volt-time flashover and breakdown
characteristics of equipment and protective devices, in order to obtain maximum protective
margin at a reasonable cost.
• The volt-time curves of equipment to be protected and the protective device are shown in
Fig.
• Curve A is the volt-time curve of the protective device and curve B is the volt-time curve
of the equipment to be protected.
• From volt-time curves A and B of Fig., it is clear that any insulation having a voltage
withstanding strength in excess of the insulation strength of curve B will be protected by
the protective device of curve A.
• Curve A is the volt-time curve of the protective device and curve B is the volt-time curve of
the equipment to be protected.
• From volt-time curves A and B of Fig., it is clear that any insulation having a voltage
withstanding strength in excess of the insulation strength of curve B will be protected by the
protective device of curve A.
 • The breakdown voltage of any insulation or the flashover voltage of a gap depends upon
both the magnitude of the voltage and the time of application of the voltage.
• The volt-time curve is a graph of the crest flashover voltages plotted against time to
flashover for a series of impulse applications of a given wave shape.

Basic impulse insulation level (BIL)

• The insulation strength of equipment like transformers, circuit breakers, etc. should be
higher than that of the lightning arresters and other surge protective devices.
• In order to protect the equipment of the power system from overvoltages of excessive
magnitude, it is necessary to fix an insulation level for the system to see that any insulation
in the system does not breakdown or flashover below this level and to apply protective
devices that will give the apparatus effective protection.
• Several methods of providing coordination between insulation levels in the station and on
the line leading to the station have been offered.
• The best method is to establish a definite common level for all the insulation in the station
and bring all insulation to or above this level.
• This limits the problem to three fundamental requirements, namely, the selection of a
suitable insulation level, the assurance that the breakdown or flashover strength of all
insulation in the station will equal or exceed the selected level, and the application of
protective devices that will give the apparatus as good protection as can be justified
economically.
• Basic impulse insulation level can be defined as reference level expressed in impulse
crest voltage with a standard wave not longer than a 1.2/50 microsecond wave, according
to Indian standards (1.5/40 ms in USA and 1/50 ms in UK).
• Apparatus insulation as demonstrated by suitable tests should be equal to or greater than
the BIL. The basic impulse insulation level for a system is selected such that the system
could be protected with a suitable lightning protective device, e.g. a lightning arrester.
• The margin between the BIL and the lightning arrester should be fixed such that it is
economical and it also ensures protection to the system. The BIL chosen must be higher
than the maximum expected surge voltage across the selected arrester.

Modern Trends In Power System Protection

GAS INSULATED SUBSTATION/SWITCHGEAR (GIS)
Conventional air-insulated transmission and distribution substations are of substantial size due to
the poor dielectric strength of air. They also suffer variations in the dielectric capability of air to
withstand varying ambient conditions and deterioration of the exposed components due to
corrosive and oxidising nature of the environment. In order to enhance the life and reliability of
power transmission and distribution substations, it is desirable to protect the substation
components from corrosion and oxidisation due to environment.
Design Aspects of GIS
The GIS contains the same components as a conventional air insulated outdoor substation.
The entire installation in a GIS is divided into many sections/[Link] main components
/equipment in a section are: circuit breakers, isolators or disconnectors, earthing switches,
current and voltage transformers, surge arrestors, etc. The live parts of various components are
enclosed in metal housing filled with SF6 gas.
The enclosures are made of non-magnetic material such as aluminium or stainless steel,are gas
tight and are solidly grounded. The live parts are supported on cast resin [Link] of the
insulators are designed as barriers between neighbouring modules.
The modular components are assembled together to form a desired arrangement for a section or
bay of GIS. The constituent components are assembled side by side. The porcelains and
connections, are required in a yard substation, are totally eliminated in this new configuration.
Modules/Components of GIS
The following are the principal modules insulated by SF6 gas in a GIS:
(i) Busbar
(ii) Isolator or disconnector
(iii) Circuit breaker
(iv) Current transformer
(v) Earthing switch

The auxiliary gas insulated modules/accessories (excluding control panel) required

to complete a GIS are
(i) Instrument voltage transformer
(ii) Surge and lightning arrester
(iii) Terminations
Busbar
The busbar which is one of the most elementary components of the GIS system, is of different
lengths to cater to the requirement of circuit or bay formation. Co-axial busbars are commonly
used in isolated-phase GIS as this configuration results in an optimal stress distribution. The
main high voltage conductor made of aluminium or copper is centrally placed in a tubular metal
enclosure, and supported by the disc/post insulator, at a uniform distance to maintain
concentricity. Two sections of bus are joined by using plug-in connecting elements.

Isolator or Disconnector
Isolators are placed in series with the circuit breaker to provide additional protection and
physical isolation. In a circuit, two isolators are generally used, one on the line side and the other
on the feeder side. A pair of fixed contacts and a moving contact form the active part of the
isolator. The fixed contacts are separated by an isolating gas gap. Isolators are either on-load
type load-break switch or no-current break type.
They can be motorised for remote control or driven manually. In GIS system, motorized
isolators are preferred. Necessary interlocks are provided between the circuitbreaker
isolator and earthing switch.

Circuit Breaker
The circuit breaker is the most critical module of a GIS system. It is metal-clad and utilises SF6
gas, both for insulation and fault interruption. Puffer type SF6 circuit breakers are commonly
used to accomplish fault current interruption in GIS.

Current Transformer
The current transformers used in GIS are essentially in-line current [Link] insulated
current transformers have classical coaxial geometry and consist of the following parts: the
tubular primary conductor, an electrostatic shield ribbon–would toroidal core and the gas-tight
metal enclosure filled with SF6 gas. The primary of a current transformer is a tubular metal
conductor linking two gas-insulated modules,placed on either side of the current transformer. A
ribbon–wound silicon steel core formed in toroidal shape is used for the magnetic circuit of the
current transformer.
A coaxial electrostatic shield, at ground potential, is placed between the high-voltage primary
and the toroidal magnetic core of the current transformer for ensuring zero potential at the
secondary of the current transformer.

Earthing Switch
Earthing switches used for GIS system are of two types, namely, maintenance earthing switch
and fast earthing switch. The maintenance earthing switch is a slow device used to ground the
high voltage conductors during maintenance schedule, in order to ensure the safety of the
maintenance staff.
Classi fication of GIS
Gas-insulated substations (GIS) are classified according to the type of modules or the
configuration. The following configurations of modules are generally used in GIS.
(i) Isolated-phase (segregated-phase) module.
(ii) Three-phase common modules
(iii) Hybrid modules
(iv) Compact modules
(v) Highly integrated systems
The isolated-phase GIS module contains an assembly of individual circuit elements such as a
pole of circuit breaker, a single pole isolator, one-phase assembly of a current transformer, etc. A
single-phase circuit is formed by using individual components and pressurising the element with
SF6 gas forming a gas-tight circuit. A complete three-phase GIS section/bay is formed by three
such circuits, arranged side by side.
In the three-phase common module style, a three-phase bay is assembled using the desired
number of three-phase elements. The total number of the enclosures is thus reduced to one-third.
By using three-phase modules, it is possible to reduce the floor of the substation upto 70 percent.
Hybrid systems use a suitable combination of isolated-phase and three-phase common elements.
Compact GIS system are essentially three-phase common systems, with more than one
functional elements in one enclosure.
Highly integrated systems (HIS) are single unit metal enclosed and SF6 gas insulated
substations which are gaining user appreciation as this equipment provides a
total substation solution for outdoor substations.

Advantages and Disadvantages of GIS

Advantages of GIS
(i) Compactness GIS are compact in size and the space occupied by them is about 15% of that of
a conventional air insulated outdoor substation. The compact size of GIS offers a practical
solution to vertically upgrade the existing substation and to meet the ever-increasing power
demand in developing countries.
(ii) Cost-effective, reliable and maintenance-free GIS offer a cost-effective, reliable and
maintenance free alternative to conventional air insulated substations.
(iii) Protection from pollution The moisture, pollution, dust etc. have little influence on GIS.
(iv) Reduced installation time The modular construction reduces the installation time to a few
weeks.
(v) Superior arc interruption SF6 gas used in the circuit-breaker has superior arc quenching
property.
(vi) Reduced switching overvoltages The overvoltages while closing and opening line, cables,
motors, capacitors etc. are low.
(vii) Increased safety As the metal enclosures of the various modules are at ground potential,
there is no possibility of accidental contact by service personnel
to live parts.

Disadvantages of GIS
(i) GIS has high cost as compared to conventional outdoor substation.
(ii) Requirement of cleanliness in GIS are very stringent as dust or moisture can cause internal
fl ashover.
(iii) Since GIS are generally indoor, they need separate building which is generally not required
for conventional outdoor substations.
(iv) GIS can have excessive damage in case of internal fault and there may be long outage
periods as repair of damaged part may be diffi cult at site.
(v) Maintenance of adequate stock of SF6 gas is essential. Procurement of gas and supply of gas
is problematic.