Effect of Ambient Temperature Zinc Oxide Surge Arrester Condition Monitoring

Abstract

Various methods have been developed to monitor surge arrester condition and predict the probable interruption which can be caused by the failure of surge arresters. This paper aims to carry out experimental and simulation work to find the relationship between the aging level, arrester surface temperature and ambient temperature. COMSOL simulation software was used for the modeling of 120kV rated gapless ZnO surge arresters. It is observed from both the simulation analysis and experimental data that the leakage current and temperature increase as a consequence of an increase in the applied voltage across the arrester. The thermal profile of the ZnO surge arrester changes depending on the aging level and the ambient temperature. The surface temperature simulation results compare well with the experimental results, for the case of varying aging levels.