2 OVERVOLTAGES DURING FAULTS

natural-frequency voltages usually of short duration which are super-

imposed upon the fundamental-frequency voltages.

There is a third component also which will be listed here and dis-

cussed more completely in Chapter 2, viz., (3) harmonic voltages re-

sulting from unbalanced currents flowing in rotating machines in

which the reactances in the direct and quadrature axes are unequal.

In general, an overvoltage protective device must function on any

transient overvoltage of sufficient magnitude and limit that voltage

to a value lower than the value corresponding to the dielectric strength

of the insulation being protected; then it must automatically inter-

rupt the power-follow current * that flows through the protective de-

vice as a result of this sustained voltage. In the design and applica-

tion of overvoltage protective devices such as arresters, the rating of

the device is expressed in terms of the maximum rms fundamental-

frequency voltage at which automatic interruption of power-follow

current takes place. It is therefore of vital importance to know what

these system overvoltages are in magnitude and duration so that ar-

resters of proper design and rating may be selected for application in

any given system. Since sustained overvoltages during faults exceed-

ing the rating of the arrester will result in its failure, an important

factor in the effectiveness of arrester protection is the proper design

and operation of the power system, particularly with regard to system

neutral grounding.

The fundamental-frequency overvoltages largely determine the ar-

rester rating and the corresponding insulation protective levels. These

in turn are important factors in determining the allowable apparatus

insulation levels.

1.2 FUNDAMENTAL-FREQUENCY VOLTAGES

Fundamental-frequency voltages can be determined with fair ac-

curacy. Calculations can, of course, be made very precise for a

given set of assumptions. For the results shown in connection with

this section, the following assumptions were made:

1. The fault is a solid fault, i.e., there is no arcing.

2. Sudden disconnection of load and overspeeding of connected gen-

erators are not considered.

Generated on 2015-02-19 16:27 GMT / http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015006051687

Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-google

* Power-follow current is the current predominantly of fundamental frequency

which flows through an arrester after it has been sparked over by transient over-

voltage. It is the current that continues to flow after lightning discharge cur-

rents, for example, have been passed through the arrester to ground.