A bETHOD FOR CALCULATING THE BREAKDO#N VOLTAGES OF LONG AIR GAPS IN TRANSMSSION LINES:

EVALUATION OF THE! LIGHTNING PERFORI!IAIiCE OF TRANSMISSIO:? LINES USING NO SHIELD WIRE

G .N.ALEXANDROV G .V.PODPOQKYlJ S.Yu.SHEVCHENK0

Fellow IEEE
Leningrad Polytechnic Institute
29 Polytechnic Street
Leningrad 195251 , USSR

Abstract: The possibility of abandoning advisable to introduce a new parameter, the

the shield wire on EHV-UHV'transmission lines
has been examined. Insulation lengths re-
quired to an acceptable lightning performance
of lines have been evaluated.
Technique for Calculation
of Lightning Performance
The number of lightning tripouts of a
line [l] is given by
nout = "ds PI Pa - Pr)
where Nds = number of direct lightning
strokes to the line
PI = probability that the stroke cur-
rent corresponding to the light-
ning-proofness level of the line
is exceeded
Pa = probability for the conversion of
an impulse flashover to a power
arc
Pr = probability for a successful re-
ol os ing
According to [?I,
Nds = 6 He 1/100 T/100
where He = Hmin + 1/3 f = equivalent suspen-
sion height of a conductor in me-
ters
Hmin = minimum clearance of a conductor
from the ground at midspan in
meters
f = sag of a conductor in meters
1 = length of the line in kilometers
T = number of thunderstorm hours per
year
It is seen that Nds is directly propor-
tional to 1 and T. These quantities enter in-
to the equation on equal terms so that it is
number of kilometer-thunderstorm hours, 1 T.
Equation (2) then assumes the form
Nds = He 1 T 6/10000 (3)
The value of pI 111 is given by
0.666 - fi-
PI = 10
= exp(1 .53- 2.3 Po) (4)
where Io = 25 kA
I = lightning-proofness level, i.e.,
a stroke current for which the
(1)
voltage of the conductor struck is
equal to the 502 breakdown voltage
of the line insulation, U50;s,
1 = Uij0$/Ze (5)
ze = equivalent surge impedance of the
line, with allowance made for the
surge impedance of a lightning
channel,
ze = z1 Z&ZW 4. 2 Z,) (6)
zw = surge impedance of the l?Lne, with
allowance made for a streamer co-
rona
z1 = surge impedance of the lightning
channel
(2)
In order to evaluate the upper limit 01
the voltage of a line, assume Zv, = 0.75 x
x 300 = 225 R , where the surge impedance of
the line, without allowance made for a strea-
mer corona, is taken to be 300 R and the co-
rona effect is estimated at 25%. Assume the
surge impedance of a lightning channel cor-
responding to the largest stroke currents,
Z1 = 250 R . A s a result, we shall have
I = u50;*,/77*5 (7)
Under the action of lightning surges,
the 50% breakdiwm voltages of air gaps ..are
directly proportional to the length of an
insulation, H, and the mean breakdown field,

- la-
CH2587-4/88/0000- 160 kt .OO @ 1988 IEQ?

-
E53x, s o that
u500; = H 350& (8)
F o r 170 t o 750 I:V l i n e s , t h e tower gaps
e r e s u b s t a n t i c l l y s m a l l e r t h a n t h e conductor-
to-plane d i s t a n c e s and t h u s determine t h e i n -
s u l a t i o n s t r e n g t h . The v a s t m a j o r i t y of
l i g h t n i n g s t r o k e s are of n e g a t i v e p o l a r i t y
and, i n eccordance w i t h a g r e a t nuinber of
s t u d i e s , d 5 0 j - Etg = GOO kV/m may be as-
sumed. S u b s t i t u t i n ; ; 3 q . (8) and t h i s v a l u e
i n t o Cq. ( 7 ) yields
I = 9 600/77.5 = 7.74 TI (9)
where I i s i n k i l o a q p e r e s and !i, i n n e t e r s .
It i s s e e n f r o r 2 9 . (9) t h a t t h e l i g h t -
ninc-proofness l e v e l of a l i n e I i s d i r e c t -
l y p r o p o r t i o n a l t o t h e i n s u l a t i o n l e n g t h , :I.
Considering t h i s e q u a t i o n , - q . ( a ) azourles
t h e form
d u c t o r , t h e l e n g t h of t h e l i n e , and t h e num-
b e r o f thunderstorm h a u r s p e r y e a r , depends
on t h e v o l t a g e class and d e c r e a s e s w i t h i n -
creasinE insulator s t r i n g length.
Calculation Results
Table 1 and P i g . 1 shovr t h e r e s u l t s o f
c a l c u l a t i o n s f r o 3 S q . ( 1 2 ) f o r 110 t o 753 kV
l i n e s under t h e azsiLxiition of 35 thunder-
s t o r , hours 2 c r y e a r on f, 133 :n: b a s i s . It
i s s e e n t h e t t h e nuybcr of l i g h t n i n g t r i p -
o u t s d r a s t i c a l l y d e c r e c s e s :;.ith i n c r e a s i n g ii.
Zhuc, 2n i n c r e a s e i n Ii zzy c o n s t i t u t e a n e f -
~ ~ c i e mecns
c.' n t t 3 enhence t h e l i z h t n i n g per-
I o n m c e o f l i n e s . I t i s s e e n from Table 1
t h c t , for a given n w b e i - of :hunderstom
h 3 u m p e r yecz-, t h e xiL1:bcr o f c?irect l i z h t -
nin;; s t r o k c z t o 2- l i n e Incr-.P.scs w i t h opera-
A..cine-; v o l t a s s . ,3n 7 '9 !:I,- L C r n q , -Ii% i n c r e e -
ci::_ I!,t h e 1i;:ktnint ~crfo--r.r.nce i s w,inl;r
ersure?. throx, +.rc d c c r c c s c i n t h e grobc.bili-
ty for t h e c m v e r s i o n o f ~ . i:ipulsen flcsh-
over t o D ijo:;er = r c , p,. '3n 22*5t o 750 IrV
'.incz, . . i t h i n c r e n s i n l : I!, e Zecrecse i n t h c
i t y f c r t h e onsct o f r s t r o k e cu.r-
.O?A -. -ul:ing i n 3 f l E s ! I o v e r of t h e i n s u l s -
z i , x l . c1.33 o f ,:;-e-t irmn-tazce.
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 Table 1 . L i g h t n i n g P e r f orniance of Lines
__--
-
i I ind e p e pd e r. t H Ii '50,: I
parnne t e r s = T (m) (13) (kA)
PI pe "out

U = 110 liv 1.0 1.0 0.6 7.74 1 1 1.26

OP
1 .2 1.2 0.72 9.2q 1 0.91 1.14
He = 7 I7 1.4 1.4 0.84 10.04 1 0.77 3.97
1.6 1.6 0.96 12.38 0.92 3.67 (3.73
ITds = 14
1.8 1.8 1 .08 13.94 0.C3 0.59 0.61
1 - p, = 0.1 2.0 2.0 1.20 15.48 0.76 0.52 0.40

1.0 2.3 1.38 17.31 0.66 0.95 1.36

uoP = 220 kV
1.2 2.8 1.68 21.60 8-58 5.77 1.33
He = 11 n 1.4 3.2 '1.92 24.82 7-47 0.67 0.94
1.6 3.7 2.22 2.7.25 0.39 0.57 0.66
?Tds = 20
1.8 4.1 2-50 32.26 9.34 2.50 0.50
1 - pr = 20 2.0 4.6 2.76 35.61 0.30 0.45 0.40

Uop = 330 kV 1.0 3.2 1.90 24.82 0.47 9.9P 1.99

1.2 3.8 2.30 29.73 0.38 0.81 1.18
H = 1 2 ~
1.4 4.5 2.70 34.84 0.31 0.68 0.91
1.6 5.2 3.10 40.00 0.25 0.54, 0.64
TIds = 21 .E
1.8 5.0 3.46 45.00 0.21 0.52 0.47
1 - pr = 0.2 2.0 6.4 3.84 50.00 0.18 0.46 0.36

Uop = 500 kV 1.0 4.3 2.58 33.29 0.33 1.00 2.36

1.2 5.2 3.10 40.00 0.25 0.88 1.46
He = 12.5 m 1.4 6.0 3.60 46.50 0.20 0.75 1.01

ITds = 23 1.6 6.9 4.14 53.42 0.16 0.64 0.69

1.8 7.7 4.64 59.87 0.13 0.56 0.49
1 - pr = 0.3 2.0 8.6 5.16 66.58 0.11 0.50 0.37

Uop = 750 kV 1.0 6.5 3.90 50.32 0.18 1.00 1.93

1.2 7.8 4.68 60.38 0.13 0.87 1.21
He = 17 m 1.4 9.1 5.46 70.45 0.10 0.74 0.79
1.6 10.4 6.24 80.52 0.07 0.64 0.48
= 30.6
lids
1.8 11.7 7.02 90.58 0.06 0.56 0.35
1 - p, = 0.35
~
2.0 13.0 7.80 100.65 3.05 0.50 0.25

1, = l e n g t h of i n s u l a t o r s t r i n g s c u r r e n t l y adopted on l i n e a

There a r e no d e f i n i t e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s i n c r e a s e t h e i n s u l a t i o n l e n g t h of a l i n e .
f o r a p e r m i s s i b l e l i g h t n i n g t r i p o u t r a t e of F i g u r e 2 p r e s e n t s t h e r e s u l t s of c a l c u l a t i n g
a l i n e i n modern p r a c t i c e . A l i n e i s c o n s i - t h e r e q u i r e d i n s u l a t i o n l e n g t h , H , f o r a spe-
dered as s u f f i c i e n t l y l i g h t n i n g - p r o o f i f a c i f i e d t r i p o u t r a t e , nOut = 1 year-', as a
l i g h t n i n g t r i p o u t o r two o c c u r ( s ) i n a y e a r . f u n c t i o n of t h e number of kilometer-thunder-
An i n c r e a s e i n t h e l i n e l e n g t h a n d / o r thun- s t o r m h o u r s , 1 T.
d e r s t o r m a c t i v i t y i n c r e a s e s t h e number of The H v s . 1 T dependences of F i g . 2 were
direct lightning strokes t o a l i n e as i n d i - o b t a i n e d by s o l v i n g Eq. ( 1 2 ) f o r H w i t h spe-
c a t e d by Eq. ( 1 2 ) . Thus, i n order t o ensure c i f i e d v a l u e s . o f 1 T. F i g u r e 2 a l s o shows t h e
h i g h l i g h t n i n g performance, i.e., compensate l e n g t h s of i n s u l a t o r s t r i n g s c u r r e n t l y adop-
f o r the increase i n 1 T, it i s n2cessary t o t e d on 110 t o 750 kV l i n e s . It i s s e e n t h a t ,

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7 )
-3 .
1
,
. -. Xequired i n r u l - . t i o s l e n c t h vs. ::ilc-
?.e t e r -t hunde -2 s t oE
: ho a - 3
f o r r e l r ' i i v e l y small 1 T v n l u c s o f up t o
?313 l a - t h u n d e r s t o m h r s . , l i n e s of a l l of
t h e v o l t a g e c l a s z e s considered n r y be b u i l t
;.:ithmt s h i e l d .;:ires ::.bile m a i n t s i i i i n c s u f -
f i c i e n t l y h i g h l i e h t n i n g p e r f oLmmnce. iiigher
1 T , i.e., l i n e lennth and/or thunderstom
a c t i v i t y , n e c e s s i t a t e s i n s u l a t i o n enhance-
n e n t . Table 2 l i s t 2 t h e required. i n s u l a t i o n
l e n g t h s o n 110 t o 750 l:V l i n e s f o r t y 3 i c a l
l i n e l e n g t h s under t h e assumption o f 30
t h u n d e r s t o m h o u r s p e r year.
I t follows f r o 3 Table 2 t h a t , under t h e
s p e c i f i e d c o n d i t i o n s , 110 kV l i n e s nay be
b u i l t without i n s u l a t i o n enhancerrient. On 220
t o 330 ItV l i n e s , i t i s r e q u i r e d t o enhance
A
?iz. 3. Desiqn v e r s i o n s of n o - s h i e l d i n g l i n e s
(2) x i t h c o n v e n t i o n a l towers made o f
conductinc material
( b ) w i t h i n s u l a t i n g towers
or ,all h e i g h t of towers and conduct o r s v h e r e a s
500 t o 750 kV l i n e s r e q u i r e a two-fold insu-
l a t i o n enhancement.
IJo-shielding l i n e s may be b u i l t u s i n g
c o n v e n t i o n a l m e t a l o r f e r r o c o n c r e t e towers
and lengthened i n s u l a t o r s t r i n r s . However,
t h e h i r h e s t c o s t e f f i c i e n c y i s achieved w i t h
towers made of i n s u l a t i n g c o n c r e t e o r compo-
s i t e polymeric elements ( F i g . 3 ) s i n c e t h i s
s u b s t a n t i a l l y r e d u c e s t h e tower h e i g h t and
t h u s t h e m a t e r i a l s consumption. The l e n g t h of
t h e i n s u l a t i n g t o p of a tower, H , i s d e t e r -
n i n e d from F i g . 2 and c o n s t i t u t e s o n l y a
smell p a r t of t h e t o t a l tower h e i g h t .
- ----
Reference

the i n s u l a t i o n only s l i g h t l y thanks t o 2

A.V.Xorsuntsev, " D i r e c t i o n s f o r t h e
P r o t e c t i o n o f 3 t o 500 kV Networks
Table 2 . Required I n s u l a t i o n Length
a g a i n s t I n t e r n a l and L i g h t n i n g Sur-
ges. Zhnpter 11: Z v a l u a t i o n of t h e
Lishtning-Proofness of Transmission
Lines from t h e Number of L i g h t n i n g
110 50 1 .I 0.93 0.84
T r i p o u t s " , i n Po;ver S t a t i o n s , No. 7 ,
220 100 2 -3 3.10 1.31
1964 ( i n R u s s i a n ) .
330 150 3.2 5.09 1.59
500 300 4.3 q.m 2.10
7 50 400 6.5 12-30 7-99

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