Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.

) 45 : 165 - 171 (2011)

Lightning Performance Assessment to Improve Lightning

Protection System of 115 kV Overhead Lines

Nattaya Klairuang*, Sudarat Somkane and Arthapong Sokesuwan

ABSTRACT

This paper determined suitable lightning performance indices for a lightning protection system
of 115 kV overhead distribution lines for the cases before and after improvement with seven types of
line configuration, following the construction standard of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA).
The shielding failure flashover rate (SFFR) caused by a lightning strike to the line phase due to shielding
failure, the back flashover rate (BFR) due to a direct strike on an overhead ground wire, and the total
flashover rate(TFR) were used as lightning performance indices. The outage rate caused by lightning
could be reduced by lightning performance improvement. This paper considered improvement and
flashover rate analysis from lightning using five methods: reducing footing resistance, increasing the
number of suspension insulators, increasing the diameter of the down conductor, reducing the shielding
angle and installing a surge arrester on the lowest phase conductor. The analysis showed that before the
improvements were implemented, the total flashover rate of several overhead distribution line
arrangements was about 13-15 flashes/100 km/year and after the improvements were implemented, it
was reduced to about 4-13 flashes/100 km/year.
Keywords: lightning performance, shielding failure flashover rate, back flashover rate

INTRODUCTION current providing it is in a standard range.

Secondly, a lightning strike on a phased wire could
Safety, reliability and minimal occur when there is shielding failure from an event
investment in the distribution system are major with low lightning peak current. Thirdly, lightning
goals of the Electricity Distribution Utility. An strikes on an object on or near to the ground occur
important cause of interruptions to service is regularly and generate in-line induced voltage.
outage from lightning. Lightning can strike an Induced overvoltage would occur when there is
overhead ground wire, phased wires or an object either high lightning peak current or a lightning
on or near to the ground. In addition, it can create strike near a phased wire. When the voltage on
in-line overvoltage flows and flashover can occur the suspension insulator is greater than the
by exceeding the rated voltage protection of the insulator’s rated voltage protection, flashover on
insulator. Design of a lightning protection system the insulator surface occurs, resulting in an outage.
focuses on lightning striking a ground wire and However, overvoltage under such circumstances
the insulators being able to withstand the lightning is usually the last possibility compared with the

Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at Sriracha, Kasetsart University, Chon Buri 20230, Thailand.
* Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected]

Received date : 15/06/10 Accepted date : 24/09/10

166 Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 45(1)

first two situations described above (Klairuang, MATERIALS AND METHODS

2003), because if the distribution system is
constructed according to suitable standards, there A lightning performance index was
should be no chance for a tree or object to get close analyzed using various types of overhead
to or contact lines and then create an overvoltage distribution systems, following the construction
that the insulator could not withstand. standards of the Provincial Electricity Authority
Thailand is situated in a tropical zone, (PEA). Results were considered before and after
where thunderstorms occur frequently and are implementing the lightning protection system
more severe than in European countries. improvements. The line configuration standards
Consequently, the European standard, which has of the PEA for 115 kV structures are (Figure 1):
been used in the design of the lightning protection 1) Single Circuit Double Conductor
system in Thailand, is not effective. Where Tangent Structure TYPE SD-TG-3
lightning is the major cause of outages in the 2) Single Circuit Double Conductor
distribution system, lightning protection system Tangent Structure TYPE SD-TG-5
improvement should be a primary consideration 3) Single Circuit Double Conductor
to reduce the outage rate. This paper introduced a Tangent Structure TYPE SD-TG-8
procedure and suitable solution to improve the 4) Single Circuit Single Conductor
lightning protection system for 115 kV distribution Tangent Structure TYPE SS-TG-3
systems. 5) Single Circuit Single Conductor

Figure 1 Overhead line configuration standards for 115 kV PEA distribution systems.
 Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 45(1) 167

Tangent Structure TYPE SS-TG-8 is 20 kA. The number of lightning strikes directly
6) Double Circuit Double Conductor to the ground and to overhead wires could be
Tangent Structure TYPE DD-TG-1 determined by Equations 2 and 3, respectively and
7) Double Circuit Single Conductor the back flashover rate by Equation 4.
Tangent Structure TYPE DS-TG-1 1
P ( I ≥ i0 ) = 3.09
(1)
i
Lightning performance indices 1+ 0
I 50
Overvoltage can occur when lightning
strikes an overhead distribution line. When the N g = 6.5 × 10 −5 Td2.277 (2)
voltage on the insulator exceeds the maximum
design voltage, an outage occurs. For the analysis 28h 0.6 + b
NL = Ng (3)
10
of overvoltage in terms of lightning, a performance
index was developed based on the striking BFR = NLP(I ≥ Ic) (4)
position, which was considered to be the main where: P(I ≥ i0) = Probability of lightning peak
factor to examine with regard to outage rates. current over i0
Outage from lightning can be categorized I50 = Average lightning peak current (kA)
according to lightning strikes on ground wires or Ng = Number of lightning strikes directly
on phased wires. to ground (flash/km2/year) (Samitthileela, 1999)
Td = Number of thunderstorm days per
Lightning strike on ground wires year
Insulators on overhead distribution NL = Number of lightning strikes on
systems have been designed to sustain overvoltage wires (flash/100 km/year) (IEEE Standard 1243,
on an insulator created by a lightning strike on the 1997)
ground wire. In cases where the voltage on an h = Height of pole (m)
insulator exceeds the limit as a result of a strike b = Structure width (m)
by a very high lightning current, flashover on the BFR = Back flashover rate (flash/100
insulator surface occurs from the ground wire back km/year)
to the phase wire. Analysis could find the P(I ≥ Ic) = Probability of lightning peak
maximum lightning current that a suspension current exceeding critical peak current Ic
insulator could bear or adjust the overvoltage on
the insulator to the level of the critical flashover Lightning strike on phase wires
voltage. The critical flashover voltage could be A ground wire protection system is
evaluated using the ATPDraw computer software. installed in a distribution system to prevent
Critical lightning peak current analysis lightning from striking directly onto phase wires.
was undertaken using lightning statistic data in Lightning protection performance would depend
Thailand. There are 60 days of thunderstorms in on the line arrangement or the protection angle.
Thailand annually (Thai Meteorological Shielding angle failure could occur from a low
Department, 2006). The probability of a lightning lightning peak current, with the lowest striking
strike of different lightning currents is shown by distance (S) or radius of the rolling sphere which
Equation 1 (IEEE Standard 1410, 2004), based on was protected by the ground wire being determined
the lightning location system (LLS) from the from the line configurations in Figure 1 with
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand Equations 5 and 6.
(EGAT). The average lightning peak current (I50)
168 Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 45(1)

used to determine the striking distance for the

1 A(2W − A)
S= HG + H P + (5) critical lightning peak current against which the
2 HG − H P
ground wire could protect the phase wire. The
shielding failure flashover rate (SFFR) can then
W=
(
H G A + H G H P A2 + (H G − H P )2 )
(6) be used to determine the minimum performance
HG − H P
parameters for the ground wire (Equation 7):
where: S = Critical striking distance for effective SFFR = NL(P(I < IP))(P(I > IC)) (7)
ground wire (m) where: IP = Critical lightning peak current that
HG = Height of ground wire (m) protection with ground wire (kA)
HP = Height of phase wire (m) IC = Critical lightning peak current from
A = Horizontal distance between ground lightning directly to phase wire (kA)
wire and phase wire (m) SFFR = Shielding Failure Flashover
Table 1 represents the findings on Rate (flashes/100 km/year)
striking distance by various authors that can be

Ground wire

Phase wire

Figure 2 Critical striking distance, where the ground wire could prevent a direct strike on the phase
wire.

Table 1 Relationship between striking distance (S) and lightning peak current (I) (Hileman, 1999).
Source Parameters (S = KIB)
K B
Armstrong and Whitehead 6.7 0.8
Brown and Whitehead 7.1 0.75
Wagner 14.2 0.42
IEEE-1992 10.0 0.65
Love 10.0 0.65
Berger (negative lightning) S– = I + 15(1 – e–0.15I)
(positive lightning) S+ = 1.5I + 20(1 – e–0.15I)
Striking distance is defined by S = KIB, where S = lightning striking distance (m), I = lightning peak current (kA), and K and B are
constant values.
 Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 45(1) 169

Lightning performance improvement strike to the top of the pole, which happens
The lightning outage rate could be frequently on higher ground, could produce a
reduced by lightning performance improvements lower critical current than a lightning strike to the
or by increasing the insulation level. This paper phase wire. Thus, the flashover rate was only
considered improvements to lightning considered for a lightning strike to the top of pole.
performance and flashover rate analysis from The critical lightning peak current with
lightning using five methods: 1) reducing ground wire protection can be calculated from the
grounding resistance of the footing pole from 5 equations in Table 1. The critical lightning peak
ohms to 2 ohms; 2) increasing the number of current, in the case of lightning striking the phase
suspension insulators from 7 to 8 insulators; 3) conductor and then creating flashover on the
increasing the diameter of the down conductor insulator surface, can be analyzed with ATPDraw.
from 50 mm2 to 95 mm2 ; 4) reducing the shielding Results from the analysis and the shielding failure
angle by increasing the number of ground wires flashover rate (SFFR) determined from (7) are
from 1 to 2 lines; and 5) installing a surge arrester shown in Table 3.
on the lowest phase at 200 m intervals. The back flashover and shielding failure
flashover rates for the different structures were
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION almost identical, with approximately 13 flashes/
100 km/year and 1.5 flashes/100 km/year
The maximum lightning current for the respectively. A double circuit double conductor
case of a lightning strike on the ground wire is structure would provide a greater flashover rate
shown in Table 2. The results show that a lightning than the other configurations.

Table 2 Critical lightning current in case of lightning strike on ground wire.

Line configuration Critical lightning peak current, Ic [kA]
Strike to top of pole Strike to middle span
SD-TG-3 80.10 90.42
SD-TG-5 80.10 90.42
SD-TG-8 81.53 88.09
SS-TG-3 80.34 91.20
SS-TG-8 81.53 88.09
DD-TG-1 78.07 83.79
DS-TG-1 78.17 83.63

Table 3 Lightning performance indices (shielding failure flashover rate (SFFR), back flashover rate
(BFR) and Total flashover rate (TFR) before improvements (flashes/100 km/year).
Line configuration SFFR BFR Total flashover rate (TFR)
SD-TG-3 1.01 12.72 13.73
SD-TG-5 1.80 12.41 14.21
SD-TG-8 1.56 12.11 13.67
SS-TG-3 1.48 12.32 13.80
SS-TG-8 1.30 12.02 13.32
DD-TG-1 1.80 13.61 15.41
DS-TG-1 1.48 13.56 15.04
170 Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 45(1)

Table 4 Lightning performance index before and after improvements (flashes/100km/year).

Line Total flashover rate (TFR)
Configuration Before Method 1 Method 2 Method 3 Method 4 Method 5
SD-TG-3 13.73 9.73 10.20 13.57 - 5.28
SD-TG-5 14.21 10.27 10.76 14.05 - 5.83
SD-TG-8 13.67 11.59 10.30 13.50 11.84 6.18
SS-TG-3 13.80 9.43 10.40 13.67 - 6.25
SS-TG-8 13.32 11.25 9.97 13.14 11.49 6.95
DD-TG-1 15.41 13.10 11.68 15.24 13.92 3.99
DS-TG-1 15.04 12.79 11.32 14.86 13.49 4.19
Note: Methods are described in the text. Additional ground wire installation (Method 4) was not necessary for the one-sided
conductor systems.

Without taking into account the cost of the symmetry of alignment between the ground
investment, different structures required different wire and the top-phase wire.
techniques to improve the flashover rate. 3) The best overall lightning
According to Table 4, neglecting the surge arrester performance index was the total flashover rate
installation methods for the SD-TG-3, SD-TG-5 caused by lightning before improvement. This
and SS-TG-3 structures would be appropriate with index was almost indistinguishable for each
the grounding resistance reduction method. structure, which was 13-15 flashes/100 km/year
Increasing the insulation level was a proper option before any improvement method was applied.
for the SD-TG-8, SS-TG-8, DD-TG-1 and DS-TG- 4) Increasing the diameter size of the
1 structures. Increasing the diameter of the down down conductor was method that produced the
conductor and adding to the number of ground wire minimum improvement to performance.
methods would not reduce the flashover rate as 5) There were several methods that
much as other methods. Surge arrester installation improved lightning performance. The best option
was the best option to reduce the flashover rate by from the analysis was to install a surge arrester on
making a high investment. the bottom phase at 200-m intervals.

CONCLUSION LITERATURE CITED

The results of the analysis of the lightning Hileman, R. 1999. Insulation Coordination for
performance indices on a 115 kV overhead Power System. Marcel Dekker Inc., New
distribution system with all seven line York, USA. pp. 497-556.
configurations using the five improvement IEEE Standard 1243. 1997. IEEE Guide for
methods showed that: Improving the Lightning Performance of
1) The back flashover rate on the surface Transmission Lines. 47th The Institute of
results from a lightning strike to the ground wire. Electrical and Electronic Engineers, New
The double circuit structure was the worst option York, USA.
to reduce the back flashover rate. IEEE Standard 1410. 2004. IEEE Guide for
2) The flashover rate caused by Improving the Lightning Performance of
shielding angle failure on each structure was Electric Power Overhead Distribution
almost identical to 2 flashes/100 km/year due to Lines. The Institute of Electrical and
 Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 45(1) 171

Electronic Engineers, New York, USA Samitthileela, B. and S. Bhumiwat. 1999. Some
Klairuang, N., W. Pobporn and J. Hokierti. 2003. Experiences of Lightning in Thailand,
Lifetime Analysis of Distribution Arrester International Conference on Lightning
by Lightning Stroke, AUPEC2003, New Protection (ICLP) 23rd, Italy, pp. 246-251.
Zealand.