Arc horn to interrupt single line

grounding current

Commercial application of arc

horns for arc current interruption
------ For low-cost prevention of lightning damage ------

1. Stable power transmission in lightning strikes

2. Arc horn for interruption of single line grounding current
3. Arc horn for interruption of short-circuit current
Brief Note: Takashi CHINO, Senior Research Scientist, Electrical Engineering
Department, Yokosuka Research Laboratory
 Stable power transmission in
lightning strikes
Arresters for power transmission have been used on major power transmission lines to prevent lightning
damage, the biggest cause of overhead power transmission line faults in Japan. As this method is expensive,
current efforts are concentrated on developing alternative methods with lower costs. Here at the Institute
we turned our attention to the ability of the arc horn itself to interrupt the discharge (arc discharge)
generated when a lightning bolt strikes the power transmission line and its large current flows to the
ground. Focusing on the fact that high temperature gas is formed by the discharge in the fine tube (arc
interrupting area) of the arc horn, which is made of organic materials, we investigated a technique to
extinguish the arc in this fine tube. As a result, we found it is possible to interrupt the discharge generated
by a lightning strike simply by mounting a fine tube at the tip of the existing arc horn, and successfully
developed this technique for commercial use in a joint study involving power companies and manufacturers.

Lightning strikes on power transmission Protecting overhead power transmission

lines lines from damage by lightning strikes
he electric power generated at a power station is mainly here are three ways to do this. The first is to install
T transmitted through overhead lines. When these overhead T uninsulated cables (overhead grounding cables) at the tops
lines are struck by lightning, an insulation breakdown occurs, of the steel towers used for overhead power transmission lines
forming discharges (arc discharges) at the arc horn, and leading and connect them to the ground. When the overhead grounding
to faults via grounding or short-circuiting. Breakers at line is struck by lightning, the electric current of the lightning
substations are opened and closed, instantaneously preventing flows from the overhead grounding cable to the ground through
ongoing discharge to avoid these faults. the steel towers, and the overhead power transmission line is
Fig. 1 shows the annual number of faults per 100 km of protected from damage by the lightning strike.
power transmission line (termed the fault rate) caused by The second method is installation of arc horns in parallel
lightning strikes, indicating that the rate increases as the to insulators, from which the overhead power transmission
voltage declines. In particular, the fault rate at a voltage of 77 cables are suspended to eliminate damage to insulators caused
kV or less is around 4-5, representing more than half of the by arc discharge resulting from lightning strikes. The third
total. Service would be significantly improved therefore, if method involves an arrester, through which the energy of the
instantaneous blackouts due to the operation of breakers were lightning bolt is released to the ground during a lightning strike
avoided by eliminating arc discharges in lightning strikes. before overhead power transmission cables can be damaged.
In normal operations, the above three methods are applied
6 simultaneously to avoid damage by lightning strike. Since the
1980-1996 5.15
(Number of faults/100km･year)

5
4.45 Winter arrester is the most
Overhead Arrester
effective and the most grounding cable
4
transmission cable
Fault rate

3.18
Overhead power

costly, our efforts have Arc horn

3
Summer been concentrated on the
2
1.30 development of a low-
1
0.56 cost means of protecting
0 against lightning damage
500 275-187 154-110 77-66 Less than 66
Voltage class (KV) (See Fig. 2).

Overhead power transmission line faults caused by

lightning strikes (Fig. 1) Overhead power transmission line setup (Fig. 2)
 Arc horn for interruption of
single line grounding current
Development of arc extinguishing unit Features of the arc horn developed by
and arc horn the author
e have developed an arc horn extinguisher capable of he arc interruption unit is made from polyvinyl chloride,
W interrupting the relatively small single line grounding T and is mounted on the end of the arc horn on the
currents* of a few hundred amperes that flow in the arc horn grounding side. The unit allows interruption of a single line
during damage by lightning. This device utilizes the fact that grounding current of 445A up to 10 times. Arc discharges are
the temperature of arcs flowing inside the interrupter may be likely to occur on the outside of the arc interrupter during
up to 5000 or more. Namely, the pressure in the interrupter lightning damage, because the arc horn on the grounding side
is raised as the inside surface is separated and evaporated by and the tip horn inside the interrupter have a complex
the arc, and the arc discharge is interrupted by ejected gas. arrangement of electrodes. A shade was therefore installed on
We developed a low cost arc horn that interrupts single the arc interrupter to ensure that arc discharges are formed on
line grounding current, by mounting the arc interrupter to the the inside of the interrupter. The arc horn is designed to
end of the arc horn, and placing it in the right position relative ensure thermal influence on insulators and other components
to the opposite arc horn, and confirmed that when this arc horn is avoided, even when a short-circuit current around 20 times
for interrupting single line grounding current is mounted on an greater than the single line grounding current flows. features
overhead power transmission line, the arc discharge during are that a technician can watch the section activated from
lightning damage is interrupted by the arc horn itself, and beneath the overhead power transmission line, and accidents
accordingly, breakers at substations are not activated, caused by birds touching the arc horn are avoided.
providing a stable and continuous power supply even when
damage has been caused by lightning.
* Grounding of cable in a power transmission system (comprising three
overhead power transmission cables)
* "Grounding" refers to the phenomenon by which a cable comes into
contact with the ground and electric current flows.

Suspension arrangement
Horn on the grounding side

Insulating cover Horn on line

Tip horn

Shade Arc interrupter

Arc discharge
Hole penetration Insulator
by short-circuit current

Horn on line

Intermediate electrode Electric cable

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Structure of arc interrupter (Fig. 3) Developed arc horn (Fig. 4)

 Arc horn for interruption of
short-circuit current
Improving interrupting performance Verification using real line
he arc horn was installed on a 77kV power transmission
T T
he arc horn for interruption of single line grounding
current was not able to extinguish short-circuit current *. line belonging to one of the power companies involved in
As short-circuit faults often occur among faults by lightning the joint study, and it was confirmed that the arc horn for
damage to power transmission lines, an arc interruption unit short-circuit current interruption operated normally in the
and arc horn were developed for short-circuit current event of lightning strike to the power transmission line in
interruption on 66kV and 77kV power transmission lines. The August, when thunderstorms are most frequent. Power supply
short-circuit current is greater than the single line grounding was found to continue in a stable manner despite lightning
current. Upgrading the materials used in the interrupting damage.
section from polyvinyl chloride to polyamide resin and
mounting the arc interruption unit on both arc horns made it
possible to interrupt a short-circuit current arc of 9000A.
Brief Note
* Short-circuit of two or more cables in a single power transmission
system (comprising three power transmission cables) Takashi CHINO
* "Short-circuit" means that a current flows between two or more Senior Research Scientist
broken cables. Electrical Engineering Department
Yokosuka Research Laboratory

Demand for low-cost measures to

prevent lightning damage and
maintain a stable power supply has intensified in
recent times. The author has developed an arc horn
that meets these requirements through a joint study with
the Kansai Electric Power Co., INC., the Tokyo Electric
Power Company, and NIPPON KATAN Corporation.
The author hopes to contribute to reducing the cost of
power supply by clarifying further the interruption
Installation of arc horn on the short-circuit current mechanism that allows interruption of larger arc
interruption (Fig. 5) currents, and exploring materials for use in interrupting
arcs.

Power transmission line 66kV 77kV

Short-circuit current Short-circuit current 9000A 9000A
interruption performance Degree of multiplicity 5 times 5 times
Grounding current Grounding current 300A 445A
interruption performance Degree of multiplicity 5 times 5 times
Lightning impulse Flashover occurs between both arc horns, passing reliably through the
voltage performance interrupter for lightning pulses of up to about 1300 kV
(Critical conduction performance)
Bird damage The device was confirmed to prevent bird damage, as both arc horns are
prevention function covered with the interruption unit and tubes of polyvinyl chloride.
Activation Operation is detected by the presence/absence of the end cap of the
indication function interruption unit, because it is ejected by activation of interruption unit.

Features of arc horn developed for interruption of 66kV and 77kV short circuit current. (Fig. 6)

november 2002
Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry
Public Communications Division
Central Research Institute of
Electric Power Industry 1-6-1 Ohtemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8126 JAPAN Phone: +81 3 3201 6601 FAX: +81 3 3287 2863
E-mail : www-pc-ml@criepi. denken. or. jp http : //criepi. denken. or. jp
This paper's material is 100% non-wood fiber