Power System Protection UNIT-V

UNIT – V
PROTECTION AGAINST OVER VOLTAGES
Syllabus: Generation of Over Voltages in Power Systems.-Protection against Lightning over Voltages - Valve
type and Zinc-Oxide Lighting Arresters - Insulation Coordination –BIL.
Introduction:
The normal operating voltages of the system do not stress the insulation. But the voltage stresses due to
overvoltages can be high that they may become dangerous to both the lines as well as the connected equipment
and may cause damage, unless some protective measures against these over voltages are taken. Overvoltages
arising on a power system can be generally classified into two main categories as follows.
External over voltages:
Atmospheric disturbances, mainly due to lightning are the main reasons for over voltages. These over
voltages take the form of unidirectional impulse (surge) whose amplitude is independent of the operating voltage
of the system. These are caused due to:
1. Direct lightning strokes.
2. Induced overvoltages due to lightning discharge taking place near the line (known as Side stroke).
3. Changing atmospheric conditions along the length induces voltages.
4. Presence of charged clouds nearby induces over voltages by electrostatic induction.
5. Friction effects of small particles such as dust or dry snow in the atmosphere or due to change in the
altitude of the line also induce voltages by electrostatic phenomena.
Internal overvoltages:
These overvoltages are caused by changes in the operation conditions of the network internal overvoltages
can further be divided into two groups as follows.
1. Switching overvoltages ( Transient overvoltages of high frequency):
These overvoltages are caused due to switching operation or fault condition. These overvoltages
are generally oscillatory and take the form of a damped sinusoid. The frequency of these overvoltages may
vary form few hundred Hz to few KHz and it is governed by the inherent capacitances and inductances of
the circuit like switching of HV reactors and switching of a transformer at no load.
2. Temporary overvoltages ( Steady state overvoltages of power frequency):
These are caused due to disconnection of load.
Transient overvoltages arising on the power system are assessed by an overvoltage factor.
Overvoltage factor is defined as the ratio of the peak overvoltage to the rated peak system frequency
phase voltage. This is also termed as amplitude factor.
The study of overvoltages includes the magnitudes, shapes, duration, and frequency of occurrence should be done
not only at the point where an overvoltage originates but also at all other points along the transmission network

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thorough which the surges may travel. By knowing the causes and effects of these overvoltages so that preventive
measures can be taken.
Lightning phenomena:
An electric discharge between cloud and earth, between clouds or between the charges centers of the same
loud is known as lightning.
Lightning is a huge spark and takes place when clouds are charged to such a high potential (+ve or −ve) with
respect to earth or a neighboring cloud that the dielectric strength of neighboring medium (air) is destroyed. The up
rush of warm moist air from earth, the friction between the air and the tiny particles of water causes the building up of
charges. When drops of water are formed, the larger drops become positively charged and the smaller drops
become negatively charged. When the drops of water accumulate, they form clouds, and hence cloud may possess
either a positive or a negative charge, depending upon the charge of drops of water they contain. The charge on a
cloud may become so great that it may discharge to another cloud or to earth and we call this discharge as
lightning. The thunder which accompanies lightning is due to the fact that lightning suddenly heats up the air,
thereby causing it to expand. The surrounding air pushes the expanded air back and forth causing the wave motion of
air which we recognize as thunder.

When a charged cloud passes over the earth, it induces equal and opposite charge on the earth below. Fig.
shows a negatively charged cloud inducing a positive charge on the earth below it. As the charge acquired by the
cloud increases, the potential between cloud and earth increases and, therefore, gradient in the air increases. When the
potential gradient is sufficient (5 kV/cm to 10 kV/cm) to break down the surrounding air, the lightning stroke starts.
As soon as the air near the cloud breaks down, a streamer called leader streamer or pilot streamer starts from the
cloud towards the earth and carries charge with it as shown in Fig. (i). The leader streamer will continue its journey
towards earth as long as the cloud, from which it originates feeds enough charge to it to maintain gradient at the tip
of leader streamer above the strength of air. If this gradient is not maintained, the leader streamer stops and the
charge are dissipated without the formation of a complete stroke. In other words, the leader streamer will not reach
the earth. Fig. (i) shows the leader streamer being unable to reach the earth as gradient at its end cloud not be
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maintained above the strength of air. It may be noted that current in the leader streamer is low (<100 A) and its
velocity of propagation is about 0·05% that of velocity of light. Moreover, the luminosity of leader is also very low.
In many cases, the leader streamer continues its journey towards earth until it makes contact with earth or some object
on the earth as shown in Fig. (ii). As the leader streamer moves towards earth, it is accompanied by points of
luminescence which travel in jumps giving rise to stepped leaders. The velocity of stepped leader exceeds one-sixth
of that of light and distance travelled in one step is about 50 m. It may be noted that stepped leaders have sufficient
luminosity and give rise to first visual phenomenon of discharge.
The path of leader streamer is a path of ionization and, therefore, of complete breakdown of
insulation. As the leader streamer reaches near the earth, a return streamer shoots up from the earth to the cloud,
following the same path as the main channel of the downward leader as shown in Fig.(iii). The action can be
compared with the closing of a switch between the positive and negative terminals; the downward leader having
negative charge and re-turn streamer the positive charge. This phenomenon causes a sudden spark which we call
lightning. With the resulting neutralization of much of the negative charge on the cloud, any further discharge from
the cloud may have to originate from some other portion of it.
The following points may be noted about lightning discharge:
(a) A lightning discharge which usually appears to the eye as a single flash is in reality made up of a number
of separate strokes that travel down the same path. The interval between them varies from 0·0005 to 0·5 second.
Each separate stroke starts as a downward leader from the cloud.
(b) It has been found that 87% of all lightning strokes result from negatively charged clouds and only 13%
originate from positively charged clouds.
(c) It has been estimated that throughout the world, there occur about 100 lightning strokes per second.
(d) Lightning discharge may have currents in the range of 10 kA to 90 kA.
Types of Lightning Strokes:
There are two main ways in which a lightning may strike the power system (e.g. overhead lines,towers, sub-
stations etc.), namely;
1. Direct stroke 2. Indirect stroke
1. Direct stroke. In the direct stroke, the lightning discharge (i.e. current path) is directly from the cloud to the
subject equipment e.g. an overhead line. From the line, the current path may be over the insulators down the pole to
the ground. The overvoltages set up due to the stroke may be large enough to flashover this path directly to the
ground. The direct strokes can be of two type’s viz. (i) Stroke A and (ii) stroke B.
(i) In stroke A, the lightning discharge is from the cloud to the subject equipment i.e. an over-head line in this case as
shown in Fig. (i) Below. The cloud will induce a charge of opposite sign on the tall object (e.g. an overhead line in
this case). When the potential between the cloud and line exceeds the breakdown value of air, the lightning
discharge occurs between the cloud and the line.

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(ii) In stroke B, the lightning discharge occurs on the overhead line as a result of stroke A between the clouds as
shown in Fig. (ii). There are three clouds P, Q and R having positive, negative and positive charges respectively.
The charge on the cloud Q is bound by the cloud R. If the cloud P shifts too near the cloud Q, then lightning
discharge will occur between them and charges on both these clouds disappear quickly. The result is that charge on
cloud R suddenly becomes free and it then discharges rapidly to earth, ignoring tall objects.
Two points are worth noting about direct strokes. Firstly, direct strokes on the power system are very rare. Secondly,
stroke A will always occur on tall objects and hence protection can be provided against it. However, stroke B
completely ignores the height of the object and can even strike the ground. Therefore, it is not possible to provide
protection against stroke B.

2. Indirect stroke. Indirect strokes result from the electro statically induced charges on the conductors due to
the presence of charged clouds. This is illustrated in Fig.. A positively charged cloud is above the line and
induces a negative charge on the line by electrostatic induction. This negative charge, however, will be only on that
portion of the line right under the cloud and the portions of the line away from it will be positively charged as
shown in Fig. The induced positive charge leaks slowly to earth via the insulators. When the cloud discharges to
earth or to another cloud, the negative charge on the wire is isolated as it cannot flow quickly to earth over the
insulators. The result is that negative charge rushes along the line is both directions in the form of travelling waves.
It may be worthwhile to mention here that majority of the surges in a transmission line are caused by indirect
lightning strokes.

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Effects of Lightning:
A direct or indirect lightning stroke on a transmission line produces a steep-fronted voltage wave on the line.
The voltage of this wave may rise from zero to peak value (perhaps 2000 kV) in about 1 µs and decay to half the
peak value in about 5µs. Such a steep-fronted voltage wave will initiate travelling waves along the line in both
directions with the velocity dependent upon the L and C parameters of the line. They are called as voltage surges.
(i) The travelling waves produced due to lightning surges will shatter the insulators and may even wreck poles.
(ii) If the travelling waves produced due to lightning hit the windings of a transformer or generator, it may cause
considerable damage. The inductance of the windings opposes any sudden passage of electric charge through it.
Therefore, the electric charges “piles up” against the transformer (or generator). This induces such an excessive
pressure between the windings that insulation may breakdown, resulting in the production of arc. While the normal
voltage between the turns is never enough to start an arc, once the insulation has broken down and an arc has been
started by a momentary overvoltage, the line voltage is usually sufficient to maintain the arc long enough to
severely damage the machine.
(iii) If the arc is initiated in any part of the power system by the lightning stroke, this arc will set up very disturbing
oscillations in the line. This may damage other equipment connected to the line.
Voltage Surge:
A sudden rise in voltage for a very short duration on the power system is known as a voltage surge or
transient voltage.
Transients or surges are of temporary nature and exist for a very short duration (a few hundred µs) but they
cause overvoltages on the power system. They originate from switching and from other causes but by far the most
important transients are those caused by lightning striking a
transmission line. When lightning strikes a line, the surge rushes
along the line, just as a flood of water rushes along a narrow valley
when the retaining wall of a reservoir at its head suddenly gives way.
In most of the cases, such surges may cause the line insulators (near
the point where lightning has struck) to flash over and may also

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damage the nearby transformers, generators or other equipment connected to the line if the equipment is not suitably
protected.
Fig shows the wave-form of a typical lightning surge. The voltage build-up is taken along y-axis and the time along
x-axis. It may be seen that lightning introduces a steep-fronted wave. The steeper the wave front, the more rapid is
the build-up of voltage at any point in the network. In most of the cases, this build-up is comparatively rapid, being
of the order of 1-5 µs. Voltage surges are generally specified in terms of *rise time t1 and the time t2 to decay to half
of the peak value. For example, a 1/50 µs surge is one which reaches its maximum value in 1µs and decays to half of
its peak value is 50 µs.
Protection against Lightning over Voltages:
Transients or surges on the power system may originate from switching and from other causes but the most
important and dangerous surges are those caused by lightning. The lightning surges may cause serious damage to the
expensive equipment in the power system (e.g. generators, transformers etc.) either by direct strokes on the
equipment or by strokes on the transmission lines that reach the equipment as travelling waves. It is necessary to
provide protection against both kinds of surges. The most commonly used devices for protection against lightning
surges are:
(i) Earthing screen
(ii) Overhead ground wires
(iii) Lightning arresters or surge diverters
Earthing screen provides protection to power stations and sub-stations against direct strokes whereas
overhead ground wires protect the transmission lines against direct lightning strokes. However, lightning arresters or
surge diverters protect the station apparatus against both direct strokes and the strokes that come into the apparatus as
travelling waves. We shall briefly discuss these methods of protection.
(i)The Earthing Screen:
The power stations and sub-stations generally house expensive equipment. These stations can be protected
against direct lightning strokes by providing earthing screen. It consists of a network of copper conductors
(generally called shield or screen) mounted all over the electrical equipment in the sub-station or power station. The
shield is properly connected to earth on at least two points through low impedance. On the occurrence of direct
stroke on the station, screen provides a low resistance path by which lightning surges are conducted to ground. In
this way, station equipment is protected against damage.
The limitation of this method is that it does not provide
protection against the travelling waves which may reach the
equipment in the station.
(ii) Overhead Ground Wires:
The most effective method of providing protection to

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transmission lines against direct lightning strokes is by the use of overhead ground wires as shown in Fig. 24.7. For
simplicity, one ground wire and one line conductor are shown. The ground wires are placed above the line
conductors at such positions that practically all lightning strokes are intercepted by them (i.e. ground wires). The
ground wires are grounded at each tower or pole through as low resistance as possible. Due to their proper location,
the *ground wires will take up all the lightning strokes instead of allowing them to line conductors. When the
direct lightning stroke occurs on the transmission line, it will be taken up by the ground wires. The heavy lightning
current (10 kA to 50 kA) from the ground wire flows to the ground, thus protecting the line from the harmful effects
of lightning. It may be mentioned here that the degree of protection provided by the ground wires depends upon the
footing resistance of the tower. Suppose, for example, tower-footing resistance is R1 ohms and that the lightning
current from tower to ground is I1 amperes. Then the tower *rises to a potential V t given by;
Vt = I1R1
Since V t (= I1R1) is the approximate voltage between tower and line conductor, this is also the voltage that will
appear across the string of insulators. If the value of V t is less than that required to cause insulator flashover, no
trouble results. On the other hand, if V t is excessive, the insulator flashover may occur. Since the value of Vt
depends upon tower-footing resistance R1, the value of this resistance must be kept as low as possible to avoid
insulator flashover.
Advantages:
(i) It provides considerable protection against direct lightning strokes on transmission lines. (ii) A grounding wire
provides damping effect on any disturbance travelling along the line as it acts as a short-circuited secondary.
(iii) It provides a certain amount of electrostatic shielding against external fields. Thus it reduces the voltages
induced in the line conductors due to the discharge of a neighboring cloud.
Disadvantages:
(i) It requires additional cost.
(ii) There is a possibility of its breaking and falling across the line conductors, thereby causing a short-circuit fault.
This objection has been greatly eliminated by using galvanized stranded steel conductors as ground wires. This
provides sufficient strength to the ground wires.

(iii) Lightning Arresters:

The earthing screen and ground wires can well protect the electrical system against direct lightning strokes
but they fail to provide protection against travelling waves which may reach the terminal apparatus. The lightning
arresters or surge diverters provide protection against such surges.
A lightning arrester or a surge diverter is a protective device which conducts the high voltage surges on the power
system to the ground.

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Fig.(i) shows the basic form of a surge diverter. It
consists of a spark gap in series with a non-linear
resistor. One end of the diverter is connected to the
terminal of the equipment to be protected and the
other end is effectively grounded. The length of the
gap is so set that normal line voltage is not enough to
cause an arc across the gap but a dangerously high
voltage will break down the air insulation and form an
arc. The property of the non-linear resistance is that its resistance decreases as the voltage (or current) increases
and vice-versa. This is clear from the *volt/amp characteristic of the resistor shown in Fig (ii).
Operation: The action of the lightning arrester or surge diverter is
(i)Under normal operation, the lightning arrester is off the line i.e. it conducts no current to earth or the gap is non-
conducting.
(ii) On the occurrence of overvoltage, the air insulation across the gap breaks down and an arc is formed, providing
a low resistance path for the surge to the ground. In this way, the excess charge on the line due to the surge is
harmlessly conducted through the arrester to the ground instead of being sent back over the line.
(iii) It is worthwhile to mention the function of non-linear resistor in the operation of arrester. As the gap sparks
over due to overvoltage, the arc would be a short-circuit on the power system and may cause power-follow current
in the arrester. Since the characteristic of the resistor is to offer high resistance to high voltage (or current), it
prevents the effect of a short-circuit. After the surge is over, the resistor offers high resistance to make the gap
non-conducting. Two things must be taken care of in the design of a lightning arrester. Firstly, when the surge is
over, the arc in gap should cease. If the arc does not go out, the current would continue to flow through the
resistor and both resistor and gap may be destroyed. Secondly, I R drop (where I is the surge current) across the
arrester when carrying surge current should not exceed the breakdown strength of the insulation of the equipment to be
protected.

Protection against travelling waves:

Shielding the lines and stations (including sub-stations) by overhead ground wires, masts or rods
undoubtly provides adequate protection against direct lightning strokes & also reduces electrostactically or
electromagnetically induced over voltages ,but such shielding does not provide protection against travelling
waves which may come in over head lines & reach the terminal equipment. Such travelling waves can cause the
following damage to electrical equipment.
(i) Internal flashover caused by high peak voltage of the surge ay damage the insulation of the winding.
(ii) Internal flashover between interturns of the transformer may caused by the steep-fronted voltage wave.

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(iii) External flashover between the terminals of the electrical equipment caused by the high peak voltage of
the surge may result in damage to the insulators.
(iv) Resonance & high voltages resulting from the steep-fronted wave may cause internal or external flashover
of an unpredictable nature causing building up of oscillations in the electrical equipment.
Hence it is absolutely necessary to provide some protective devices at the stations or sub-stations for the
protection of equipment against the travelling waves (surges) caused by lightning. The protective devices used for
this purpose are described in the following sub-stations.

Non Linear Surge Diverter:

This type of diverter is also called valve type lightning arrester, or conventional non-linear
type lightning arrester. It consists of a divided spark-gap (i.e. several short gaps in series) in series with non-
linear resistor elements. The divided spark-gap and the non-linear resistor elements are placed in leak tight
porcelain housing which ensures reliable protection against atmospheric moisture, condensation & humidity.
The functions of the diverter’s divided spark-gap are as fallows.
a) It prevents the flow of current through the diverter under normal conditions.
b) It sparks over at a predetermined voltage.
c) It discharges high-energy surges without any change in spark over characteristics.
d) It interrupts the flow of power-frequency follow current from the power system after the sure has been
dissipated.
The functions of the non-linear resistor are as fallows.
a) They provide a low-impedance path for the flow of surge current after gap sparks over.
b) They dissipate surge energy.
c) They provide a relatively high-resistance path for the flow of power frequency follow current from the
power system, thereby assisting the divided gap to interrupt the power frequency current.(i.e. rescale against
system voltage).
The ideal characteristic for the non-linear resistor
would be RI = constant, since such a resistor will
maintain constant voltage by changing its resistance in
inverse proportion to the current. The non-linear resistor
is in the form of discs of 9 cm diameter and 2.5 cm
thickness. The material used for such resistors, called by
trade names of “Thyrite”, and “Metrosil” is a hard
ceramic substance in the form of cylindrical blocks

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which consists of small crystals of silicon carbide bound together by means of an inorganic binder, with the whole
assembly begins subject to heat treatment. The non-linear characteristic is attributed to the properties of electrical
contacts between the grains of silicon carbide. As the material used for non-linear resistors for the arresters is
known by trade name as thyrite, this type of lightning arrester is also some time called thyrite type lightning
arrester.
The divided spark-gap consists of a number of short gaps in series. Each of them has two electrodes
across which a gradient resistor of high ohmic value is connected. The gradient resistors ensure even grading of
voltage between the various gaps. The system is similar to that of number of capacitors connected in series &
across each of these capacitors is a high value resistor. The voltage grading by means of resistors also makes it
possible to raise the interrupting capacity of the interrupting spark-gap.
Operation:
In case of relatively slow variations in voltage, there is no spark over across the gaps of the
influence of parallel grading resistors across these gaps prevails over that of the spark-gap capacitances with
regard to one another & to the ground. But when there are large rapid variations in voltage, the even grading of
the voltage across the series of gaps no longer remains and the influence of unbalanced capacitances of the gaps
prevails over the grading resistors. The surges are mainly concentrated on the upper spark over of the complete
arrester.
The main function of the diverter is the protection of the insulation against dangerously high over
voltages and for this reason the breakdown voltage of the diverter at system frequency is made greater than 1.8
times the normal value.
Advantages
(i) They provide very effective protection (especially for transformers and cables) against surges.
(ii) They operate very rapidly taking less than a second.
(iii) The impulse ratio is practically unity.

Limitations:
(i) They may fail to check the surges of very steep wave front from reaching the terminal apparatus. This calls for
additional steps to check steep-fronted waves.
(ii) Their performance is adversely affected by the entry of moisture into the enclosure. This necessitates effective
sealing of the enclosure at all times.
Applications:
According to their application, the valve type arresters are classified as (i) station type and (ii) line type. The
station type arresters are generally used for the protection of important equipment in power stations operating on

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voltages upto 220 kV or higher. The line type arresters are also used for stations handling voltages upto 66 kV.

iii) Metal oxide surge arrester (MOA):- The metal oxide surge arrester abbreviated as MOA is a recently
developed ideal surge arrester. It is a revolutionary advanced surge protective device for power systems. It is
constructed by a series connection of zinc oxide (ZnO) elements having a highly non- linear resistance. The
excellent non-linear characteristic of zinc oxide element has enabled to make surge arresters without series
connected spark gaps, space i.e., fully solid-state arresters suitable for system protection upto the highest voltages.

The conventional non-linear surge diverters almost exclusively use silicon carbide (SiC) non-linear
resistors. As these materials are not ideal, it is not non-linear enough and thus imposes certain design restrictions.
Also, its characteristics call for a large number of spark gaps. The main constituent of the ceramic material is zinc
oxide, the non-linear resistor made of this material is popularly known as zinc oxide element and surge arresters
made of zinc oxide elements are called metal oxide surge arresters. Such material can be used to make resistors
with a much higher degree of non-linearity over a large current range. With such resistors, one can design
arresters having voltage-current characteristics very close to ideal. Because of the high degree of non-linearity,
this material allows considerable simplification in arrester (diverter) design.
The metal oxide surge arrester (MOA) which consists of a series connected stack of discs of zinc oxide
elements operates in a very simple fashion. It is dimensioned so that the peak value of the phase to ground voltage
in normal operation never exceeds the sum of the rated voltages of the series-connected discs. The resistive losses
in the arrester in normal operation are therefore very small. When an overvoltage occurs, the current will rise with
the wave front according to the characteristics without delay. No breakdown occurs but a rather continuous
transition to the conducting state is observed. At the end of the voltage transient, the current is reduced closely
following the I-V curve (i.e., in contrast to the conventional arrester, there is no follow-up current).
The metal oxide surge arrester has the following advantages over conventional arrester.
1. Series spark-gap is not required.
2. It has very simple construction and is a fully solid-state protective device.

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3. Significant reduction in size.
4. Quick response for steep discharge current.
5. Very small time delay in responding to overvoltage’s.
6. Superior protective performance.
7. Outstanding durability for multiple operating duty cycle.
8. No abrupt transient such as that occurs at the time of spark over in a conventional arrester.
9. Negligible power follow-up current after a surge operation.
Applications:
MOA is especially suitable for gas insulated sub-stations (GIS), since it can be installed directly in SF6.

INSULATION COORDINATION:
Insulation coordination is the correlation of the insulation of electrical equipment and lines with the
characteristics of protective devices such that the insulation of the whole power system is protected from
excessive overvoltages.
The main aim of insulation coordination is the selection of suitable values for the insulation level of the
different components in any power system and their arrangement in a reasonable manner so that the whole power
system is protected from overvoltages of excessive magnitude. Thus, the insulation strength of various equipment,
like transformers, circuit breakers, etc. Should be higher than that of the lightning arresters and other surge
protective devices. The insulation coordination is thus the matching of the volt-time flashover and breakdown
characteristics of equipment and protective devices, in order to obtain maximum protective margin at a reasonable
cost. The volt time curves of equipment to be protected and the protective device are shown in fig. curve A is the
volt-time curve of the protective device and curve B is the volt-time curve of the equipment to be protected. Form
volt-time curves A and B of FIG. it is clear that any insulation having a voltage withstanding strength in excess of
the insulation strength of curve B will be protected by the protective device of curve A.
VOLT-TIME CURVE:
The breakdown voltage of any insulation or the flashover voltage of a gap depends upon both the
magnitude of the voltage and the time of application of the voltage. The volt-time curve is a graph 0f the crust
flashover voltages plotted against time to flashover for a series of impulse applications of a given wave shape.
The construction of the volt-time curve and the terminology associated with impulse voltage testing are shown in
fig. the construction of wave shape of the volt-time curve is based on the application of impulse voltages of the
same wave shape but of different peak values to the insulation whose volt-time curve is required. If an impulse
voltage of a given wave shape and polarity is adjusted so that the test specimen (i.e., a particular insulation)
flashes over on the front of the wave at which flashover occurs is called front flashover. If an impulse voltage of
the same wave shape is adjusted so that the specimen flashes over on the tail of the wave at 50% of the

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applications & fails to flashover on the other 50% of the applications the crest value of this voltage is called
critical flashover voltage. If an impulse voltage causes flashover of the test specimen exactly at the crest value
then it is called fresh flashover. If flashover does not take place, the wave is called full wave and its flashover
does takes place, the wave is called a copped wave. The applied impulse voltage reduced to just below the
flashover voltage of the test specimen is called the ‘critical withstand voltage’. The rated withstand voltage is the
crest value of impulse wave that the test specimen will withstand without disruptive discharge.
Basic Impulse Insulation Level (B.I.L)
The insulation strength of the equipment like transformers, circuit breakers, etc should be higher
than that of the lightning arresters and other surge protective devices. In order to protect the equipment of the
power system fro over voltages or excessive magnitude, it is necessary to fix an insulation level to the system see
that any insulation in the system does not breakdown or flashover below this level & to apply protective devices
that will give the apparatus effective protection.
Several methods are providing co-ordination between insulation levels in the station & on the line
leading to the station have been offered. The best method to establish a definite common level for all the
insulation in the station & bring all the insulation to or above this level. This limits the problem to three
fundamental requirements, namely, the selection of suitable insulation level, the assurance that the breakdown or
flashover strength of all insulation in the station will equal or exceed the selected level, & the application of
protective devices that will give the apparatus as good protection as can be justified economically.
The common insulation level for all the insulation in the station is known as the basic impulse
insulation level (B.I.L) which have been established in terms of withstanding voltages of apparatus & lines.
Basic impulse insulation level can be defined as reference level expressed in impulse crest voltage
with a standard wave not longer than a 1.2/50 microsecond wave, according to Indian standards (1.5/40 µsec in
USA & 1/50µsec in UK). Apparatus insulation as demonstrated by suitable tests should be equal to or greater
than the B.I.L.
The basic impulse insulation level for a system is selected such that the system could be protected
with a suitable lightning protective device, e.g. a lightning arrester. The margin between the B.I.L & the lightning
arrester should be fixed such that it is economical & it is also ensures protection to the system. The B.I.L chosen
must be higher than the maximum expected surge voltage across the selected arrester.

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