Surge arrester performance under AC artificial pollution and impulse conditions: A comparative investigation

This article presents a comparative experimental investigation of surge arrester (SA) performance under clean, unpolluted and polluted conditions. Three different surge arresters rated 33 kV and 10 kA were tested to investigate how the internal active material (either zinc oxide/metal oxide, ZnO, or silicone carbide, SiC) and the arrester housing material affect the overall performance under clean and pollution conditions. Both AC and impulse tests were conducted on SiC porcelain-, ZnO polymeric-, and ZnO silicone-rubber- (composite insulator) housed arresters. In the case of AC application, both the internal and the external currents were measured, while the discharge current is measured under impulse voltage application.