BACK FLASHOVER ANALYSIS IMPROVEMENT OF A 220 KV DOUBLE

CIRCUIT TRANSMISSION LINE

G.Radhika1, Dr. M.Suryakalavathi2
1

Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, VNR VJIET. Hyderabad - 90

Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, JNT University Hyderabad - 85
Email: 1radlalitha.g@gmail.com, 2mungala12@yahoo.com

equipment can shut down which, in the worst cases, can

lead to a major regional blackout [13]. Lightning is
causing more than 66% of faults occurred in transmission
lines of a Indian electric utilities. The first systematic,
scientific study of lightning was conducted, as we all
know, by Benjamin Franklin during the second half of
the 18th century. Thus it is essential to investigate a
lightning surge for a reliable operation of a Power
system, because the lightning surge over voltage is
dominant factor for the insulation design of Power
system and protection of equipment in Power system and
substation. Different functions have been used to model
the lightning return-stroke current with the aid of direct
current measurements at tall structures [12]. Hence the
method used to analyze the increase in voltage due to
lightning was done by using the application called
PSCAD/ EMTDC.
Back flashover occurs when lightning stroke
terminates on the overhead ground wire or tower. A
stroke that so terminates forces currents to flow down the
tower and out on the ground wires. Thus voltages are
built up across the line insulation. If these voltages equal
or exceed the line critical flashover voltage (CFO),
flashover occur [3]. Study on back flashover is very
important to evaluate lightning performance as majority
of lightning strokes terminate on shield wire than phase
conductor. The objective is to protect the power system
equipments from Back flashover [1, 11]. As per analysis
the occurrence of faults is more in overhead transmission
lines, so this paper study is mainly based on transmission
line protection rather than other equipments. The ideal
approach to study the transient phenomena in a power
system is to capture and record the transients using wide
bandwidth transducers and recording equipment and then
analyze those waveforms [1, 8].

Abstract: The objective of this paper, is to design a

220kV double circuit transmission model, which includes
six insulator strings with six cross arms and other
components of the Transmission line i.e phase and
ground conductors, line towers associated grounding
systems with a surge of 100KA, 4/10 s. The
transmission line and back flashover event was modeled
by frequency dependent fast front transient models due to
the nature of higher frequency dependency of lightning
strokes typically ranging from 1KHZ to 30 MHZ. Tower
with two OHGW was taken in this work. Back flash over
mechanism is modeled and triggered to the existing
system by an external control module with powerful
electrical tool PSCAD/EMTDC. Metal Oxide
Transmission Line Arresters were used in this work as a
solution for the back flashover. However, considering
acceptable probabilistic failure as one outage per year per
100km line length, and suggested basic insulation level
(BIL) of 1050KV, the arrester rating was calculated to be
196KV and its parametric determination for a one
column arrester with an overall length of 1.45 meters is
done. Simulation is carried out by placing Metal Oxide
Arrester in each phase and recovering the string voltage
without causing violent impact to the power grid.

Keywords: Back flashover, Transmission Line

Arresters, Transmission lines, Phase Conductor, Insulator
String, Ground Wires, Tower Footing Resistance,
PSCAD/EMTDC.
INTRODUCTION
A transmission network in a power system is a physical
link between power plants, distribution network and
customer installations. Electric-power transmission is the
bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power
plants to electrical substations located near demand
centers. This is distinct from the local wiring between
high-voltage substations and customers, which is
typically referred to as electric power distribution.
transmission lines, when interconnected with each other,
become transmission networks. A key limitation in the
distribution of electricity is that, with minor exceptions,
electrical energy cannot be stored, and therefore must be
generated as needed. A sophisticated system of control is
therefore required to ensure electric generation very
closely matches the demand. If supply and demand are
not in balance, generation plants and transmission

MODELING OF FOOTING RESISTANCE

Tower footing resistance is determined using current
dependence of tower footing resistance [1, 4]. Tower
footing resistance depends on (a) Type of electrode
configuration (b) Soil resistivity.
Tower footing resistance is given by

(1)

418

MODELING OF BACK FLASHOVER

(2)
Where, parameters
Rt = tower footing resistance,
R0= tower footing resistance at low current and low
frequency,
I = lightning current, kA,
Ig = limiting current, kA,
= soil resistivity, Pm,
E0 = soil ionization gradient,
( 300kV/m)

An apparatus may withstand a high transient voltage

which has a short duration even it has failed to withstand
a lower transient voltage with longer duration. This
characteristic of the insulator is known as the volt-time
characteristic of the insulation however, simplified
expression for the insulator voltage withstands capability
can be calculated as
(7)
Where, Vfo is a flashover voltage (kV),
K1 is 400*L, and K2is 710*L,
L is insulator length, (meter),
t is elapsed time after lightning stroke, s

Tower with one OHGW leads to high overvoltage across

insulator compared to two OHGW [6]. If the tower
footing resistance is high then occurrence of back flash
over is also high and vice- versa because of which we
considered two OHGW transmission system in this
paper.

The back flashover mechanism of the insulators

can be represented by volt-time curves. Whenever back
flashover occurs, a parallel switch is applied and also if
the voltage across the insulator exceeds the insulator
voltage withstand capability, the back flashover occurs.
The back flashover is simulated by closing the parallel
switch. Once the back flashover occurs, the voltage
across insulator goes down to zero [1, 9].

MODELING OF INSULATOR STRING

The insulator string model can be based on the leader
progression model. Streamers propagate along the
insulator string when the applied voltage exceeds the
corona inception voltage, if the voltage remains high
enough these streamers will become a leader channel. A
flashover occurs when the leader crosses the gap between
the cross-arm and the conductor [1, 7].The total time to
flashover can be expressed as
Tt= tc+ts+tl
(3)
Where,
tc is the corona inception time,
ts is the streamer propagation time,
tl is the leader propagation time.

MODELING OF THE DOUBLE CIRCUIT TOWER

The towers are designed to carry two circuits consisting
of 3 phases each, having bundled conductors. Here the
circuits are placed in a vertical configuration. A
minimum phase to phase clearance of 8 m is maintained.
A minimum clearance of 11m is maintained from one
circuit to another. Two earth wires are placed above each
circuit in such a way to provide the required shielding
angle. Like single circuit towers, double circuit towers
are also galvanized, lattice steel type structures designed
to carry the tension and weight of the conductor along
with the insulators, earth wire and its accessories.
Normally these towers are identified as P (D/C
suspension towers), Q, R & S (D/C tension towers) or as
DA, DB, DC and DD respectively. Normally 4 types of
double circuit towers are used as A, B, C and D. A/P
towers are used as suspension towers from 0 0 - 20
deviations. B/Q towers are used as suspension towers
from 20- 150 deviations. DC towers are also used as
sectionalizing towers without angle. C/R towers are used
as suspension towers from 150 - 300 deviations. DC
tower is also used as transposition tower without any
angle. D/S towers are used as suspension towers from 300
- 600 deviations. The Double Circuit towers are used
while crossing forest, major river crossings, narrow
corridors near switchyards etc. so as to make provision
for future transmission lines since the approval from
various authorities can be obtained at one time and to
minimize expenditure in laying foundations in rivers
[14]. There are many conventional methods by which a
transmission tower was modeled. Of them, one of the

Usually tc is neglected, while ts is calculated as

(4)
The leader propagation time tl, can be obtained using
(5)
Where,
V (t) is the voltage across the gap,
g is the gap length,
L is the leader length,
E is the critical leader inception gradient and k is a
leader coefficient and is given in reference.
The insulator (string) voltage is given by
(6)
Vins = Vcnt- - Vb
Where,
Vcnt = cross arm voltage
Vb = line voltage
The number of insulating discs used for a 220KV tower
are14 as per the IEEE standards.
419

In this paper, only the electrical parameters of the arrester

are taken whose characteristics are shown below for
modeling [10].

most prominent ones is DCLM (Distributed Constant

Line Model) which is used in this section [2].
SELECTION OF TRANSMISSION LINE
ARRESTER

PROPOSED MODEL OF 220KV TRANSMISSION

SYSTEM AND RESULTS

A line arrester is a one which reduces the risk of insulator

flashover during surge events. Arrestor Voltage rating
shall not be less than product of system highest voltage x
co-efficient of earthing [6].
In a 220 kV effectively earthed system
Highest system voltage
= 245 KV
Co-efficient of earthing
= 80%
Arrestor voltage rating = 245x0.8 = 196 KV.

Nowadays, double-circuit transmission lines are

extensively used in power system and for the last twenty
years, double circuit tranmsission lines in India have
been constructed, instead of a number of single circuit
transmission lines as these have the advantages of lower
capital cost than constructing single circuitss and better
utilization of easements [5]. In general, the solutions for
transmission line against lightning includes, increasing of
insulation, reduction of tower footing resistance, adoption
of overhead ground wire or multiple overhead ground
wires and unbalanced insulation of multi circuit
transmission line. As these were not appropriate in every
condition in and hence with the advent of non-ceramic
housed arrester, these arresters have appeared and been
accepted as an alternative in transmission and distribution
[15]. Hence below proposed fast front transient
transmission line model which was implemented in
PSCAD/EMTDC is shown below for 220KV double
circuit transmission system with two ground wires,
describes the TLA application study for transmission
line, whose sub-circuit of the tower further consistutes of
twelve sub-circuits. These twelve sub-circuits includesthe
six insulatorstrings and the six cross arms as shown in the
figure. These twelve sub-circuits have to be designed
seperately. Over the system a lightning surge of 100KA
was induced and the resulting simulation was carried out
in powerful electrical tool PSCAD.

Fig. 1 Arrester V-I Characteristics.

Fig. 2 Proposed Model of 220KV Double Circuit.

420

Under steady state, the 3- voltages is shown below

The sub circit of the tower structure is shown

below. The first step to design a 220kV double circuit
transmission system is to design the tower. First we need
to design the graphic of the tower. The graphic is to be
designed in a such way that its structure should look like
a 220kV tower used for the transmission. After having
created the graphic of the tower, the sub-circuit has to be
designed. The sub-circuit of the tower further has twelve
sub-circuits in it. These twelve sub-circuits include. The
six insulators and the six cross arms as shown in the Fig.
4. These twelve sub-circuits have to be designed
seperately. In the same manner as that of the tower, we
design the cross arm, we must design the graphic of the
insulator in the graphic editing section The number of
insulating discs used for a 220kV tower are 14 as per the
IEEE standards. The insulator sub-circuit has metal oxide
surge arresters as a part of the circuit to provide
protection against backflashovers.
The image of the sub-circuit is shown below.

Fig. 3 Output of all the Three Phases.

Fig. 4 Tower Sub Circuit.

When flashover is turned ON, the outputs of Tower,
Phase and string voltages can be observed below.

Fig. 6 Phase Voltage with Flashover ON.

Fig. 5 Tower voltage with Flashover ON.
421

Fig. 7 String Voltage with Flashover ON.

Fig. 10 String Voltage with TLA ON
From the above Fig. 7 the string voltage become zero,
which means that an arc is being formed which results
that flashover has occured. Hence, that particular line is
going to the outage state which is highly undesirable, as
it interrupts the power supply to the consumers. Each
insulator sub-circuit has metal oxide surge arresters as a
part of the circuit to provide protection against back
flashovers. Since the line has to be protected from back
flashovers, effective placement of TLA operation is
essential. To control the operation of the two breakers in
the sub-circuit logic was implemented [1]
Here we take the next set of observations with the
Line Arrestor turned ON along with flashover in all the
three phases. The wave form with flash over and arrestor
turned ON on phase A are observed:

Hence, with the TLA action the string voltage is restored

in the circuit. In this we have designed one insulator and
six such insulators were designed as per the tower subcircuit. As our model includes three such towers, we
have designed a model with three towers in it.
CONCLUSION
The design and operation of transmission line arrestors is
crucial thing in arresting the flashovers. From the above
simulated results, when arrester and flashover were OFF
the tower and string voltages were normal and when
flashvoer was ON and arrester was OFF the string voltge
of phase A was gone outage as seen in Fig.7 which is
highly undesirable. Hence when arrester was triggered in
phase A, the string voltage of phase A was recovered as
shown in Fig. 10. Though application of arresters is of
high installations cost it results in completely eliminating
the flashover
which means zero probability of
flashovers.
REFERENCES
[1] G.Radhika,

Dr.M.Suryakalavathi
(2013):
Backflashover Analysis Improvement of a 220KV
Transmission Line, International Journal of
Engineering Research and Applications, 3, pp.533
536.

Fig. 8 Tower voltage with TLA ON.

[2] T.Hara, O.Yamamot (1996): Modeling of a

Transmission Tower For Lightning Surge Analysis,
IEE Proc Gener, Transm, Distrib, 143, pp.283
289.
[3] Yasuda nsitivity AnalYoh, Hirakawa Yuji, Shirraishi
Koichiro, Hara Takehisa ( 2001) : Sensitivity
Analysis on Grounding Models for 500KV
Transmission Lines, T.IEE Japan, 121-B, pp.1386
1393.
[4] Ametani.A, Kawamura.T (2005): A Method of a
Lightning Surge Analysis Recommended in Japan
Fig.9 Phase Voltage with TLA ON.
422

[10] Dennis Woodford (2003):

Application of
PSCAD/EMTDC, Version 4.0, Manitoba Research
Centre Inc. (2003).

Using EMTP, IEEE Trans. On Power Delivery, 20,

pp. 867 875.
[5] J.A (Tony) Gillespie & Glenn Stapleton (2004):
Improving Double Circuit Transmission Line
Reliability through Lightning Design, CIGRE,
Session 2004, Paris.

[11] I.F. Gonos, L. Ekonomou, F.V. Topalis,

I.A.Stathopulos
(2003):

Probability
of
Backflashover in Transmission Lines due to
Lightning Strokes using Monte-Carlo Simulation,
Electrical Power and Engineering Systems 25 , pp.
107 111.

[6] G.Radhika, Dr.M.Suryakalavathi, G.Soujanya (2010):

Effective Placement of Surge Arrester during
Lightning, International Journal of Computer
Communication and Information System, 2, pp.167 172.

[12] IEEE Modelling and Analysis of System Transients

Working Group (1996): Modelling guidelines for
fast front transients, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery,
11. pp. 493 506.

[7] J.S.Kwat, J.W.Woo, E.B.Shim, H.J.Kim (2006):

Application of Arrester to Double Circuit
Transmission Line to Enhance Lightning Performance
and Introduction about the Obtained Lightning
Waveforms by Monitoring Systems, ILDC/ILMC,
Arizona, U.S.A.

[13] Jan Takami , Shigemitsu Okabe, Eiichi Zaima

(2010): Study of Lightning Surge Overvoltage at
Substations Due to Direct Lightning Strokes to Phase
Conductor, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery , 25, pp.
425 433.

[8]M.H.Shwehdi (2008) : Computation of Lightning

Flashovers and Back Flashover Voltage Levels on
230 KV Transmission Lines, 2nd IEEE International
conference on Power and Energy (PECon 08), Johor
Baharu, Malaysia, pp. 1488 1493.

[14] Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (1996):

Transmission Lines, 4, Government of India
Enterprise (1996).
[15] Zhen Li, Zhanqing Yu, Xi Wang, Jinliang He
(2012): A Design of Unbalanced Insulation to
Improve the Lightning Performance of Multi-Circuit
Transmission, International Conference on Lightning
Protection (ICLP), Vienna, Austria, pp. 1 4.

[9] T.Narita, T.Yamada, et all (2000) : Observation of

Current Wave shapes of Lightning Strokes on
Transmission Towers, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery,
15, pp. 429 425.

423