IX International Symposium on
Lightning Protection
26th-30th November 2007 – Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
TESTING OF MO SURGE ARRESTERS FOR APPLICATION IN
LIGHTNING ENDANGERED AREAS
Bernhard Richter
ABB Switzerland Ltd.
bernhard.richter@ch.abb.com
Jurastrasse 45, CH-5430 Wettingen, Switzerland
Abstract - In standard applications MO surge arresters are
not intended to withstand direct lightning current stress. For
applications in lightning endangered areas additional
requirements have to be fulfilled. Tests with lightning
currents of wave shape 10/350 µs prove the very high energy
withstand capability of the material. Research work in Cigré
WG A3.17 is done in the field of the energy handling
capability of MO resistors. Examples for special applications
and related tests are given, e.g. in d.c. railway applications
and the protection of mobile phone transmitter stations in
HV towers. In international working groups of Cigré, IEC
and CENELEC new requirements and tests are under
consideration.
1 INTRODUCTION
The main purpose of surge arresters is to limit lightning
and switching overvoltages to values below the withstand
level of other equipment in the system, in order to protect
this equipment from damage. In the high-voltage
transmission systems they would preferentially be found
in the substations close to transformers and GIS bushings.
In the medium-voltage distribution systems they are more
spread over the system in the same way as pole stations
and cable terminations. Besides the application in
transmission and distribution a.c. systems MO surge
arresters are more and more used in d.c. railway systems
or special applications as for instance in mobile phone
transmitter stations, which sometimes are installed in high
voltage towers.
Besides appropriate protection levels and a stable
dimensioning for continuous operating and temporary
overvoltage stress, the energy handling capability is one
of the most important parameters to characterize an
arrester. Though the arrester's task is to divert charge to
ground, this is always related to energy dissipation as its
terminal voltage intentionally does not decrease to zero
(which would then constitute a short-circuit and cause
tripping of the line). At least two different aspects of
energy handling capability of an MO arrester must be
distinguished:
a) The single impulse energy handling capability is the
maximum energy that can be injected during a single
discharge, not leading to thermo-mechanical or dielectric
overstress of the metal-oxide resistors. Energy which is
injected within only a few micro- or milliseconds causes
extreme, sudden temperature rises associated with
excessive tensile and compressive forces acting on the
MO resistor ceramic, or hot channels may develop in
which the current is concentrating.
b) Totally different contexts are valid for the thermal
energy handling capability. This is defined as the
maximum level of energy injected into the arrester at
which it can still cool back to its normal operating
temperature. In [1] is given a critical review about the
energy handling capability and the various test procedures
in different standards.
In standard applications, as for instance protection of
substations in transmission and distribution systems, MO
surge arresters are not intended to withstand direct
lightning current stresses, or to protect against direct
lightning in general. In the last years applications came
up, where the stresses of MO arresters are different from
the ones in normal substation protection. Examples are the
protection of mobile phone transmitters installed in
transmission towers, the protection of railway systems,
especially d.c. railway systems, and the use of MO-
resistors as energy absorbers. For these applications new
specifications with very different requirements are written.
Classifications and test procedures from the existing surge
arrester standards are not applicable.
In discussions with various clients the request came up to
test MO-surge arresters with lightning current impulses of
wave shape 10/350 µs and other impulses of high energy
content.
In this context the exiting standardized current impulses,
representing one or more parameters of measured
lightning currents, have to be critical reviewed.
Calculations and tests with MO resistors show the
possibilities and restrictions of the existing normally used
impulse generators. Long duration current impulse
generators can be modified to produce current wave
shapes 10/350 µs or the lightning impulse with 200 µs
time duration. In the following some special cases are
given where a MO arrester may be stressed with direct
lightning, or a part of the lightning current. Performed
high energy tests on MO surge arresters are described.
2 TESTS WITH CURRENT IMPULSES OF HIGH
ENERGY CONTENT
In the past it was sometimes requested to test MO resistors
or MO surge arresters with very energy stresses,
representing direct or nearby lightnings. Special
applications and the performed tests are discussed in the
following.
The reached very high limiting values show the excellent
energy handling capability of the MO material under
single impulse stress.
No significant differences could be found between the two
wave shapes. This means that there is no significant
influence of polarisation in this test. The maximum
withstand current peak was found to be 120 kA, in case of
the oscillating current impulse it was the peak of the first
half wave.
This type of MO arrester is today used in d.c. railway
systems as the so called A2 arrester, installed between the
rail and the station earth.

2.1 High energy MO arresters for low voltage systems 2.2 MO arresters in mobile phone transmitter stations

In [2] an application is described, where gapless MO
arresters are intended to be used at the entrance of a
building, as a so called lightning arrester. To test this
arresters and for finding the energy capability limits a
special current generator was used [3]. Limiting tests with
MO arresters are generally performed with the
standardized wave shapes 4/10 µs or 8/20 µs, switching
current impulses or long duration current impulses. As
long as it was required to reach a high current value and a
very high energy a special current generator was
necessary. The current generator could produce oscillating
and unipolr current impulses with a rise time of 8 µs in
both cases. The wave shape, depending on the impedance
of the tested MO resistor, was in the range of 8/40µs.
Three types of gapless MO surge arresters were tested,
one with one MO resistor of 75 mm diameter, on with two
MO resistors in parallel, and one with three MO resistors
in parallel. The continuous voltage of the MO arresters
was in all the cases Uc = 400 V, the residual voltage at In
was Up = 1,2 kV. Both, the unipolar impulse and the
oscillating impulse was used for the limiting tests to detect
possible differences depending on the wave shape. Table
1 gives some results of the reached current values and
charges.
The recent growth of mobile phone base stations lead to
an increasing number of transmitter stations. In some
areas it is requested to use for the transmitter stations
existing high voltage towers. Lightning strokes to the high
voltage tower may lead to an flashover of the insulator,
and the high voltage of the system may then interfere with
the low voltage system of the transmitter station. Safety
transformers have to be used for separation of the
transmitter station low voltage system and the public low
voltage system [4] and [5].
To protect the insulation of the safety transformer MO
surge arresters are needed, which have to withstand in
case of a flashover of the line to structure of the tower the
power frequency stress and the lightning stress [6].
Besides the calculation of the power frequency stress the
distribution of the lightning current and the resulting
energy in the arrester has to be estimated.

Table 1
Oscillating Total Current Total Charge
impulse current, per charge per
peak resistor resistor
value
One 90 kA 90 kA 4,46 As 4,46 As
resistor Figure 1 Equivalent circuit for calculation of the
One 110 kA 110 kA 5,9 As 5,9 As transient overvoltages and impulse
resistor currents in case of lightning to the top of
Two 220 kA 110 kA 18,3 As 9,15 As the tower.
resistors AB : MO-surge arrester.
Three 270 kA 90 kA 25,8 As 8,6 As
resistors The MO-surge arrester was represented by its u-i-
For reaching a good current sharing it was essential to use characteristic and the high voltage tower was simulated
selected MO resistors for the parallel connections. acc. Figure 2. The parameters have been chosen acc. [7].

Figure 2 Equivalent circuit for the high voltage
tower and the earth impedance for
transient conditions..
Earth impedance :
RET1 = 10 Ω, CET1 = 0,8 nF, LET1 = 2,9 µH
High voltage tower:
Surge impedance ZM = 200 Ω
Travelling wave transient time τM = 100 ns
Earth wire :
Surge impedance ZE = 500 Ω
Travelling wave transient time τE = 1,33 µs
The earth impedance of the mobile phone transmitter
station was chosen acc. [4] to R = 2 Ω.
It was assumed that the lightning hits directly the top of
the high voltage tower. The lightning current was assumed
to have a peak value of IB = 100 kA with a rise time of SB
= 20 kA/µs, and a time-to-halve-value of TR = 75 µs.
Figure 3 shows the calculated voltages during a lightning
to the top of the tower.
The maximum voltages (to earth) at the terminals of the
safety transformer are US1 = UE1 = 203 kV and US2 = UE2
= 145 kV. The voltages US1 and US2 are between the
terminals and the earth, so that the insulation of the safety
transformer is stressed only with ∆U = US1 – US2 = 58 kV,
which is the residual voltage Up of the MO-surge arrester.
For dimensioning of the MO-surge arrester is, besides the
Uc, the occuring energy during a lightning event of
importance In the given example the energy for the MO-
surge arrester sums up to 180 kJ. The energy capability of
the chosen MO-surge arrester type POLIM-H 15 N is with
E = 199,5 kJ high enough to withstand the stress.
Figure 3 Voltages against earth in case of a
lightning directly in the top of the tower.
UM = Voltage at the top of the tower.
UE1 = Voltage at earth of the tower.
UE2 = Voltage at the earth of the
transmitter.
The specified energy capability of a MO-surge arrester
acc. to IEC 60099-4 is related to the thermal stability of
the arrester under applied continuous operating voltage.
As long as in the here discussed application a constant
power frequency voltage is not applied to the arrester we
don’t have to consider the thermal stability. That means,
that in our case the MO-surge arrester can absorb a much
higher energy without being overloaded.
2.3 Tests of the MO surge arresters used
MO-surge arresters for high voltage systems are tested
acc. to the international standard IEC 60099-4. It is
assumed that MO-surge arresters generally are not
exposed to direct lightning. The specified current
impulses are of wave shapes like 4/10 µs and 8/20 µs to
simulate lightning stresses. This impulse currents
represent mainly far distance lightning or indirect
lightning effects. Multiple lightning strokes and the long
duration content of a lightning stroke (up to ms) are not
considered in IEC 60099-4. In the discussed application it
is possible that the MO-surge arrester is stressed with a
part of the lightning current. Tests of lightning rods,
earthing systems and other structures for lightning
protection, which may be stressed by direct lightning, are
tested with a current impulse of the wave shape 10/350 µs,
which combines all relevant parameters in one current
impulse. The relevant lightning parameters are addressed
in IEC 61643-1, and of course in the working groups and
documents of IEC TC 81.
To check the performance of the MO-surge arresters in
the described application with lightning currents, tests
have been performed with impulse current generators for
10/350 µs impulses.
The MO-surge arresters were installed in the original
cubical of the mobile phone transmitter installations.
Both, the MO-surge arresters alone and the complete
arrangement were tested with impulse currents of the
waveshape 10/350 µs.
Due to the high ratings of the tested MO-surge arresters
the limits for the peak value of the current was given by
the test generator, e.g. the charging voltage.
Two ratings of the POLIM-H have been tested, the
POLIM-H 12 N and the POLIM-H 04 N. The tested
parameters were as follows:
POLIM-H 12 N
Ipeak = 5,6 kA, Q = 3,2 As, W/R = 8,4 kA2s.
The test samples have been stressed up to 5 times with the
impulse current, without any failure or significant change
in the u-i-characteristic.
POLIM-H 04 N
Ipeak = 8,0 kA, Q = 4,4 As, W/R = 17,0 kA2s.
The test samples have been stressed up to 3 times with the
impulse current, without any failure or significant change
in the u-i-characteristic.
The results show the very good energy withstand
capability of the MO-surge arresters of type POLIM-H.
2.4 MO surge arresters for d.c. railway systems with
Un = 3 kV
In railway systems MO surge arresters are installed at
each feeding point, at the ends of feeding sections and
single-end fed branch sections, at the interconnecting
points and at the current taps (e.g. for switch heaters).
Additional arresters are recommended for line sections at
which there are frequent lightning strikes, e.g. on bridges
or on cross-country lines [8]. This protection concept is
valid for all railway systems. Additional MO surge
arresters are installed on the roof of rolling stock. Further
on, especially in 3 kV railway systems extreme high
energies may occur in case of a system failure. For this
reason clients require a very high energy capability and
ask for verification tests with the lightning current 10/350
µs.
In d.c. railway systems we have principally the situation
that not only the protection of equipment against
overvoltages is required, but also the protection of persons
against to high touch voltages between different earth
potentials.
This requirements lead to the development of MO surge
arresters for d.c. systems with a very high energy
capability, and in the same time to the development of low
voltage limiters with the same, or even higher energy
requirements.
In [9] the requirements on and the development of a
customized low voltage limiter is described. It is pointed
out, that the requirements on such a product in general are
given in EN 50123-5, but nevertheless these requirements
do not fulfill the demands of all clients.
The experience shows that the catenary system in this area
is frequently directly struck by lightning. Due to this it
was decided to specify a tests with the lightning current
10/350 µs. Based on the calculated distribution of the
lightning current in the structure a peak value of the
current of 25 kA used. The current had to be applied for
three times within 60 s.
3 CONCLUSION
New applications of the modern and very reliable MO
surge arresters lead to the situation that tests can not be
performed according the existing standards.
Various tests and good experience in the system show that
MO surge arresters can handle the stress of direct and
nearby lightnings.
In Cigré SC A3, working group A3.17 a research program
is running with the task to evaluate the energy handling
capability of MO surge arresters, depending on the
different forms of injecting the energy. The results of this
research work will have influence on the next revisions of
the test standards.
4 REFERENCES
[1] Volker Hinrichsen et. al. on behalf of Cigré WG A3.17
“Energy handling capability of high-voltage Metal-Oxide
surge arresters Part 1: A critical review of the standards”
Cigré International Technical Colloquium September 12th-
13th, 2007, Rio de Janeiro-Brazil
[2] B. Richter et. al. “Protection against high energy surges with
MO surge arresters: A new concept for low voltage systems”
10th International Zurich Symposium and Technical
Exhibition on Electromagnetic Compatibility, 9-11 March
1993, Paper 70K5, pg. 383 -388
[3] J.A.J. Pettinga, G.C. Damstra “A Lightning Current Pulse
Source of 160 kV / 120 kJ” 7th ISH Dresden 1991, Paper
51.06
[4] J.B.M. van Waes et.al. “Risks due to Lightning Strikes on
High Voltage Towers with LV applications”, 25th ICLP
2000 Rhodes-Greece, 18-22 September 2000, Paper 9.16,
pg. 837-841
[5] Eric Montandon “Mobile Telephone Antennas on High
Voltage Power Line Masts” 26th ICLP 2002 Cracow-Poland
September 2-6, 2002 Paper 9b.2
[6] Gerd Balzer et.al. “ Protection of mobile phone stations in
in high voltage towers against overvoltage generated by
lightning” 26th ICLP 2002 Cracow-Poland, September 2-6,
2002 Paper 9p.8
[7] R. Verma, D. Mukhedar “Fundamental Considerations
and Impulse Impedance of Grounding Grids” IEEE
PAS-100, No 3, Page 1023-1030.
[8] VDV Recommendation 525, 01/06 “Protection of DC
Traction Power Supply Systems in case of a Lightning
Strike”
[9] E. Dobbelaere, S. Hoffarth, B. Doser, “Customised
version of low voltage limiter type HVL for
Infrabel/Belgium” eb Elektrische Bahnen 8-9/2006.