The Performance of Lightning Rod Arrester and Its Effect on the Top Potential of Tower for 500 kV Transmission System

Abstract

When the tower overhead is struck by the lightning impulse, the lightning current flows into the earth through the impedance of tower and the grounding resistance, which heightens potential of the tower overhead and possibly induces insulator flashover. Lighting rod arrester is used to shield the tower and provide another routine for lightning current, decreasing the potential of tower overhead. In this paper, the performance of a 500 kV lighting rod arrester is tested used in AC transmission system under the current impulse. Besides, the influence of the lightning rod arrester performance on the top potential of tower is also studied. The results show that, when the rod arrester is connected to the tower, the top potential of tower can be obviously limited under the lightning strike.