16

Insulation Coordination and

Overvoltage Protection

INTRODUCTION

Insulation coordination means the correlation of the insulation

of the various equipments in a power system to the insulation
of the protective devices used for the protection of those
kV peak

equipments against overvoltages. In a power system various

equipments like transformers, circuit breakers, bus supports
etc. have different breakdown voltages and hence the volt-time
characteristics. In order that all the equipments should be B
A
properly protected it is desired that the insulation of the various
protective devices must be properly coordinated. The basic Time

concept of insulation coordination is illustrated in Fig. 16.1. Fig. 16.1 Volt-time curve A
Curve A is the volt-time Curve of the protective device and B (protecting device and) volt-
the volt-time curve of the equipment to be protected. Figure time curve B (device to be
protected)
16.1 shows the desired positions of the volt-time curves of the
protecting device and the equipment to be protected. Thus, any insulation having a withstand
voltage strength in excess of the insulation strength of curve B is protected by the protective
device of curve A.
The ‘volt-time curve’ expression will be used very frequently in this chapter. It is,
therefore, necessary to understand the meaning of this expression.

16.1 VOLT-TIME CURVE

The breakdown voltage for a particular insulation or flashover voltage for a gap is a function
of both the magnitude of voltage and the time of application of the voltage. The volt-time curve
is a graph showing the relation between the crest flashover voltages and the time to flashover
for a series of impulse applications of a given wave shape. For the construction of volt-time

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 INSULATION COORDINATION AND OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION 515

curve the following procedure is adopted. Waves of the same shape but of different peak values
are applied to the insulation whose volt-time curve is required. If flashover occurs on the front
of the wave, the flashover point gives one point on the volt-time curve. The other possibility is
that the flashover occurs just at the peak value of the wave; this gives another point on the
V-T curve. The third possibility is that the flashover occurs on the tail side of the wave. In this
case to find the point on the V-T curve, draw a horizontal line from the peak value of this wave
and also draw a vertical line passing through the point where the flashover takes place. The
intersection of the horizontal and vertical lines gives the point on the V-T curve. This procedure
is nicely shown in Fig. 16.2.

Front flashover
Wave front flashover
voltage range
Voltage

Crest flashover

Volt time
Tail flashover curve

Critical flashover Critical flashover

Wave tail flashover 50% of applications
Critical withstand voltage range 50% of applications
Rated withstand
Time of
crest
flashover Time of critical
flashover

Time range Time range

wavefront Time range wave tail flashover no impulse
flashover Time in microseconds flashover

Fig. 16.2 Volt-time curve (construction)

The overvoltages against which coordination is required could be caused on the system
due to system faults, switching operation or lightning surges. For lower voltages, normally
up to about 345 kV, overvoltages caused by system faults or switching operations do not cause
damage to equipment insulation although they may be detrimental to protective devices.
Overvoltages caused by lightning are of sufficient magnitude to affect the equipment insulation
whereas for voltages above 345 kV it is these switching surges which are more dangerous for
the equipments than the lightning surges.
The problem of coordinating the insulation of the protective equipment involves not
only guarding the equipment insulation but also it is desired that the protecting equipment
should not be damaged.
To assist in the process of insulation coordination, standard insulation levels have been
recommended. These insulation levels are defined as follows:
Basic impulse insulation levels (BIL) are reference levels expressed in impulse crest
voltage with a standard wave not longer than 1.2/50 µsec wave. Apparatus insulation as
demonstrated by suitable tests shall be equal to or greater than the basic insulation level.

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The problem of insulation coordination can be studied under three steps:

1. Selection of a suitable insulation which is a function of reference class voltage (i.e.,
1.05 × operating voltage of the system). Table 16.1 gives the BIL for various reference class
voltages.
Table 16.1 Basic Impulse Insulation Levels

Reference Standard basic Reduced insulation

class impulse level levels
kV kV

23 150
34.5 200
46 250
69 350
92 450
115 550 450
138 650 550
161 750 650
196 900
230 1050 900
287 1300 1050
345 1550 1300

2. The design of the various equipments such that the breakdown or flashover strength
of all insulation in the station equals or exceeds the selected level as in (1).
3. Selection of protective devices that will give the apparatus as good protection as can
be justified economically.
The above procedure requires that the apparatus to be protected shall have a withstand
test value not less than the kV magnitude given in the second column of Table 16.1, irrespective
of the polarity of the wave positive or negative and irrespective of how the system was grounded.
The third column of the table gives the reduced insulation levels which are used for
selecting insulation levels of solidly grounded systems and for systems operating above 345 kV
where switching surges are of more importance than the lightning surges. At 345 kV, the
switching voltage is considered to be 2.7 p.u., i.e., 345 ×
2.7 = 931.5 kV which corresponds to the lightning level.
At 500 kV, however, 2.7 p.u. will mean 2.7 × 500 = Bus
kV peak to F.O.

bar
1350 kV switching voltage which exceeds the lightning insu
latio
voltage level. Therefore, the ratio of switching voltage n
d
to operating voltage is reduced by using the switching Line
insu c
resistances between the C.B. contacts. For 500 kV, it l ation
b Transformer
has been possible to obtain this ratio as 2.0 and for 765 a L.A.
kV it is 1.7. With further increase in operating voltages Time
it is hoped that the ratio could be brought to 1.5. So, for
Fig. 16.3 Volt-time curves

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 INSULATION COORDINATION AND OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION 517

switching voltages the reduced levels in third column are used i.e., for 345 kV, the standard
BIL is 1550 kV but if the equipment can withstand even 1425 kV or 1300 kV it will serve the
purpose. Figure 16.3 gives the relative position of the volt-time curves of the various equipments
in a substation for proper coordination. To illustrate the selection of the BIL of a transformer
to be operated on a 138 kV system assume that the transformer is of large capacity and its
star point is solidly grounded. The grounding is such that the line-to-ground voltage of the
healthy phase during a ground fault on one of the phase is say 74% of the normal L-L voltage.
Allowing for 5% overvoltage during operating conditions, the arrester rms operating voltage
will be 1.05 × 0.74 × 138 = 107.2 kV. The nearest standard rating is 109 kV. The characteristic
of such a L.A. is shown in Fig. 16.4. From the figure the breakdown value of the arrester is
400 kV. Assuming a 15% margin plus 35 kV between the insulation levels of L.A. and the
transformer, the insulation level of transformer should be at least equal to 400 + 0.15 × 400 + 35
= 495 kV. From Fig. 16.4 (or from the table the reduced level of transformer for 138 kV is
550 kV) the insulation level of transformer is 550 kV; therefore a lightning arrester of 109 kV
rating can be applied.

800

700

600

500 B
kV peak

400
A
300

200

100

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time m sec

Fig. 16.4 Coordination of transformer insulation with lightning arrester:

A—Lightning arrester 109 kV, B—Transformer insulation withstand
characteristic.

It is to be noted that low voltage lines are not as highly insulated as higher voltage lines
so that lightning surges coming into the station would normally be much less than in a higher
voltage station because the high voltage surges will flashover the line insulation of low voltage
line and not reach the station.
The traditional approach to insulation coordination requires the evaluation of the highest
overvoltages to which an equipment may be subjected during operation and selection of
standardized value of withstand impulse voltage with suitable safety margin. However, it is

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realized that overvoltages are a random phenomenon and it is uneconomical to design plant
with such a high degree of safety that they sustain the infrequent ones. It is also known that
insulation designed on this basis does not give 100% protection and insulation failure may
occur even in well designed plants and, therefore, it is desired to limit the frequency of insulation
failures to the most economical value taking into account equipment cost and service continuity.
Insulation coordination, therefore, should be based on evaluation and limitation of the risk of
failure than on the a priori choice of a safety margin.
The modern practice, therefore, is to make use of probabilistic concepts and statistical
procedures especially for very high voltage equipments which might later on be extended to
all cases where a close adjustment of insulation to system conditions proves economical. The
statistical methods even though laborious are quite useful.

16.2 OVERVOLTAGE PROTECTION

The causes of overvoltages in the system have been studied extensively in Chapter 12. Basically,
there are two sources: (i) external overvoltages due to mainly lightning, and (ii) internal
overvoltages mainly due to switching operation. The system can be protected against external
overvoltages using what are known as shielding methods which do not allow an arc path to
form between the line conductor and ground, thereby giving inherent protection in the line
design. For protection against internal voltages normally non-shielding methods are used
which allow an arc path between the ground structure and the line conductor but means are
provided to quench the arc. The use of ground wire is a shielding method whereas the use of
spark gaps, and lightning arresters are the non-shielding methods. We will study first the
non-shielding methods and then the shielding methods. However, the non-shielding methods
can also be used for external overvoltages.
The non-shielding methods are based upon the principle of insulation breakdown as the
overvoltage is incident on the protective device; thereby a part of the energy content in the
overvoltage is discharged to the ground through the protective device. The insulation breakdown
is not only a function of voltage but it depends upon the time for which it is applied and also it
depends upon the shape and size of the electrodes used. The steeper the shape of the voltage
wave, the larger will be the magnitude of voltage required for breakdown; this is because an
expenditure of energy is required for the rupture of any dielectric, whether gaseous, liquid or
solid, and energy involves time. The energy criterion for various insulations can be compared
in terms of a common term known as Impulse Ratio which is defined as the ratio of breakdown
voltage due to an impulse of specified shape to the breakdown voltage at power frequency. The
impulse ratio for sphere gap is unity because this gap has a fairly uniform field and the
breakdown takes place on the field ionization phenomenon mainly whereas for a needle gap it
varies between 1.5 to 2.3 depending upon the frequency and gap length. This ratio is higher
than unity because of the nonuniform field between the electrodes. The impulse ratio of a gap
of given geometry and dimension is greater with solid than with air dielectric. The insulators
should have a high impulse ratio for an economic design whereas the lightning arresters should
have a low impulse ratio so that a surge incident on the lightning arrester may be by passed to
the ground instead of passing it on to the apparatus.

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