PROTECTION OF INSTALLATIONS AND ELECTRIC MOTIVE POWER UNITS AGAINST THE EFFECTS OF OVER-VOLTAGE. TESTS ON SURGE DIVERTERS (1500 V AND 3000 V DIRECT CURRENT)

Specialists Committee A 50 has been able to determine with the aid of a questionnaire that the means chiefly used for the protection of overhead contact systems against the effects of atmospheric discharges are horn gap arresters and surge diverters. It was therefore decided to conduct a comparative test under service conditions with both these types of lightning arrester. Completing these tests made under service conditions by laboratory tests on surge diverters proved to be advisable. The tests on surge diverters were conducted in accordance with a comprehensive test programme in the high-voltage laboratory of the KEMA at Arnhem. The test conditions were to a large extent adapted to serve conditions and, for this purpose, the NS put a rectifier set at the disposal of the laboratory. The tests made have permitted the determination of the most important parameters which influence the protective effect of the arresters. Such parameters are considered to be the impulse spark-over voltage and the residual voltage, which usually represent the level of protection of an arrester. The tests have shown to what extent the arresters are capable of withstanding service conditions. The high- intensity current tests, simulating the load by means of lightning currents of a very high intensity, and the operating duty test, serving to determine the effects of the discharge current, are in this connection considered to be important. A correlation has been established between the level of protection and the follow current. Arresters with a high level of protection give low values of follow current, and vice versa. It has been established that, owing to the relative values of sparkover voltage, arresters having a high level of protection are not liable to damage by internal surges. On the other hand, internal voltages surges likely to arise in a system must be taken into account in the design and construction of arresters giving protection at a low voltage level. It should be borne in mind that the object of protecting overhead contact systems is to avoid spark-over of the insulators.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Restrictions on the use of this document are contained in the explanatory material.
• Corporate Authors:

  International Union of Railways

  Office of Research and Experiments
  Utrecht,   Netherlands 
• Publication Date: 1964-3

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 14 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Catenaries (Railroads); Electric insulating materials; Electric power supply; Overvoltage; Railroad electrification; Rectifiers; Tests
• Uncontrolled Terms: Surge protection
• Old TRIS Terms: Arresters; Electrical insulation; Lightning arrestors; Question a50
• Subject Areas: Energy; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00053083
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: International Union of Railways
• Report/Paper Numbers: A50/RP 3/E Intrm Rpt.
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 8 1994 12:00AM