Structure of Station Class Lightning Arresters and Electrical Characteristics of ZnO Varistor Blocks

발변전용 피뢰기의 구조 및 ZnO 바리스터 소자의 전기적 특성

This paper presents structural characteristics of station class lightning arresters and electrical characteristics of manufactured ZnO varistor blocks which are usable in those arresters. Three types of station class lightning arresters were investigated and those are a ceramic arrester, a FRP tube type polymer arrester, and a FRP rod type polymer arrester. Each arrester has merits and demerits with structural characteristics. In general, polymer arresters were made of silicon rubber for housing materials, FRP tube or rod for mechanical strength, ZnO blocks for electrical characteristics, and metal parts for electrical contact and the silicon rubber, the housing materials, was directly injected to the arrester module which was assembly composed of electrodes, ZnO blocks and FRP tube or rod, and to prevent the nonlinear electric fields distribution on upper parts of arresters, the grade ring was adopted to the upper electrodes. The reference voltage, nonlinear coefficient, residual voltage, and voltage ratio of manufactured ZnO varistors are 4.90kV, 50, 9.54kV, 1.94, respectively. Compared to designed electrical characteristics, the reference voltage was low for 600v and the voltage ratio was slightly high. However, the characteristics of discharge withstand was so excellent that the mechanical destruction does not occur at the impulse current of $8/20{\mu}s$ 10kA for 100 times.