Current Limiting Gap Arresters - Some Fundamental Considerations

Current limiting gap arresters can be designed to operate successfully against switching surges and sustained overvoltages, but the current drawn by the arrester and the energy dissipated is a function of the circuit impedance as well as the system voltage and arrester design. Arresters designed to operate against sustained overvoltages may produce sufficient discharge voltage during operation to exceed arrester sparkover voltage and thus not provide the protection expected. A test method is suggested to determine the maximum voltage that an arrester may produce under normal operating conditions.