Synthetic Pressure Relief Testing of HV Metal Oxide Arresters

This paper describes a new method of testing metal oxide surge arresters for HV applications. As in the case of circuit-breaker testing, this so-called synthetic method uses two separate sources, namely a high-voltage source (precharged capacitors) and a high-current source (60-Hz network). To the authors´ knowledge, this is the first time that the synthetic testing of surge arresters has been experimentally demonstrated. For the purpose, a 25-kA (asymmetrical) short circuit was produced without the aid of a fuse wire and maintained for 0.2 s (12 cycles). This type of testing allows a tenfold increase in the power-frequency (60-Hz) capacity of a test station.