An analysis of the overvoltage in the secondary

network, considering a transient grounding resistance.

Thair I. A. H. Mustafa
#1
, Hugo D. Almaguer
#2
, Nabi M. Almeida
#3
, Luiz H. Meyer
#4
, Marcos Tell
*5

#
University of Blumenau -FURB, Department of Electrical and Communications Engineering
Campus II, Rua So Paulo, 3250, Blumenau/SC Zip Code 89030-000 Brazil
1
tim@furb.br
2
hugo@furb.br

3
nabima@gmail.com
4
meyer@furb.br

*
Companhia Estadual de Distribuio de Energia Eltrica, CEEE-D
Rua Joaquim Porto Vilanova, 201, Porto Alegre/RS Zip Code 91410-400 Brazil
5
MarcosT@ceee.com.br



Abstract This work presents an analysis of the overvoltage in
the secondary network caused by lightning discharges that are
transferred from the primary through the transformer.
Numerical simulations using TLM- Transmission Line Modeling
and ATP- Alternative Transients Program are presented to show
and to establish comparisons between two models for the
grounding resistance of the transformer and customer: the
traditional model with constant resistance and the model
proposed in this work, considering a transient resistance.

I. INTRODUCTION
The lightning discharges are some of the main causes of
disturbances in distribution systems, causing overvoltage and
having significant influence on the quality of the power
supplied.
The study of the voltages transferred depends on the
knowledge of the characteristics of the voltages induced in the
primary networks and on the high frequency behavior of the
transformer. Many studies have been carried out on induced
voltages due to lightning discharges [1,2] and the grounding
systems [3,4].
An analysis of the overvoltage requires the utilization of
reliable models to represent the elements involved in the
phenomenon. In this work, it was used the transformer model
already validated in [5], subjected to the impulse current with
standardized waveform.
In this context, the numerical method of TLM [6] appears
as an attractive alternative to be used in the studies of
impulsive electric grounding problems. The main focus of the
TLM application in this work will be the behaviour analysis of
the transient impedance or transient grounding resistance
(TGR) in topologies employed in electric power distribution
networks.
This work is intended to present an analysis of the
overvoltage level in the secondary network, when the primary
is subjected to the lightning discharges. Simulations using the
ATP, applying the traditional grounding resistance and
transient grounding resistance (obtained from TLM) for the
transformer and customer were performed.
II. CONSIDERATIONS OF THE TLM METHOD

The TLM is a numerical modeling technique based on
temporal and spatial sampling of electromagnetic fields.
Unlike other time-domain methods, which are based on the
direct discretization of Maxwells time-dependent equations,
the TLM method embodies Huygenss principle in discretized
form [6]. In a typical TLM simulation, a mesh of transmission
lines represents the propagation space. Electric and magnetic
fields are made equivalent to voltages and currents on the
network, respectively. The simulation starts by exciting the
mesh at specific points by voltage impulses and follows the
propagation of these impulses over the mesh as they are
scattered by the nodes and bounce at boundaries.
In this work the 3D mesh employed is based on the
Symmetrical Condensed Node (SCN) and more details about
the TLM formulations, its applications and computational
requirements can be found in [6-8].
III. GROUNDING TOPOLOGY MODELED
In Fig. 1, the studied grounding topology is presented; it
is compounded of a steel copperweld rod with a 13 mm
diameter and a length of 2.40 m, vertically positioned. The
parameters of the soil utilized were: relative electric
permittivity of the soil (
r
): 10 and variation of the electric soil
resistivity (): 10 to 2000 .m.


2010 Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, April 12 - 16, 2010, Beijing, China
978-1-4244-5623-9/10/$26.00 2010 IEEE 1506

Fig. 1 Grounding topology studied with a vertical copperweld rod;
IV. DEVELOPMENTS
For the TLM-3D network conformation, the technique
described in [6], known as matched boundary condition, was
used for the representation of the absorbing contours.
According to the same, the external contours are implemented
with the use of termination impedances, with a value equal to
the characteristic impedance of the environment (in this case,
air and soil), connected to the extremities of the nodes
positioned at the limits of the TLM network.
The system excitation was made by means of a current
surge injection into the conductor nodes that conform the
grounding rod connected to the descending conductor (see Fig.
1). The employed lightning current surge model was the one
recommended by the International Electrotechnical
Commission IEC (IEC 60-1) [9]. It refers to the double
exponential 8/20 s, with a 1 kA current peak, shown in Fig.
2.

Fig. 2 Standard impulse current IEC 60-1.

Starting from the TLM simulation, the transient
grounding resistance (TGR) of the structure is determined in
the time domain. The calculation is obtained for each iteration
by means of the ratio between the voltage (Vn) and the current
(In) at the rod excitation node:


) (
) (
) (
t I
t V
t TGR
n
n
=
(1)
The number of iterations in the time dominion must be
sufficient to converge the TGR (the transitory component)
with the grounding resistance value (steady-state).
The conductive structures above the soil surface level
(such as the descending conductors of the protection system)
were not considered in the simulation. The ionization effects
of the soil, as well as the pellicular ones around the conductor,
were not considered either.
V. RESULTS OBTAINED WITH THE TLM METHOD
In intention of verify the results obtained, a table (see Table
I) was performed to compare of grounding resistance values in
the steady state, obtained from the TLM simulation with those
calculated by known analytic expressions [4]:

= 1 )
4
ln(
2 a
L
L
R

(2)
were L is the rod length, a the radius of the transversal rod
section.
TABLE I
COMPARISON OF GROUNDING RESISTANCE RESULTS CONSIDERING
DIFFERENT VALUES OF SOIL ELECTRIC RESISTIVITY.

Resistivity
(m)
R ()
from TLM
R ()
from analytic
expression [4]
Relative
Variation
(%)
10,0 4,28 4,18 -2,39
50,0 19,90 20,88 4,69
100,0 37,76 41,76 9,58
150,00 54,33 62,64 13,27
200,0 70,23 83,53 15,92
300,0 100,74 125,29 19,59
400,0 129,76 167,05 22,32
500,0 158,00 208,82 24,33
1.000,0 293,00 417,63 29,84
1.500,0 423,35 626,44 32,42
2.000,0 550,00 835,26 34,15

The Fig.3 and Fig.4 show the transient grounding
resistance curves, obtained through the TLM simulation for
the values of resistivity of the soil listed in the Table I.


Fig. 3 Transient grounding resistance obtained from TLM simulation:
Resistivity of the soil from 10 to 200 m.
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Fig. 4 Transient grounding resistance obtained from TLM simulation:
Resistivity of the soil from 300 to 2000 m.
VI. THE ATP SIMULATION

The ATP [10] was used to perform the simulations for the
analysis of the overvoltage on a costumer connected to the
secondary of the distribution transformer modeled in [5].
It was simulated the case of direct lightning discharges in
the primary of the transformer and was adopted in the
simulations, a lightning current with standardized waveform
presented in Fig. 2.
The basic configuration used in the simulations is shown
in Fig. 5. This figure shows the transformer and the costumer
being grounded with a transient grounding resistance (TGR),
obtained using the TLM method.
The Table II and Fig. 6 show the results obtained in
this stage of the research: The peak of the overvoltage in a
phase of the costumer submitted to the lightning discharge
that occurred in the primary of the distribution transformer,
considering the constant grounding resistance (CGR),
transient grounding resistance and different values of the soil
electric resistivity.
TABLE II
OVERVOLTAGE VALUES OBTAINED WITH ATP SIMULATION



Resistivity
(m)

Peak of overvoltage (V)

Relative
Variation
(%)

Using
CGR
Using
TRG
10,0
544 564 3,68
50,0
669 672 0,45
100,0
698 700 0,29
200,0
709 710 0,14
300,0
677 709 4,73
400,0
631 700 10,93
500,0
588 686 16,67
1.000,0
509 647 27,11
1.500,0
322 624 93,79
2.000,0
261 610 133,72



Fig. 5 Modeling that was used for simulation in the ATP.


Fig. 6 Comparison of the overvoltage level between two models of the
grounding resistance, considering different values of the resistivity.

VII. ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS
The results of the simulation show that for the grounding
topology presented (a vertical rod in the homogeneous soil),
the steady-state values of the resistance obtained from the
TLM method were lower than the values obtained from the
analytic formulation (the exception for10 .m).
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The higher the soil resistivity, the higher the difference
between the values for the analytical grounding resistance and
the values obtained from the TLM (see Table I).
To identify which of the two models that presents the
higher accuracy, the experimental measurements should be
developed to establish comparisons.
The overvoltage levels obtained from the simulation using
the model with the transient grounding resistance were bigger
for all cases than the overvoltage values obtained applying
the traditional grounding resistance (see Fig. 6). This means
that the grounding model proposed (using the TGR) is more
conservative than the traditional model.
Regarding the soil resistivity, the higher the resistivity, the
higher the relative difference between the two models of the
grounding. For low values of the soil resistivity (until 400
m approximately), the difference of the overvoltage
between the two models were not significant (until 11% of
difference, approximately). This also means that for the
grounding configurations with low resistivity, the traditional
model (simplified model) can be applied without
compromising the accuracy of the results in the studies of
overvoltage in the distribution systems.
VIII. CONCLUSIONS

In this work was presented the simulation results with the
ATP-TLM model to observe the overvoltage levels in the
customer, considering constant and transient values of the
grounding resistance applied in the transformer and customer.
The results show that there is a significant difference in the
overvoltage levels, with the increase of the soil resistivity and
modeling the grounding systems with transient resistance.
It can lead to an under rating of the protection associated
to the distribution network, once that overvoltage levels do not
are observed when constant grounding resistances are
considered.
In the next step of this research, new simulations will be
performed with different values of the grounding resistance in
the transformer and customer, also increasing the number of
the customers connected to the distribution network and to
implement others configurations of the grounding topologies
(ex. three vertical and interconnected rods, soil stratification).
Some laboratory tests have been initiated with the
configuration modeled in the ATP and utilizing a typical
distribution transformer to observe the overvoltage levels in
the secondary side, when it is subjected to the atmospheric
impulse.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to thank the Companhia Estadual de
Distribuio de Energia Eltrica CEEE-D in Rio Grande do
Sul State and University of Blumenau - FURB in Santa
Catarina State, Brazil for their financial support in the
researches.


REFERENCES

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