US3531690A - Voltage surge diverter - Google Patents

Voltage surge diverter Download PDF

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Publication number
US3531690A
US3531690A US759844A US3531690DA US3531690A US 3531690 A US3531690 A US 3531690A US 759844 A US759844 A US 759844A US 3531690D A US3531690D A US 3531690DA US 3531690 A US3531690 A US 3531690A
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Prior art keywords
gap
arrester
voltage
valve
extra
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Expired - Lifetime
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US759844A
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English (en)
Inventor
Eugene C Sakshaug
James S Kresge
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General Electric Co
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General Electric Co
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01T—SPARK GAPS; OVERVOLTAGE ARRESTERS USING SPARK GAPS; SPARKING PLUGS; CORONA DEVICES; GENERATING IONS TO BE INTRODUCED INTO NON-ENCLOSED GASES
    • H01T1/00—Details of spark gaps
    • H01T1/02—Means for extinguishing arc
    • H01T1/04—Means for extinguishing arc using magnetic blow-out

Definitions

  • the time delayed acting means may be a magnetic blow out series gap with auxiliary electrodes shunting the extra valve resistance which electrodes are bridged after a time delay by the magnetically blown out arc.
  • the current limiting gaps may be disposed in parallel columns for flip-flop operation and fast acting means may be employed for shunting out the extra series valve resistance in response to impulse discharge current of large value.
  • This invention relates to voltage surge diverters and more particularly to improvements in valve type lightning arresters with current limiting gaps or gap units, especially such arresters for protecting high voltage direct current power systems.
  • a valve type lightning arrester comprises one or more valve resistors in series with one or more spark gaps.
  • a valve resistor has an instantaneous negative resistancecurrent characteristic.
  • a current limiting gap has a noninstantaneous or delayed rising voltage characteristic after sparkover.
  • arrester voltage during discharge i.e., after sparkover and before seal off or interruption of power follow current, is the sum of the valve and gap voltages it is customary to use less valve resistance with current limiting gaps than with ordinary gaps in order to limit the arrester voltage during discharge.
  • Current limiting gaps are particularly useful in arresters for direct current circuits because of their ability to seal 01T against the the non-cyclic circuit voltage.
  • valve type current limiting gap arresters the low discharge voltage immediately after sparkover is undesirable; for example, when such arresters are used to protect electronic or ionic valves in the rectifying and inverting converters at the ends of a high voltage direct current power transmission line.
  • Such converters it is customary to bridge connect the electronic valves and series-parallel connect the bridges on their direct current sides. The paralleling is done by bus conductors and the series connection permits operation of the line at a voltage which is a multiple of the individual valve voltages.
  • the arresters are connected between the busses and ground.
  • novel time delayed acting means is provided for effectively shunting out extra valve resistance.
  • the arrester is prevented from having too low a discharge voltage before the current limiting gap has time to build up substantial voltage and afterthat time the arrester is prevented from having too high a discharge voltage by the shunting out of the extra valve resistance.
  • An object of the invention is to provide a new and irnproved voltage surge diverter.
  • Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved valve type lightning arrester with current limiting gaps.
  • a further object of the invention is to control the discharge Voltage of a valve type arrester with current limiting gaps at both ends of its conduction period.
  • An additional object of the invention is to raise the discharge voltage immediately after sparkover and lower the discharge Voltage before seal off or clearing of a valve type lightning arrester having a current limiting series gap or gaps.
  • a still further object of the invention is to provide novel slow shunting means for extra valve resistance in a valvetype lightning arrester.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of an embodiment of the invention
  • FIG. 2 is an exploded detailed view of a portion of the time delayed acting means
  • FIG. 3 is a modification in which the current limiting gaps are in parallel columns for producing a ip-flop mode of operation with some of the valve resistance in the columns and with the rest of the valve resistance and the extra resistance in the common circuit of the arrester,
  • FIG. 4 is a diagram of a modified form of time delayed acting means
  • FIG. 5 is a still further modification of the time delayed acting means.
  • valve type lightning arrester 1 comprising a current limiting gap unit or units 2 in series with a normal valve resistor 3.
  • a normal valve resistor 3 there is an extra series valve resistor 4 and a special slow acting shunting means 5 for the extra resistor 4.
  • the terminals of the arrester are indicated at 6 and 7 either one of which may be connected solidly to ground and the other connected to a power circuit element to be protected against overvoltage.
  • the slow shunting means 5 is shown as comprising a horn gap 8 having characteristic curved electrodes with an intermediate sparkover spacing and diverging are runners.
  • the horn gap 8 is provided with a pair of auxiliary electrodes 9 insulated from each other and from the main electrodes of the horn gap 8 but in the path of the magnetically blown out arc between those main electrodes.
  • the auxiliary electrodes are connected in shunt circuit relation with both the extra valve resistor 4 and the horn gap electrodes 8.
  • a resistor 10 of typically a few thousand ohms for carrying the grading current of the arrester, the voltage grading network of which has not been shown as it is not a part of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 A suitable structural form of the slow shunting gap is shown in FIG. 2 in which the electrodes of the horn gap 8 are mounted on a ceramic disc 11 which is provided with an auxiliary insulated electrode 9 and another auxiliary nsulated electrode 9 mounted on a face of another ceramic disc 12. These two faces of the discs 11 and 12 when the discs are placed together form an arc chamber for the arc of the horn gap 8.
  • the resistor is shown connected across the gap 8.
  • the current limiting gap unit 2 may be of any suitable type such, for example, as is fully described in Pat. 3,320,482 granted May 16, 1967 on a joint application of Eugene C. Sakshaug and Earl W. Stetson filed June 2, 1964 and assigned to the present assignee.
  • FIG.1 The operation of the invention shown in FIG.1 is as follows. When a sufficiently high voltage surge is impressed across the terminals of the arrester all of its gaps spark over and discharge current flows through the arrester. Because of the extra valve resistor 4, the arrester is prevented from having too low a discharge voltage. As current continues to fiow through the horn gap 8, the curvature or loop in the current path feeding its arc produces an electromagnetic force on the arc, moving or blowing it out along the arc runners to the right as viewed in the drawing. Successive positions of the blown out arc at the ends of the arc runners are indicated by the wavy lines at 13 and 14. Finally the blo'wn out arc will bridge the electrodes 9, whose spacing is somewhat greater than the sparkover distance of the electrodes of the horn gap 8.
  • the arc 15 forms between the auxiliary electrodes 9 and the horn gap arc is extinguished.
  • the arc 15 shunts or effectively short circuits the extra valve resistor 4 as well as the horn gap 8. Consequently, toward the end of the arresters discharge period or at about the time that the discharge current of a switching surge begins to subside, the extra valve resistor is removed from the arrester circuit because at that time the current limiting gap 2 has built up suicient voltage for interrupting follow current and sealing off the arrester.
  • FIG. 3 there is shown a more complicated arrester 16 having a so-called flip-Hop portion 17 and a common portion 18.
  • the flip-flop portion consists of two parallel columns each comprising at least one current limiting gap 2 and at least one valve resistor 19.
  • the common portion 18 which, of course, is in series with the flip-Hop portion 17 comprises a non-current limiting gap 20, a common valve resistor 21 and an extra valve resistor 4 corresponding to the extra valve 4 of FIG. l.
  • the valve resistor 4 is arranged to be shunted by a slow shunting gap unit 5 similar to the element 5 of FIG. 1.
  • all or part of the common resistance is shunted by a current switching gap unit 22.
  • the details of the non-current limiting gap and the current switching gap 22 are not shown as they form no part of the present invention. Suitable examples of such gaps are disclosed in the above identified Sakshaug et al. patent.
  • the other gap in the parallel column will be subjected to the full voltage of its parallel column, i.e., the built up voltage of the current limiting gap and the voltage drop in the valve resistor in series with the latter so that when that voltage exceeds the sparkover voltage of the non-sparked over gap in the parallel column, the latter will sparkover thus-clearing the first column and initiating the second half of a cycle of flip-flop operaton.
  • the operation of the extra valve resistor 4' and the slow shunting gap unit 5 is essentially the same in FIG. 3 as in FIG. 1 in that the extra valve resistor 4 prevents the discharge voltage of the arrester particularly in its initial stages, from being too low but after a certain length of time which is long in comparison with the duration of an ordinary impulse but which is short in comparison with the duration of an ordinariy switching surge, the unit 5 will shunt out the extra valve resistance.
  • the fast shunting current switching gap 2.2 will sparkover lwhenever the voltage drop across the resistors 4' and 21 exceeds a predetermined value, but this gap like a current limiting gap will in a time 'which is short in comparison with the duration of the switching surge build up substantial voltage thus switching the lower magnitude but longer duration switching surge discharge current into the resistors 4' and 21.
  • FIG. 4 is a modified form of slow shunting gap unit 5 in which the extra valve resistor is in the form of three separate resistors 4a, 4b, and 4c, 4a and 4c being connected on one side of the horn gap 8 and 4b being connected on the other side of the horn gap 8, the auxiliary electrodes 9 shunting the entire assembly 5 and there being a magnetic coil 23 for augmenting the magnetic blowout action of the gap 8, the coil 23 being connected across the horn gap 8 and the resistor 4c.
  • the purpose of the latter is to augment the action of the coil 23 by increasing its voltage and hence its flux.
  • the polarity of the coil 23 is such that its magnetic flux drives the arcs 13 and 14 of the horn gap 8 out along the horns, i.e. in the same direction that they are propelled by the inherent action of the horn gap itself.
  • Valve type lightning arrester with at least one current limiting series gap, and at least one valve resistance, an extra valve resistance, and means for effectively shunting out the extra valve resistance after a time delay following sparkover ofthe current limiting gap and before the current limiting gap clears and seals ofl.
  • said extra valve resistance is in the form of three resistors, two of which are connected on one side of said magnetic blow out gap and the other of which is connected on the other side of said magnetic blow out gap, said coil shunting both said magnetic blow out gap and the nearest of the two extra valve resistors connected on one side of said magnetic blow out gap.
  • a pair of parallel columns each comprising at lea-st one current limiting gap and one valve resistor, said columns having a flip-Hop mode of operation during arrester discharge, common series valve resistance and means for effectively shunting out at least a portion of the common valve resistance after a predetermined time delay following initiation of discharge through the arrester but before the arrester seals off and terminates the discharge.
  • An arrester as defined in claim 11 having a common series noncurrent limiting gap.
  • An arrester as defined in claim 12 having a currentl References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,902,510 3/1933 McEachron et al. 317-70 3,019,367 l/l962 Kalb 315-36 3,320,482 5/1967 Sakshaug et al 317-69 X 3,348,100 10/1967 Kresge 317-68 X JAMES D. TRAMMELL, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

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  • Emergency Protection Circuit Devices (AREA)
US759844A 1968-09-16 1968-09-16 Voltage surge diverter Expired - Lifetime US3531690A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US75984468A 1968-09-16 1968-09-16

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US759844A Expired - Lifetime US3531690A (en) 1968-09-16 1968-09-16 Voltage surge diverter

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US (1) US3531690A (de)
CH (1) CH512845A (de)
DE (1) DE1944437A1 (de)
GB (1) GB1274887A (de)
SE (1) SE348895B (de)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4072996A (en) * 1975-07-29 1978-02-07 Bbc Brown, Boveri & Company Limited Method and arrangement for arc quenching in arresters
US4163272A (en) * 1977-01-20 1979-07-31 Bbc Brown, Boveri & Company Limited Arrangement for arc-quenching in arresters
US9383341B2 (en) 2013-10-29 2016-07-05 Metriguard Inc. Sonic lumber tester
CN117929902A (zh) * 2024-03-14 2024-04-26 浙江泰科天唯电气有限公司 一种复合型电涌保护器检测方法、电涌保护器及存储介质

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1902510A (en) * 1932-01-20 1933-03-21 Gen Electric Electrical discharge device
US3019367A (en) * 1957-01-04 1962-01-30 Ohio Brass Co Lighting arrester and gap unit therefor
US3320482A (en) * 1964-06-02 1967-05-16 Gen Electric Lightning arrester for high energy switching surges
US3348100A (en) * 1965-03-22 1967-10-17 Gen Electric Sparkover control circuit for lightning arrester shunt gap unit

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1902510A (en) * 1932-01-20 1933-03-21 Gen Electric Electrical discharge device
US3019367A (en) * 1957-01-04 1962-01-30 Ohio Brass Co Lighting arrester and gap unit therefor
US3320482A (en) * 1964-06-02 1967-05-16 Gen Electric Lightning arrester for high energy switching surges
US3348100A (en) * 1965-03-22 1967-10-17 Gen Electric Sparkover control circuit for lightning arrester shunt gap unit

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4072996A (en) * 1975-07-29 1978-02-07 Bbc Brown, Boveri & Company Limited Method and arrangement for arc quenching in arresters
US4163272A (en) * 1977-01-20 1979-07-31 Bbc Brown, Boveri & Company Limited Arrangement for arc-quenching in arresters
US9383341B2 (en) 2013-10-29 2016-07-05 Metriguard Inc. Sonic lumber tester
CN117929902A (zh) * 2024-03-14 2024-04-26 浙江泰科天唯电气有限公司 一种复合型电涌保护器检测方法、电涌保护器及存储介质
CN117929902B (zh) * 2024-03-14 2024-05-24 浙江泰科天唯电气有限公司 一种复合型电涌保护器检测方法、电涌保护器及存储介质

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Publication number Publication date
SE348895B (de) 1972-09-11
DE1944437A1 (de) 1970-03-26
GB1274887A (en) 1972-05-17
CH512845A (de) 1971-09-15

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