Increasing of operation security and of breaking capacity of surge arresters

Surge arresters with a multi-chamber system that consists of composite electrodes fitted into silicone rubber have been recently proposed for lightning protection of power lines. This article describes experimental and theoretical investigations of the multi-chamber arrester. The main goal of experimental investigations is to determine magnitudes of electrical resistance and of electrical conductivity of plasma in the area of the exhaust of discharge chamber that allows to define the boundaries of the region of overlap of adjacent chambers. A mathematical model of thermal, electromagnetic and gas dynamic processes taking place in a discharge chamber of a multi-chamber arrester is described. Basic assumptions, model equations, a computational domain and boundary conditions are given. Plasma turbulence is taken into account. Results of calculation namely the distributions of plasma temperature and overpressure in the discharge chamber at different time points are shown. The analysis of the results is presented.