The 5th International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Informatics 2015
August 10-11, 2015, Bali, Indonesia
Multi-Chamber Arrester Study at Tropical Area for
20 kV Lines Lightning Protection System
Reynaldo Zoro
Lightning Research Center
School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics
Institute of Technology Bandung Indonesia
zoro@hv.ee.itb.ac.id
Abstract—This paper issues on 20kV overhead lines related to
lightning strike to the medium voltage line and the consequences
of lightning overvoltage at the tropical Area like Serpong area
near Jakarta. Few standard lightning protection solutions are
discussed in terms of expected performance and limitations.
Implementation of Multi-Chamber Arrester (MCA) and the
research results after 1 year of operation in the tropical area with
high lightning density (>15 flashes per km2 per year) in Jakarta
region are presented.
Keywords-component; multi-chamber arrester, lightning,
medium voltage, induced overvoltage.
I. INTRODUCTION
Serpong Stated Electricity Company of Indonesia (PLN)
medium voltage 20kV lines in the Serpong region are located
in high lightning density area. Over the years several tripping
and conductor damages occur due to lightning strikes. These
lightning issues create loss in operation as well as danger for
human being. Several solutions have been evaluated over the
years which can improve line performance against lightning
strikes such as installation of overhead ground wire and the
relocation of lightning arrester.
II. PROTECTION OF OVERHEAD LINE
Several solutions can be used to protect overhead lines. The
following paragraph gives a short description of the solution
and the main issues.
A. Shielding Wire
Installing one shielding wire on medium voltage lines can
reduce up to 30% the number of outages [1]. If its cost is rather
reasonable in regards with its lifespan, shielding wire
performance also mainly depends on quality of grounding,
which, without maintenance altered through the years. [2]
B. Metal Oxide Arrester
MOA on the line can prevent up to 80% of the outages on
medium voltage lines due to lightning, 3 pcs (1 for each phase)
of metal oxide arrester shall be installed in every 200m [3].
Nevertheless, failure rate of metal oxide arresters used to
protect line is rather high. In fact, standard metal oxide arrester
have been designed and tested to discharge rather short
978-1-4673-7319-7/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE
197
Tulus Leo
Lightning Research Center
School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics
Institute of Technology Bandung Indonesia
tulus.leo@gmail.com
amplitude waveform and their ability to withstand waveform of
55 to 75us is rather limited. Therefore failure rate can be as
high as 5% when used for line protection. Beside performance
and in particular discharge capability highly depends of quality
of grounding as for the shielding wire.
Another type of MOA is Gapped Metal Oxide Arrester.
Their functioning and defaults are rather the same as metal
oxide arrester to the following differences:
• Since not connected on the line, they prevent
power losses,
• The “pickup” voltage depends on the air gap
adjustment,
• Manufacturer often recommend using them
without conductor horn, which can lead to serious
damage to the conductor.
III. MULTI CHAMBER SYSTEM (MCS)
The base of multi chamber arresters (MCA), including
MCIA, is the MCS shown in Fig. 1. It comprises a large
number of electrodes mounted in a length of silicon rubber.
Holes drilled between the electrodes and going through the
length act as miniature gas discharge chambers. When a
lightning overvoltage impulse is applied to the arrester, it
breaks down gaps between electrodes. Discharges between
electrodes occur inside chambers of a very small volume; the
resulting high pressure drives spark discharge channels
between electrodes to the surface of the insulating body and,
hence, outside into the air around the arrester. A blow-out
action and an elongation of inter electrode channels lead to an
increase of the total resistance of all channels (i.e., that of the
arrester), which limits the lightning overvoltage impulse
current [4].
The principal components of a 20-kV MCA (see Fig. 2) are
a fiberglass bearing rod, and an assembly for securing arresters
to insulator pins. Arresters are mounted on insulator pins with
air gaps of 3 to 6 cm between the top ends of the arresters and
the conductor. A lightning overvoltage first breaks down the air
spark gap, followed by the arrester’s MCS, which ensures the
extinction of follow current
 Column1 2010 2011 2012 2013
Substation Trips 44 5 2 4
SR20 line Trips Recloser not installed Not available 27 21
KDS4 line Trips Recloser not installed Not available 18 32
Total number of trips 44 5 47 57

Table 1. Trips records on switchgear from substation and reclosers of

feeders.

For the purpose of the research, field test line has been
separated in 2 zones as shown in figure 3, where the orange
color is the vicinity of the substation and the blue color is the
whole research area at a further distance from substation.

Fig. 1. Multichamber system (MCS): (a) Diagram showing the discharge onset
instant. (b) Diagram showing the discharge end instant. 1) silicon rubber
length, 2) electrodes, 3) arc quenching chamber, and 4) discharge channel.

Fig 3. 20kV lines of feeder SR20 and feeder KDS4.Orange Color is

the vicinity area, and in blue color is the whole research area.
Fig 2. Spark discharge occurs into the air around the Multichamber arresters
installation 20-kV lines.
Table 2. shows the information of the area including
IV. SERPONG LINES CHARACTERISTICS coordinates, total length of circuit comprised in area,
A 20 kV feeder, called “Ruko” in Serpong region has been dimensions and area cover. Information has been collected in
chosen to be equipped with the multi-chamber arresters. The order to analyze outage and lightning localization depend on
choice is determined due to highest lightning outage of the area covered.
feeder [5].
Substation vicinity consists of 154 poles equipped with 132
Ruko feeder has actually 2 feeders which will be called gapless arrester and gapped metal oxide arrester with an
feeder SR20 and feeder KDS4 with the total length is around average of 0.85 arresters per pole.
45km. Recloser equipped with data logger are installed within Substation
the first 200m of each feeder. Parameter of Area Overall Area
Vicinity
Outages have been recorded through this logger at Area Width in km 2,9 7,7
substation and reclosers as shown on table 1. It can be noted Area Length in km 3,4 10,9
that in total of 40 to 60 outages took place every year on these Area in km2 10,0 84,1
lines. Noted that data for year 2011 were not available on Longitude min 106,589211 106,582423
reclosers. [7] Longitude max 106,614253 106,646372
Latitude min -6,306472 -6,285117
Average outages recorded per 100km per year at feeder Latitude max -6,336874 -6,378302
KDS4 and feeder SR20 is 120 outages. 24kV Circuit Length of line in Area in km 10 45
Surface sensitive to lightning in km2 4 20

Table 2. Data of the research location which are equipped by arrester

on SR20 and KDS4 feeders.

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 V. INSTALLATION OF MULTI-CHAMBER ARRESTER 1. From 20th October 2013 to 24th January 2014, 1
As substation vicinity area seems to suffer more of arrester is operated.
lightning outages, it has been decided to first install Multi 2. From 25th January 2014 to 12th of May 2014, 1
Chamber Arresters in this area [8]. arrester is operated
3. From 13th of May to 26th September 9 operation
On 20 October and 19 November 2013, a total of 44 occurred.
arresters have been installed in the vicinity area. Installed
arrester was shown in Fig 4, one arrester per pole is installed on
alternate phases. This arrester has been installed on poles that VI. OPERABILITY OF MULTI-CHAMBER ARRESTER ON 2OKV
were not equipped with gapped or gapless metal oxide arresters NETWORKS
(MOA). Arrester was simply mounted on the cross arm using
standard metal fitting. No specific connection to a ground A. Air gap
electrode, or ground lead was used [4].
More than 354 days after installation no increase nor excessive
outages number were observed. Table 3 shows a reducing of
trips per 100km of lines. This shows that switching
overvoltage, variation of air gap through wind and external
elements are not likely trigger the spark gap and lead to
nuisance tripping.
Before MCA Inst. After MCA Inst.
27 Fev 2012 20 Oct 2013
20 Oct 2013 9 Oct 2014
SR20 line Trips 46 26
KDS4 line Trips 44 17
Total number of trips 90 43
Fig 4. Multi-Chamber Arresters installed on alternate phases, one Trips per Year per 100km 121 99
piece per pole Table 3. Trips records before and after installation of Multi-
Chambers Arresters
Multi-Chamber Arresters operations under lightning
impulse were monitored with one-time-operation indicators. B. Loop operation
Periodic visit on the line were schedules to monitor evolution It can be observed that overall arrester is performing
of arrester installation as well as one-time-operation indicators. either in pairs or in triplets. Some arresters even performed
None of the arrester installed on the line was connected to the “across” metal oxide arresters as can be seen on annex A,
ground with a ground lead. Grounding resistance of poles
Multi-Chambers Arresters installation were located after
equipped with MCA was not adjusted throughout the
recloser position on SR20 feeder (Fig 6).
installation.

Fig 6. Standard current loop operation of arresters working in pairs

C. Operation of Multi-Chambers Arresters within 100m of

Fig 5. Broken indicator showing the operation of the arrester
From 20 October 2013 to 26 September 2014, it was
observed 11 operations of arresters as shown by the indicator
(Fig 5) as follow :
Metal Oxide Arresters
Some arresters operated at distance shorter than 100m from
gapless metal oxide arrester while some others operated
“across” metal oxide arresters.
This phenomenon can be due to 2 reasons.

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First, residual voltage of gapless metal oxide arrester is higher Parameter of Area Substation Vicinity Overall Area
than spark over voltage of MCA. In fact, residual voltage of Area in km2 10,0 84,1
gapless metal oxide arresters increases with higher discharge Ground flashes from 27 Feb
current. For example a widely used type of heavy duty 2012 to 20 Oct 2013 281 1823
polymer metal oxide arrester presenting following Ground Flash Density in
characteristics, 10kA nominal discharge, rated voltage of flashes/km2/year 17,07 13,16
20kV, MCOV 19.5kV, will have a residual voltage of 70.7kV Table 4. Lightning activity during 54 days from 27 Feb 2012 to 20
at 3kA discharge and good footing resistance. Spark-over Oct 2013
voltage remains stable at 66.6kV for lightning waveform with Analysis of lightning occurrence with trips shows lightning
the front time of 5μs and more. For heavy lightning discharge, presence a few hours before up to 54% of cases and exactly at
usually with average front time of 5 μs, Multi-Chambers the same time 20% of cases.
Arresters is therefore likely to operate “before” gapless metal Substation Vicinity Overall Area
oxide arresters. few hours few hours
at same time at same time
before before
Second, metal oxide arresters residual voltage strongly Nb of lightning occurrence 9 30 17 47
Ratio vs Nb of Trips 10% 34% 20% 54%
depends on quality of the grounding resistance. If grounding
resistance is high, the level of discharge voltage will be low Table 5. Lightning occurrence at time of recloser’s trips.
and the overvoltage on the line will be limited, resulting on
higher overvoltage on the line that the one given by maximum
B. After Installation of MCA
discharge voltage expected for a given discharge current. In
this case, both device will operate and contribute to discharge According to BMKG, (Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi Dan
the overvoltage. Geofisika) data during the period of installation there is
ground flash density was around 15 ground flashes per square
kilometer per year.

On the overall area, only 7 occurrences were observed after

installation of Multi-Chambers Arresters. Number of
occurrence of lightning and trips per 100km of circuit per year
decreased from 29 before installation to 12 after installation of
Multi-Chambers Arresters, preventing more than 50% of
outages.

Fig 7. Flashover voltage in function of front time for Multi-Chambers Period

Before MCA Inst.
27 Fev 2012
After MCA Inst.
20 Oct 2013 TOTAL
Arresters Number of Trips at Lightning
Time
20 Oct 2013 9 Oct 2014
Nb of Days of
601 354 955
Period

Total Number 9 0 9
VII. LIGHTNING DATA Substation Vicinity
Circuit Length = 10km Number per Year
55 0 N/A
per 100km
A. Before Installation of MCA Overall Area
Total Number 17 7 24

Lightning data for this research derived from BMKG, (Badan
Meteorologi, Klimatologi Dan Geofisika) or Indonesia
Weather Service Office.
BMKG collects data through 57 sensors throughout Indonesia.
Data consist of lightning flash per day, time, coordinates, and
type of lightning. Accuracy is reported to be 1000m.
Lightning data have been collected in order to show the
occurrence of lightning during tripping events. Therefore only
lightning data on tripping date have been collected and
analyzed.
From 27 Feb 2012 to 20 Oct 2013, 601 days, 90 trips were
observed on KDS4 and SR20 feeder on more than 55 days.
Lightning activity over the related days were collected* and
analyzed. It can be seen that only from 55 days of lightning,
lightning activity in vicinity of the substation can reach 17,07
ground flashes per square kilometer per year.
*Note that lightning data were not available for 3 outages day and time.
Circuit Length = 35km Number per Year
per 100km
29 12 N/A
Table 6. Lightning occurrence at time and day of distribution lines
trips
VIII. COMPARISON OF MOA WITH MULTI-CHAMBERS
ARRESTERS
A comprehensive comparison can be noticed in the following
major elements:
• Performance of Multi-Chambers Arresters does not
depend on its grounding resistance, provided the fact
that grounding resistance is lower than 130 Ohm.
• Failure rate or broken device of Multi-Chambers
Arresters is close to 0% due to a high discharge
capability (2.4C, equivalent to 16kA for 200μs) [12].
• Multi-Chambers Arresters can achieve up to 99% of
outage prevention on induced overvoltage with in
average 1 arrester per pole where MOA achieve only
80% [2].

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 IX. CONCLUSION
During the period of installation of MCA (2013 – 2014) the
ground flash density was around 15 ground flashes per square
kilometer per year compared to 17.07 GFD before (2012 -
2013). Multi-Chambers Arresters operated 11 times and had a
positive effect on the protection of the 20 kV overhead line by
reducing number of trips.
Research results shows that MCA contributed to improve line
performance by 50% against lightning strikes. Beside that none
of the arresters was damaged during this research period and
distribution line did not suffer from any nuisance tripping.
LITERATURE
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Lightning Protection by Multi-Chamber Arresters and Insulator-
Arresters”, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 26, no. 1, pp.
214–221, January 2011.
201
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Institute of Technology, Bandung, 1999
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IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 1998
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[12] EPRI China and CESI Italy Test Result on 2.4C Discharge Capability of
MCA