Lightning Performance of Transmission Line with and without Surge Arresters: Comparison between a Monte Carlo method and field experience

This paper presents a study regarding the lightning flashover rates of transmission lines comparing results from calculation procedures and field experience. The proposed procedure is based on Monte Carlo method and allows the estimation of the lightning performance of lines equipped or not with surge arresters. The procedure has been implemented in Delphi and linked to Alternative Transients Program-ATP. The calculation is done using simple engineering models for each component. Nevertheless, the overall modeling led to reliable results, concerning the comparison with the reported field data. With this respect, the comparative study of lightning performance of transmission lines, the paper presents results for three lines: a line without surge arrester, in Tennessee-USA, for which the performance was estimated using both IEEE FLASH and the proposed procedure, and two transmission lines equipped with surge arresters, in Minas Gerais-Brazil, calculated solely using the proposed methodology. These three lines have been monitored for more than 7 years, without significant layout/design changes in this period, favoring the statistical relevance of the reported data.