The evolution of breakdown voltage and delay time under high overvoltage for different types of surge arresters

The results of the reliability testing of Littelfuse and EPCOS gas-filled surge arresters for different overvoltages under DC discharge will be presented in this paper. The static breakdown voltage of these gas components was estimated using voltage increase rates ranging from 1 to 10 V/s. A detailed statistical analysis of experimental data has also been done. The delay time of these components for different nominal overvoltages has been investigated as an additional aspect important for component reliability. In addition, the delay time method was used as a statistical method which can give neither ion nor neutral active states number density in the glow and afterglow. It can be employed for qualitative observation of ions and neutral active states decay in the afterglow to such low concentrations where the other methods cannot be applied. Finally, a comparison has been done between the characteristics of two gas-filled surge arresters which have the same nominal overvoltage (Littelfuse and EPCOS) from different manufacturers.