Computation of power line tower lightning surge impedance using the electromagnetic field method

Abstract

The power line tower lightning surge impedance is computed using an electromagnetic field approach. After comparing the results computed by our method and those tested with both a vertical conductor and reduced scale 4-poles model of tower, the method we used is proved to be right and more practical as the soil and the grounding system of the tower can be considered in the method. Using this method, the lightning surge impedance of the full scale UHV tower with grounding system is analyzed and the results show that the lightning surge impedance of a tower on the perfect ground has a little difference with those of an actual tower considering both its grounding system and soil resistivity, and when the soil resistivity is changed, the surge impedance changes slightly. Furthermore, a circuit model of the tower is obtained by vector fitting method based on the results we computed. Using the circuit model, the lightning surge performance of a power transmission line can be analyzed more accurately by EMTP or other methods