A new method for surge arrester placement in high-voltage substations considering environmental effects

Conventional approaches for determining the optimal locations of surge arresters (SAs) can result in an unnecessary increase in the number of these devices in high-voltage substations. This study presents an effective technique for determining the optimal locations of SAs. The lightning back flashover (BF) and switching over-voltages are predicted with the accurate modeling of the transient behavior of all elements of high-voltage substations and transmission lines, considering the effect of environmental conditions. Also, the proposed limiting parameter Monte Carlo (MC-LP) method is utilized to correctly select the probability distribution of the possible strokes for predicting the insulation risk (IR) of a transformer based on transient over-voltage on the transformer end. Therefore, the most appropriate location to install an SA can be determined with a minimum number of calculations using the structural data of the substation, lines connected to it, and the transformer. Simulations are based on experimental results, and the number of calculations significantly decreases using the proposed algorithm. Simulations of the sample network and implementation of the proposed algorithm with MATLAB and EMTP-RV prove the efficiency of the proposed method for optimum SA placement.