Design and application of lightning impulse current generator for testing low voltage surge arresters

The continuity of electrical energy is gaining importance day by day. Due to the factors affecting the continuity of electrical energy, some interruptions and malfunctions may occur in electrical power systems. As a natural phenomenon, lightning impulse discharges are one of these factors. Lightning impulse currents resulting from lightning discharges can be produced in a laboratory environment for test purposes. Within the scope of the thesis, the necessary electrical parameter values were determined by examining the lightning impulse current generator circuit in the literature in order to perform the surge arrester test by producing lightning impulse current in the laboratory environment. The simulation of the determined parameter values was carried out with the Pspice program. An experimental system has been developed to produce a pulse current of 8/20 µs in a laboratory environment. The developed experimental system has been tested in 8/20 µs waveform, with a pulse current of 2.7 kA. With two separate capacitor groups used in the test system, the pulse current generator can operate between 8 kV, 320 J and 16 kV 640 J.