External Leakage Current Separation to Determine Arrester Condition Due to Contamination

Abstract

Leakage current measurements can be used to determine the aging condition of the ZnO arrester. The leakage current that occurs in the arrester is divided into two, namely external and internal leakage currents. The external leakage current is affected by contamination and the internal leakage current is affected by the aging of the varistor in the arrester. The external and internal leakage currents are measured separately to determine their contribution to the arrester condition. In this study, the effect of salt contamination on the arrester was studied further. The level of contamination used consisted of low, medium and heavy. The obtained leakage current is analyzed using wavelet energy. The results of this study indicate that the wavelet energy of each leakage current is different and can be used as an indicator in further analysis. The conclusion obtained is that the external leakage current is affected by contamination and has a different energy with the internal leakage current due to aging of the varistor arrester components.