O/H TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

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POLYMER SURGE ARRESTERS
DynaVar

Distribution Class (PDV) and
Riser Pole (PVR) Surge Arresters
PDV-100 and PDV-65 Distribution
Surge Arresters

The PDV-100 arrester was introduced in 1986 as the first U.S. non-ceramic
arrester for heavy duty applications. The Ohio Brass Company then expanded
its line of polymerhoused distribution arresters with a normal duty PDV-65 and
PVR arrester.
The polymer housing on these arresters offers many benefits never before
vailable. For example, the arrester virtually eliminates the opportunity for amage
from mishandling in packing, shipping and installation. Because the PDV does
not have an internal atmosphere, failure from breathing or pumping moisture
through minute cracks or other imperfections is also eliminated.

The application of system overvoltage, above arrester design limits, may result
in failure as with all arresters. The housing splits or tears in contrast to the
otentially violent failure mode of porcelain into many sharp fragments. The
otential danger to nearby equipment and personnel is reduced drastically.

The PDV/PVR arresters have the same high-quality metaloxide varistor material
used in other Ohio Brass DynaVar station, intermediate and distribution
arresters which have operated successfully for over 15 years. PDV/PVR have
all the gapless MOV advantages such as high temporary overvoltage capability,
contamination resistance, improved surge-duty capability and excellent
protective characteristics.

Alloy ESP Housing
The PDV/PVR arrester housing is made from the same ESP rubber material
used in high voltage insulators. The ESP housing resists tracking from surface
leakage currents. Leakage distance is exceptional.
In addition to the performance record as an insulator material, ESPs excellent
properties have been confirmed in a series of performance tests that include
tracking resistance, contamination, aging and seal design. As with polymer
insulators, polymer arresters have high cantilever and tensile strengths.

Basic Construction
The polymer housing fits like a tight elastic glove around the internal
components in contrast to porcelain housings whichare separated from the
varistors. Even though vacuumpumps can remove most moisture from the
space inside theporcelain housing, a source of potential trouble can develop
ifsmall cracks let additional moisture enter the housing.

In the PDV/PVR arresters, the varistors are locked in place with tightly wound
layers of fiberglass filament impregnated with epoxy resin. The polymer housing
design excludes air and moisture. The inside diameter of the housing is slightly
smaller than the outside diameter of the cylindrical element providing a snug fit.

The basic PDV/PVR housing is only six inches long for a 10kV unit 50 to 60
percent shorter than the porcelain equivalent.

A great advantage of the PDV/PVR construction is that fault withstand
capability can be maintained throughout the voltage range. The fault current
capability of porcelain is reduced as the housing lengthens.
Benefits
The PDV/PVR housing material excels in
tolerance to weather extremes from desert
heat to arctic cold, and resists damage
from ultraviolet rays and ozone. Samples
of the polymer have survived the
equivalent of over 50 years of
accelerated ultraviolet testing.
If the PDV/PVR arresters are dropped or
otherwise mishandled, there is little risk of
damage, in contrast to the brittleness of
porcelain. Internal parts cannot move. The
risk of vandalism is reduced. A bullet can
penetrate the housing, causing arrester
failure. But polymer does not shatter as
does porcelain, which scatters sharp
fragments.
A PDV/PVR arrester weighs less than its
porcelain counterpart, again making it
easier to handle and less costly to ship.
The PDV/PVR arresters are suitable for a
number of different applications, such as transformer mounting, enclosed in
switchgear or underhung in line protection applications.
As non-ceramic arresters, the PDV/PVR offer an imposing list of benefits. The
capability of failing with less danger to equipment and personnel, durability and
ease of handling lead the list. The PDV/PVR arrester is a worthy development
in the long list of Ohio Brass surge arrester innovations innovations that have
regularly improved protective levels, lowered costs of protection and enabled
utilities to operate equipment with lower basic insulation levels, with savings of
millions of dollars.
Note: The PDV/PVR arresters comply with ANSI and IEC standards for
distribution arresters.
Ohio Brass introduced the Multirester II distribu-
tion arrester twenty years ago. This design had an
automatic pressure relief system at the lower end
and greatly reduced the probability of porcelain
fragmentation following failure while energized in
service. However, the desirability of pressure relief
was not widely recognized and few utilities consid-
ered the benefits worth the added cost and manu-
facture was discontinued after a few years.

A decade later, the desirability of pressure relief in
distribution arresters became more widely recog-
nized. A design test procedure was incorporated
into ANSI Standard C62.1 and several designs with
end venting systems,
sometimes enhanced with arc transfer systems and/or use of internal liners, have
been available in recent years. All of these designs continued the use of porcelain
housings. Therefore, if rated fault current magnitude, or duration, is exceeded, the
risk of porcelain fragmentation remains.

The ESP polymer-housed PDV/PVR arresters with epoxy/ fiberglass-wrapped
MOV disc modules eliminates the major hazard of an arrester failure by not having
a porcelain housing to explode if a power arc is established within the arrester.

Full Scale Fault Current Tests
A series of full voltage tests was conducted in accordance with Section 8.10 of
ANSI/IEEE C62.11-1993 to determine the failure modes of the PDV/PVR arresters.
The 8.4 kV MCOV specimens were assembled with fine fuse wire shunting the
blocks before assembly within the module. As described by the standard, this
technique simulates the result of arrester failure by internal dielectric breakdown.

Fault currents of 500 to 20,000 amperes RMS symmetrical for durations of 10 to
120 cycles were used in these studies on the PDV-100/PVR arrester. Fault cur-
rents of 500 to 10,000 amperes RMS symmetrical for durations of 10 to 120 cycles
were used in the PDV-65 studies. Successful performance was demonstrated
when the epoxy/fiberglass-wrapped modules either ruptured or burned through to
relieve internal pressure. The polymer housings then split open to relieve pressure.
At high fault currents the housing may become detached from the MOV module.
Since higher voltage arresters were assembled by modular construction, the test
results are valid for all arrester voltage ratings.

The test sequence was recorded by ultra high-speed movies and camera
photographs of the before and after condition of the arresters.
Tests Verify PDV & PVR Arrester Design
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PDV Arrestors
PDV/PVR Design Test Report Summary
The PDV-100 and PDV-65 arresters have been tested in accordance with ANSI
Standard C62.11-1993 for metal-oxide surge arresters. There is no ANSI Standard
for PVR arresters so they were tested per the heavy duty requirement.
The PDV-100/PVR meet or exceed all the requirements for heavy-duty distribution
arrester designs. The PDV-65 meets or exceeds all requirements for normal duty
surge arresters.
The table below summarizes the capabilities of these designs.
The PDV-100 epoxy-fiberglass-
wrapped metal-oxide disc modules
ruptured to relieve the internal pressure
generated by a fault current arc of 10
kA for 10 cycles. The polymer housing
has been split open, but the housing
remains attached
The above is merely a summary of a portion of the
design tests performed on PDV/PVR arresters.
Contact your Ohio Brass district manager for com-
plete test reports on these two arresters.
Typical Cross Sections PDV/PVR Arresters
DynaVar PDV-100 and PDV-65 Distribution Class Surge
Arresters and PVR Riser Pole Type
Metal-oxide type surge arresters have been acknowledged as a major improve-
ment in surge protection over conventional silicon-carbide designs. Ohio Brass has
manufactured both station class and intermediate class metal-oxide surge
arresters since 1981
Selection of arrester size is based upon the maximum continuous operating
voltage (MCOV) that is applied across the arrester in service (Iine-to-ground). For
arresters on effectively grounded systems, this is normally the maximum line-
to-ground voltage -- e.g., 7.65 kV on a 12.47 kV multi-grounded system. -cycle
voltage rating associated with the MCOV of each arrester.

For ungrounded or impedance-grounded systems, the MCOV should be at least 90
percent of maxi-mum phase-to-phase voltage. Smaller arresters than shown may
be used, contact your Ohio Brass representative for details.
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DynaVar PDV/PVR arresters are gapless and all the system line-to-ground voltage appears
on the metal-oxide valve elements. The blocks can withstand significant overvoltage for a
limited time, depending on the magnitude of any immediately preceding surge duty. They
can withstand 1.1 percent of MCOV for periods of 2000 hours, up to five percent of the life of
the arrester.

PVR arresters can withstand about 3.4 KJ/KV of
MCOV within one minute. DynaVar PDV-
100 arresters can absorb up to 2.2 kJ per kV of MCOV
within one minute. DynaVar PDV-65
arresters can absorb up to 1.4 kJ per kV of MCOV
Typical Mounting Configurations and Hardware