Concept and Features of Arrester Operating Duty Test in The Japanese Standard

The Japanese Electrotechnical Committee (JEC) of surge arresters has made great efforts to establish several new standards of metal-oxide surge arresters (MOSA), because the dramatic and continuous advance in the MOSA technology over the last 30 years required the new and improved test methods in succession. In the study to establish these standards, how to evaluate the MOSA performance against the energy duties has been usually the main topic because the energy duties are significantly related to the size of zinc-oxide elements and the construction of MOSA. This paper describes the concept and features of arrester operating duty tests in the JEC standards comparing with that in the standard of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and also mentions the points at issues to be studied in the future which is common to both the JEC and IEC standards. The continuous study on the improvement of the standards is required in cooperation with the activities of IEC and the Internaltional Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRE: Conseil International des Grands Reseaux Electriques) taking into account of the latest world trend and the state-of-the-art technologies.