Improvement of an overhead distribution feeder performance against lightning considering the wire-guard protection

Abstract

This paper presents a study about the influence of the wire-guard as a protection system in overhead distribution line in comparison with unprotected topology against lightning. A real feeder was considered as a case study using ATP-EMTP software. Practical aspects related to the modeling of a distribution line are presented. Simulation results show that the shielding configuration ensures a protection significantly better than the actual topology, around 10 times in terms of lightning peak current. Thus, the wire-guard can improve the immunity of distribution system against atmospheric discharges.