Surge Recordings that Make Sense: Shifting Focus from Voltage to Current Measurements

The paper proposes to establish a program for characterizing surge events according to the capability of a surge event to deliver a surge current through the power system in end-user facilities. This characterization would replace the conventional and by now misleading monitoring of surge voltages. The new approach will use a current transducer including a silicon-avalanche diode with the lowest possible voltage to “attract” surges away from other surge-protective devices connected within the facility. The voltage signal from the current transducer will then be recorded using any power quality monitoring instrument available to the individual researchers, providing complete current waveform parameters.