Electrical breakdown time delay in commercial gas-filled surge arresters

This paper present the experimental results of electrical breakdown time delay of commercial gas-filled surge arresters manufactured by CITEL, SIEMENS and EPCOS as a function of relaxation time τ (memory curve) and applied voltage U
w
. It was shown that for CITEL components mean value of electrical breakdown time delay, t
d
insignificantly changes up to τ » 700ms. For 700 ms < τ < 3×10
³
ms, t
d
value rapidly increases and for τ 3 10 ms > × 3t
d
reaches saturation. Irradiation of CITEL components by gamma ray irradiation leads to significant decrease of td value for τ > 700ms. On the other hand, SIEMENS and EPCOS components show constant increase in td with the increase of τ until τ > 1s, when t
d
value reaches saturation. The increase of applied voltage leads to significant decrease in t
d
values up to U
w
» 300 V for all of the components, while for higher voltages such decrease is very small. Post-discharge mechanisms responsible for electrical breakdown time delay in these components were also analyzed.