IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - June 2022 - 50

the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the
Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
are used, together with the safety standards developed by
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. These standards cover the
areas such as SPD specifications for different locations,
SPD test procedures, and test waveforms. Table 1 lists
some of these institutions and their standards in relation
to SPDs [1], [3].
Locations and Categories
When a transient propagates through power lines, data
lines, or other branched circuits, its energy gets dissipated in
several ways. While wire resistance, flashovers, and SPDs in
the surge path dissipate part of the energy, the branch cirLive
C1X
M1
T1
Neutral
M2
M3
L1
ZL
C2X
C1Y
cuits divide the energy to smaller quantities depending on
the branch impedances and transfer these into individual
branches. Due to this fact, facilities are divided into different
location categories and specific protection levels are defined
based on locations. Figure 4 shows IEEE C62.41 and UL
1449 defined standard location [4]-[6]. The standards classify
surge protector types based on the potential impact of
the transient surge, and location.
As we see from Figure 4, categories A to C are based
on how far the protected equipment is from the power
line entry area of the building. It shows that the closest
area to power line entry point is category C and furthest
areas are defined under category A. More details, and
how IEEE C 62 series standard categories relate to UL
1449 types are summarised in [1].
Surge Test Waveforms
L2
C2Y
T2 T3
Earth
FIG 3 Typical arrangement of a commercial surge protector deigned for both
common and differential mode surge absorption.
The IEC 61000-4-5 standard specifies a
combination wave consisting of two waveforms,
which are shown in Figure 5. The
1.2/50 μs open-circuit voltage waveform
and the 8/20 μs short-circuit current waveform
are shown in Figure 5(a) and 5(b)
respectively. These impulse waveforms are
defined by their rise times and half-amplitude
duration. For example, an 8/20 μs
impulse current would have an 8 μs rise
time from 10% of the peak current to 90% of
the peak current. The 20 μs decay time is
measured between half amplitude points.
Commercially available lightning surge simulators
could generate these standard
Standard Agency
IEC
Table 1. Test Agencies and Their Recommended Standards for Surge Protection.
SPD-Related Standards
IEC 61000-4-5
Remark
IEC 60364
IEC 61643-11
IEC 61643-12n
UL
ANSI/IEEE
UL 1449
UL 1449 3rd Ed
IEEE C62.41.1
IEEE C62.41.2
IEEE C62.45
IEEE C62.62
IEEE C62.72
NEC
NEMA
Article 280
Article 285
LS1 Low-voltage surge
protective devices
Provide a model to simulate surges and then to be able to check if the equipment
is able to survive them.
General rules
Product standards
Selection and application guide
Primary concern is safety.
Devoted to surge protection manufacturers, defines the parameters as well as the test
procedure to qualify an SPD.
Risk of transient over voltages to low-voltage networks.
Surge environment and types of transients.
Method for testing equipment against transients that are connected to the
low voltage network.
Tests and ratings for SPDs installed on the load side of the service equipment,
used to compare SPD performance.
Installation of SPDs in electrical power distribution equipment.
Surge arrestor installed on wiring systems over 1000 V.
Selection and installation conditions of SPDs.
Provides specific SPD performance. This result can be used to compare actual
test results of SPDs.
UL-Underwriters Laboratory Inc.; IEC- International Electrotechnical Commission; ANSI/IEEE- American National Standard Institute/Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers; NEMA-National Electrical Manufacturers Association.
50 IEEE POWER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE z June 2022
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