A Survey of Diagnostic and Condition Monitoring of Metal Oxide Surge Arrester in the Power Distribution Network

Metal oxide surge arresters (MOSAs) are a popular solution for dealing with overvoltages due to lightning and switching in power distribution networks. As a result, a MOSA’s performance and longevity have a significant impact on the quality of energy and the frequency of outages. A MOSA performance is determined by several elements such as leakage current, partial discharge, and thermal image measured in various ways. In this study, different techniques for diagnostic and condition monitoring of MOSAs are discussed, and each method’s advantages and disadvantages are investigated. Additionally, the results of practical tests on two 20 kV healthy and degraded MOSAs are investigated and compared.