Arcing horns

Arcing horns (sometimes arc-horns) are projecting conductors used to protect insulators or switch hardware on high voltage electric power transmission systems from damage during flashover. Overvoltages on transmission lines, due to atmospheric electricity, lightning strikes, or electrical faults, can cause arcs across insulators (flashovers) that can damage them. Alternately, atmospheric conditions or transients that occur during switching can cause an arc to form in the breaking path of a switch during its operation. Arcing horns provide a path for flashover to occur that bypasses the surface of the protected device. Horns are normally paired on either side of an insulator, one connected to the high voltage part and the other to ground, or at the breaking point of a switch contact. They are frequently to be seen on insulator strings on overhead lines, or protecting transformer bushings. The horns can take various forms, such as simple cylindrical rods, circular guard rings, or contoured curves, sometimes known as 'stirrups'. High voltage equipment, particularly that which is installed outside, such as overhead power lines, is commonly subject to transient overvoltages, which may be caused by phenomena such as lightning strikes, faults on other equipment, or switching surges during circuit re-energisation. Overvoltage events such as these are unpredictable, and in general cannot be completely prevented. Line terminations, at which a transmission line connects to a busbar or transformer bushing, are at greatest risk to overvoltage due to the change in characteristic impedance at this point. An electrical insulator serves to provide physical separation of conducting parts, and under normal operating conditions is continuously subject to a high electric field which occupies the air surrounding the equipment. Overvoltage events may cause the electric field to exceed the dielectric strength of air and result in the formation of an arc between the conducting parts and over the surface of the insulator. This is called flashover.