Hamid JAVADI - On leave from the Power and Water Institute of Technology (PWIT), Tehran, Iran
Masoud FARZANEH - NSERC /
Hossein HEMMATJOU - NSERC /

In many cold climate regions of the world, ice and snow accretions on overhead transmission lines is sometimes the cause of mechanical damage to various equipment and flashover on insulators. This paper presents the results of a laboratory study on the electrical behavior of snow-covered equipment. From the results obtained, it has been found that the voltage across snow and the current through it are nearly in the same phase, which means that the snow acts as a pure resistor. This resistor is non-linear and varies by voltage applied across it. Based on the results, a mathematical model allowing simulating the electrical behavior of snow is introduced.

snow, v-i characteristic, non-linear resistance, flashover voltage