Science Behind Industrial Lightning Rod Protection
Lightning rods are installed on a roof as network of interconnected rods and grounded to an appropriately designed grounding system. During a thunderstorm, as electrostatic field develops, the surface of the earth becomes charged. The lightning bolt travels through a downward leader that propagates in jumps in any direction. When the bolt approaches the ground it can hit any object. The aim of the lightning rod is to become the point of discharge of the bolt in order to achieve a controlled impact without damage. As the lightning strikes this rod, static energy is safely grounded, protecting the facility from damage. What is the science behind a conventional lightning rod protection? A conventional lightning rod has a blunt or sharp tip and is made out of aluminium, copper or stainless steel. They are evenly spaced on the roof of a structure to be protected. However, most lightning rods have a sharp point. The theory behind this was that a sharp point causes the largest electric field