Lightning Protection Systems

  A lightning rod is a metal rod mounted on a structure and intended to protect the structure from a lightning strike. If lightning hits the structure, it will preferentially strike the rod and be conducted to ground through a wire instead of passing through the structure, where it could start a fire or cause electrocution. Lightning rods are also called finials, air terminals, or strike termination devices. This technology goes back about 250 years to when Benjamin Franklin developed it. It was designed primarily for structural protection. Today, society has evolved to include sophisticated communications, computers, networks, power, power generation, GPS, space travel, air travel, and many more, but many companies are still using a lightning protection unit that goes back to the 1700s. Today’s standards are still rooted in the Ben Franklin system, including the National Fire Protection Agency NFPA 780 and Underwriters Laboratory (UL). Their p...

  In the fast-paced world of manufacturing and automation, every surge of electricity and every fluctuation in voltage poses a potential threat to your machinery and systems. The potential for costly damage to equipment, downtime due to repairs, and the risk of voiding warranties by not installing lightning surge protection devices is where surge protection steps in.   Why surge protection matters? Surge protection devices play a vital role in safeguarding equipment against over-voltage events that can cause significant damage – from protecting sensitive electronics to ensuring compliance with industry standard.   ·          Firstly, these solutions save money by preventing costly damage to equipment. It's far more economical to replace a worn-out SPD than to repair or replace an entire panel or machine. ·          Additionally, SPDs reduce downtime by enabling quick and easy rep...

  Lightning surge protection devices are an indispensable part of lightning protection for electronic equipment. Its function is to limit the instantaneous overvoltage of the power line and signal transmission line to the voltage range that the equipment or system can withstand, or to discharge powerful excess lightning current into the ground. The most reoccurring cause of surge is lightning. During a lightning storm, it may strike somewhere near a power source and affect the voltage running through it. When a lightning surge hits an electrical system, it damages the devices connected to it, resulting in a loss of efficiency. The term surge protection device (SPD) describes electrical devices typically installed in power distribution panels, process control systems, communications systems, and other heavy-duty industrial systems, for protection against electrical surges and spikes, including those caused by lightning. L EC provides an entire product line of lightning surge ...

Very little commercial or administrative activity can occur if the computers are out of action. So, every minute of data center downtime can severely affect a firm’s profitability and reputation. Lightning surge protection devices can help ensure that frequent but unpredictable events such as lightning strikes and power surges do not cause data loss or severe and lasting damage to sensitive data center equipment. Data centers must have high systems availability with a maximum of four minutes of downtime per year, which can only be achieved with the redundancy of power supply from the energy distributor. They usually have two medium-voltage sources to reduce the risk of power failure, one of which serves as a backup. A third source, in the form of generators, is often found on site along with an uninterruptable power supply to ensure power supply maintenance even in the event of a fault. UPS also serves to safeguard the quality of electrical energy. However, due to their low residu...

Dissipation Systems are designed to prevent lightning strikes. These refer to devices using point discharge phenomena to retard and reduce the potential of lightning strikes on their protected devices. Choosing the appropriate lightning protection products for a specific application requires several performance issues to be considered, such as the radius of the dissipater electrode cross-section, the construction material of the dissipater, the number and density of electrodes, and the configuration of the dissipater on the structure it is designed to protect.  The Dissipation Array System (or DAS) is a lightning prevention system. Well, it doesn’t prevent lightning from happening altogether, but it does prevent lightning from striking the protected structure. There is a lot of detail on how it does this, but the simple version is that it lowers the electrostatic field in the protected zone. This prevents upward-rising lightning leaders (or streamers) from being created on the...

Since 1971, LEC has developed specialized expertise in lightning protection design. While traditional lightning strike protection methods may be adequate for some installations, custom lightning protection design systems meet more exacting requirements when more complete protection is needed. Engineering an appropriate solution is more complex than simply putting up a lightning rod. Before implementing a protection plan, each site is evaluated for risk factors, geography, soil type, and many other parameters. A comprehensive lightning protection design is a necessity for all facilities, and here are six reasons: Climate change has increased the number of lightning strikes each year, putting every part of the country at risk.  The devices that operate your facility and keep you, your investment, and your personnel safe — including security systems, heating and cooling equipment, and electronic appliances — can be knocked out by lightning surges, even if the lightning does not direc...

Lightning protection performs an important and imperative function in the energy and electric power sectors, helping companies avoid the downtime and restoration costs that come with outages. A single outage lasting 1 hour can cost upward of $1 Million not only to the company but also to its customers, depending on the service users. Several companies have found that traditional lightning protection tends to create more issues than solutions and have opted to implement a solution based on charge transfer technology. Whether it is a nuclear power facility such as Browns Ferry or substations, much like those operated at EPB, or a cooperative, such as Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the usual protection, like lightning rods and overhead grounding/shield wires, do not do the job, they need assurances and have found that a customized approach, tailored to meet their unique set of circumstances, is more preferable than the standard approach. The Lightning Protection...

Lightning occurs when vast amounts of static electricity stored in wet clouds are released. The positive charges in the ground attract the negative charges in the wet clouds, and lightning strikes the path of least resistance, such as tall structures.  Being uncontrollable and unpredictable, lightning strikes can cause significant damage to people, homes, and businesses. The only way to protect people and property from severe damage is to be prepared beforehand. Preparation is where lightning protection systems, grounding , and surge protection systems play a huge role. Its effectiveness is essential to ensure reliability and longevity. Before delving into the importance of LEC's lightning protection , it is vital to understand the risks associated with lightning strikes. Equipment damage Data loss System downtime Safety hazard We take a tailored approach to each design requirement based on the needs of each customer’s application. An offshore oil and gas installation or exposed wi...

With every upgrade in technology, sensitive systems like dynamic positioning, drilling instrumentation and control, and other rig management systems essential to staying online are becoming more vulnerable. From the standpoint of electronics, the secondary effects of lightning — earth current transients and atmospheric transients, ground potential rise, and electromagnetic pulse — are a greater problem than the direct lightning strike. In some cases, the damage caused by lightning may not show up immediately after a storm but sometime later. What is surge? Cloud-to-ground lightning bolts are a common phenomenon—about 100 strike Earth's surface every single second—yet their power is extraordinary. Each bolt can contain up to one billion volts of electricity. Peak current intensity is of the order of 10 to 100 million volts of electricity, with an average of about 30,000 amps. Energy goes into light and heat with temperatures about 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit, six times hotter tha...

In a world where our reliance on technology and electrical equipment is ever-increasing, the necessity for reliable lightning rod protection cannot be overstated. There are several compelling motives for investing in lightning protection design and solutions, specifically for businesses: Safety Design Is Critical Even with the right technologies, having a comprehensive lightning protection design and surge protection plan is critical. Ultimately, it is a systematic approach to minimizing the threat of all types of direct lightning damage and electrical transients that affords the best protection for property and personnel. This means factoring in the potential for fire, high-voltage spikes, ground faults, switching surges, electrostatic discharge, and other disruptions.  Professional design assistance by LEC can help utilities achieve full protection. Business continuity - Lightning strikes can wipe out critical data stored on servers and storage devices. Adopting lightning protect...

  We are Pioneers in: ·          Lightning Protection System ·          Chemical Earthing Installations ·          Lightning Surge Protection Devices Let’s talk about our patented lightning surge protection devices . The term surge protection device (SPD) describes electrical devices typically installed in power distribution panels, process control systems, communications systems, and other heavy-duty industrial systems, for protection against electrical surges and spikes, including those caused by lightning.  When clean, uninterrupted power is crucial, LEC’s next-generation surge protection devices are ready to provide the highest level of performance for the safety and reliability of your electrical systems. These devices are able to accomplish two tasks for protection, i.e., surge voltage in terms of amplitude nee...

We are now living in a world where the continuity and dependability of electronic systems is of paramount importance. We often assume that our systems will always be operational when required. However, in order for this to be the case, our systems must be designed in a robust manner. A lightning strike up to one kilometer away can cause damage to any electronic system if it is not adequately protected with lightning surge protection devices . Our electronic systems today are now more complex, and the components are smaller than in the past, making them more prone to overvoltage. If they experience such an event as a lightning strike, replacing a component can be costly. Although lightning is the most spectacular form of externally generated surges, it is only one source of surge events. Other sources include the switching of power circuits, operation of electrical equipment by neighboring facilities, switching of power factor capacitor banks, and switching and clearing of faults on ...

Lightning strikes can cause a fire, explosion, chemical release or mechanical disruptions within or around your facility. At LEC, we know that all these risks must be considered and protected against when developing a lightning protection system. With over four decades of experience, our support and expertise have assisted thousands of businesses, both large and small, to achieve effective protection against lightning. Our LPS are engineered with advanced technology and consist of the same four key components – air terminals, conductor/bonding, grounding, and transient/surge protection. Air terminals – by LEC is based on the point discharge principle or charge transfer. It provides thousands of points with specific point separation, which simultaneously produce ions over a large area, thus preventing the formation of a streamer, which is a precursor of a lightning strike. Our patented Dissipation Array system prevents strikes by continually lowering the voltage differential between th...

  The answer is a simple YES. Reason: ·          The world has change drastically with the rapid progression of technology but lightning protection for such advancement has not change since Benjamin Franklin’s invention in 1750. ·          Increased equipment vulnerability due to migration from era of Electrical/Analog to Digital/Electronics ·          Increased dependency on automation and artificial intelligence demands "zero" downtime ·          Requirement of system reliability for continuous critical operations Solution: By installing a Dissipation Array System, patented by LEC, you can limit the build-up of static charge in the area of protection and discourage secondary and EMP effects, damage to equipment, and disruptions in operations caused by direct or nearby lightning strikes , thereby enhancing sit...

Lightning is nature’s way to equalize the voltage between storm clouds and the earth. The positively charged ions move up during a storm to attach themselves with the downward-moving negatively charged ions from the cloud to create a strike. The striking distance across which the spark can form defines the placing of an effective lightning rod. Lightning rods are simple metal rods installed over a structure connected to the conductor and earth terminals. They route the lightning strike away from the structure, channeling it into the ground. These are normally metal rods, typically made of copper or aluminum, and are placed safely on a roof. The chance that your facility will be hit by lightning varies on a number of factors such as location, structure height, temperature, and humidity. If all the factors are right, even areas with infrequent thunderstorms can experience rare but high-intensity lightning strikes. Many companies have found that traditional  lightning protec...

Lightning is an atmospheric discharge of electricity from thunder that occurs during thunderstorms. The atmospheric discharge lightning can travel at the speed of light, and its temperature can reach up to 30,000 degrees Celsius. The effect of lightning strikes may cause thousands of death every year. It’s a natural phenomenon occurring on any day, and this discharge produces a wide range of electromagnetic radiation. It’s essential, therefore, that an effective lightning protection system be appropriately designed and installed specifically to the unique requirement of the structures to be protected. Engineering Lightning Protection Design Systems: 1.        Determining the risk of lightning events occurring – The lightning risk assessment is based on evaluating the risk of damage that may be caused to property and the public due to a lightning strike. Our lightning protection expert will analyse your risk and vulnerability ratios to help you unde...

Surge protection refers to protecting systems and electrical devices against excessively high voltage peaks caused by switching operations and lightning strikes. An effective lightning protection strategy combines internal and external lightning protection. To protect your system's power supplies, data, and signals, use the reliable lightning surge protection solutions available in our various product ranges as part of your internal lightning protection strategy. Lightning surge protection devices limit the magnitude of overvoltage transients to prevent equipment damage. While the cause and prevention of surges have been known for some time, the proliferation of semiconductor devices in recent years has made SPDs a necessity in industrial facilities. A surge protection device functions in three ways: It prevents voltage spikes from stressing electrical equipment It ensures that the surge current flows away from the equipment It prevents secondary, induced voltages (created from th...

Lightning is a natural phenomenon that can cause significant damage to people, infrastructure, and the environment. To ensure the safety of individuals and assets, it is crucial to implement a reliable lightning protection system. At LEC, we provide turnkey solutions that encompass lightning protection design, materials, installation, testing, and commissioning. Turnkey solutions: Our lightning protection design system begins with a comprehensive analysis of your facility's electrical specification and architectural drawings. Based on this evaluation, we customize a solution that meets your specific needs, taking into account factors such as soil conditions, climatic conditions for lightning strikes, and existing electrical systems. Our 3 step process: Step 1 – Consulting, this includes technical review & sire evaluation. Step 2 – Design study, site survey and ground testing Step 3 – Installation, system rectification & warranty LEC can provide: Technical and engineering e...

Direct lightning strikes and their secondary effects are some of the most harmful natural occurrences because they can occur anywhere and hit any object. For many companies, the effects of even one direct strike are too much to bear and can result in the loss of tens of millions of dollars. This is because the facility will need to be shut down and the damage repaired, which can involve electronics and machinery. A direct lightning strike can damage or destroy the business by sparking fires, destroying inventory and essential equipment, erasing vital computer files, and damaging customer relationships due to production delays or temporary closures. The challenges increase as the size of the facility gets bigger and more complex. Sometimes, due to access issues, damage to offshore facilities is significantly more expensive to address than onshore.  Even the secondary effects of lightning damage are some of the most harmful natural occurrences because they can occur anywhere an...