Investing in a lightning protection system is to safeguard people from electrocution and also the buildings or structures from fire hazards caused by lightning strikes that amount to billions of volts that is beyond what a normal human or his dwelling can withstand. Protection scheme widely used since years ago is a conventional lightning protection system which is employed to intercept the direct lightning strikes intending this voltage around the building structure via a conductor to provide a conductive and safely guided path to the ground.
The designed network of conventional lightning protection system cannot necessarily prevent lightning from happening but can make sure that the effect of lightning events can be controlled and prevent damages caused even if the point of strike is several kilometers away.
For safety of structure and its occupants, it is mandatory to install a proper lightning protection system obeying numerous obligatory standards i.e. IS/IEC 62305 for designing and manufacturing. Below mentioned are the most vital components utilized to execute the complete need as per mandatory standard IS/IEC 62305 –
1. Air Terminal: Long, sharp and pointed air terminal network is installed on the rooftop to capture the electric discharge and provide it a conductive path to the ground. the downstream can hit on the earth surface causing injuries and damages, if this guarded path is not provided. The lightning rod made of Copper, Aluminium or Copper Coated Aluminium, etc. is mounted on the top of the structure to be protected such that it provides a large coverage area.
The effective functioning of the Franklin rods network installation on any high-rise building depends on the design as per the risk assessment conducted on the lightning prone area further based on which the dimensions and the material of the air terminal is determined. This is a proven age-old method for discharging the lightning current is still in practice owing to its cost effective attribute. Moreover, in this reliable technique the air terminal is uniquely designed and positioned as per recommended standards with the purpose of providing satisfactory protection radius.
2. Down Conductor: Connecting the air terminal to the earth termination is the down conductor which is yet another essential component used for discharging energy from above that hits the air terminal and safely conducts down to the ground without harming anything in the protected area. For withstanding such huge electric discharges, down conductors are designed uniquely as it is made up of good conductors such as copper, aluminium, GI, or any such conductors ensuring smooth flow of fault current to ground.
3. Maintenance Free Earthing System: The word earthing system based on solid rod technology is the base and last level to any electrical network providing a stable platform for the electric system by diverting any fault occurrences to the conducting part of the earth crust. In replacement of Traditional Pipe & Plate Earthing with Salt & Charcoal, advanced maintenance free earthing is the construction of earthing pit based on latest technology strictly complying with the IS 3043: 2018 and National building code 2016.
Tripod earthing is recommended for each lightning arrester which is based on Solid copper bonded steel rod of low carbon high tensile steel molecularly bonded with min. 250 microns copper coating – Copper bonded steel rod complying to IEC 62561-2, IEEE 80 & IS 3043 along with Earth enhancement compound/ material of less than 0.12 ohm-meters as per standard IS 3043: 2018 together makes earthing system maintenance free which is designed to work for 20+ years.
3. Lightning Strike Counter: This is a 6-digits digital display detection device, an additional accessory for analyzing fatal lightning strikes that gives you an estimate of the number of lightning strikes hitting on the protected area. The most vital benefit of this installation is that it can automatically record valuable information i.e. each lightning strike passing through an arrester and further analyze it using typical surge current parameters.
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