Importance of a Lightning Protection System

Lightning is one of nature's most lethal phenomena. It's a giant discharge of electricity that's accompanied by a blinding flash of light and a loud roar of thunder. The odds of being struck by lightning in your lifetime is 1 in 3,000, but needless to say, its effects will be devastating. Lightning contains a hundred million electrical volts. It can cause cardiac arrest, severe burns, permanent brain damage or memory loss, and personality change. People can stay safe from lightning by staying indoors, but structures too aren't immune from its effects.

Hazards

We've all heard about lightning causing devastating damage to structures more than once. There are three hazard categories that helps put things into perspective.

-Fire Hazard

The biggest and most common danger lightning poses to structures is fire. Exposed lightning channels can easily ignite wood and any other flammable materials within the building upon contact with extreme heat. Fire will spread to affected circuits of wires too.

-Power Surge Hazard

The explosive surge of lightning current will do significant damage to any electronic gadget or appliance plugged in.

-Shockwave Damage

Thunder is created by shockwaves that are created by lightning strikes. At close range, these can be destructive, and will easily fracture or destroy hard materials like concrete, bricks, cincerblock, and stone.

Lightning Protection System Defined

A lightning protection system is an upgrade added to structures to safely minimize potential damage caused by lightning strikes. It simply works by providing the heavy electrical charge a path with least resistance to the ground where it is dispersed. A lightning protection system consists of both external and internal elements. External lightning protection system

When Kingkong climbed the Empire State Building, he held on to a tall metal rod at the top. That tall metal rod happens to be a good example of an external lightning protection system equipment called a “lightning rod”, which is used for absorbing and redirecting the overwhelming electrical power. On the other hand, internal lightning protection components are usually used for surge protection. Both keeps people and properties safe from lightning damage.

Cirprotec nimbus® Lightning Rod

A good example of a lightning rod is the nimbus® lightning rod (series of new generation lightning rods with electronic early streaming emission (ESE) by Cirprotec). It has a radius of protection up to 100 m (based on emission times of 15 μs, 30 μs, 45 μs and 60 μs). Complies with standards NF C 17 102:2011, UNE 21186:2011, CTE SU 8.

• ESE electronic technology, unlike passive Faradization systems with air terminals, makes active use of atmospheric gradient to generate ionization in order to increase the height of the lightning impact point above the tip of the rod, thus increasing the volume protected. This facilitates the protection of large areas, simplifying and reducing material and installation costs.

• nimbus® has evolved from our successful and reliable range of Nimbus CPT lightning rods, which protect more than 30,000 installations worldwide, a fact that bears witness to its performance, quality and warranty and our service.

• The new nimbus® lightning rods exceed the requirements of the new version of standard NF C 17-102 v2011, with the goal of making them more robust, without sacrificing their compact size and with a significant weight reduction.

Features & Benefits

-Tested with lightning currents up to 200 kA (10/350 µs).

- Highest Quality: AISI 316 stainless steel and non-expendable components.

- Tested and certified by independent laboratories.

- Bureau Veritas Certification.

- Easy installation (and transport) thanks to its new design.

- Testable in-site with the Cirprotec LR tester.

Upgrading your home or corporate property to be lightning-proof may cost you, but the rewards will definitely be worth it when this natural phenomenon starts to pose a threat.