LIGHTNING PROTECTION

(SS555:2010)
Specialist Diploma (M&E Coordination)
Dr Fadzli Hassan
B.Eng (Hons), PhD (Mechanical Engineering)

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1. Briefly describe the following possible sources of lightning damage:
a. S1
b. S2
c. S3
d. S4

Ans:
a) S1: Flashes to the structure
b) S2: Flashes near to the structure
c) S3: Flashes to a service (e.g. power lines) connected to the structure
d) S4: Flashes near to a service connected to the structure
2. Briefly describe the following types of lightning damage:
a. D1
b. D2
c. D3
Ans:
a) D1: injury of living beings due to touch and step voltages
b) D2: Physical damages (fire, explosion…) due to lightning current effects including
sparking
c) D3: failure of internal systems due to lightning electromagnetic pulse (LEMP)
3. Briefly describe the following types of loss due to lightning damage:
a. L1
b. L2
c. L3
d. L4

a) L1: Loss of human life

b) L2: Loss of service to the public

c) L3: Loss of cultural heritage

d) L4: Loss of economical value (structure and its content, service and loss of activity)
4. Briefly describe the four different lightning zones:
a. LPZ 0A
b. LPZ 0B
c. LPZ 1
d. LPZ 2

LPZ 0A Zone where the threat is due to the direct lightning flash and the full lightning
electromagnetic field
LPZ 0B Zone protected against direct lightning flashes but where the threat is
the full lightning electromagnetic field
LPZ 1 Zone where the surge current is limited by current sharing and by SPDs at the
boundary.
LPZ 2 Zone where the surge current may be further limited by current sharing and by
additional SPDs at the boundary.
5. Briefly describe the four different primary risks:
a. R1
b. R2
c. R3
d. R4
How are all these primary risks related to the net risk RN?

R1: risk of loss of human life

R2: risk of loss of service to the public
R3: risk of loss of cultural heritage
R4: risk of loss of economic value

The summation of all these risks gives RN.

6. A small sports stadium (capacity: 3000) consists of a single grandstand as shown below.

A lightning protection engineer was asked to calculate the lightning risk to the grandstand. Upon examining the
structure and its surroundings, he made the following observations:

- The area has an average of 130 thunderstorm days in any given year
- The grandstand is surrounded by several trees higher than the structure height
- The structure has a Class II LPS system installed
- The stadium regularly hosts soccer matches with all tickets sold out
- The stadium has automatic fire alarm installations
- The nearest fire station is 15 minutes away under normal traffic conditions
- There is a low risk of explosion upon a lightning strike.
To simplify his calculations, the engineer decided to model the grandstand as a
rectangular cuboid structure of dimensions 120m x 30m x 30m (length x width x height).
Based on all the information given in this question and in the appendices, calculate or
state:
a. The expected number of flashes to the ground per km2 per year (Ng)
b. The catchment area for lightning strikes (Ad/b)
c. The location factor of the grandstand (Cd/b)
d. The probability of a lightning strike (PB)
e. Special hazards due to crowd dynamics (hz)
f. Special provisions due to fire protection systems (rp)
g. Risk of fire and/or explosion (rf)
h. Building type factor (Lf)
Hence calculate the value of the risk component RB for the grandstand.
 a. N g  0.1Td  0.1 130  13.0
Ad / b  LW  6 H ( L  W )  9H 2
b.  (120  30)  6(30)(120  30)  9 (30 2 )
 56047m 2

c. Cd/b = 0.25 (trees higher than the structure)

d. PB = 0.05
e. hz = 10 (often sold out, so sports events >1000 participants)
f. rp = 0.5 (there are automatic alarm installations, but firefighting services are > 10
min away)
g. rf = 5 x 10-3 (low fire/explosion risk)
h. Lf = 0.04 (sports stadium)

RB = 13.0 x 56047 x 0.25 x 10-6 x 0.05 x 10 x 0.5 x 5 x 10-3 x 0.04 = 9.11 x 10-6
7. The following tall lightning rod with rating LPS I is to be installed in the ground:

a. Using the protection angle method, calculate the area of the base of the
cone of protection.

b. If a LPS IV lightning rod of the same height was used instead, calculate the
area of the base of the cone of protection.
a. Referring to graph, for LPS I, for H = 10, α = 45°. Referring to side view and top view:

Side View Top View

Then, r
tan 45 
10 So from top view, base area = πr2 = 314.2 m2.
 r  10m

b. Referring to graph, for LPS IV, for H = 10, α = 85°.

Then, r
tan 85 
10 So from top view, base area = πr2 = 41043 m2
 r  114.3m
8. An 80m-tall office building in Singapore was being assessed for lightning risk using the rolling
sphere method. The building could be modeled as a cylinder of height 80m and diameter 20m.

a. Calculate the base area of the protection zone (disregard the cross-sectional area of
the building itself) with an LPS IV system using the rolling sphere method.
b. State whether the building requires lateral lightning protection. If so, calculate the
surface area of the building that requires lateral lightning protection.
a. For LPS IV, rolling sphere radius = 60m. Refer to side view and top view (not to scale):

SIDE VIEW TOP VIEW

a. Total area of great circle = πR2 = π(75)2 = 17671.5 m2
Cross-sectional area of building = πr2 = π(30)2 = 2827.4 m2
Base area of protection zone = 17671.5 – 2827.4 = 14844.1 m2

b. In Singapore, buildings greater than 48m in height require lateral protection for top
20% of height (international requirement = 60m).
Therefore, surface area of building needing lateral protection
= 2 πrh x 0.2
= 2 π (30) (80) x 0.2
= 3015.9 m2
9. State the four principal components of a lightning protection system.

- Air termination networks

- Down conductors
- Earth termination networks
- Bonding to prevent side flashing
10. Briefly describe the two different ways to prevent side flashing.

Isolation
Isolation is the separation or insulation of metal parts in such a way that
electrical breakdown or side flash to them is prevented.
This can be achieved by separation of the lightning protection system from the
structure protected or by separating metal parts and services in a non-
conductive structure from the lightning system.

Bonding
Bonding is the procedure whereby metal parts are positively connected to one
another so as to prevent inadvertent electrical connection occurring due to side
flash. This will eliminate any local potential between the metal parts that are
bonded together.
The End