Lighting Protection Theory

THE LIGHTNING PHENOMENON

Lightning is the phenomenon which accompanies the discharge of atmospheric charges from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth. As lightning seeks the path of the least resistance, it naturally tends to follow the shortest way between cloud and earth, such as buildings or towering projections. As illustrated positive electrical charges gather in the clouds and negative charges gather in the ground. When the attraction between these two charges are strong enough they come together in the form of lightning. Lightning arrester equipment, properly manufactured and installed, dissipates the charges. In temperate climates a large majority of lightning is negative downwards lightning, as the negatively-charged cloud-base discharges to the ground. The most important parameters are the following :

Amplitude Rise time Decay time Current variation rate (di/dt) Polarity Charge Specific energy Number of strikes per discharge.

The first three parameters are independent in terms of statistics . The expected effects of the characteristic lightning parameters are as follows:

Optical effects Acoustical effects Electro-chemical effects Thermal effects Electro-dynamic effects Electro-magnetic radiation

LIGHTNING PROTECTION Lightning Protection system are seperated two parts ; External Lightning Protection System (LPS) and Internal Lightning Protection System. External Lightning Protection System - LPS External LPS is designed for protection of structures opposite to the direct lightning strokes. For external LPS the following three different methods are used,

Air Rod Mesh Method

Early Streamer Emission Lightning Rods

The protection level must be calculated before one of the above mentioned methods can be chosen. (IEC 62305- 1 - 1 and standarts of Europe)

LIGHTNING PROTECTION THEORY

Requirements for the the safety of people staying at work, home etc., made it necessary that special tasks were assigned to design engineers to take care about the quality of lightning protection system on every higher building. The main function of the lightning protection system installed on the existing building is to capture a lightning strike and then conduct the discharge current safely to the ground. Taking the fact into consideration that there are up to 100 lightning discharges to the ground every second throughout the world, it is always possible that a lightning strike hits the place which is particulary close and important to you. The lightning protection system exists to intercept an atmospheric discharge in order to safely convey its current to the ground. Lightning is formed as a result of processes occurring in the storm clouds. When air masses, ice crystals, water vapour drift and interact, then electrical charges are generated. There are two types of storms (depending on the way how they are formed):

heat storms-formed as a result of strong heating and drifting upwards of the bottom air masses. frontal storms-caused by the impact of a front of cold air on a warm moist air mass which is lifted above the advancing cold front.

In a typical storm cloud, the positive charges are concentrated in the upper part, whereas the negative charges build up at the base of the cloud. A further charge growth causes an escalation of the electric field intensity until it exceeds the critical value. A cloud-to-ground discharge proceeds towards the ground (small upward discharge can also be initiated from elevated ground points and this kind of discharge is called a ground-to-cloud discharge) or towards the neighbouring cloud, which is called cloud-to-cloud discharge. Sound and visual effects of a lightning discharge are preceded by an invisible initiated process. A high negative cloud potential (of the order of 108 V) is conveyed towards the ground by the downward leader, with the relatively small decline of potential in its channel. When one of the upward leaders comes into contact with the downward leader, a conductive path of ionized air is created allowing a powerful current to flow equalizing the potential difference between the cloud and the ground. In general, lightning installations are divided into: conventional and active ones.

Conventional lightning protection system

Conventional lightning systems are based on the protection of a structure by making an installation of horizontal or vertical air terminals which are connected to the earth with the help of downconductors. By means of the procedure described below, it is possible to decide according to the chosen protection level whether the lightning protection is required or not. On the ground of our observations and experiences gained in this field, we recommend to install the lightning protection on the structure regardless of the existance of a strike hazard level. The selection of the protection level allows to minimize the risk of damage to people as well as complex and sophisticated equipment and structures. The higher the efficiency of a lightning conductor is, the lower the risk of damages caused by lightning strikes will become. A protection level selection depends on the kind of building, its structure and value. A List of the effectiveness of lightning conductor with corresponding protection levels follows below. Protection Level I II III IV Effectiveness of lightning conductor E 0,98 0,95 0,90 0,80

The Zones of protection can be determined by the "Cone of Protection" and "Rolling Sphere" methods. The "Cone of Protection" rule consists of placing the protected structure in the zone of protection of high vertical air terminal. Angle for the protection level 0.95 is a 45 "Rolling Sphere" rule, which involves rolling imaginary shperes over the structure. The outer structure contour is described by spheres. Points between the sphere and the structure indicate the protected areas. The areas touched by the sphere are deemed to require protection. Depending on a protection level for a structure, the different values of sphere radius have to be considered.

AIR ROD
Before a Lightning Strike hits, lonization leads to an increase of the electric field around the top of the rod and the lightning current is lead from the rod to the ground. According to table 1, the protected area connects the level of protection according to the protective angle, the length of the rod, the height of the rod above the surface to be protected. Air Rods are used for the mesh method and stretched technique. This is done by connecting the Air Rods to the down conductors, while the building is covered by a mesh with down conductors. In this system the protection stage result the distance of down conductors fixings are determined according to these distances conductors are fixed. In the Roof system of Mesh Metod, Specially Air Terminals are used on conductors crossing points on firing roofs. On f i re resistant roofs (metal roofs etc ...) It is not needed to use air terminals (IEC 62305) Mesh Method Details Protection Levels According to Height and Angles AIR ROD AND MESH METHOD PROCESSING CRITERIA ACCORDING TO PROTECTION LEVEL Protection Air Rod Height (m) cage (m) Down conductor Level 20 I II III IV angles 25 35 45 55 30 * 25 35 45 45 * * 25 35 60 * * * 25 5x5 10x10 15x15 20x20 10 15 20 25 distance (m)

Surge Protection Theory

Overvoltage definition
Overvoltage is any voltage, whose peak value exceeds the appropriate peak value of the highest operating voltage in the LV power system. Overvoltage is usually an accidental phenomenon, which differs in time history and the place of its occurrence. Its parameters are defined by its cause (lightning stroke, switching in heavy-current network and so on) and also by electrical character of the circuit (wave resistance, ending impedance, discharge ability and so on). In the past few years the range of current and voltage courses for different uses has been standardized. These courses enable implementation of testing on equipment and constructive elements under the same conditions. In the following text the most important parameters of the most used standardized courses will be defined (according to EN 61 643-11, IEC 60-1 and CSN 34 5640). Peak value (amplitude) Umax,Imax peak value is the maximal value of voltage or current which is achieved by monitored impulse course a part of voltage or current impulse before the peak Front of impulse value 1,25multiple of the time interval between moments, when Front time of current impulse T1 actual current value rise from 10% to 90% of the peak value

1,67multiple of the time interval between moments, when actual Front time of voltage impulse T1 voltage value rise from 30% to 90% of the peak value

a part of voltage or current impulse after the peak value Tail of impulse

Time to half-value T2

the time interval between virtual beginning of impulse and the moment, when observed course reduces to 50% of its peak value

Note: The virtual beginning is an intersection of time axis and bisector, which goes through points, where actual value of the front of impulse at first time reaches partly given lower value and partly given higher value in detail see the following two figures.

Standardized testing current impulse

two basic types of testing current impulses are used during SPD tests:

Testing impulse of lightning current Iimp(10/350) it is used for simulation of lightning current (so-called test by lightning current) Testing current impulse Imax(8/20) it is used for simulation of indirect effect of lightning and switching overvoltages. Arrester must discharge cca 17,5x higher charge during test by the testing impulse of lightning current Iimp(10/350), than during testing by the current impulse Imax(8/20) with the same amplitude. Also resulting in a different construction of the lightning current arresters tested by the lightning current impulse Iimp(10/350) and surge arresters tested by the current impulse Imax(8/20).

Course and parameters of lightning voltages and currents

In the chart shown below there are typical courses and parameters of lightning impulse voltages and currents, which occur in conductive parts of landscape, building constructions and metal lines in consequence of lightning stroke (taking in account influences caused by galvanic, inductive or capacitive coupling).The typical values of lightning impulse voltages and currents, which occur in conductive parts of landscape, building constructions and metal lines.

Testing current impulse in the waveform of 10/350s is most often used for simulation of currents infiltrating into power lines and electric equipment in consequence of galvanic coupling. In case of inductive and capacitive coupling the voltage and current impulses are considera-bly shorter. The examination of interfering lightning effects in relation to inductive surges (currents) in consequence of inductive coupling is most often carried out by the testing current impulses in the waveform of 8/20s. The examination of lightning effects in relation to interfering surges (currents) in consequence of capacitive coupling is similarly carried out by the testing voltage impulses in the waveform of 1,2/50s.

Kinds of surge couplings

Generally
Disturbing energies (e.g. voltages, currents, fields) can infiltrate into the building by ways of different couplings whereas cabling and its layout represent an important part here.

Galvanic coupling
During near and direct lightning strokes into the lightning conductors of buildings, the overvoltage shows in consequences of a galvanic coupling. The galvanic coupling is given by a different size of ground potentials along the building (earth electrodes, protective connection etc.)

Capacitive coupling
There is always a capacitive coupling (parasitic capac-ity) between the source of interference and the receiver. The higher the front rate of rise of the disturbing voltage impulse (du/dt) is, the stronger its interference effect is.

Inductive coupling
There is always an inductive coupling (magnetic field) between the source of interference and the receiver. The higher the front rate of rise of the disturbing current impulse (di/dt) activating the magnetic field is, the higher the interference effect is.

Types of overvoltage
Direct Lightning Stroke
A lightning stroke is an electric discharge between an electrically charged cloud and earth surface (earth lightning), between two or more clouds and each other or between parts of one cloud (cloud lightning). Just a small percentage of strokes happens be tween the surface and the clouds. The lightning strokes originate in the storm cells, which stretch average out up to few kilometers. Every storm cell is active for up to 30 minutes and generates from two to three lightning strokes per minute. The storm cell often reaches the height of over 10 kilometres, whereas the bottom visible part of the clouds is usually at the height of one to two kilometres. In the centre of the storm cell there exists a strong rising air flow, which causes separation of positive and negative charges. The positive charge is usu-ally binded on the frazils at the top of the storm cell, while negative charge is usually binded on water drops at the bottom of the cell. Nearby the earth the cell is charged with positive charge which is usually caused by discharge especially from forest. Beyond the storm cells originating from the summer heat there are storm cells originating from the frontal cloudiness as a result of big air masses movement. The storm frequency depends on the season. In summer months (JulyAugust) there are on average 5 times more storms than in winter months (DecemberFebruary). The environmental heating up supports the storm creation. In autumn warm water near the seacoast gives the necessary energy for the storm creation. According to IEC 1312-1:1995 and IEC 62305 it is possible to describe lightning charges by five basic parameters. Total impoulse lightning charge Qf THe first stroke charge Qs The first stroke peak current Iimp max.300 C max.100 C max.200 kA

Specific energy the first stroke current W/R Rate of rise of the current di/dt

max.10 MJ/ max.200 kA/s

General distribution of lightning current when an object is thunderstruck

Protection system of LV power system composited of lightning current arresters and surge arresters SPD must be able to discharge lightning currents or their substantial parts without their damage. It is generally recommended to come out from the ohmic resistance of the building earthing, pipeline, power distribution system and so on for the purposes of establishing current distribution going through SPD in case of direct lightning stroke into a building protected by the outside lightning system. The following figure shows a typical example of lightning current distribution in an object hit by direct lightning stroke.

Where an individual evaluation is not possible, it can be assumed that:

50% of the total lightning current Iimp=200kA (10/350). IS1= 100kA (10/350) enters the earth termination system of the LPS (lightning protection system) of the structure considered 50% of Iimp=200kA (10/350). IS2= 100kA (10/350) is distributed among the services entering the structure (external conductive

parts, el.power, communication lines, etc.) The value of the current flowing in each service Ii is given by IS/n, where n is the number of the above mentioned services (see the above figure). For evaluating the current Iv in individual conductors in unscreened cables, the cable current Iiis divided by m, the number of conductors, i.e. Iv = Ii /m.

For shielded cables, the current will flow along the shield. Requirement on dimensioning of protective system SPD in the most usual connection of the building and LV power system (TNC - system 230/400V/50Hz) results from this reasoning: For maximum lightning current size Iimp = 200kA (10/350) it is enough to dimension the protective cascade of each phase conductor entering the object on cca 4% Iimp, that is on cca 8kA (10/350) in most cases.

Distribution of protected area into the lightning protection zones

The standard IEC 13 12-1 and IEC 62 305 defines the lightning protection zones LPZ from the respect of the direct even indirect lightning effect. These zones are characteristic thanks to fundamental breaks of the electromagnetic conditions in their limited zones.

LPZ OA

Zone where items are subject to direct lightning strokes, and therefore may have to carry up to the full lightning current; the unattenuated electromagnetic field occurs here.

LPZ OB

Zone where items are not subject to direct lightning strokes, but the unattenuated electromagnetic field occurs

LPZ OC

Zone where items are not subject to direct lightning strokes and where currents on all conductive parts within this zone are further reduced compared with zones 0B. In this zone the electromagnetic field may also be attenuated depending on the screening measures Zone where items are not subject to direct lightning strokes and where currents on all conductive parts within this zone are further reduced compared with zones 0B. In this zone the electromagnetic field may also be attenuated depending on the screening measures Zone where items are not subject to direct lightning strokes and where currents on all conductive parts within this zone are further reduced compared with zones 0B. In this zone the electromagnetic field may also be attenuated depending on the screening measures

LPZ 1

LPZ 2

If a further reduction of conducted currents and/or elec-tromagnetic field is required, subsequent zones shall be introduced. The requirement for those zones shall be selected according to the required environmental zones of the system to be protected. In general, the higher the number of the zones, the lower the electromagnetic environment parameters. At the boundary of the individual zones, bonding of all metal penetrations shall be provided and screening measures might by installed. Note: Bonding at the boundary between LPZ 0A, LPZ 0B and LPZ 1 is defined in IEC 13 12-1 and IEC 62 305. The electromagnetic fields inside a structure are influenced by opening windows, by currents on metal conductors (e.g. bonding bars, cable shields and tubes), and by cable routing. The following figure shows an example for dividing a structure into several zones.

There all electric power and signal lines enter the protected volume (LPZ 1) at one point, and are bonded to bonding bar 1 at the boundary of LPZ 0A, LPZ 0B and LPZ 1. In

addition, the lines are bonded to the internal bonding bar 2 at the boundary of LPZ 1 and LPZ 2. Furthermore, the outer shield 1 of the structure is bonded to bonding bar 1 and the inner shield 2 to bonding bar 2. Where cables pass from one LPZ to another, the bonding must be executed at each boundary. LPZ 2 is constructed in such a way that partial lightning currents are not transferred into this volume and cannot pass through it. The above described segmentation of the protected ob-ject into protection zones gives possibilities of active protection of the LV power system thanks to insertion of the protective SPDs (usually at the zone boundary LPZ 01and LPZ 12) and other protective SPDs at the zone boundary LPZ 23. Standardly it is recommended to insert so-called 1ststage protection surge arrester class I tested by lightning current Iimp(10/350) at the zone boundary LPZ 01. It is recommended to insert 2nd stage protection - surge arrester class II tested by testing impulse Imax(8/20) at the boundary zone LPZ 12. At the boundary of LPZ 23 and subsequently along the consequential circuit there is also recommended to shoulder after every cca 10m by socalled 3rd stage protection class III also tested by testing impulse Imax(8/20) or UOC. For extra important protected equipment it is recommended to secure it by a quality continuous surge protection class III with high-frequency filter at the boundary of LPZ 23. If there are adjacent structures between which power and communication cables pass, the earthing system shall be interconnected, and it is beneficial to have many parallel paths to reduce current in the cables. A meshed earthing system fulfills this requirement. The lightning currents are further reduced, e.g. by enclosing all the cables in metal conduits or gridlike reinforced concrete ducts, which must be integrated into the meshed earthing system.

E.S.E Lightning Conductor

SCHIRTEC E.S.E Lightning Conductor
The main function of the lightning protection system installed on the existing building is to capture a lightning stroke and then conduct discharge current safety to the ground. In some conditions, however the active lightning system is the only possible method to protect from direct lightning strokes. Due to the arguments mentioned above, we recommended to use the active lightning protection whenever the conventional solution solution is inconvenient or when the former is more preferable to the latter as in the case of the efficient protection of architect. The lightning discharge is initiated by so-called down conductor which creates an ionised air path (downwards or upwards) between the cloud and the ground for the necessary flow of any lightning currents.

Operating Principle:
Schirtec-A lightning conductor is formed by two armatures. One of them is connected to ground, while the other remains at atmospheric potential. The great magnitude of the electric field during the thunderstorm produces that, although armatures are separated by a very short distance, the difference of potential between them during lightning approaching becomes considerable. This difference of potential is the power supply of the lightning conductor internal device. The internal device is located in the body of Schirtec-A and is called Variable Impedance Unit . Therefore, the device working is regulated by the atmospheric field. The advantages of these characteristics are, on one side, that in normal conditions the device is not working, avoiding then unnecessary stress to the components. On another side, during thunderstorms the device detects when a proper electric field exists, and when the downward leader is approaching, because it provokes a strong and rapid increase of the atmospheric electric field. During normal atmospheric conditions, the charge is also neutral in every area (also at the air), and the internal device is not working. The first difference with a simple lightning rod starts already when storm clouds appear. Inside the components of the internal device, equi-potential lines become very close together, causing the necessity of a strong concentration of charges at the armature surface. The device is designed in such a way that the transitory current does not get lost, but remains as electromagnetic fields in the components of the electrical device. The electric field value, able to ionise the air around the tip, is reached earlier than with a simple rod, because the internal device makes the voltage increase over ground level. Then, air charges become also a part of the internal current. Therefore, the ionised area is growing much faster than with a simple rod. The previous phase to the formation of the upward leader is the formation of corona discharges (streamers) that propagate towards the downward leader. One of these streamers will become the upward leader, which will propagate continuously to the downward leader, forming then the lightning discharge path. Inside the lightning conductor, the downward leader approaching and the strong increase of the electric field caused by it are the factors that activate the mean function of the internal device .When the voltage between the armatures exceeds a certain value which the circuit is designed for, then the internal trigger works, using the accumulated energy for pumping to designed for, then the internal trigger works, using the accumulated energy for pumping to inside the ionised area. The strong and sudden concentration of positive charges cause repellent forces in the ionised area, which break the existing border. The device has provoked then a streamer effect, avoiding the 'glow regime'' that was lowering the effectiveness of a simple lightning rod.

The streamer emission under these conditions favours the upward leader formation, which will progress continuously till reaching the downward leader, forming then the discharge path. Then, as the Schirtec-A is the point where the upward leader was formed. It will be the receiver of the lightning strike.

Details of SCHIRTEC-A (S-A)

1. Air Terminal 2. Ion Generator 3. Accelerator and Atmospheric Electrodes 4. Grounding Connection Terminal

Explanation Proteciton Radius Table

Here you will find an explanation on how to read the protection radius table correctly.

Protectionlevel
The protection level of the object depends on several factors such as:

if the object is inhabited or not

if the object is expolosiv or not,

material of the roof and the roof construction (wood, metall,...)

The more valuable and vulnerable the object is the higher the level of protection needed. e.g. an inhabited house, with a metal roof could be attributed to protection class 1. A telephone pole of low value could attributed to the protection class 4. The safety class can be calculated with our lightning risk program.

h
Installation height, the higher the lightning conductor is installed the greater the protective radius Rp (m)

Rp(m)

Radius protection, we recommend to install the lightning conductor in a height of 5 to 6 meters because you can then achieve a high level of protection.

Protection Level Calculator

FORMULAS The Equivalent Collection Area of Structure Ae=LW+6H(L+W)+9H2 (For rectangular fields) Expended Lightning Frequency Ng=0,04.Td1.25 Nd=Ng.Ae.C1.10-6 Accepted Lightning Frequency C=C2.C3.C4.C5 Nc=5,5.10-3/C

VALUES L=50 W=30 H=15 Td=30 Ng=2.8084 Ae=15061.7251 C1=1

RESULTS

Ae=15061.7251

Nd=0.0423

C1=1 C2=0.5 C3=1 C4=1 Nc=0.0022

C5=5 C=2.5 If Nd Nc...Optional Protection If Nd>Nc...Protection Required Efficiency , E=1-(Nc/Nd)

The Protection Radius For SCHIRTEC E.S.E. Lightning Conductors (According to NFC 17 102) Rp SCHIRTEC-AS SCHIRTEC-DAS SCHIRTEC-A/DA (L=15m) (L=45m) (L=60m) H(m) I II III IV I II III IV I II III IV 2 13 15 18 20 25 28 32 36 31 35 39 43 4 25 30 36 41 51 57 64 72 63 69 78 85 5 32 37 45 51 63 71 81 89 79 86 97 107 6 32 38 46 52 63 71 81 90 79 87 97 107 8 33 39 47 54 64 72 82 91 79 87 98 108 10 34 40 49 56 64 72 83 92 79 88 99 109 20 35 44 55 63 65 74 86 97 80 89 102 113 30 35 45 58 69 65 75 89 101 80 90 104 116 60 35 45 60 75 65 75 90 105 80 90 105 120 Efficiency E= 0.95 E > 0,98 0,95 <E 0,98 0,90 <E 0,95 0,80 < E 0,90 0<E0,80 Active Lightning Protection Levels LEVEL I + Add LEVEL I LEVEL II LEVEL III LEVEL IV

Example 1 for S-A: Single-familiy-home; Protection Level 1

Example 2 for S-A: Factoryhall; 150 m x 50m, Protection Level 1

There were two lightning conductors S-A installed at a height of 6m. The lightning conductor S-A has been installed at a height of 4m. The radii overlap and provide for the entire production facility sufficient

protection. The protection radius has to be specified according to NF C 17- The protection radius must be specified according to NF C 17-102 with 79m

the effective protection is bigger, according to our test reports 102 standard with 63m, the effective protection is bigger, according to our test reports.

Protection Radius Table

Rp(m) h 2 4 5 6 8 10 20 30 60

S-A (L: 60m) I 31 63 79 79 79 79 80 80 80 II 35 69 86 87 87 88 89 90 90 III 39 78 97 97 98 99 102 104 105 IV 43 85 107 107 108 109 113 116 120

S-AS (L: 30m) I 19 38 48 48 49 49 50 50 50 II 22 44 55 55 56 57 59 60 60 III 25 51 63 64 65 66 71 73 75 IV 28 57 71 72 73 75 81 85 90

S-DA (L: 60m) I 31 63 79 79 79 79 80 80 80 II 35 69 86 87 87 88 89 90 90 III 39 78 97 97 98 99 102 104 105 IV 43 85 107 1007 108 109 113 116 120 I

S-DAS (L: 45m) II 28 57 71 71 72 72 74 75 75 III 32 64 81 81 82 83 86 89 90 IV 36 72 89 90 91 92 97 101 105 25 51 63 63 64 64 65 65 65

Key:
h: Installation height I/II/III/IV: Protectionlevel Rp(m): Protectionradius in m Recommended 5 6 installation height