Lightning Protection Products

Lightning is one of these natural events that catch people’s imagination. In real world they can be linked to a disruptive electric discharge due to the dielectric breakdown of the air between the clouds or between the clouds and the ground.

The use of lightning protection systems are the most effective method of reducing the risk of fire, explosions and damage to infrastructure due to lightning.

Petrochemical, refinery and storage facilities are some of the largest and most sophisticated industrial structures that need protection from lightning. Lightning also significantly affects all outdoor activities and can pose a serious risk for people in the open area. People who are directly struck by lightning, or stand next to lightning current-carrying objects or who, as a result of a flashover may even be carrying partial lightning current themselves, could sustain serious injuries which can even result in death.

LEC's systems and solutions are industry-leading in the prevention of potentially dangerous levels of lightning in the offshore sector, an industry that heavily relies on the handling of hazardous and combustible materials.

Legacy lightning protection systems involved sticking a metal rod into the ground. LEC's product line provides advanced technology through the use of charge dissipation technology.

This technology uses point discharge theory to facilitate the reduction of static electrical charge buildup. It accomplishes this by ionizing surrounding air to neutralize accumulated charges on the earth’s surface, thus ground charges that develop streamers no longer have sufficient electrical energy supporting them to initiate the strike process; thereby greatly reducing the risk of a lightning strike within the protected area.

Benefits of our patented lightning protection system (DAS)

• Provides enhanced performance over traditional lightning protection

• Patented technology

• High-grade stainless steel construction

• Lightweight and easy to install

• Corrosion-resistant

• Low wind loading

• Large selection of mounting hardware

• Independently tested

• Meets or exceeds UL 96A, NFPA 780, and IEC 62305 standards

Once lightning protection systems are installed, regular maintenance and periodic safety checks are required to ensure it continues to work at its optimum level.

To ensure your oil, gas, and mining facility is fully protected from a lightning event, contact our experts at LEC.

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Water is a fundamental utility. Its increased consumption is the reflection of population growth and an improved standard of living. A more efficient use of drinking water is growing in significance, especially against the backdrop of increasingly scarce drinking water resources. Therefore, waste water treatment plants are a key element of the drinking water cycle.

Due to vast surface areas and exposure of frequently isolated sites, water and wastewater treatment plants are particularly exposed to lightning risks. Lightning protection for water treatment plants involves protecting wellheads, pumping stations, and processing plants, which are highly susceptible to lightning strikes and damage. When any one of these units is affected by direct or indirect lightning strikes, and the resultant damage from surging electricity, you are looking at anywhere from hours to days’ worth of loss of service.

Furthermore, the consequences of a strike can be serious ranging from costs of re-establishing the availability of the treatment plant to the unknown cost for eliminating ground water contamination. Consequently, lightning protection systems must be installed to efficiently eliminate this threat and to increase the availability of the plant.

A well thought out lightning protection system is a critical step for the purposes of safety, protection of property, insurance costs, and down time.

A lightning protection system consists of external protection, and internal lightning protection. External lightning protection minimizes fire risk by lightning strike and the realization of the Lightning Protection Zones Concept helps to optimize the availability of the installation to a maximum level.

To ensure maximum technical and economic protection, the area of protection is sub divided into lightning protection zones (LPZ). Subsequently a risk analysis is carried out for each LPZ and the relevant types of damage. The mutual dependence of the LPZ’s are then examined and the required protection measure are defined to reach the necessary protection goal.

Our lightning protection solution aims to:

• Protect your facility, equipment, assets, and personnel
• Provide a safe working environment
• Provide effective interlocking defence thereby reducing vulnerability of interdependent critical infrastructure
• Reduce the risk of downtime

LEC installs the lightning protection systems in a neat and aesthetic manner while maintaining the national and international code requirements. We further provide a ‘no strike’ warranty on our installations and system.

Contact us to find out more about how we can work with you.

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Prior to export, processed crude oil is stored in Floating Roof Tanks (FRT) to further allow any trapped gas within the crude oil to escape, and further stabilise the oil. In the oil and gas industry, FRT’s are vital in the processing of crude oil to the acceptable export specification. However, because of global climate change, the frequency of accidents which include equipment damage and fire damage caused by lightning in fuel depots is rapidly increasing with floating roof tank fire being a major threat to crude oil production.

Thus Fuel Tank Lightning protection is now an indispensable part of the oil depot safety system.

Interaction of Lightning with a floating roof tank

By design to ensure ease of movement of the floating roof within the tank shell, there exist a gap between the tank shell and the edge of the floating roof. This eliminates friction, guarantees ease of movement but creates issues in the following areas when lightning strikes.

• Sparking

When lightning strikes a floating roof, the lightning current will flow over the roof towards the edge of the roof, and at the edge there exist a discontinuity because of the tank shell-roof gap, this prevents the current from flowing through the tank shell to the ground.

• Roof surface charging

Prior to an eventual lightning strike electric charges will accumulate in the sky. This creates a difference in potential between the roof and the shell which can result in transient currents.

• Heating

The flow of high energy lightning current can cause erosion and melting of thin metal sheets and this can generate incendiary particles even around the shell-roof gap; though tanks with a thickness greater than 5mm cannot be melted by lightning.

The discussion above shows that the gap between the roof and the tank shell is a major cause of lightning voltage spark. In order to mitigate this, LEC on fuel tank lightning protection recommends RGA.

Retractable Grounding Array (RGA) is basically a self-retracting conductor. The RGA retracts and extends based on the roof level thereby maintaining the shortest electrical connection possible and by so prevents the issue associated with the use of long cables. It is made of multiple weaved strands of low resistance tinned copper wire and is typically installed on the tank shell and connected to the edge of the roof.

Society increasingly depends on petroleum products, so storage management of crude oil and its products has become particularly important. The approach to solving the lightning induced fire issue is centred on eliminating voltage differential by installing a fuel tank lightning protection system such as LEC”s Retractable Grounding Assembly.

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Due to the increased risk when storing large amounts of crude oil and the relevant final products, special personal and environmental protection measures are required. Various regulations, describe measures that ensure safe operation of storage facilities with focus on fire protection measures. Since lightning constitutes an ignition source, suitable protection measures must be taken to reduce this hazard source to the greatest possible extent.

In short fuel tank lightning protection systems should do more than just intercept incoming lightning strikes which are still likely to cause ignition of the tanks’ contents. A total lightning protection system (LPS) should be designed to eliminate all lightning related direct and indirect risks.

Offshore rigs and platforms are thought of as “grounded” to the ocean. However, the environment, and even the design of the facility itself, may lead to a compromise in bonding with rust and oil deposits that impede the energy’s path to ground. This leaves the advanced electrical and electronic systems and personnel susceptible to severe damage from not only direct strikes but dangerous secondary surge effects of lightning as well.

What we offer:

Retractable Grounding Assembly - The ATEX approved and patented RGA substantially reduces the risk of tank fires by subduing sustained arcs during lightning events and other electrical phenomena. The RGA does this better than other traditional methods for bonding floating roofs because the retractable cable is always at the shortest possible length. The resultant low resistance and impedance is too low of a voltage to sustain the arc, i.e., no fire.

In-tank Potential Equalizer - This patented product is made specifically for non-metal and lined tanks in order to combat the problem of internal electrical discharges and the subsequent ignition of the vapours inside tanks. Its no-point lightning protection design makes it safer, more economical and corrosion resistant.

Dissipation Array System - the DAS and charge transfer method reduces the naturally occurring electric field in a protected area, therefore upward streamers do not get enough energy from a storm to connect with downward leaders. It’s based on physics and state-of- the art engineering principles specifically designed to stop a lightning strike from terminating where it is not wanted in a designated “area of protection.”

With appropriate use of fuel tank lightning protection methods; replacement costs, losses due to operational shutdown, and safety liability issues can be minimized. Through our practical experience, good communication and excellent attention to details, LEC consistently delivers fuel tank lightning protection products and solutions on time and on budget.

For more information on this subject, please feel free to contact us!

Who needs a lightning protection system?

Every industry which has sufficient risk of a lightning related event causing harm and damage to a structure, the people in and around it and the systems on and within it requires a lightning protection systems.

How often does lightning strike?

Data from NOAA shows that over the continental U.S. alone, an average of 20,000,000 cloud-to-ground flashes occur every year. And worldwide, lightning strikes the ground about 100 times each second, or 8 million times a year.

Is lightning protection necessary?

Lightning strikes are very common. A lack of lightning protection means you risk the chance of suffering massive damage to equipment or even risk the safety of your employees. Thus lightning protection systems are very important. Also with a UL Certified lightning protection systems you can take advantage of available discounts on your insurance.

Will a lightning protection system be noticeable?

If the system is designed early enough in the planning stage much of the system can be run under the roof; while our system are designed to be nearly invisible from the ground. Cables can be completely concealed during new construction, or hidden in and around building elements on existing buildings, leaving just the air terminal exposed.

Our building already has a lightning protection. Can you check it for us?

Absolutely. We do inspection and reconditioning work, kindly contact our lightning eliminator expert for more details.

We have just installed a new roof on our building. Does this impact our existing lightning protection system?

Yes it does. Many times, when a new roof is installed, the roofers will attempt to dismantle and then reinstall the lightning protection system and this should be avoided at all costs. We can work closely with your roofing company to ensure that the lightning protection systems are secure and capable of handling a lightning strike after a new roof is installed.

 How effective is a lightning protection system?

According to Underwriters Laboratories a properly designed and installed system greatly diminishes the risk of property damage caused by lightning strike. LEC’s lightning protection systems attempt to equalize the voltage between the clouds and earth within the area of protection thus preventing the lightning to strike.

Lightning Eliminators advocate a complete, comprehensive set of lightning protection systems to ensure complete protection of your employees, your facility and the various components therein.

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Lightning is the leading known cause of storage tank fires and it’s a constant treat.

Though all industries are at a risk of lightning strikes; even areas with infrequent thunderstorms can experience rare, but high intensity lightning strikes, the Petrochemical industry has the most shared data in losses.

Problem:

Lightning on tank storage and energy sources can cause explosion and/or ignite fire that consumes millions of dollars of products, create prolonged downtime, demand environmental clean-up, incur regulatory fine and require excessive repair and replacement. Fires at the upstream end of the industry are common, primarily in salt water disposable tanks.

Solution:

There is the Lightning rod, invented by Benjamin Franklin has worked very well to protect buildings and structures. However, a large electromagnetic field generated by a lightning strike can cause damage in a ways not covered by the Franklin rod. Tank battery lightning protection requires a systematic, multi-faceted approach and the very best in modern knowledge and technology.

Though lightning rods are the oldest form of lightning protection and still used today, in the past few decades advancement in technology have provided an option – Charge Transfer System, which takes a completely opposite approach to lightning protection. A type of CTS, the Dissipation Array System (DAS), works to prevent a lightning strike in a specific area designated for protection.

LEC has developed a number of tank battery lightning protection products, including DAS to address the primary and secondary lightning effects and to ensure maximum site and tank integrity. In addition to the protection from direct lightning strikes, we manufacture a complete line of AC power low and medium voltage surge protection devices.

Backed with expert consulting and support, we have decades of experience in:

- Providing protection and grounding systems for floating roof tanks

- Providing solutions for bound static charges in the petroleum products themselves

- Protecting vents from flammable gases

- And all other challenges unique to the petrochemical industry

Petrochemical and oil and gas industries demand the highest level of protection in order to prevent incidents, especially in tank batteries, as their metal structures make them more susceptible to lightning strikes.

LEC has been creating the best custom tank battery lightning protection solutions. Should you require additional information on this subject feel free to contact us.

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Lightning strikes are characterised by very high stroke currents arriving in a very brief amount of time. This current will flow across the surface of the earth until the cell between the thundercloud and earth is neutralised. The current will flow in all directions, although the amount will vary in proportion to the path of lowest impedance.

Here we are specifically talking about fuel tank lightning protection

Petroleum products such as crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, etc., are commonly stored in Floating Roof Tanks. An FRT is a type of tank where the roof floats on top of the product being stored. The roof, although constructed of steel, rests on pontoons that float on the product being stored. Consequently, as the tank is filled or drained, the roof travels up and down within the shell of the tank.

Lightning may endanger an FRT if a stroke terminates on the roof, the shell, anything attached to the roof or shell, such as the gauge pole, or a grounded structure or the earth near the FRT.

An FT is most at risk and all of the hazards from lightning tend to be worse, when the roof is high. During these conditions (when the tank is full or nearly full), the lightning current flows will be concentrated in the shunts directly below the lightning strike location. In comparison, when the tank’s roof is low and a lightning strike terminates on the tank, the lightning current disperses and is more evenly distributed among the available roof-shell bonds.

One of our most recommended fuel tank lightning protection product is LEC’s RGA750 (Retractable Grounding Assembly).

- The RGA has a spring-loaded cable that attaches between the roof and shell. The bonding cable on an RGA is constructed of a wide, flat braided copper cable and the housing is entirely stainless steel for excellent corrosion protection.

- The cable is tinned for additional corrosion protection.

- The cable on the RGA is spring-tensioned, meaning that it automatically retracts on the reel when it is not under tension. Therefore, the RGA is always of the minimum possible length for superior grounding.

- It’s independent of the condition of the tank wall and that of any shunts.

- Since FRT’s tend to be of very large diameter, it is important to limit the roof-to-shell impedance by installing multiple RGA’s as per stipulated guidelines.

We also offer a full line of surge suppressors to limit internally generated transients.

If you are in any need of fuel tank lightning protection or require more information, contact our friendly staff member for assistance.

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Since the dawn of civilization, lightning has inflicted a great deal of damage on structures built by mankind. Over 100 years ago, an effective method of protection became available when Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod.

A lightning rod is a metal rod that sticks up from a roof that will carry the current from a lightning strike safely to ground. It is typically copper or aluminium today, although Benjamin Franklin experimented with other metals in his original lightning protection systems. Some are hollow, while others are solid.

Also known as air terminals, these are connected to a network of horizontal and vertical conductors that are terminated to earthing terminals. The network of rods, conductors and earth terminals covers the protected structure in a Faraday Cage.

Though lightning rod are the oldest form of lightning protection and still used today, in the past few decades advancement in technology has provided more options. One of them is our manufactured and patented Charge Transfer System (CTS), which takes a completely opposite approach to a conventional lightning rod protection – while lightning rod attract lightning, CTS prevents it from terminating in the area of protection. This is the only system in which lightning strikes are actively discouraged, rather than encouraged. CTS technology is based on existing physics and mathematical principles.

In order to prevent lightning from striking within a specified zone, a CTS collects the induced charge from thunderstorm clouds within this area and transfers it through an ionizer into the surrounding air, thus reducing the electric field strength in the protected zone. The resulting reduced electrical potential difference between the site and the cloud suppresses the formation of an upward streamer. With no leader-streamer connection, the strike is prevented.

This fundamental difference is the key for effective lightning rod protection in industries such as power plants. These facilities often have many flammables and other sensitive materials where using an attractor carries the risk of ignition or damage to electronic systems.

In the modern age, all industrial applications must employ the most technologically advanced lightning rod protection systems and solutions available in order to maximize the life spans and efficiency of their equipment and systems.

By utilizing prevention rather than attraction, CTS is the best option for facilities where a single spark could be catastrophic. LEC’s Dissipation Array System (DAS) is the best commercially available solution for creating this zone of protection that guard against a lightning strike.

Contact us to know more.

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Data center equipment is complex and sensitive. One of the key failure sources at data centers is voltage transients. One power surge can destroy or reduce the life span of the equipment. It may cause a significant amount of money to recover from any amount of downtime or hardware damage resulting from a surge.

The crucial functions of data centers must be safe guarded from power surges caused by unreliable power off the grid or by direct and indirect lightning strikes.

While you may not be able to avoid some power surges, you can take steps to protect your devices and your facilities from any damage.

Put surge protection in place:

Implementing surge protection within the data centre will ensure that equipment functions aren’t harmed, hardware components are not fried, outages are prevented and that any surges are effectively diffused.

Use appropriate industrial surge protection solution featuring LEC’s surge protection devices (SPD). With our unique patented design, maintenance free modules have the capabilities to withstand multiple high energy transients - including direct lightning surges – and continue to keep protected equipment safe.

There are four major considerations to note while choosing surge protection to safeguard your data centre operations:

- The protection of personnel

- The protection of power supply lines and maintenance of the energy supply

- The protection of data processing and storage

- The protection of the building

Many types of transient voltage surge suppressors (TVSS) may be installed to protect data center equipment. These surge protection devices suppress electricity spikes in order to assure connectivity and optimum performance. TVSS devices are installed between the feed of incoming power and the equipment that they are protecting. Each surge protector works by continually monitoring the voltage of incoming electricity feed, and when they detect a surge in electricity they clamp down on the voltage line coming in and diverting the power surge to ensure seamless operability.

Our patented products:

- Hybrid Surge Protectors for Data and Telecom Application (TE500)

- Data Line Protector (DLP)

Their Benefits

- State of the art series

- Maintenance free

- Safe operation : no smoke, no fire

- Unique capability to withstand multiple high-energy transients

- Low let-through voltage

- Available in a range of configurations

- Global standards compliant

Lightning Eliminators featuring surge protection devices are the ideal way to protect critical equipment from catastrophic failure and ensure smooth functioning of data centres.

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Electricity has provided countless benefits to people, but it still remains one of the most deadly elements readily available in our daily lives, thus it’s important to ground electrical currents to:

- Protect against electrical overboard

- Help electrical currents to safely and efficiently travel throughout your electrical system.

- Stabilize voltage levels

- Provide an earth conductor, thus giving excess electricity a place to go

- Minimize the overload of power that can bring destruction beyond repair.

How does it work?

A ground is usually idealised as an infinite source, which can absorb an unlimited amount of current without changing its potential.

The wiring system is permanently grounded to a metal ‘grounding’ rod driven into the ground. A copper conductor connects this grounding rod to a set of terminals for ground connections in a service panel.

You can usually tell whether your electrical system is grounded by checking your power outlets. If they accept plugs with three pongs, your system should have three wires, one of which is a grounding wire.

What is a grounding rod?

It’s a rod that is driven into the ground to provide electrical connection, so it can carry any electrical surge safely away from the circuit.

A typical grounding system consists of multiple grounding rod connected with mesh or grid networks, ground plates and ground loops. This network dramatically increases the amount of contact with the surrounding earth and lowers ground resistance.

Leveraging on our vast industry experience and knowledge, we have emerged as a notable manufacturer and supplier of Chemical copper bonded grounding rods (Chem-Rod).

Our Chem-Rod (2.625” in diameter) provides a permanent soil treatment solution for a low impedance ground. It comprises of a hollow copper rod into which an electrolytic salt mixture (GAF) is filled. Our grounding rod should be refilled periodically to provide long term soil treatment.

Features:

- Last longer, drive easier and will not crack

- Copper purity is 99.95%

- It is fully covered with copper cladding without any cracks, hole or cavity

- Good tensile strength

- Resists corrosion better than galvanized grounding rods

- Provides the lowest resistance to ground

- It’s suitable treated to prevent oxidation of copper bonding

- Requires less real estate

- Fewer electrodes can meet specified resistance

- Each grounding rod creates an optimal electrical connection to earth with large conductive surface

From the award winning ‘Retractable Grounding Assembly 750’ to the patented Chem-Rod, Lightning Eliminators offer the best of products with a full line of standard ground testing services and more.

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