Lightning Protection Products

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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The terms surge protection device (SPD) and transient voltage surge suppressor (TVSS) are used to describe electrical devices typically installed in power distribution panels, process control systems, communications systems, and other heavy-duty industrial systems, for the purpose of protecting against electrical surges and spikes, including those caused by lightning.

Surge Protection Devices reduce surge voltages to a level that the power distribution system and the equipment that is connected to the system can handle. They protect the programmable logic controller in the equipment, the power supplies, the step-down transformer, variable-frequency drives, and the input/output devices.

SPDs are primarily rated by how much of a surge current magnitude they can handle, and how well they limit the voltage when conducting that surge current.

Causes of surge

A power surge is caused by an event or issue within the facility or from outside of the facility. There are two most common causes of power surges:

Internal:

- These occur from the day-to-day operation of many devices (AC, Electric motors, elevators, etc) within the facility.

- Can also result from internal circuit breakers and fuses from within the equipment or at the electrical panel.

External:

- Weather events cause external power surges, such as lightning.

- Electrostatic discharge

- Utility load switching

- Turning transformers on and off

- Power line disconnection and reconnection

Selecting the appropriate Surge Protective Devices (SPD) can seem like a daunting task with all of the different types on the market today. Most customers think that the larger the panel, the larger the kA device rating or surge rating needs to be for protection but this is a common misunderstanding.

When selecting an SPD for a given application, there are several considerations that must be made:

- Application - Ensure that the SPD is designed for the zone of protection for which it will be used.

- System voltage and configuration - SPDs are designed for specific voltage levels and circuit configurations.

- Let-through voltage - This is the voltage that the SPD will allow the protected equipment to be exposed to.

- Surge current - SPDs are rated to safely divert a given amount of surge current without failing. This rating ranges from a few thousand amps up to 400 kilo amperes (kA) or more.

- Standards - All SPDs should be tested in accordance with national and international standards for safety.

Installing a surge protection device from Lightning Eliminators ensures security of your company data, employees and facility during an unpredictable electric surge, as well as ensures continued function of critical systems.

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To minimize the risk of equipment damage and operational downtime, LEC strongly recommends suitable Surge protection devices be installed in the right location, in a proper manner and by trained professionals.

General information

Surge is a sudden increase of the high current and voltage of electricity – an occurrence often found in electrical circuits. Surge can damage or delay the circuit operations, halting the production line or affecting computer information systems that may waste valuable time and business opportunities.

The cause of surge

Lightning is the most spectacular form of an externally generated surge, however it is estimated that most transients are generated internally with in the facility either due to defects in the electric power transmission system or by turning on/off large electrical devices that require high voltage also known as load switching.

Prevention

LEC manufactures high quality surge protection devices certified by national and international standards to secure the safety of our customer’s electrical devices. Our products are manufactured in the USA and distributed to all parts of the world. Every product is strictly tested to ensure quality in all procedures – from manufacturing to pre-delivery, guaranteeing product safety to users.

How does an SPD work?

There is at least one non-linear component of the SPD, which under different conditions, transitions between a high and low impedance state. At normal operating voltages, the SPDs are in a high impedance state and do not affect the system. When a transient voltage occurs on the circuit, the SPD moves into a state of conduction (or low impedance) and diverts the transient energy and current back to its source or ground. This limits or clamps the voltage amplitude to a safer level. After the transient is diverted, the SPD automatically resets back to its high impedance state.

What more can LEC do?

Our experienced personnel can help you choose the most effective solution, with SPDs to suit your environment, the location within a structure and the sensitivity of the equipment to be protected.

Conclusion

Surge protection devices are an essential requirement in all facilities and it now forms an integral part of a lightning protection system. Lightning Eliminators are able to provide surge & transient overvoltage protection and technical support in the design and installation of the surge protection measures to reduce the risk of loss of life, damage and permanent failure of electrical systems/equipment.

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Electronics and technology are used in virtually every aspect of all industries. Even if a shelter within an industrial facility does not include a wide range of industrial technologies, it’s likely the structure will have a lighting system or perhaps an HVAC unit.  This is why every structure should feature lightning protection.

Common business-related electronic technologies that are at risk of destructive damage from a lightning strike are:

-          Electronics and software

-          Communication network

-          Security systems

-          Fire alarms

-          Fire suppression systems

Lightning strikes can cause fire, explosion, dangerous chemical releases and critical mechanical disruptions. Humans and animals, within the area where these events occur, are also at risk of injury or even death.

To avoid the possibility of damage from lightning that could cripple business capabilities, provide the structure with effective lightning protection. This is best done by implementing a lightning protection plan while constructing the structure; this way many lightning-related problems can be avoided.

A lightning protection plan includes protecting the internal electrical system and protecting the structure itself; though its prime focus is to protect the structure from direct lightning strikes. A lightning protection system intercepts the burst of energy from the lightning strike and conducts it towards the ground, where it is safely dispersed within the earth. With the energy diverted, the structure and all that is within it including the electrical system remain safe.

Having said this, some customers can ask for lightning protection only, with the assumption that lightning protection alone will provide all the protection it needs. If the site doesn’t have proper grounding and bonding in place, the earth potential rise caused by a lightning strike may result in arcing and side flashing between metallic objects, thus causing damage to electrical equipment. Thus a grounding system is equally important. The residual energy which still has the potential to harm sensitive electronic systems can be tamed by implementing a surge protection system.

All in all a complete lightning protection system including grounding and bonding system and surge protection system is required for complete facilities protection approach.

Lightning Eliminators are LPI certified masters with many patented products; LEC is uniquely qualified to provide the highest level of lightning protection available within the industry. 

LEC is a fully integrated lightning protection solution provider.

Before we tell you how our LPS work, let us provide some brief facts about the lightning protection solutions.

LEC provides four general types of lightning protection solutions, as follows:

1. Conventional air terminal systems – designed to collect strikes
2. Early streamer emitting air terminal systems– designed to collect strikes
3. Charge Transfer Systems – streamer delaying arrays that are that are designed to prevent all possible lightning strike collection
4. Hybrid System - streamer delaying air terminals that collect strikes only when charge transfer capacity is exceeded by dissipation requirements.

Our lightning protection system is termed Dissipation Array system (DAS) because it neutralizes the charge differential between the cloud and the protected facility before the flashover points occur. In other words, DAS is a no-strike prevention system – it will not allow any strikes to the protected area due to its a high level of performance.

DAS uses the principle of point discharge to facilitate the dissipation. The purpose of charge dissipation products is to reduce the accumulation of electric charge and thereby prevent an electric arc that can cause damage. This is accomplished by ionizing surrounding air and neutralizing accumulated charges on the earth’s surface, including the grounding system.

DAS  Features:

-          It reduces operation costs

-          Protects against lightning damage

-          Reduced maintenance cost

-          Improved reliability

-          Our “no strike” warranty ensures complete protection on all LEC supervised the installation

-          Can be customized and integrated with any building, tower, tank, and other structure

-          Increased personal safety

-          Healthier bottom line

Our process:

At LEC, when determining which lightning and surge protection system is right for a facility, our experienced engineers will thoroughly perform a scientific evaluation of the site’s exposure and vulnerability to lightning. We even examine the electrical, data and communication systems, as well as performing ground testing. We determine the overall cost of a proper lightning protection system by the scope and complexity of work based on the complete site evaluation report.

The list of clients that choose LEC’s DAS is extensive. Our customers are repeating often with multiple facilities in different geographic locations across the world.

LEC is the smart risk reduction choice for critical systems. Contact us. 

Lightning strikes approximately 10 times each second, around the world. Exactly where each lightning will strike is unpredictable, and their occurrence is unpreventable. What is in our control is the implementation of proper lightning protection systems in accordance with the nationals and international standard.

The conventional lightning rod aka Benjamin Franklin rod was the first to demonstrate that an electrically conductive path can safely channel lightning strikes from the top of a building into the earth. This lightning protection system has proved its effectiveness for ordinary facilities time and again.

Yet the lightning protection requirement of many structures especially in factories and industries exceed those provided by these conventional rods. As sensitive electronic now control vital functions including facility security, climate control, data storage, access systems, etc the vulnerability has increased. At the same time, the risk appears to be rising due to the occurrence of more frequent extreme weather events associated with climate change.

A direct lightning strike can cause physical damage and secondary effects of the lightning can and will damage electrical and electronic systems. Thus, the selected lightning protection system must be designed and implemented such that no form of lightning-related destruction, disruptive and reliability impairment phenomena can penetrate or enter the protected system.

While evaluating a particular site we consider the following points in order to provide the best level of lightning protection required for your needs:

- Environmental factors and the tolerable risk of the site

- Safety of workers and other individual members

- Risk of equipment and structural damage

- Consequential damage

- Substantial revenue loss in the time required to restore services

- The legal implication of providing inadequate protection

- Side flashing or simple sparks in the explosive or flammable environment or between metallic structures

- Phenomenon causing a dangerous surge

Determining the level of lightning protection appropriate for each situation can be complex and require expert engineering expertise.

In order to prevent lightning from striking your facilities, Lightning Eliminators & Consultant Inc has developed an exclusive patented product line and a team of engineering specialists that can provide an array of solutions for maximum lightning protection.