EARTHING & LIGHTNING PROTECTION

CODES OF PROTECTION OF STRUCTURES AGAINST LIGHTNING.

BS 6651 : Protection of structures against lightning. BSEN 62305 : Embrace the whole concept of lightning protection from design to installation. IEC 61024-1 : Protection of structures against lightning. IEC 60364-5-54 : Earthing arrangements and protective conductors. KS C 9609 : Lightning rod.

EARTH RODS.
When earth rods are used, they should be driven into the ground beneath, or as close as practicable to, the structure and down conductor. The practice of siting terminations away from the building is normally unnecessary and uneconomical. Where ground conditions are favourable for the use of rods in parallel, the reduction in earth resistance is small when the separation between the rods becomes less than their driven length. Lightning protection system for tall buildings(over 20m high) showing air terminations, down conductors, bonds to projections above roof.
Air termination bonded to steel reinforcing or steel frame of buliding.

Earth electrode Air termination mesh should be not greater than 10m X 20m. Down conductor should be not more than 10m apart.

Earth terminations : arrangement of earth electrodes.

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AIR TERMINATIONS.
Air termination networks may consists of vertical or horizontal conductors or combinations of both. For large flat roofs, this is achived typically by use of an air termination network mesh of approximately 10m x 20m. On multiple ridge roofs, additional conductors are necessary if the separation, S(in metres), of the ridges is greater than 10 +2H, where H is the height of the ridge (in metres). See Fig.5 On a reforced concrete structure, the air termination should be connected to the reinforcing bars in the number of positions needed for down conductors. Air terminations for a flat roof

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Air terminations for flat roofs at different levels

Perimeter = 24 + 24+ 12+ 12 = 72m Number of down conductoors required = 72/20 = 4.

Air terminations for large areas of roof of various profiles.

NOTE 1 If S > 10 +2H, additional longitudinal conductors are needed so that the distance between conductors NOTE 1does not exceed 10m. NOTE 2 If the length of the roof exceeds 20m. additional transverse conductors are necessary. NOTE 3 Down conductors are omitted for clarity.

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Air terminations for tall conducting structures.

The air termination network for a tall reinforced concrete or steel structure should be as follows: a) horizontal conductors on roofs from a 10m X 20m network; b) bonds to steelwork at comers, at 20m intervals around the b) periphery and on the tower 0.5m above the lower roof level; c) key bonding to the building steelwork.

Example of lightning protection system for brick chimneys.

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DOWN CONDUCTORS.
The function of a down conductor is to provide a low impedance path from the air termination to the earth electrode so that the lightning current can be safely conducted to earth. Depending upon the form of the building, it is often necessary to have multiple down conductors in parallel, some or all of which may be part of the building structure itself. For example, a steel framed or reinforced concrete structure might need no added down conductors as the framework itself provides an efficiant natual network of many paths to earth ; conversely a structure made entirely from non-conducting materials would need down conductors deployed according to the size and form of the structure. Patterns of down conductors(natural or not) for various forms of tall building.
The down conductors may be natural (parts of the building framework) or added strips or rods on external faces. On structures exceeding 20m in height, down conductors should be spaced not more than 10m apart.

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Air termination and zone of protection for simple structure with explosive or highly flammable contents.

To prevent flashover between mast/conductor and protected building, the minimum clearance distance has to be 2m, whichever is the greater. This clearance has to be as given in note 1, under maximum sag conditions, i.e. snow ice on the aerial conductor.

CORROSION.
Electrolytic corrosion between dissimilar metals : The contact of dissimilar metals, unless the contact surfaces are kept completely dry and protected against the ingress of moisture, is likely to initiate and accelerate corrosion. Chemical corrosion of copper : Although copper is highly resistant to many types of chemical attack, lead coating is recommended where it is subject to serve corrosion due to the presence of sulphur compounds.

INSPECTION.
All lightning protection systems should be visually inspected by a competent person during installation, after completetion and after alteration or extension, in order to verify that they conform to the recommendations in BS6651, Visual inspections should be repeated at fixed intervals, preferably not exceeding 12 months.

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