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Lightning What is Lightning? Lightn ing is an electrical discha rge in the atmosphere, very similar to a spark. I t is the electrica l breakdown of insu latin g air to provide a transient, conductive path a lon g which a cu rrent can run to neutralize th e charge. Where and why does lightning occur? Lightn ing mostly occurs in thun derstorms. Oth er situations in which ligh tning occu rs are dust storms, blizzards, volcan ic eruptions an d nuclear explosions. I t seems to be a phenomenon occurrin g in large volumes of particle clou ds when they are bein g transported in th e atmosphere. Simplified, a thun derstorm has a positively charged top, a n egatively ch arged lower section, an d a small layer of positive charge at the clou d base wh ich is carried up a little bit into the u pdrafts. We ca ll the top (+) cha rged region the P region, the lower (-) charged region th e N region, and the (+) charge nears th e base, th e p region.

Types of lightning d ischarges I n most cases, a thun derstorm discha rges du e to a lightn in g flash between th e large N an d P region s. This type of flash occurs within th e cloud, and is not directly visible to our eyes. One usually just sees the cloud lighten up from the inside, and we ca ll th is sh eet lightn ing. Such a flash is ca lled an in tracloud lightn ing discha rge. Lightn ing may also occu r from th e lower N region via th e p region to ground. Th is is a cloud-to groun d flash. Lightn ing, a flow of electrica l cu rrent between the earth and storm clou ds occu rs as va rying ch arges of positive and negative polarity build up in th e atmosphere du rin g a storm. The resu lt is a disch arge or cu rrent sent rushing toward the earth. As this down ward force n ears the earth's surface, positive charges rise u p to meet it. As the n egatively cha rged stepped leader th rusts toward th e ground readying to discharge its en ergy, its path is erratic. Nearing the earth, positive charges are attracted by it and stra in up from roof edges, lighting poles, antennas, etc. Wh en th e two opposing charge systems meet, th ey create a closed circu it. As

PRAGATI ELECTROCOM (P) L TD. P LOT N o. 184 SECTOR-3 , IMT MANESAR,PHASE -I, GURGAON-122050, (HARYANA) INDIA Telephone: +91-124-2291480, 2291456, 3255376 FAX: +91-124-2291479 E-MAIL: info@pr aga tie lec tr oc om.c om

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the path to th e ground is completed, a flash is created. WHAT HAPPENS DURING A LIG HTNI NG FLASH? Consider a clou d-to-ground lightning flash, ca rrying negative charge down from the cloud to th e ground. Th is lightn ing flash starts somewhere in the lower portions of the N region. When th e electric field there becomes high er than a certain th reshold valu e, a free electron (freed by cosmic radiation, usua lly) is being accelerated up to a point that it has enough kinetic energy to knock other electrons out of molecu les, when it even tually strikes these. These oth er electrons sta rt acceleratin g as well, and a ch ain-reaction takes place, called an electron avalanch e. I t is a rush of electrons, ma king a condu ctive path due to the leftover positively charged ions. Th is is the sta rt of the so called stepped leader, precu rsor to the actual lightn ing discharge. This stepped leader advances in steps of a few meters at a time, in the gen eral direction of the ground below. Durin g each step, electron avalanches occu r away from the h igh ly (-) charged tip. Now, free electrons initiating avalanch es are bein g produced by ph oto ion ization, as th e tip of th e leader emits light. At some poin ts, several ava lanch es are produced, an d th e leader branches at su ch a point. Wh ile the stepped lea der zips downwards at a rate of about 10000 m/s, charge is being deposited alon g th e channel. Wh en the leader approach es groun d, th e electric field rises and (+) charged filaments of charges called steamers shoot u pward from any object residing there (u sually a ta ll structure like a tree, a buildin g, etc.). Wh en on e of these streamers connects with the stepped leader, a short circuit occu rs, and charge starts to flow downward through the new channel. F irst, the charge nea rest to the shorta ge poin t starts moving, later ch arge high er up in th e channel moves. T he curren t rises to several 10 KA, up to sometimes more than 100 KA. This immense current flow heats the channel, causin g an explosion, a shock wave, an d an in tense light flash, which we see as lightn ing. The top part of a lightn ing flash can't connect to anythin g ph ysical in the cloud, as the cloud itself is not conductive. I n this respect, a lightn ing flash is totally different from a spark. Th e cloud is never directly connected to groun d electrically (just like you can't connect a strin g in the air, for instance - th ere's nothin g to conn ect it to). Rather, the lightn ing channel branches out inside th e clou d as a tree-like stru cture, and draws free electrons to it, freed from cloud particles by the h igh electrical field. After a lightn ing flash h as occurred, the storm cloud will recharge itself in a certa in amount of time, depending on th e activity of th e storm. Some storms produce nearly continuou s lightning (over 100 flashes per minu te), some oth ers produce ju st a single flash du ring th eir entire lifetime of about 1 h our or so. SURGES: A BETTER HALF OF LIGHTNING EFFECTS

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The direct Strike o f Lightning A direct lightn in g strike to an unprotected bu ilding can be catastroph ic. Packing u p to 100 million volts of electricity an d a force comparable to that of a small nuclear reactor, lightning has th e power to rip th rough roofs, explode walls of brick and concrete and ignite deadly fires. I n addition to structu ral damage, lightn ing surges th rough out power lin es causing wire damage and destruction of valuable electronic equipment including computers, televisions, stereos, secu rity systems. The Indirect Strike of Lightning: True, people may n ever, or rarely, experien ce, direct lightn ing strikes on exposed, in -bu ilding cable feeding into their equ ipment. However, it is n ot uncommon to fin d computer equipment bein g fed by buried ca ble. I n this environ ment, a ligh tning strike, even several miles away, can indu ce voltage/cu rrent su rges, wh ich travel through the ground an d induce su rges along th e cable, u ltimately causin g equ ipment failure. Th e equipment user is un dou btedly aware of these fa ilures but usually does n ot relate them to the occurren ce of lightn in g during th understorm activity since the user does not experience a direct strike. What d amage does lig htning do? Lightn ing strikes can kill people, knock out radio commun ications, electrica l power, and destroy h ouses or trees. How exactly does this ha ppen? Electron ic equ ipment is extremely susceptible to transient voltages and surge cu rrents due to its relatively fragile semiconductor constru ction. AC supply lin es, by th eir very natu re of bein g a power carrier, in terconn ect industrial, commercial, and residential areas, bu ildings, and equipment. Every load being switch ed on or off creates some sort of electrica l noise and voltage fluctuation. These transients and su rges are then carried th rough the supply lin es to all of the other loads in the vicin ity. As the tran sients and surges increase in level, their destructive power is ca rried further in distance th ereby reaching more sensitive electron ic equ ipment. Every electron ic device connected to th e AC supply lines shou ld have protection aga inst these transien t voltages and surge currents to ensure a lon ger service life.

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I t is unfortunate, but a fact of life, that computers, computer related products an d process con trol equ ipment found in premises data commun ications environ ments can be damaged by high-voltage surges and spikes. Such power su rges and spikes are most often cau sed by lightn ing strikes. However, th ere are occasions when the surges and spikes result from any one of a variety of other causes. These causes may include direct contact with power/ligh tnin g circuits, static bu ildup on cables and compon ents, high en ergy transients coupled into equ ipment from ca bles in close proximity, poten tial differences between groun ds to wh ich different equipment's are conn ected, miswired systems and even human equ ipment users who have accumu lated large static electricity charge bu ild-ups on th eir clothin g. I n fact, electrostatic disch arges from a person can produce peak Voltages up to 15 kV with currents of tens of Amperes in less than 10 microseconds. Semicon ductors a re prevalent in such equ ipmen t. A lightn ing in duced surge will almost a lways surpass the voltage ratin g of these devices causing th em to fail. Specifica lly, ligh tning in duced su rges usua lly a lter the electrica l characteristics of semiconductor devices so that they no lon ger function effectively. I n a few cases, a surge may destroy th e semiconductor device. Th ese are ca lled "ha rd fa ilures." Computer equ ipment having a hard fa ilu re will no lon ger fun ction at all. I t mu st be repaired with th e resultin g expen se of "downtime" or the expense of a standby un it to take its place. I n several in stances, a lightn in g-derived su rge may destroy the printed traces in th e printed circuit boa rds of th e computer equ ipment also resu ltin g in hard failures. Along with the voltage source, ligh tnin g can cau se a curren t surge and a resultant in duced magnetic field. I f the computer con tains a magnetic disk then this interfering ma gnetic field might overwrite and destroy data stored in th e disk. Furth ermore, the a berrant magnetic field may en ergize th e disk head when it sh ould be quiescen t. Some computer equ ipment may have magn etic relays. The same aberrant magn etic fields, which cause disk crash es, may activate relays wh en th ey shou ldn't be activated, causin g unpredicta ble, unacceptable performan ce. Finally, th ere is th e effect of lightn ing on program logic con trollers (PLCS), wh ich are found in th e manufacturing environ ment. Many of these PLCs use programs stored in ROMS. A lightning-in duced su rge can alter the contents of the ROM causing aberrant operation by th e PL C. I n a way, such indu ced surges are analogous to chron ic h igh blood pressure in a person; they are "silent killers." I n the manufacturin g en vironment, long cable run s are often found conn ecting sensors, PLCs and computers. Th ese cables are particu larly vu lnerable to induced surges.
GURGAON-122050, (HARYANA) INDIA Telephone: +91-124-2291480, 2291456, 3255376 FAX: +91-124-2291479 PRAGATI ELECTROCOM (P) L TD. P LOT N o. 184 SECTOR-3 , IMT MANESAR,PHASE -I,

However du rin g a lightn ing storm magn etic and info@pr electric fields are generated and often associated with a su dden E-MAIL: aga tie lec tr oc om.c om change in th e electrica l supply. These even ts contribute to or directly cause the failure of sensitive electrical equ ipment, such as computers, and televisions. Power and data lines often provide a path for excess current to travel along th erefore a buildin g does not need to be stru ck directly by lightn ing to resu lt in costly damage.

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When a person is struck by lightn ing the chances are about 50% that it will be fatal. Usually, th e ligh tnin g enters th e head or one of the ears. Con trary to what one might th ink, lightnin g usua lly strikes out of th e body skin aga in after a few centimeters, because it is a high ly transien t electrica l cu rrent, and these flow mostly at the su rface of con ductin g materia l (like flesh). However, a person usua lly suffers cardiac arrest, apart from burns, tempora ry blindn ess and deafn ess. A strike can have profoun d effects on someone's life, if th e person survives. I n many cases neurons are perman ently dama ged. Facts : 1. Lightnin g... Packs between 35,000 to 40,000 amperes of current. 2. Can gen erate temperatures as h igh as 50, 000 degrees C elsius. 3. Falls somewh ere on the earth every second. 4. Travels as far as 40 miles. 5. Can, and does strike the same place twice. 6. Causes billion s of dollars in property damage each yea r, many times resu lting in fire and total property loss. THING S YOU SHOULD KNOW.. Radio communication sights are particula rly prone to lightn ing strikes. The effects of a lightn in g strike are determined by both the magn itude and waveform of the current discharge. The amount of damaged suffered by equ ipment connected to data and signa l lin es is ra pidly increases with th e high insta llation density of computers, telecommunications an d process control systems. Modern telephon e switching an d PABX systems are pa rticula rly susceptible to damage from ligh tning in duced transitions. Not on ly lin e circu its require protection but a lso teleph one extension s that cross protection boundaries are especia lly venerable an d must be protected. Metal oxide va rsities (M OV) are traditionally u sed for protection of LV, MV and HV power circu its. MOV's have exceptional surge handling capability and can ha ndle an 8,000A 8/20us impulse. MOV's do however have a lifetime and n eed to be cheeked regula rly. Most surge protection compon ents are rated in terms of th eir 8/20u s cu rren t handling capa bility. This is a high -en ergy pu lse and severely tests the component. You can compa re the performance of su rge protection devises by compa rin g th eir 8/20us capability. Beware of residua l volta ge speciation derived from voltage in jection (1. 2/50u s) tests only. The resu lts a ppea r

PRAGATI ELECTROCOM (P) L TD. P LOT N o. 184 SECTOR-3 , IMT MANESAR,PHASE -I, GURGAON-122050, (HARYANA) INDIA Telephone: +91-124-2291480, 2291456, 3255376 FAX: +91-124-2291479 E-MAIL: info@pr aga tie lec tr oc om.c om

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impressive bu t there is no energy to be dissipated from th e voltage pulse on ly. Th is is not representative of a real world situation. A transient su rge protector is a device, which is typically used to protect electron ic equ ipment from dama ge or destruction caused by transient voltages and su rge currents. These destructive transients most often attack equ ipment th rough power input lin es, signa l input and output lines, data lin es, and any oth er wire coming in to or goin g out of a chassis containin g electronics. For safety of the hu man beings an d th e equipment, a good earth ing with lowest possible resistance is the lifelin e of the L ightnin g Protection System. Good earth pits as per BI S / I EC specifications a re made, using Copper Plates / Rods or GI Plates / P ipes, dug deep in the groun d in differen t configurations. U se of EART H CONDUCTIVI TY ENHANCEMENT COMPOUND not only makes the pits maintenance free, but also improves th e soil con ductivity by 3 - 20 times. Low resistance earth pits, < 5 oh ms for lightn ing an d < 1 oh m for equ ipment are normally recommen ded. Rocks have high resistance and digging for placement of P lates is a difficu lt proposition. I n order to facilitate th e same, three pu re Copper Rods, greater than 12 mm in diameter, placed in an equ ilatera l triangle configu ration, du ly interconn ected inside th e rock, provide good earth ing with support of Special Soil Mix and V egetable Soil filling in the pit holes. S oil con ductivity enhancement compoun d poured in th e th ree holes alon g the electrodes makes th e pit ma intenance free and also improves its conductivity. The performance of any electrica l equipment is optimum at its rated voltage. Both over / under voltages are harmful for the system. The under volta ge reduces efficiency wh ereas th e over volta ge sh ortens the life. I n case of very Low / High voltages, th e telecom systems a re powered by DG sets. O ur L ine Con ditioner Unit meets the requirement of in put volta ge va riation from 110V - 300V (Single phase) and 300V - 550V (Th ree phase). I n I ndia, th ere are large voltage variations in the mains power supply. We have attempted to provide stabilized 400V O/P for input voltage varyin g 320 to 500 Volts for th ree phase operation. The O /P volta ge of the Condition er will always be 400 + 5V, for 3 Phase Unit. Voltage flu ctuation problems are qu ite common in most of the countries in th e world, particu larly in India. A Three Phase Power System wh en uneven ly loaded it causes different ph ase - n eutra l voltages a nd a heavy current in th e neu tra l conductor. Due to dynamic natu re of single-phase loads / utility it is n ot possible to rearrange the configu ration of the system to make it symmetrica l. To overcome th ese problems, Phase & Neutra l Balancin g System is a complete solution . Phase & Neu tra l Balan cing System is a three-phase system, which is insta lled at the low voltage supply line between phases and neutral i. e. para llel to the impedances. PNBS due to its magn etic symmetry tries to esta blish n eutra l poin t symmetrica l with respect to the phase

PRAGATI ELECTROCOM (P) L TD. P LOT N o. 184 SECTOR-3 , IMT MANESAR,PHASE -I, GURGAON-122050, (HARYANA) INDIA Telephone: +91-124-2291480, 2291456, 3255376 FAX: +91-124-2291479 E-MAIL: info@pr aga tie lec tr oc om.c om

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voltages. Thus, it equalizes th e volta ges in a ll the three phases and minimizes th e neutral current. When design ing a complete system again st lightning, a ll possible weak location s to be damaged by lightn ing have to be covered and prevented from damages. This includes any incomin g or out coming metal con ductors build in the existing installations. I t is a must to protect a ll existing telephone lines, in the following cases: The devices connected to the teleph one lines, such as modems, etc are very sensitive electron ic equ ipment with a very low impedan ce and dielectric strength, and with a operatin g voltage un der 100 volts. EPMS is a un iqu e device that helps in substantia l reduction in electrical tariff and diesel expenses by incorporatin g th ree main units in itself: Phase Selector Unit, Lin e Condition ing Un it an d AC Controller. I t comes in both single phase and three-phase version with capacity va ryin g from 10KVA - 500 KVA. Remote monitoring systems has been designed considerin g competition among Mobile / basic Govern ment and Private telecom operators. At present scenario, after sa les service is pla ying very important role in reta ining the subscriber an d to maintain the steady growth. Remote mon itorin g systems commun icates complete status of Telecom site to service provider round the clock automatically. A ll electrica l data related with Power Plant, Generator an d Battery may be down loaded at remote centralize monitorin g site in PC / CD or floppy with operator sittin g at remote cen tra lize mon itorin g office. O perator may monitor any N nos. of Telecom S ites continu ously round the clock.

PRAGATI ELECTROCOM (P) L TD. P LOT N o. 184 SECTOR-3 , IMT MANESAR,PHASE -I, GURGAON-122050, (HARYANA) INDIA Telephone: +91-124-2291480, 2291456, 3255376 FAX: +91-124-2291479 E-MAIL: info@pr aga tie lec tr oc om.c om