LIGHTNING PROTECTION

(SS555:2010)
Specialist Diploma (M&E Coordination)

Dr Fadzli Hassan
B.Eng (Hons), PhD (Mechanical Engineering)

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Part II: Risk Management
BASIC RISK MANAGEMENT PROCEDURE

• The following procedure is to be applied:

- identification of the object to be protected and its characteristics

- identification of all the types of loss in the object and the relevant
corresponding risk
- evaluation of risk for each type of loss
- evaluation of need of protection, by comparison of risk for a
structure with tolerable risk
- evaluation of cost effectiveness of protection by comparison the
costs of total loss with and without protection measures.
 STRUCTURE TO BE ASSESSED
• Structure to be considered includes:

- The structure itself

- Installation in the structure
- Contents of the structure
- Persons in the structure or standing in the zones up to 3 m from the
outside of the structure
- Environment affected by a damage to the structure.
SERVICE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR RISK
ASSESSMENT
The service to be considered is the physical connection between:

- The switch telecommunication and the user’s building, for

telecommunications lines
- The switch telecommunication and a distribution node
- High voltage (HV) substation and the user’s building, for the power
lines
- The main distribution station and the user’s building, for pipes.
RISK COMPONENTS
 RISK COMPONENTS
SOURCE OF DAMAGE TYPE OF DAMAGE
RA Flashes to the structure (S1) Injury to living beings (D1)

RB Flashes to the structure (S1) Physical damage caused by dangerous sparking inside
the structure (D2)
RC Flashes to the structure (S1) Failure of internal systems caused by LEMP (D3)

RM Flashes near the structure (S2) Failure of internal systems caused by LEMP (D3)

RU Flashes to a service connected to the structure (S3) Injury to living beings (D1)

RV Flashes to a service connected to the structure (S3) Physical damage caused by dangerous sparking inside
the structure (D2)
RW Flashes to a service connected to the structure (S3) Failure of internal systems caused by LEMP (D3)

RZ Flashes near a service connected to the structure (S4) Failure of internal systems caused by LEMP (D3)
 PRIMARY RISK
R1: risk of loss of human life
R2: risk of loss of service to the public
R3: risk of loss of cultural heritage
R4: risk of loss of economic value

Each of these primary risks consists of the following components:

R1  R A  R B  R C  R M  RU  RV  RW  R Z
R 2  R B  R C  R M  RV  RW  R Z
R 3  R B  RV
R 4  R A  R B  R C  R M  RU  RV  RW  R Z
 NET RISK, RN
Net risk = Rn

Rn = R1 + R2 + R3 + R4

R1: risk of loss of human life

R2: risk of loss of service to the public
R3: risk of loss of cultural heritage
R4: risk of loss of economic value
 TOLERABLE RISK, RT
- It is the responsibility of the authority having jurisdiction to identify
the value of tolerable risk.
- Representative values of tolerable risk RT are given in the Table
below.
- Compare Rn to RT to evaluate whether the risk is tolerable.
Types of Losses RT (yr-1)
Loss of human life or permanent injuries 10-5
Loss of service to the public 10-3
Loss of cultural heritage 10-3

Depending on what kind of losses you are concerned about, Rn must be

below the values given above.

If R > R , additional lightning protection is needed.

CALCULATION OF RISK COMPONENTS
Generic equation for evaluation of each risk component:
RX  N X  PX  L X

Nx = Annual number of dangerous events

Px = Probability of damage
Lx = Consequential loss

Nx, Px, and Lx are all determined from tables and formulae
contained within SS555-2.
RA  N A  PA  L A
e.g.
RB  N B  PB  L B
R C  N C  PC  L C
 EXAMPLES

Too time-consuming and involving to fully discuss how to completely

calculate Rn.

We will only discuss the calculation of RB and Rv to get a feel of it.

 EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RB
• Flashes to the structure (S1) leading to physical damage
caused by dangerous sparking inside the structure (D2)

RB  N B  PB  L B

6
RB  (N g  A d / b  C d / b  10 )  ( PB )  ( h z  r p  r f  L f )
 EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RB
6
RB  (N g  A d / b  C d / b  10 )  ( PB )  ( h z  r p  r f  L f )

- Pinpoints the number of flashes to the ground per km2 per year, Ng
- Singapore: Ng = 12.6 flashes to the ground per km2 per year
- In general, where Td is the number of days in a year with
thunderstorm: N  0 . 1T
g d
 EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RB
6
RB  (N g  A d / b  C d / b  10 )  ( PB )  ( h z  r p  r f  L f )

- This is the plan area projected in all

directions taking account of the
structure’s height
- For a simple rectangular box-shaped
structure:

Ad/b = LW + 6H(L+W) + 9πH2 (in m2)

 EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RB
6
RB  (N g  A d / b  C d / b  10 )  ( PB )  ( h z  r p  r f  L f )

Cd/b is the location factor of the structure (ref: Table A.2 in SS555:2010)

Relative Location Cd/b

Object surrounded by higher objects or trees 0.25
Object surrounded by objects or trees of the same heights or smaller 0.5
Isolated object: no other objects in the vicinity 1
Isolated object on a hilltop or a knoll 2
Table A.2
EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RB
6
RB  (N g  A d / b  C d / b  10 )  ( PB )  ( h z  r p  r f  L f )

Characteristics of structure Class of LPS pB

Structure not protected by LPS - 1
IV 0.2
III 0.1
Structure protected by LPS
II 0.05
I 0.02
Structure with an air-termination system conforming to LPS I and a continuous metal or 0.01
reinforced concrete framework acting as a natural down-conductor system

Structure with a metal roof or an air-termination system, possibly including natural 0.001
components, with complete protection of any roof installation against direct lightning strikes
and a continuous metal or reinforced concrete framework acting as a natural down-
conductor system
EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RB
6
RB  (N g  A d / b  C d / b  10 )  ( PB )  ( h z  r p  r f  L f )

hz: special hazards involving crowd dynamics

Special Hazard hz
No special hazard 1
Low level of panic (e.g. a structure limited to two floors and the number of persons not greater than 100) 2

Average level of panic (e.g. structures designed for cultural or sports events with a number of participants 5
between 100 and 1000 persons
Difficulty or evacuation (e.g. structures with immobilized persons, hospitals) 5
High level of panic (e.g. structures designed for cultural or sport events with a number of participants 10
greater than 1000 persons)
Hazard for surroundings or environment 20
Contamination of surroundings or environment 50
EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RB
6
RB  (N g  A d / b  C d / b  10 )  ( PB )  ( h z  r p  r f  L f )

rp: special provisions involving fire protection systems

Provisions rp
No provisions 1
One of the following provisions: extinguishers, fixed manually-operated extinguishing installations, 0.5
manual alarm installations, hydrants, fireproof compartments, protected escape routes

One of the following provisions: fixed automatically operated extinguishing installations, 0.2
automatic alarm installations(1)
(1) Only if protected against overvoltages and other damages and if firemen can arrive in less than 10
min. Otherwise, take rp = 0.5
EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RB
6
RB  (N g  A d / b  C d / b  10 )  ( PB )  ( h z  r p  r f  L f )

rf: the risk of fire and/or explosion caused by a lightning strike

Risk of fire rf
Explosion 1
High 5 x 10-1
Ordinary 1 x 10-2
Low 5 x 10-3
None 0
 EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RB
6
RB  (N g  A d / b  C d / b  10 )  ( PB )  ( h z  r p  r f  L f )
Lf: Factor involving building type
Structure Lf Structure Lf Structure Lf
Hospital 1.00 Fuel/ Service Station 0.67 Water Treatment Works 0.33
Hotel 1.00 Leisure Centre 0.67 Power Station 0.33
Large House 1.00 Shops/ Shopping Centre 0.50 Substation 0.33
Block of Flats 1.00 Cathedral 0.50 School 0.33
Oil Refinery/chemical plant 1.00 University 0.42 Gas Compound 0.33
Halls of residence 1.00 Museum 0.42 Theatre 0.21
Prison 1.00 Commercial/ Office Block 0.42 Church 0.08
Police/Fire/Ambulance Station 1.00 Departmental Store 0.42 Sports Stadium 0.04

Farm Building 1.00 Industrial Warehouse 0.42 Base Station 0.04

Old Persons/ Children’s Home 1.00 Civic Building 0.33 Wind Farm 0.04
Factory 0.75 Community Centre 0.33 Ruin 0.04
Railway Station 0.75 Medical Centre 0.33 Others 0.33
Airport Building 0.75 Telephone Exchange 0.33
 EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RV
• This refers to flashes to a service connected to the structure
(S3) leading to physical damage caused by dangerous
sparking inside the structure (D2).

R V  N V  PV  L V

RV  ( N L  N Da )  ( PV )  ( h z  r p  r f  L f )
EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RV
RV  ( N L  N Da )  ( PV )  ( h z  r p  r f  L f )

N L  N g  Al  Cd  Ct 10 6
Where:
N Da  N g  Ad / a  Cd / a  Ct 10 6

For Aerial (overhead) cable: Al  L c  3 ( H  H b )6 H

a c

For buried Cable: Ad / a   [ Lc  3( H a  H b )]

EXAMPLE: CALCULATION OF RV
Ha is the height of the adjacent structure
Hb is the height of the main structure
Hc is the height of the service conductors above
ground
ρ is the soil resistivity

Ct is the correction factor for the presence of a HV/LV transformer

Transformer Ct
Service with two winding transformer 0.2
Service only 1
• This exercise would be repeated to get RA, RC, and all the other risk
factors that make up R1.

• Then, we move on to the risk factors that make up R2, R3, and R4.

• We can then sum up R1, R2, R3, and R4 to get Rn.

SUMMARY OF RISK ASSESSMENT
Step 1 Establish the parameters. (Difficult; may be impossible in some cases)
Step 2 Calculate the various collection areas Ax
Step 3 Calculate the annual number of dangerous events to the structure and the
connected services Nx
Step 4 Determine probability of damage for a structure Px
Step 5 Determine expected annual loss of human life Lx
Step 6 Calculate various risk components
Step 7 Add all the risk components together
Step 8 Compare primary risk to tolerable risk
Step 9 If Rn <= RT, then no protection required
Step 10 If Rn > RT, protection measures required
Step 11 Aim, by series of trial and error calculations is to ultimately apply sufficient
protection measures until Rn < = RT.