Ilya danisyah binti azman 2018279272

Lightning Arrestor Technologies

Definition: The device which is used for the protection of the equipment at
the substations against travelling waves, such type of device is called
lightning arrester or surge diverter. In other words, lightning arrester diverts
the abnormals high voltage to the ground without affecting the continuity of
supply. It is connected between the line and earth, i.e., in parallel with the
equipment to be protected at the substation.

How it operates?
When a travelling wave reaches the arrestor, its sparks over at a certain
prefixed voltage as shown in the figure below. The arrestor provides a
conducting path to the waves of relatively low impedance between the line
and the ground. The surge impedance of the line restricts the amplitude of
current flowing to ground.

The lightning arrester provides a path of low impedance only when the
travelling surge reaches the surge diverter, neither before it nor after it. The
insulation of the equipment can be protected if the shape of the voltage and
current at the diverter terminal is similar to the shape shown below.
New developments in lightning arrestor technologies
New developments, presently achieved for distribution range, foresee the
replacement of the conventional porcelain housing with a polymeric one,
allowing to improve the mechanical characteristics and the failure mode
behaviour. Furthermore special applications for surge arresters, such as
protection of gas insulated substations and prevention of lightning faults in
transmissions lines, are now taken into consideration by several utilities.

Advantages of lightning arrestor technologies

 They protect substation outdoor equipment and the control
building/switchgear room from direct strokes of lightning
 safety and prevents damage to expensive equipment.
 Prevent damaged the transmission lines, and severe damage to
transformers and other electrical or electronic devices. 

 Prevent Loss of technical services for the public, loss of irreplaceable

objects of cultural significance and financial losses.

List of companies in Malaysia involved in lightning arrestor technology

 Enpro Teknologi Sdn Bhd(1012495-P)

Earthing ~ Lightning ~ Surge Protection Specialist
 SKA Technology Sdn. Bhd.
 Cal-Lab Marketing Sdn. Bhd
 Tokai
 Lightning Protection System Sdn. Bhd.
 Pekat Technology Sdn. Bhd.
How does oil platform and marine ship dismiss excessive lightning
current

Oil platform
The most efficient way to safeguard and prevent lightning strikes is to install
a lightning protection solution such as the Dissipation Array System (DAS)
by Lightning Eliminators & Consultants Inc. (LEC) which prevents direct
lightning strikes by reducing the electric field to below lightning-collection
levels, within the protected area. As a result, DAS helps to prevent downtime
and loss of assets, while increasing personnel safety. The technology has a
99% success rate within the protected area.
Many petroleum and energy companies have come to LEC for help on
increasing the safety and stability of their facilities, tanks, refineries and
pipelines. LEC’s protection and prevention solutions have proved to be an
effective, proactive step toward protecting their assets.

Massive ship
One of the solution is to create a safe discharge path from the highest point
of the vessel to the water and hope for the best.

This usually entails a lightning rod or rods connected to heavy wire like 4
Gauge or larger that is run in the shortest, most direct path away from other
wires/equipment to a ground plate mounted outside the hull below the
waterline. Some employ a Faraday cage to create safe zones.

Another method is to use Transient Voltage Surge Suppressors (TVSS) to

protect mission-critical equipment like Navigation, the VHF Marine radio and
engine control modules. These are connected across the equipment’s power
lines. It ignores regular operating voltage but reacts to extremely high
voltage potentials by shorting them out (clamping).

The recommended type of protection for vessels and shore equipment is

called a Franklin Array. ( By Ben Franklin who showed us that lightning is
attracted to metal ). Most large commercial vessels are well protected
because of metal construction of the hull and superstructure.
This acts as a Faraday Cage which routes the energy around the vessel
rather than through it.

(A lightning protector mounted on the top of the mast or superstructure and

a grounding conductor in contact with the water. Electrical conductors attach
to the protector and run downward to the conductor. For a vessel with a
conducting (iron or steel) hull, the grounding conductor is the hull. For a
vessel with a non-conducting hull, the grounding conductor may be
retractable, part of the hull, or attached to a centreboard.)