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Wen 31 Protection from Direct Lightning Strokes with the Aid of Lightning Conductors 31-1 General Information ‘The lightning conductors as a means of protection from direct lightning strokes were used much before the beginning of the present era, but they aquired wide recognition only in the middle of XVIII century as a result of the work of Benjamin Franklin and Lomonosov. Each lightning conductor consists of the lightning receiver pro- Jecting above the object to be protecied, the earthing grid and the conductor which connects the receiver with the eart ng grid and is meant to carry the lightning current away safely to ground. There are two different types of lightning conductor : the lighming masts and the ground wire: Good earthing of lightning conductors is an essential condition for reliable protection, since in case of a stroke in a badly earthed lightning conductor, very high voltages. capable of causing a break down of insulating medium between the lightning conductor and the object under-protcction, are possible. In the beginning, before large- scale use of the lightning conductors (XVITI century), when serious attention was not paid to the value of resistance of the lightning conductor, incideats of fire caused by lightning discharges in the lightning conductors were not rare which, thus, played a harmful role in such cases. ‘The provision of a reliable electrical connection between all parts of the lightning conductor is equally important, since during the passage of a current through the place of bad contacts, an inten- sive arcing, which can also cause fire, takes place. The protective action of lightning conductors is based on the fact that charges, stored on its tip in the leader stage of lightning 424 Protection from Direct Lightning Strokes 425 dischacge, produce greatest field intensity along the path between the head of the leader canal and the tip of the lightning conductor, ~whereto the discharge is directed. The height above the surface of ground at which the leader discharge finally orients itself on one of the objects on carth, is called “the height (H) of orientation of lightning, which, in ine first instance, depends on the height 4 of the lightning conductor. It is customary to consider that for lightning conductors up to a height of 30m, Z=kh where the proportionality constant & has a value of 10—20. The leader canal can descend to earth along different tr tories. Suppose that the point of orientation of lightning moves along a horizontal line, which lies in the same plane as the lightning “f” wee ee conductor, as shown in Fig. 31-1. | When this point is situated directly | above the lighting conductor, the | discharge must take place in the + lightning conductor. However, in ay proportion to the displacement of the | ’ point of orientation from the light- 7 ning conductor the probability of svzrwwe2: x = lightning discharge to ground increa- | : ? ses. That position will be critical Tie, $11. Experimental determi A" “nation of the protective zone of when the breakdown voltages to the “ightaing mast. lightning conductor Va, and to ground Vg, are same, With farther displacement of the point of orientation, lightning discharge mainly strikes the ground. If the object to be protected is located near the lightning conductor, for a definite height of the lighining conductor the voltage between the lightning canal and the object will always be greater than the breakdown voltage either to the lightning conductor or to ground and the object will be protected from the direct lightning stroke. 312. Protective Zone of Lightning Conductors Tt is customary to call the space around a lightning conductor in which the probability of lightning stroke is small, “the protective zoni In view of the fact that breakdown voltages of air gaps, specially for distances of tens of metres, have considerable statistical scatter, lightning conductors ensure protection of an object only with a certain degree of probability. (a) Experimental Determination of Protective Zone of Light ning Conductors Protective zones of lightning conductors are determined by ‘experiments on models. During this, it is assumed that the actual protective zones of real lightning conductors of different heights are geometrically similar to the zones obtained in the laboratory on models 426 High Voltage Engincering The impulse spark discharge is used as a model of lightning. Its development in long gaps takes place in two stages the leader and: the main stages. lightning. It is in this way, qualitatively identical with the The experiments are conducted according to the experimental. set up of Fig. 31-2; the electrode from which the discharge deve-- Fig. 31-2. Diagram for tho ex- perimental determination of the protective zone ; IVG—Impulse Voltage Generator ; 1—electrode imitating the end of tho leader canal at the height of orientation of lightning ; 2—model of the lightning conductor (mast) ; 3— lops imitates the end of the leader canal at the height of orientation of | lightning. In experiments conducted in the Soviet Union by A.A. Akopyan, for lighining rods of a height upto: 30 m, 2/h was taken to be equal to 20, and for ground wires H/h=10. For lightning conductors of height above 30 m, the height of orientation was taken to be constant (H=600 m for lightning masts and H=300 for ground wires). The values taken can- not be rigorously justified, however, there is a basis to assume that their use gives somewhat lower protective zones, thus ensuring a definite margin of safety. grounded metallic plane: In spite of the fact that most of lightning discharges to earth: have negative polarity, discharges of positive polarity are used dur- ing an experimental determination of protective zones. This is due: to the fact that a meeting streamer, as though making the lightning mast longer, develops from its tip during a lightning stroke into raised objects. However, the length of this meeting streamer for lightning rods of a height upto 100 metres does not exceed a few tens of metres. In those spark gaps with which one has to deal in laboratory, the discharge starts developing from lightning mast if the polarity of the upper clectrode is negative and greatly increased pro- tective zones are obtained. With positive polarity of the upper electrode the meeting streamer from the lightning rod comprises a small fraction of the spark gap (upto 1/3) which is much closer to the conditions occurring during lightning discharges. However, the necessity of using that polarity which docs not occur in natural con- ditions testifies to very approximate modelling of the real processes in a laboratory. Therefore it should be remembered that the pro- tective zones obtained in a laboratory are of a conditional nature: and we can use them, only because many years of observations of the performance of real lightning masts confirmed the reliability of the recommendations worked out on the basis of laboratory experiments. The technique of experimental determination of the protective zones is as follows (Fig. 31-3). The electrode, located at a height H, is shifted in the horizontal direction relative to the model of Protection from Direct Lightning Strokes aT lightning mast. For each location of the electrode, a definite num- ber of discharges is produced. ‘The experiment shows thai for R. fool | | | | | ! | Lightning. Rod {e166 Fig. 31:3, Determination of the protective zono of a lightning mast on its model, R=35 h, all discharges strike the lightning mast. For Ry, some- what greater than R, a part of the discharges strikes the ground. During this, the discharges deflect very much away from the vert cal and strike the ground at a distance r>l-6h. The quantity 7 js the radius of the protective zone at the ground level. The dis- tance R is called the radius of zone of 100% strokes to the light- ning mast. ‘The protective zone at a height hi, is determined with the help of a mast of height hy which models the object to be protected. The electrode and the model of the object which are initially situated in the same plane, are shifted with respect to cach other and in relation to the model of the lightning mast. For each mutual location of the electrodes a definite number of the discharges is conducted. Asa result, the maximum distance 7, between the model of the object and the lightning mast at which the model of object is not struck by the discharge, is found. This distance 7» is the radius of protective zone of the model of lightning mast at a height hz. Greater the number of discharges for each location of the electrodes, greater the accuracy of determination of the radius of the protective zone and smaller the probability of a stroke to the model of object located in the protective zone of the model of lightn- ing mast. Usually, protective zones are determined with a proba- ility of stroke to the model of object of 01%. If the lightning conductor is not a lightning mast but a ground. wire, the electrode and the object are shifted along the horizontal in a plane perpendicular to the ground wire (Fig. 31-4). Experience shows that in this case the dimension of protective zone is b=1'2h, and the dimension of the zone of 100% stroke to the model of ground 428 High Voltage Engineering 4 wire equals B=2h. If the electrode is shifted further, thus increasing + the distance upto the vertical plane in which the ground wire is | By - Fel Pa Fig, 91-4, Determination of protectiv wire on its model. zone of a ground situated, smaller and smailer strokes will occur to the ground wire and finally, at a certain distance, all the discharges will occur only to the ground. The distribution of strokes determined experimentally is shown in Fig. 31°5, from which it follows that on an average all discharges of lightning, developing at a distance B<3h from the ground wire occur to the ground w Fig, 81°5.° Distribution of discharges bet- Fig? 81-6. Protective cone ofa Ween @ ground wire aad the ground a lightning mast. (0) Protective Zones of The Lightning Masts ‘The protective zone of a single lightning mast upto a height of 30 m. (Fig. 31:6) is a space bounded by the surface ot rotation of a curve which can be found from the) formula, = Te (ihe), (31-1) lee # Protection from Direct Lightning Strokes 429 where height of lightning conductor ; ~~tadius of the protective zone at a height hy jip—level under examination above the surface of ground. (or height of the object to be protected) ; him hy=hy—projection of height of-the lightning conductor above the level under examination (or above height of the object to be protected) ; called the active height of the lightning conductor. In order to be protected from direct lightning strokes, the: object must be fully located within the cone like space which represents the protective zone of the lightning mast. Since during experimental determination of protective zones, a number of departures from real conditions are permitted, there is Cross se:tion of ‘the Prolective \ zone at a height ha, Fig. 81-7. Construction of the protective zone ofa single lightning roast. simplified construction ; 2—protective zore constructed from Eq, (31-1) no need to make use of the accurate boundaries of protective zones, which become specially complicated in case of protection by two lightning roasts. It is possible to make use of the simplified construc- tion shown in Fig. 31-7, The gencrator surface enclosing the pro- tective zone can be represented by a broken line. Onc of the sections of this broken line ab is a part of the straight line joining the tip of the lightning conductor and a point on the surface of 430 High Voltage Engineering ground situated at a distance of 0-75 h from the axis of the lightning mast ; and the other section (6c) is a part of the straight line joining a point of the lightning conductor at a height of 0°84 and a point ‘on the surface of ground situated at a distance of 1:5 h from the axis of the lightning mast. The protective zone constructed according to (31'1) is also shown in the same figure for comparison. From Fig. 31-7 it is clear that. the point } is situated at a height equal to $4. Itis easy to show that the radius of protection at a level h< 4h is equal to : ae fa te=15h ( l-ge a (31-2) ‘The radius of protection at a level hy>$ is 25 Ig) * re=0 751( 1%). (31°3) The effectiveness of lightning masts of heights greater than 30 m becomes less, since during this thé height of orientation of lightning remains constant For determining the radius of protective zone of a lightning mast of height 4>30 m, the values obtained from (31-2) and (31-3) must be multiplied by the coefficient p=: Construction of protective zone is done in the same way as in Fig. 31-7, but straight lines aa’ and ce’ are drawn through the points on the surface of groand situated at distances of 0-75 hp and 1:5 hp respectively from the axis of the lightning mast. The protective zone between two lightning masts have considerably greater dimensions than the sum of protective zones of two single lightning masts. “It was mentioned above that the radius of 100% strokes to the lightning mast is R=3-5 h. Evidently, if two lightning masts are situated at a distance of a=2h=T7h, the point of ground surface which lies mid-way between the two lightning masts will not be’struck by lightning. If it is necessary to protect a point situated mid-way between the two lightning masts at a height of hy the distance between the lightning masts of height h must be a<7 (h—h,), #.¢. must nes be greater than seven times the active height of the lightning masts. Or, if height of lightning masts and the distance between them are known, height of a point which lies mid-way between the lightning mgats and will be pro- tected from lightning discharge is found as Iysh— 2 (31-4) The internal part of the protective zone of two lightning masts (Fig. 31:8) in a plane, passing through both the lightning masts is bounded by the arc of accircle which can be Protection from Direct Lightning Strokes 431 ‘constructed on three points : two of them arc the tips of the lightning masts and the third is situated mid-way between the lightning masts Sed ae ects Soneres pistes. | Seer Fig. 31-8. Protective zone of two lightning masts, ata height equal to hk, Cross-section of the protective zone ina plane perpendicular to the plane of Fig. 31:8 (shown on the left) is constructed in the same way as for a single lightning mast of height equal to h, (cross-section along 0—0 in Fig. $18). The external part of the protective zone of the lightning masts is determined in the same way as for single lightning masts. For two lightning masts‘of height >30 m, point h, is determined as a =~ p= h— 5 where =. (31-5) ‘The radii of protective zone in the cross-sections O—0 are similarly reduced by p times. . 31-9. Proteetive zone of two lightning masts of different heights. Construction of protective zones for two lightning masts of different heights is shown in Fig. 31:9. 432 High Voltage Engineering At first the protective zone of higher lightning mast is constructed. After that through the tip of the lightning mast of smaller height a horizontal line is drawn till it intersects the protective zone of the single lightning mast of greater height. . qcousidering that the tip of a certain fictitious lightning mast coincides with this point of intersection 3, protective zones of the lightning masts 2 and 3 of the same height 4, and situated at a distance w’, are constructed _ Such objects as the equipment of outdoor distribution sub- stations are located on sufficiently large territory. ‘They have to as” Fig. 81:10. Arca at « height Jy protected by three lightning anasts of height A (1 3) : be protected by a number of lightning masts. In this case, the external part of the protective zone is determined _in the same way as the protective zone of two lightning masts. The internal parc of the protective zone of a number of lightning masts is not cone. teucted, An object of height hy situated inside the triangle (or rectangle) formed by the lightning masts will be protected in cas= the diameter D of the circle passing through the tips of the lighting masts (or the diagonal of the Tate at the corners of which the lightning masts are situated) is not greater than 8 times the active height (4,=h—h,) of the lightning masts ie. the condition that the area between the lightning masts at a level hz will be protected is DEB (be he) (31-6) 432 High Voltage Engineering At first the protective zone of higher lighming mast is constructed, After that through the tip of the lightning mast of smaller height a horizontal lme is drawn till it intersects the protective zone of the single lightning mast of greater height _ Considering that the tip ofa certain fictitious lightning mast coincides with this point of intersection 3y protective zones of the lightning masts 2 and 3 of the same height /, and situated at a distance a’, are constructed. _ Such objects as the equipment of outdoor distibution sub- stations are located on sufficiently large territory. They have to a3) Fig, 81-10. Area at a height hy protected by throe lightning magis of height h (1, 2 and 3) be protected by a number of lightning masts. In this case, the external part of the protective zone is determined in the same way as the protective zone of two lightning masts. The internal pare of the protective zone of a number of lightning masts is not coi tructed. An object of height h, situated inside the triangle (or rectangle) formed by the lightning masts will be protected in case the diameter D of the circle passing through the tips of the lightning masts (or the diagonal of the rectangle at the corners of which the lightting masts are situated) is not greater than 8 times the active height (ta=h—he) of the lightning masts ¢.e. the condition that the area between the lightning masts at a level h, will be protected is D8 (b—hy). (31-6) Protection from Direct Lightning Strokes 433 The protective zones at a level /, for thre masts are shown in Figs. 31:10 and 31:11. and four lightning Fig, 31-11. Area ata height hy protected by fourlighining masts which are located at the corners of a rectangle, For an arbitrary location of the lightning masts the condition stated above must b; separately verificd for each gcoup of three lightning masts near one another. If the height of lightning masts exceeds 30 m, the condition of protection at a level hy will be: D<8(h—he) p- (31-7) The complex of an outdoor distribution installation of 110 KV to be protected from direct lightning strokes is shown in Fig. 31°12. On the basis of trial calculations the places of location of the lightning masts on the gantry of 11 m height are chosen. After the protective zones formed by cach group of three or four lightning masts are calculated. We shall examine the protective zone of lightning masts 1, 3 and 4, The diameter of the circle passing through the tips of these lightning masts is D=50 m. The condition of full protection of the area of triangle formed by the lightning rods 1,3 and 4is D&B hy. Gorisequently, minimum. active height of these lightning masts must be : hes a= 6d: 434 High Voltage Engineering Fig, 81-12, Protection ci a Lu AV substation by lightning masts. The minimum active height of the lightning masts 1, 2 and 4 essential for the protection of area of the triangle formed by these lightning masts is h 75m. The minimum active height of lightning masts 2, 4, 5 55. ha= => =69 m. 3 _. For the protection of area of the rectangle at the corners of which lightning masts 3, 4, 6 and 7 are situated, a active height is essential ‘The minimum height of lightning masts 4, 5, 7 and Sis I= a2 moe In this way, it is possible to use the same alive height ha=7T5m for all the lightning masts. The objects to be protected have a maximam height of about 11m. (busbars of the substation), Protection from Direct Lightning Strokes 435 hence the total height of lightning masts must be A=11-+-7:5=185 m. For installation of lightning masts, gantrics of Ilm. are used Ganiries A and B of height 83 m are situated outside the triangles 1, 3, 4 and 2, 4, 5, therefore it is essential to verify whether they enter in the protective zones formed by the lightning masts 1—3 and 2—9. The radius of the protective zone of the lightning masts of height h=18°5 m at a level of b,=8:2 according to (31-2) is aes 89 5x 18 3( pga 22 4m. The maximum height of the protective zone in between lightning masts 1—3 or 2-5 is determined from (31-4) as Dimensions of the protective zone in between the lightning rods at a height h,=8-2 m according to (31-9) is “5x23 (1 ge \=3m. ~ 086x123 The construction shows that ganiries A and B fully enter in tae protective zones of the lightning masts 1-3 and 2-5 respectively. 1 Ground were Cross Section « | of Protective Zone he at a heght ho Fig, 81-13. Protective zone of a ground wire. 436 High Voltage Engineering (0) Protective Zones of Ground Wires ‘The protective zone of a ground wire is shown in Fig. 31-15. The cross-section of the protective zone on a plane perpendicular to the ground wire is constructed in the same way as fora lightning mast with the only difference that preadth of the zone at the ground plane for a ground wire suspended at a height 1<30 x equals 1-2h. Hiaif the breadth of the protective zone at a level ha qh is deter= 3 mined as a= 06h ( ey (318) 2 Ata level hz<- fh, half the breadth of the protective zone is: h =) os 31 heel an( 1 7) (1-9) Tt was pointed out above that in the exps riments on models for a displacement of the Jectrode a distance B=2h, all the discharges a Ske the ground wire. Evidently, if two ground wires are to be tued as lightning conductors, for a distance S=4h between them, the point. situated on ground surface midway between the ground wires will not be struck by lightning Ifthe distance between two ground’ wires S<4h the point situated midway between the ground wires at a level of s ho=h— (31-10) will be protected from lightning strokes. ‘The external part of the protective zone for two ground wires ss determined in the same way as for a single ground wire. ‘The internal part js bounded by a surface which in the cross-section per- Fendicular to the ground wire gives an arc of a circle "This arc of the circle can be constructed through three points : one of them is ip and other two the ground wires (Fig. 31°14). In electrical installations ground wires are mainly used for the protection of conductors of transmission lines. Average height of Fispension of conduciors (I) is greater than 2/3 the height of suspen: Son of the ground wires (h); usually ha/h is about 0°8. For ground wires, instead of the term protective zones, the term protective angles jeused, Proiective angle of a ground wire is the angle between a Sotical line passing through a ground wire and the line joining a venduetor and the ground wire and lying on the plane perpendicular to the conductor axis (Fig. 31°15). Ina single lightning mast ofa height h=30 m situated in a region of average intensity of lighting activity, direct strokes occur Protection from Direct Lightning Strokes 437 very rarely—once in every 15 years (see Chapt. 29). Therefore, if the protective zone is deteemined with a probability of 0:1%, with ten | =| w—12h 1 Fig. 31-14, Protective zone ¢fiwo ground wires. lightning conductors on the territory ofa substation, it is possible to guarantce ‘that there will not be any stroke on the objects to be Protective angle « and protective zones of on a transmission line, vig. groun protected in the course of 1500 years. Besides this, the objects to be protected are inscribed in the protective zone with a certain margin of safety, which very greatly increase the reliability. Hence for lightning masts, the necessity of correct determination of the probabi- lity with which the protective zones have been found out, does not arise. 438 High Voltage Engineering An altogether different sitmation exists during the protection of transmission [ines by ground wires which are very often struck by lightning discharges due to their considerable lengths. For example. 500 KV lines between volgagrad and Moscow and Kubishev and Moscow of lengths of the order of 1000 km are struck by lightning not less than 200 times during a lightning scason. Therefore, for _trans- mission lines the probability of protection with the help of ground wires attains great importance. On account of the approximate nature of modelling of lightning ina laboratory, it does not seem possible to determine these probabi- lities experimentally and the only method is to gencralise the experi- ence of operation of actual lines having different tower heights and different protective angles. ‘The experience of operation shows that an angle of protection of «=31° corresponding to Fig. 31:13 ensures an acceptable reliability of protection ; however, in practice, it is attempted to use an angle of the order of «=20—25°. 31.3. Permissible Distances Between the Object to be Pro- tected and the Lightning Conductor ‘The object to be protected must fully lic within the protective zone of a lightning conductor. Besides this, it must be located at a definite distance from the lightning conductors. If this distance is 100 small flashovers from parts of the lightning conductor to the object to be protected can take place during lightning strokes. The lightning protection equipment which includes lightning conductors, current conductors and earthing device have resistances as well as inductance. A coniderable portion of the active resistance is formed by the carthing grid. ‘The conductors for carrying away lightning current to earth behave like inductances in the electrical sense, the value of which depends, first of all, on the length of a current carrying conductor. Lightning current, while passing through a lightning conductor, gives rise to a voltage drop in the resistance of earthing and the inductance of the current carrying conductor. For an oblique-angled form of the front of lightning current the maximum potential at a point of the lightning conductor, situated at a distance ( from the carthing grid (Fig. $1°16) will be equal to : : Li VjalyR+L A... where Iy—amplitude of the lightning current, R —resistance of the earthing grid during flow through it of lightning current, L—inductance of the section of current carrying conductor of length J measured from the earthing grid upto the point under consideration, Protection from Direct Lightning Strokes 439 di, ) average steepness of the front of lightning current. Fig, 31-16, For the determination of the permissible distance between a, lightning mast and the object to bo protected. For the calculation of the potential of a lightning conductor, A di, Thy is taken as 150 kA (probability 0-3%) and (Gi)=30 kA/y sec. For metallic lightning conductors of lattice construction, and simi- larly for separately laid current carrying conductors, the specific inductance is approximately L=1:7 #H/M. In this manner, for conditions of calculations we hav V.=150 R+50 1, KV. (31-11) The amplitudes of voltage in the lightning conductor happens to be very high, for instance, for #i=10 ohm and at a distance 1=10 M from the earthing grid, we have V,=2000 KV. ‘The potential of the earthing grid of the lightning conductor during this is y, y= IyR=1500 KV. Evidently, in order that there would not, be any flashover on the object to be protected, the strength of the insulation between the object and the lightning conductor must be higher than the value of voltage on the lightning conductor. 440 High Voltage Engineering If the object happens to be a conductor, suspended on a string of insulators which, with its other end, is attached to a cross arm, it is necessary to satisfy the condition V pr 150 R501, (30-12) where V;—is the impulse flashover voltage of the string of insu- ators Tn the case when the object and the lightning conductor are separated by an air gap of length S, the condition s> ee must be satisted: : ‘Taking the valuc of the permissible average intensity of the electric field in air gaps #,.,—500 KV/M we get : S>03 Rp0-11, M. (31-13) If it is essential to prevent flashover from the earthing grid of the lighting conductor to the object situated on ground, it is essen- tial that the distance between them in carth is : Iyk S.> Fe : (114) per The permissible average intensity of electric field in earth is Dye2300 KV/M. With the lightning current Jy, of 150 kA used in calculations, we will get the condition 8.05 Ry M. (31-15) 31-4, Specialities of Gonstructional Details of Lightning Conductors Structures of objects to be protected must, where it is possible, be used as supports for fastening the current carrying parts of light- ning conductors. For example, in outdoor distributions substations of 110 KV and above, lighting conductors can be mounted on the metallic gantries meant for supporting the buslars and the gantries themselves can be used as current carriers connecting the lightning conductors with the earthing grids. Separately mounted lightning conductors can similarly be made metallic : from steel tubes, if height of lighting conductors does not exceed 20 m, or in the form of lattice constructions, if height is more than 20 m. However, lightning conductors made on cement con- crete or wooden supports happen to be cheaper (for a height upto 20 m). The reinforcement of cement concrete supporis-is used as current carriers: along wooden supports special current carrying conductors carrying lightning current to ground are used. It is recommended to consiruct lightning conductors in the form of self supporting constructions with out (stay wires) guys. Protection from Direct Lightning Strokes 441 - We will find the necessary cross-section of the current carrying parts of lightning conductors, lightning receivers and current carrier. While calculating the heat developed in these parts, we shall neglect the heat tadiated to the surrounding medium. ‘The energy, given out during the passage of current through a resistance per unit length, can be calculated as r J aye dl. 0 Since the front of lightning current wave has asmall effect on the heating of the conductor, we shall take 07 HE eae le tale Since

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