Electrical Services & BMS

Lightning Protection in Buildings

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 Introduction (1)
 Safety of structure and its occupants
exposed to lightning
 Depend on a correctly designed,
manufactured and installed lightning
protection system

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 Introduction (2)
 Related definitions:
 Lightning flash, an electrical discharge
between cloud and earth, comprising one or
more impulses of many kA
 Lightning stroke, one of the single
distinguishable current impulse of a lightning
flash
 Lightning strike, a lightning flash attaching to
a structure

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 Mechanism of Lightning (1)
 Pre-requisite for lightning: Clouds
 Cloud bank is viewed as a cell charged
positively at the top and negatively at the
base
 Inside the cloud, strong and warm
convection currents of air carry moisture up
to an altitude of around 10,000 m

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 Mechanism of Lightning (2)
 Super-cooled water droplets and ice crystals
precipitate at such height
 Positive and negative charges are separated
within the cloud
 The mechanism by which charge separation
happens is still the subject of research
 The process continually re-creates itself

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 Mechanism of Lightning (2)
 The potential difference increases all the
time
 Lightning heats nearby air to about
10,000 °C
 The air around a lightning strike is the
hottest place on earth
 The heating creates a shock wave that is
heard as thunder

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 Mechanism of Lightning (3)
 Initially, lightning begins within the cloud
 Energy dissipated by the internal discharge
results in some air being heated and ionised
 This accelerates the charge build-up
processes
 The discharge of static electricity is
generated in parts called ‘cells’ of storm
clouds

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 Mechanism of Lightning (4)
 Discharges begin to take place between
horizontally separated clouds
 More violent air currents result
 Raise the overall potential
 Current in most ground flashes is from
negatively charged cells in thunder-cloud

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 Mechanism of Lightning (5)
 The flash current is a negative flow from
cloud to ground
 Less frequently, strokes from a positive part
of the cloud also occur
 Lightning stroke starts by a step by step
descent from the cloud

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 Mechanism of Lightning (6)
 The last step brings the tip of the leader
sufficiently close to earth
 An upward streamer leaves the earth to join
the tip of the downward leader
 Initiation of this upward streamer depends
on a critical field being exceeded at the
earth emission point

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 Mechanism of Lightning (7)
 This is a function of
 The charge deposited by the down-coming
leader; and
 The geometry of the earth

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 Current in a Lightning Stroke (1)
 The magnitude follows the distribution:
 1% of strokes exceed 200,000 A
 10% of strokes exceed 80,000 A
 50% of strokes exceed 28,000 A
 90% of strokes exceed 8,000 A
 99% of strokes exceed 3,000 A

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 Current in a Lightning Stroke (2)
 Current flow is
unidirectional with a rise
time of less than 10 µs
 A decay to a low value in
100 µs or less
 Rate of rise of lightning
current may be up to 200
kA/µs
 i.e. ( di ) max = 200 kA/µs
dt

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 Effect of Lightning Strike
 Electrical
 Side flashing
 Thermal
 Mechanical

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 Electrical Effect
 Current is discharged through the resistance
of the earth electrode of the lightning
protection system
 May momentarily raise the potential of the
protection system to a high value relative to
true earth
 High potential gradient around the earth
electrode may be dangerous to people

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 Side-flashing
 The point of strike on the protection system
may be raised to a high potential with
adjacent metal
 A risk of flashover from the protection
system to any other metal on or in the
structure
 Constitutes a risk to the occupant and fabric
of the structure

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 Thermal Effect
 Temperature of the conductor in which
current passes will rise
 The current is high but the duration is short
 Thermal effect on the protection system is
usually negligible

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 Mechanical Effect (1)
 If a high current is discharged along parallel
conductors in close proximity or along a
single conductor with sharp bends
 Considerable mechanical forces are
produced
 Lightning stroke may dislodges tiles from
the roof

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 Mechanical Effect (2)
 Cause damage to the building fabric

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 Need for Protection (1)
 Structures with explosive risk, e.g.
explosive factories, usually need the highest
possible class of lightning protection system

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 Need for Protection (2)
 Other cases are:
 Places where large no. of people congregate
 Places where essential public services are
concerned
 Places where lightning is prevalent
 Places where structures are very tall or isolated
 Places where there are structures of historic or
cultural importance

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 Estimation of Exposure Risk (1)
 Probability of a structure being struck by
lightning in any one year is the product of:
 Lightning flash density Ng
 Effective collection area Ac of the structure
 Ng is the number of flashes to ground per
km per year

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 Estimation of Exposure Risk (2)
 Effective collection area is the area of the
plan of the structure extended in all
directions to take account of its height
 The edge of the effective collection area is
displaced from the edge of the structure by
an amount equal to the height of the
structure

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 Estimation of Exposure Risk (3)
 For a simple rectangular building of length
(L), width (W) and height (H)
 Collection area Ac = LW+2LH+2WH+πH2
 Probable no. of strikes P to the structure per
year is P = Ac × Ng × 10-6
 Decide whether this risk is acceptable
 Some measure of protection is necessary

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 Estimation of Exposure Risk (5)
 If the overall risk factor is less than the
acceptable risk of 10-5 (1 in 100,000), it is
generally considered acceptable
 Overall risk factor
 = P × weighting factors (A × B × C × D × E)

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 Estimation of Exposure Risk (6)
 The weighting factors are:
 Use of structure (Table 7.1)
 Type of construction (Table 7.2)
 Contents or consequential effects (Table 7.3)
 Degree of isolation (Table 7.4)
 Type of country (Table 7.5)
 Refer to notes for the Tables concerned

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 Function of Lightning Conductor
 Can discharge a thunder-cloud when a
lightning flash occurs
 Divert to itself a lightning discharge
 The lightning discharge may strike a
vulnerable part of the structure
 Convey the current safety to earth

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 Zone of Protection (1)
 It is a specified volume
 Within this volume, a lightning protection
conductor gives protection against a direct
lightning strike
 The lightning protection conductor direct
the strike to itself

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 Zone of Protection (2)
 The size and shape of the zone varies
according to
 Height of the building; or
 Vertical conductor.
 In general, for structures not exceeding 20
metres in height, the zone has been defined
as a cone

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 Zone of Protection (3)
 For a vertical conductor, the apex is at the
tip and the base is on the ground
 For a horizontal conductor, the apex is one
the horizontal conductor moving from end
to end
 For structures above 20 m, there is a
possibility of being struck on the side

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 Zone of Protection (4)
 The protection volume is determined using
the rolling sphere method

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 Protective Angle (1)
 For structures not exceeding 20 m in height,
the angle between the side of the cone and
the vertical at the apex is the protective
angle
 For an ordinary structure up to 20 m high or
up to a height of 20 m for a higher structure,
the protective angle is considered to be 45º

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 Protective Angle (2)
 Between 2 or more vertical conductors,
spaced at a distance not exceeding twice
their height, the protective angle may be
taken as 60º

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 Components of the Lightning
Protection System
 Major components:
 Air terminations
 Down conductors
 Joints and bonds
 Test joints
 Earth terminations
 Earth electrodes
 Furse Lightning Protection

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 Air Terminations (1)
 Two (2) forms
 Vertical conductors
 Horizontal conductors
 No part of the roof should be more than 5 m
from the nearest horizontal conductor
 For large flat roofs, the size of the air
termination mesh is about 10 × 20 m2

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 Down Conductors (1)
 Position and spacing of down conductors on
large structures by architectural
convenience
 The number of down conductors is
recommended according to the height of
structures

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 Down Conductors (2)
 For structures below and up to 20 m
 1 down conductor for each 20 m or part thereof
the perimeter at roof or ground level, whichever
is greater
 For structures above 20 m high
 1 down conductor per 10 m or part thereof

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 Joints and Bonds (1)
 Any joint other than welded represents a
discontinuity in the current conductivity
 The discontinuity is susceptible to variation
and failure
 Therefore, the lightning protection system
should have as few joints as possible
 Common form of joints is shown in Fig. 9.4

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 Joints and Bonds (2)
 Bonds join the lightning protection system
with a variety of metallic parts of different
shapes and composition
 A bond should be mechanically and
electrically effective and protected from
corrosion and erosion

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 Earth Termination Network
 The whole of the earth termination network
should have a combined resistance to earth
not exceeding 10 Ω
 The value does not take account of any
bonding to other service

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 Earth Electrode
 Earth electrodes may consist of
 Metal rods
 Metal tubes
 Metal strips
 Combination
 Natural earths such as piles and foundations

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 Protection Measures
 For structures exceeding 20 m, there is a
possibility of being struck on the side
 Adequate measures should be provided for

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 Non-conducting Structures
 At least 2 equally spaced down conductors
should be provided
 Using the rolling sphere method, the air
termination gives the desired zone of
protection

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 Conducting Structures
 A horizontal air termination should be
installed at the top
 It is bonded to the steel frame
 Where down conductors are required, not
less than 2 should be installed
 These down conductors should be spaced
not more than 10 m apart around the
perimeter

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 Rolling Sphere Method (1)
 Traditionally, the air termination network
has been positioned on the uppermost part
of the building
 It afforded protection to all parts of the
structure within a 45° or 60° from the
vertical
 Tall structures suffered damage on their
sides caused by lightning were reported

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 Rolling Sphere Method (2)
 This has led to a modification of the 45°/60°
zone of protection theory
 To determine the part of building likely to
be struck by lightning, the rolling sphere
method is employed
 The lightning leader can approach the
building from any position

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 Rolling Sphere Method (3)
 All positions for the leader approach can be
simulated by rolling an imaginary sphere
 The radius of the sphere is equalled to the
last step length
 The sphere is rolled all around and over the
building right down to the ground

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 Rolling Sphere Method (4)
 Where the sphere touches the building, a
strike could occur
 Such a portion or surface may need an air
termination
 In general, the smaller the size of the sphere,
the greater the protection
 But, it costs more for the installation

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 Rolling Sphere Method (5)
 In BS 6651, it is recommended that the
design should be based on a sphere of
radius 20 m

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 Prevention of Side-flashing to
Other Metals (1)
 When a lightning protection system is
struck, its electrical potential with respect to
earth is raised
 Unless suitable precautions are taken, the
discharge may seek alternative paths to
earth by side-flashing to other metal in the
structure

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 Prevention of Side-flashing to
Other Metals (1)
 Two methods to prevent side flashing:
 Isolation
 Bonding
 Isolation
 Large clearances are required between the
lightning protection system and other metal in
the structure

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 Prevention of Side-flashing to
Other Metals (2)
 Main drawbacks:
 Difficult to obtain and maintain the necessary
safe clearance
 Difficult to ensure the isolated metal has no
connection to ground
 Bonding:
 More commonly used

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 Estimation of Clearances to
Prevent Side-flashing (1)
 Necessary clearance to prevent side-
flashing depends on:
 The voltage sustained by lightning protection
system with respect to earth
 The strength of current in the lightning flash

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 Estimation of Clearances to
Prevent Side-flashing (2)
 The following procedures are adopted for
estimating the necessary clearance:
 Determination of expected current
 Determination of voltage sustained by lightning
protection system
 Judgement

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 Determination of Expected
Current
 The following steps are taken:
 The risk of the structure being struck (P) is
estimated, i.e. P = Ac × Ng × 10-6
 The estimated risk P is divided by the
acceptable risk Po (Po = 10-5)
 Using Fig. 14.1, the maximum current likely to
occur is determined

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 Determination of Voltage
Sustained by Lightning System (1)
 This has two components:
 VR
 = Current × Resistance to earth
 VL
 = Rate of change of current × Inductance of
down conductor

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 Determination of Voltage
Sustained by Lightning System (2)
 VR = IR where
 I = Expected current with a max. of 200 kA
 R = Resistance to earth termination network
 Resistance of down conductor is small
compared with earth termination and hence
can be neglected

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 Determination of Voltage
Sustained by Lightning System (3)

di MT
VL = ( ) max ×
dt n

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 Determination of Voltage
Sustained by Lightning System (2)
 MT
 Transfer inductance in µH/m
 S
 Separation distance (in m) between the
lightning protection conductor and another
vertical metal component

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 Determination of Voltage
Sustained by Lightning System (2)
 r
 Radius of a vertical lightning conductor (m)
 re (effective radius for non-circular down
conductor in m)
 (width + thickness)/3.5
 (di/dt)max
 Max. rate of change of current, i.e. 200 kA/s

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 Determination of Voltage
Sustained by Lightning System (3)
 l
 Loop length (m)
 n
 Number of down conductors sharing the
lightning current simultaneously

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 Judgement
 VR and VL are different in phase
 A scalar addition of VR and VL will give an
estimation voltage sustained in a lightning
protection system in the worst case
 If (VR and VL) is greater than the flash-over
voltage for the given spacing in Fig. 7.2.2,
bonding of the metallic parts at top is
required

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