The Difference Between Lightning Protection And Surge Protection

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When researching and executing any plan for a system that is designed to protect critical equipment within a facility against damage that can be caused by power surges, it is important to understand the difference between the lightning protection and surge protection systems.  Although the overall goal of both types of systems is the protection of equipment against damage that can be caused by surges of electricity outside the safe operating range, the causes for these surges differ.  This means that different systems must be designed to address the specific causes for the electrical surge in order to effectively deal with it, and the systems also must act together in order to provide a more total protection of the assets of the business.  Lightning is known as the most potentially damaging and significant of all types of power surges, and there have been recorded lightning bolt levels that have gone upwards of a billion volts.  While lightning is the most spectacular cause of electrical surges, it is not the sole cause of electrical overvoltage events and will make up only a portion of these potentially damaging situations.  Lightning originates from an external source, and therefor lightning protection systems are defined as protecting the structure itself against the direct lightning strike.  Air terminals or systems that are comprised of air terminals and grounding components will generally make up a lightning protection system.  These systems function in a way that will intersect the strike and divert it into the earth in a manner so that it does not have an impact on the surrounding buildings.  Surge protection devices are more specifically designed to protect the electrical systems and equipment inside of a facility from transient surge activity and voltages that are outside of operational ranges.  Around 65% of all transients that are typically seen in industrial facilities are coming from the grid, caused by general switching errors where minor surges are seen as equipment is powered on or off.  Surge protective devices installed in between components and along critical pathways will protect the downstream equipment from degradation over time, or complete destruction as a result of these surges.  Surge protective devices also protect the equipment against the power surges that accompany the lightning strikes, so it is difficult to sometimes identify where the surge protection system begins and a lightning protection system ends.  It is well known that surges produced by lightning strikes many miles away have the ability to couple into connectivity lines and other types of cables, as well as structures nearby and still invade the facility.  This means that even if the lightning protection system does draw the strike away from the facility, the power surge that follows still has the ability to do damage if the equipment is left unprotected.  Lightning protection devices and systems must work in unison in order to perform the function of maintaining an ongoing protection against the large scale loss is that can be seen in an instant from power surges which can happen at any time.

Technologically Advanced Electrical Protection

 

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As the equipment which is utilized by businesses grows more technologically advanced, so too must the equipment which is utilized to protect investment.  System components in almost every business are continually being upgraded and improved in order to provide higher levels of the service that they are designed to provide.  By performing at a higher level, the profitability of the business is able to be influenced in a positive way.  The simple aspect of almost every type of business is that the more improved the systems can function, the more profitability can be had by the business itself.  These improvements can come in the form of speed as well as uptime.  Creating proper service in a faster time frame will provide more profitability.  Allowing systems to remain online and functional for longer periods of the day will also provide more profitability.  It is the constant struggle of businesses to influence these types of elements in a positive way in order to remain competitive.  Each business within an industry that provides the same types of products and services is going to attempt to outmaneuver their competition through innovation of either their systems or their process.  Many times this innovation and improvement will require investment into more technologically advanced equipment, and with that investment comes the potential for greater losses as a result of unforeseen incidents.

Lightning strikes are going to happen, and even though they cannot be predicted as far as when or where they will happen, it must be expected that sooner or later they will take place.  Industrial facilities are generally housed in regions where they are vulnerable to lightning strikes, and the physical makeup of the structures within the facility act as an attraction for lightning strikes themselves.  Simply being the tallest structure within a region is going to make that particular structure have the potential to be a strike point.  The damage that occurs at the point where lightning strikes is almost unavoidable, but the unfortunate damage as a result of the subsequent power surge has the potential to be avoided through the integration of specialized systems.  Advanced electrical protection has the ability to stop the excess electrical flow from moving from component to component, ultimately minimizing and isolating that damage to the point in between the lightning strike itself and the first surge protection device.  In the past, these devices were rendered inoperable after they performed their duty, ultimately leaving the entire operation vulnerable to subsequent lightning strikes and surges, as well as taking the systems offline from the function that it was tasked with.  The restoration of the system to functionality was reliant upon resetting or replacing the electrical protection devices, but the evolution of Raycap’s technologically advanced Strikesorb surge protection devices allows systems to now stay operable even after these surge incidents.  Through this technological advancement in the surge protection industry, businesses are able to operate more effectively as well as within a greater level of security and protection against damage