Electrical Protection For Critical Components

Read More: https://www.raycap.com/electrical-protection/

 

Within industrial facilities in the modern age, there are different types of machinery. The most obvious are the components positioned in the field or in prominent visual locations on the floor of the facility itself. The others consist of the control equipment that is usually shielded from sight. The main reason for this differentiation is that the computerized control equipment is “less industrial” as far as its construction. Industrial operations rely upon incredibly robust and heavy-duty machinery designed to withstand harsh conditions imposed on it. For example, a wind tower is designed to withstand heavy wind gusts and is built from high-strength materials that allow it to function under that stress. The positioning of that wind tower to perform at an optimum capacity is remote, as you would not want to have the flow of wind be impeded by structures surrounding the tower. The same is true for solar panels. You do not wish to have nearby tall structures that would stop the sun’s rays from getting to them. These physical positions make both of these exposed industrial installation primary targets for lightning strikes should a storm move through that general vicinity.

For this reason, industrial structures are designed to be able to withstand inclement weather, including lightning strikes, as much as possible. There may also be lightning attractants like lightning rods positioned on or around them that will attract a lightning strike and divert it so that it won’t create damage to the primary or nearby systems. What is unseen in these examples is a large amount of computerized equipment directly tied to these structures, either inside them or connected through cables. When a lightning strike happens to a wind tower, blades, for instance, are generally destroyed and need to be quickly replaced to provide optimum functionality. That same strike produces a power surge that couples into the structure itself or the wires running through it, ultimately moving along those pathways to impact the sensitive control equipment. These components are overwhelmed by the power surge and are damaged as a result as well. This means that a lightning strike will produce damage at the strike point and large distances away with equipment that is nowhere near the strike itself. This can be reduced and potentially avoided altogether through components and tactics called electrical protection and surge protection devices. These combinations of equipment designed to divert lightning strikes to safe areas and provide a method of stopping surging electricity if it does make it into the system are the only effective way to avoid some of the most unpredictable natural events there are, which create havoc within industrial businesses. A single lightning strike can cripple operations, and ongoing degradation of the equipment through minor surges that are unchecked or mitigated ultimately reduce the life span of that equipment. The industrial business was created to produce goods and services more inexpensively, and the introduction of electrical protection to your industrial facility to improve it even more.