Electrical Protection Is Critical For Modern Industry

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The evolution of the industrial form of doing business started during the aptly named "industrial revolution," where machinery systems were utilized in tandem with one another to create products or services more cheaply, more efficiently, and many times more robustly than handcrafted goods. The ability to produce large amounts of something for public consumption drives the prices down to be affordable by more people, ultimately providing access to these types of goods and services by a wide variety of people. As industrialism grew, more and more of the things we consume on a daily basis have been moved into "industrialized" forms of production. Industrial facilities consist of heavy-duty machinery and constant activities, and often operate in areas away from where people live and congregate so that they may operate without bothering people. This physical positioning often makes them vulnerable to the weather and lightning strikes, as they can be the tallest structures in an isolated area, not surrounded by taller structures. The location itself can provide a specific danger to the facility, where lightning that strikes the installation or nearby could destroy equipment used in the industrial process. This destruction comes in two forms: strike-related explosions and fires and surge-related damage resulting from the following power surge. The damage at the strike point itself is difficult to avoid as lighting is one of the most powerful things on earth. The electrical surge damage can be minimized and potentially even eliminated by installing technologically advanced surge protection devices along all the pathways that electricity can travel from component to component. One drawback to an industrialized process is that machinery can rarely operate independently without connecting to a mission-critical component that controls it. Being dependent upon these components means that a power surge originating at that exposed piece of machinery can then flow along conductive pathways, overwhelming and damaging any connected components. This flow is stopped, and downstream equipment salvaged only by providing effective surge protection devices. Electrical surges are related to external lightning strikes and internal switching errors. The powering on or off of a piece of equipment in a system can create degradation in the system. These mini-surges or overvoltages will degrade the circuitry and shorten the equipment's life span.

Electrical protection is the method by which damage may be avoided in industrial settings, either by diverting the source of electricity completely or stopping the damaging flow from reaching other circuitry. For example, lightning rods and overhead shields draw lightning strikes away from the critical components and distribute the excess electricity safely. In addition, surge protection devices cut the ability for the electricity to flow past them if a situation is detected where the flow levels exceed safe ranges. Through a combination of these types of efforts, industrial facilities can operate more efficiently and safely than ever before.