Simulation of the surge performance of the external lightning protection system

• This paper presents an analysis done on the transient behavior of an external lightning protection system (LPS). The study was devised by modeling a Faraday's cage type LPS of a five-storied building on a MATLAB based electrical nodal network and simulating it against the 10/350 mu s lightning impulse with a peak current of 30 kA. The study focused on the down conductor material cross section area, ground impedance and the number of down conductors in the LPS to establish which factor or factors have more influence on the LPS performance. The simulation concludes that under the transient conditions the voltage dissipation on the LPS can reach several thousand volts and the peak branch current disbursements in the network are in the order of 2-2.5 kA. However, under poor ground conditions and less number of down conductors, voltage rise on the LPS system can elevate alarmingly, and branch currents tend to increase close to 7.5 kA. The study proved that the performance of the LPS and the magnitudes of the negative consequences of the associated secondary effects such as electromagnetic compatibility issues and risk associated with high step voltage issues, etc., have a close correlation with the ground impedance and the number of down conductors than that of the cross-section area of the down conductors.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Annan elektroteknik och elektronik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

LPS

external lightning

mild steel

down conductors

Faraday's cage

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