Grounding and lightning protection: IEC 62305 standard (webinar series)

This series of our online meetings is devoted to IEC 62305 Lightning Protection international standard as explained by its developer. The standard is in force in 57 countries of the world and used by many professionals from engineers to insurance agents in the process of designing various facilities and their operation.

IEC 62305 establishes the general principles of lightning protection of buildings and their parts, as well as people and utility networks inside the buildings (structures) and other facilities. This standard does not apply to the railway system; vehicles, water and air transport, as well as offshore installations; high-pressure underground pipes; power transmission line and telecommunications pipelines not connected to the protected building (structure).

Audience: designers, electricians, maintenance service specialists
Location: online (access to the Internet from your computer is required) 
Cost: It is free!
Speaker: Dr. Marek Loboda
Webinar duration: 90 minutes each

Dr. Marek Loboda 

Warsaw University of Technology, Poland, 
author and co-author of over 150 publications on lightning protection, 
member of IEC 62305 development committee
 

A lightning strike into a building (structure) or near it is a source of danger to life and health of people, the integrity of the building (structure), its internal objects and utilities. Therefore, the development and implementation of protective measures against lightning is a very important task.
Recommendations provided in this standard allow developing effective protective measures to reduce the risk of shock resulting from the lightning strike.
The General Principles sections addresses the following issues:
1. The damage that may be caused by the lightning strike depends on a facility and the lightning’s exact impact point.
The lightning strike into a building (structure) can cause damage directly to the building (structure), injuries and loss of life, as well as damage to property, including failures of building’s internal systems. Damage and failures may occur in the vicinity of a building (structure) and the surrounding area. The scale of destruction escalation depends on the specifications of the building (structure) and lightning strike parameters.
This section describes the following: 
a) the impact of lightning on a building (structure); 
b) sources and types of damage to buildings (structures); 
c) the types of losses.
2. Economic feasibility and requirements for lightning protection. 
To reduce the social costs, the need for the protection of buildings (structures) from lightning strikes should be assessed. To assess whether the lightning protection is really necessary, the risk assessment is carried out in accordance with the procedures set forth in IEC 62305-2.
3. Safety measures and their choice: 
a) measures to protect people against loss of life and serious injuries caused by electric shock; 
b) protective measures to reduce physical damage to the building (structure); 
c) protection measures to reduce failures of electrical and electronic systems.

4. Main criteria for the protection of buildings or structures.
A perfect protection of building (structure) suggests that the facility to be protected is grounded, fully shielded with a conductive shield having an appropriate thickness and has an adequate connection at the entry point of communication line shield of the building (structure). Such protection can prevent penetration of the lightning current and its electromagnetic fields into the protected facility and prevent the dangerous thermal and electrodynamic effects of current, and hence the risk of fire and voltage surge in internal systems. However, in practice, it is often either impossible or unfeasible to ensure the ideal protection.
Dr. Marek Loboda has been a member of the committee for the development of this standard and knows firsthand about all problems faced by lightning protection designers and other professionals working with the standard. Join our online meetings to understand the essence of the document and solve all problems related to the implementation of lightning protection systems!

Recommended streaming quality is 1080p in a full-screen mode

The following topics are covered in the Risk Management section:
1. Procedures for the assessment of risk arising from a lightning strike into a structure: 
a) identification of the protected building (structure) and its characteristics; 
b) identification of all types of losses in the building (structure), and the corresponding risk; 
c) risk assessment for each type of loss; 
d) risk assessment with an acceptable risk determination; 
d) evaluation of protective measures feasibility by comparing the total amount of damage with or without protective measures. In this case, risk components estimation should be carried out in order to assess the damage.
2. Risk assessment objects, including buildings (structures); equipment and installations in the building (structure); and the inside objects of the building (structure); the presence of people in the building (structure), or in an area at a distance of 3 meters from the building (structure); environmental effect from damage caused to the building (structure). 
The protection does not cover communication lines outside the building (structure).
3. Acceptable risk.
The document contains the values of acceptable risk in situations when a lightning strike could result in death and injury to people or losses due to the damage to facilities of social or cultural designation.
4. Procedures to assess the need for lightning protection.
In accordance with IEC 62305-1, in order to assess the need for lightning protection, it is necessary to analyze three types of risk, for each of which one needs to perform certain actions described in the document. 
This section contains recommendations for cases when the risk cannot be reduced to an acceptable level and the danger of a lightning strike into the building (structure) extends to the surrounding area and the environment. This section also specifies the requirement for mandatory lightning protection measures for explosion-hazardous facilities.

5. Procedures to evaluate lightning protection feasibility.
In addition to assessing the need for lightning protection of a building, it is recommended to perform the calculation of lightning protection feasibility in order to reduce economic losses.
6. Lightning protection measures.
The protection measures are intended to reduce the risk and should be in line with the type of damage.
7. Choice of lightning protection.
The selection of appropriate lightning protection measures should be carried out at the design stage with consideration of the contribution of each risk component to the overall risk, as well as technical and financial aspects of the implementation of protection measures.
A separate subsection of the Risk Management section sets forth rules and guidelines for assessing the risk components for buildings.

Recommended streaming quality is 1080p in a full-screen mode

This standard specifies the requirements for the protection of buildings against physical damage by installing a lightning protection system (hereinafter referred to as LPS) and against electric shock to persons due the touch and step voltage near LPS.
The purpose of the webinar is to discuss complex issues in the design, installation, testing and maintenance of LPS for structures without limitation of their height, as well as protection measures against electric shock to persons due to the touch and step voltage.
During the webinar, we will address important features that should be considered when designing the entire lightning protection system and each component: lightning rods, down conductors, surge protection devices and grounding devices.
What should be considered in the process of lightning protection design, what kinds of air terminals can or cannot be used? You will get answers to these questions at the webinar with Dr. Marek Loboda (Poland) on Wednesday, April 8, 2015.

Recommended streaming quality is 1080p in a full-screen mode.

The energy of a lightning strike can reach hundreds of mega joules, while just mill joules are enough to cause the failure of susceptible electronic equipment in the electrical and electronic systems of buildings and structures. Therefore, additional measures are needed to protect some pieces of the equipment. Electrical and electronic systems are increasingly exposed to the electromagnetic effects of lightning, which leads to significant costs. Such electronic systems are used in information processing and storage, as well as in process control and safety at complex, large and capital-intensive industrial facilities (where downtime is undesirable for the reasons of cost and safety).
During this webinar, we plan to consider the types of damage to the electrical and electronic systems and the means of their protection offered by IEC 62305:

• - protection against electromagnetic pulse caused by the lightning: general principles;
• - grounding and equipotential bonding system; magnetic shielding and lines routing;
• - systems based on coordinated surge protection devices;
• - managing a set of lightning and electromagnetic pulse protection measures.

Recommended streaming quality is 1080p in a full-screen mode.