The ZANDZ.com Technical Center has participated in designing lightning protection and grounding systems for numerous medical institutions. You can see this by tags «medical center» and «hospital». These designs usually employ the lightning protection to protect a main facility or a building of a medical institution. However, today we are going to discuss the calculation of the lightning protection made for a "non-residential," although very important, medical facility, i.e., the oxygen gas station. The ZANDZ technical specialists made the calculation in 2023.
Various departments in a medical facility use oxygen to treat patients. A hospital may have an oxygen-gasification station (OGS) as one of its oxygen sources. OGS is a facility comprising cold cryogenic reservoirs filled with liquid oxygen and evaporators that convert it into gas.
In a hospital, OGS is located on an open, illuminated platform, usually made of concrete. The distance from reservoirs to the hospital buildings should be at least 9 meters.
According to RD 34.21.122-87 (hereinafter, RD), the site is classified as lightning protection Category II. The reservoir may be protected by either standalone lightning rod or the ones installed at the facility.
Calculation of lightning protection for an oxygen gas station
The measures are taken according to IEC, Rev. 7, SO 153-34.21.122-2003 Guidelines for Arrangement of Lightning Protection of Buildings, Structures, and Industrial Utilities (hereinafter, SO), RD 34.21.122-87 Guidelines for Arrangement of Lightning Protection of Buildings and Structures (hereinafter, RD).
Requirements according to regulatory documents
Protection zone B according to RD was considered for calculations.
Protection zone of a double lightning arrester, RD, Appendix 3
Lightning protection of the facility
A set of arrangements ensuring compliance with the lightning protection requirements is based on the following solutions:
- installation of 2 freestanding lightning rod 8 m high;
- lightning rod protect the tanks in accordance with protection zone B of the RD;
- the protection radii and heights at which the protection zones are built are shown on the plan in the figure below.
Lightning rod grounding
For each lightning rod a grounding arrangement is installed as follows:
- horizontal ground terminal for current flow in 2 directions with an angle of 180 degrees between them. The ground terminal is made of corrosion-resistant steel galvanized bar having the cross-section 4 x 40 mm, installation depth 0.5 m;
- 3 m vertical electrodes are installed in each direction at the distance of 2.5 m from the lightning rod;
- horizontal and vertical electrodes and lightning rod are interconnected using clamps ZZ-202-012;
- lightning arrester ground terminal are connected to the reservoir grounding arrangement.
Table 1. List of required materials
| Item No. | Fig. | Part number | Product | Amount |
| Lightning protection system | ||||
| 1 |  |
ZZ-201-008 | ZANDZ 8 m vertical lightning rod (zinc-plated steel; with parts embedded under the foundation) | 2 |
| Grounding arrangement | ||||
| 2 |  |
ZZ-202-012 | ZANDZ Clamp for a circular wire and a bar (D14-20 mm; up to 40 x 6; galvanized steel) | 15 |
| 3 |  |
ZZ-502-404-6 | ZANDZ Steel galvanized bar (40 x 4 mm; 6 m section) | 5 |
| 4 |  |
ZZ-001-065 | ZANDZ copper-plated threaded grounding rod (D14; 1.5 m) | 8 |
| 5 |  |
ZZ-002-061 | ZANDZ threaded connecting coupling | 5 |
| 6 |  |
ZZ-003-061 | ZANDZ takeoff tip | 4 |
| 7 |  |
ZZ-004-060 | ZANDZ guide head for jackhammer attachment | 2 |
| 8 |  |
ZZ-006-000 | ZANDZ conductive grease | 1 |
| 9 |  |
ZZ-007-030 | ZANDZ waterproofing tape | 5 |
| 10 |  |
ZZ-008-000 | ZANDZ attachment to the hammer (SDS max) | 1 |
Do you have any questions about lightning protection for the cadet school or other facilities? Please, contact the ZANDZ Technical Center!
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