A series of articles written by Prof. Eduard M. Bazelyan for beginning lightning protection specialists was published on our website ten years ago. This series is called "Lightning Protection for Beginners". It, in accessible ways, describes main lightning effects. Further, simple formulas to determine the lightning hazard degree and efficiency of the selected protection measures are provided.
One of the articles from this series is titled "Lightning As Viewed by a Fireman". In the article, Eduard M. Bazelyan describes real-life situations with various conditions when a lightning causes or does not cause fire. Both results are explained by the professor from the scientific point of view.
One of the examples demonstrates the experiment performed in the laboratory of the G.M. Krzhizhanovsky Energy Institute. The point of the experiment is to check whether a spark can cause fire in a house (represented by a decoration). The spark was created using a 3 million V generator. Despite several tries, no fire occurred. There were two reasons for that: non-flammable materials and an air blast occurring upon rapid heating of the lightning channel. It blows away the combustion products and prevents fire distribution, thus serving as a fireman.
Then, the article describes the conditions of the multicomponent lightning when the air blast is not created and the lightning current ignites the facility. In this case, the lightning arrester can protect the facility from fire. However, it still does not ensure total protection. As an illustration, the article provides an example of the description of a real-life case of ignition of a liquid fuel tank. Despite the installed lightning protection system, the fire occurred, although it was not caused by a direct lightning strike but rather occurred as a result of storm conditions. The article further discusses the fire cause.
Read the article titled "Lightning As Viewed by a Fireman" to learn the detailed description of lightning effects as well as the professor's conclusion on the need for protection measures.
Related Articles:
