21.07.14 , , , ,
Active lightning protection is an engineering and technical system, whose key objective is to receive in an artificial way and safely drain the lightning current into the ground in case of a heavy thunderstorm by outrunning its "natural" development and thereby protecting a larger area in comparison with conventional methods.
The lightning dynamics can be described as follows: in most cases, the discharge starts from a cloud and a descending leader is formed; some time later, an ascending leader departs from the ground towards the descending one; at the moment when these two leaders meet, you can see an atmospheric discharge.
The main difference between the active lightning protection (ALP) and conventional lightning protection devices is an ESE lightning rod.
ESE lightning rod responds to the increase in the electromagnetic field that arises with a storm front approaching.
The capacitors included into the ALP are charged from the voltage induced by this field on the device antennas. Upon reaching 12 to 14 kV on the capacitors, arresters are disrupted and short high-voltage pulse is formed (over 200 kW), the polarity of which is opposite to the front polarity. This pulse, outrunning the formation of a "natural" leader, initiates an "artificial" ascending leader that develops at a much faster rate and to a greater distance, massively increasing the protection zone of the lightning rod.
A detailed description of active lightning protection
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