THE LIGHTNING PROTECTION THEORY VERSUS THE LIGHTNING PREVENTION THEORY
THE LIGHTING PROTECTION THEORY
The basic premise behind the use of air terminals and lightning rods is to provide a more favorable path for lightning to travel other than a structure or key piece of equipment. By placing the air terminals in strategic positions, it is widely held that lightning (seek the path of least resistance) will strike the terminal and subsequently be directed to ground, BEFORE it strikes a building or structure.
The lightning rod goes into a corona (point discharge) producing a stream of positively charged ions approximately 10 – 15 metres above the tip. During the “blind” travel of the stepped leader, which is negatively charged, a path of least resistance is sought and provided by the corona of the lightning rod. After the connection of the stepped leader to the rod, a return stroke is created followed by another dart leader and a subsequent return stroke. This series of strokes can occur up to seven times during one strike. In any case, the rod has completed its task but there is one major flow in its mechanics;
The attraction of the rod has brought over 12,000 to 20,000 amps at 100,000 volts within a few feet of the sensitive equipment you want protected. A common occurrence during a lightning strike is that of voltage spikes and transient surges created as a result of the magnetic field, brought on by the interaction of charges. Even though the air terminal (rod) has provided a path for the lightning to travel, it CANNOT control the direction of the side flash that induces the spikes and surges. These spikes and surges will find their way into transmission and wave guides, phone lines, electrical service lines, and cable TV lines, as well as, data lines; eventually overloading circuits or vaporizing and damaging sensitive components in electronic equipment.
In the ancient days of the vacuum tube, lightning rods performed their task excellently, but with the delicate nature of modern microprocessor based equipment now being installed in the immediate vicinity of tower sites, lightning rod protection is OBSOLETE. This equipment won’t stand up to the transient voltages and currents created when the rod gets struck, even if the structure is properly grounded.
The solution is simple; PREVENT the structure from being struck at all.
THE LIGHTNING PREVENTION THEORY
Ionic emission is natures way of neutralizing a highly charged area, be it cloud, an object, or the ground surface area. In order for nature to neutralize a highly charged area ( lightning ) there has to be three conditions present 1) a generally negatively charged thunder cloud, 2) a generally positively charged surface area underneath it and 3) a path between the two charges.
The solution is simple; PREVENT the structure from being struck at all.
The lightning rod, which uses the point discharge ( corona effect ) to attract the stepped leader of a thunder cloud, is constantly dissipating ions into the atmosphere. By multiplying the number of discharge points thousands of times, our systems was developed to gather the static build up or electrical charge on an object and rapidly dissipate the charge into the atmosphere. The wind and circulation of air particles typically blow these accumulated ions into the atmosphere thereby neutralizing the charge of the object. On a tenuous operational basis, the ground charge never reaches a high enough value to be attractive to a lightning strike.
The preventive theory which acts on the inverse properties of nature is proven every time a lightning strike occurs. Nature neutralizes a cloud by dissipating ions to the earths surface, lightning prevention systems neutralize your property by dissipating ions into the atmosphere. By sufficiently depleting the amount of charge on the earths surface and on the surrounding structures two of the three elements necessary for a strike to occur have been eliminated, thus a lightning strike has been prevented.
PRODUCTS AND SPECIFICATIONS
PART # ALS-100 STATIC DISSIPATER
DESCRIPTION: 1 element contains 3,000+ points of Dissipation Capacity. All Stainless Steel Construction. Height: 14 inches, Diameter: 2 inches, Weight: 11 Ounces.
PART # ALS-1000 STATIC DISSIPATER
DESCRIPTION: 1 element contains 14,500 stainless steel points of dissipation. Rapidly neutralising 10,500 sq. ft. of surrounding area. Height: 49 inches, Diameter: 4 inches, Weight: 5.75 lbs. The ALS-1000 dissipater element may be mounted in any position. UL listed Type 2 Air Terminal 15Y9.
PART # ALS-2000 STATIC DISSIPATER
DESCRIPTION: 2 elements contains 29,000 stainless steel points of dissipation. Rapidly neutralising 21,000 sq. ft. of surrounding area.
PART # ALS-3000 STATIC DISSIPATER
DESCRIPTION: 3 elements contains 43,500 stainless steel points of dissipation. Rapidly neutralizing 30,000 sq. ft. of surrounding area.
ALS1000 mounted on tower
These are only a few customers who are extremely satisfied with our products.
WHY ARE THE ALS-1000 DISSIPATION SYSTEMS RATED #1
BECAUSE……….
- We offer you more points of dissipation than any other product.
- Our systems are easy to install.
- Our products are made of high grade stainless steel and aluminum
- Our systems are maintenance free!
- We offer you extensive grounding and collector networks, without them static dissipaters CANNOT work effectively.
- Our products can be mounted anywhere and in any configuration on ANY structure.
- The ALS-1000 Dissipation System is the most effective of all dissipaters. Remember you always get what you pay for!
- We offer FREE engineering, quotes and consultations!
- We can arrange for installation anywhere in South East Asia and Asia Pacific Countries.
- Our products do not create win loading problems at high altitudes.
- Our systems can be easily be remounted and repositioned on the structure, as well as being re-used on another location.
Distribution dissipation is the basis on which the ALS was designed. The ALS dissipater core consists of four twisted conductors along which the dissipation points emanate spirally. This technique distributes the energy to be dissipated along that core. This unique and most important feature of the ALS style dissipater achieves a high degree of efficiency by providing the static charge a path of low resistance and high conductivity. The ALS also provides more points of dissipation for a given area that is not available in other configurations.