What Is a Lightning Rod?
Lightning rods are structures that protect electrical equipment and the human body from lightning strikes.
They are made of needle-shaped metal and installed vertically on the ground. In the power system field, lightning rods are mainly installed in outdoor substations, etc., and play the role of protecting equipment from direct lightning strikes by directing lightning strikes to the lightning rod.
Lightning arresters are not synonymous with lightning rods. Lightning rods protect people and buildings from being struck by lightning, while lightning arrestors protect electrical equipment near the point of lightning strike from malfunctioning.
Uses of Lightning Rods
Lightning rods are installed to prevent damage to electrical equipment and people caused by lightning strikes. The buildings in which lightning rods are installed are as follows:
- Buildings such as high-rise buildings
- Low-rise residential areas and areas with buildings
- Hazardous material storage areas and tanks
Hazardous material storage areas and tanks are mainly located on rooftops and roofs of buildings. In many cases, lightning rods are installed on hazardous material storage tanks to prevent leakage and fires caused by lightning strikes. Lightning Rods are connected to the grounding pole with conductors that can withstand high currents and are designed to channel lightning strikes into the ground.
Principle of Lightning Rods
Lightning rods are made of stainless steel or titanium. The reason is that they have high electrical conductivity and can withstand corrosion caused by strong winds and rain.
Lightning clouds have positive and negative charges, with positive charges distributed at the top of the cloud and negative charges at the bottom. When a positive charge is distributed at the tip of a lightning rod, the negative charge at the bottom of the cloud and the positive charge of the lightning rod are attracted to each other, and lightning strikes are guided to the lightning rod.
Since a positive charge is stored in objects directly under the lightning cloud, a positive charge is inevitably stored at the tip of the lightning rod. Therefore, there is no need for artificial measures to store positive charge on Lightning Rods.
In addition, the lightning rod must be securely grounded because the charge induced by the lightning rod must be safely discharged to the ground.
Other Information on Lightning Rods
Lightning Rods and PDCE Lightning Rods
Lightning rods are generally installed on the roofs of buildings. Lightning rods are generally installed on tall buildings, but if there are no tall buildings around, lightning rods may be installed on detached houses. On the other hand, Lightning Rods are installed for the purpose of guiding lightning strikes, which reduces damage but cannot eliminate it completely.
There are now lightning suppression (PDCE) lightning rods, which are designed to avoid lightning strikes. This is based on the difference in electrical charge between the negative pole of the thundercloud and the positive pole of the ground. By controlling the top of the lightning rod to the negative pole, lightning that would otherwise pass through the lightning rod will avoid the rod and more easily strike the ground.