Lightning Prevention System using Lightning Dissipaters
Lightning
When harsh sunlight hits the surface of the earth, water from the surface of the earth turns into water vapor and rises in to the atmosphere to create clouds. These are called cumulus clouds. These clouds get together to form bigger clouds start growing vertically in the sky. They get taller and taller until they represent huge powerhouses, storing a large amount of energy. These clouds are called cumulonimbus clouds, or better known as thunderclouds.
In thunderclouds, electric charges are generated due to collision of ice particles and hail pellets due to the flow of air in the cloud. The electrical charges are distributed and roughly separated in different portions of the cloud. Negative charges tend to gather at the bottom of the cloud and positive charges move to the top of the cloud.
When these charges accumulate, the charges on the surface of the earth or water also start accumulating.
Figure 1 - Lightning strike when a lightning rod is implemented
Such a large distribution of electrical charges generates a large electrostatic field between the thundercloud and the surface of the earth. As the electrostatic field develops, an advanced discharge extends from the both the earth as well as the base of the cloud.
The electrical discharge from the thundercloud is called a stepped leader. The voltage in the stepped leader is very large (about 500,000 million volts to 1 million). As the stepped leader comes near the earth, the charges from the earth start reaching out to the stepped leader.
The electrical discharge from the ground to the stepped leader are called rising streamers. The stepped leader makes contact with the rising streamer to create a lightning strike.
Figure 2 - Stepped leaders and rising streamers
The positive charges start moving towards the cloud and the negative charges move to meet the nearest point to diffuse. This is when lightning occurs.
Additional notes:
- Electrical discharges take place constantly in the cloud and with other clouds. These are called inter cloud (IC) and cloud-to-cloud (CC) lightning. When the lightning happens from cloud to earth (ground), it is called a Cloud-to-Ground (CG) lightning.
- The above example is when the negative charges accumulate at the base of the cloud and form a stepped leader, and positive charges from the ground form a rising streamer, the lightning strike that occurs is called Negative Cloud-to Ground (Negative CG) lightning strike.
- If the positive charges accumulate at the base of the cloud and form a stepped leader, and negative charges from the ground form a rising streamer, the lightning strike that occurs is called Positive Cloud-to-Ground (Positive CG) lightning strike.
- If the discharges from the ground to cloud are stronger, a lightning strike is caused from the ground to the cloud. This is called Ground-to-Cloud (GC) lightning.
Lighting strikes can cause severe damages to human lives, buildings, property, boats and seapods. For over 200 years, the recommended method for lightning prevention is a lightning rod, also called Franklin rod, named after it's inventor, Benjamin Franklin. A lighting rod, or arrestor directs the lightning discharge to ground. The lighting rod is a metallic conductor placed at the highest point of a building or structure and connected to a copper rod buried deep in the ground. When lightning strikes, the electrostatic discharge is safely conducted from the lightning rod to ground without causing damages to buildings or structures. While the lighting rod is widely used in today's world, there have been incidents of damages to the rod and to the buildings and structures because of the intensity of lightning.
Lightning rods do not prevent lightning. They attract lightning and conduct the electrical discharge to the ground.
Lightning Dissipater
A lightning dissipater is device that does not attract a lightning strike. It prevents lighting from occurring by making a structure invisible to lightning strikes. The lightning strikes another object (like a tree) or ground and does not harm the structure.
Figure 3 - Preventing a lightning strike using a lightning dissipater
A dissipater is made up of a large number of thin, sharp structures, called dissipation terminals or spikes, placed on the highest point of the structure that needs to be protected. These spikes constantly dissipate small amounts of charges based on the charges in the atmosphere.
When a charged thundercloud approaches the dissipater, the spikes begin to dissipate small amount of the opposite charge, thereby neutralizing the area around the structure. This prevents stepped leaders from reaching down to the structure and raising streamers from the structure to the stepped leader.
The thunderclouds' stepped leaders then look for alternate routes to discharge. A lightning strike occurs away from the structure - making the structure invisible to lightning.
Example: A good analogy of how dissipation works is a heat sink that dissipates heat through sharp end points to keep an electronic circuit board safe.
Figure 4 - Heat sink installed on an electronic circuit board.
Difference between a Lightning Rod and a Lightning Dissipater
While structurally both are connected to the ground, the main difference between the 2 methods is now charges accumulate and discharge.
In a lightning rod, charges accumulate at the tip of the rod and begin to form rising streamers. This accumulation of charges attracts the charges from the thundercloud, causing a lightning strike.
In a lightning dissipater, charges do not accumulate in one area. Each spike discharges a small amount of charge. Since there is no accumulation of charge, the amount of charge needed to form a raising streamer is very low. Rising streamers are not formed. When stepped leaders descend from the base of the cloud, they do not find a rising streamer and look for alternate streamers that form away from the structure. This keeps the structure safe and makes it invisible to lightning strikes.
Structure of the Lightning Dissipater
The lightning dissipater is made up the following components.
- Charge dissipation terminals (spikes)
- Spike Base
- Spike Ball
- Dissipater Mast (dissipation rod)
Charge Dissipater Terminals or Spikes
Charge dissipater terminals, or Spikes are made up of thin aluminum or steel wires. The are 12 inches in length.
Spike Base
A spike base is a circular metallic that holds the spikes together. The tube is perforated and the spikes pass through the perforations on either side of the spike base.
The base has a diameter of 2 feet and is made of the metallic rod that is 1 inch thick. the circular base is held together by 2 solid rods that are mounted on the dissipation mast.
Figure 5 - Top view of the spike base
Figure 6 - Side view of the spike base
Figure 7 - Cross section view of the spikes inserted into the spike base.
Spike Ball
The spike ball is a metallic sphere made of steel or aluminum. Its surface is perforated with slots to plant spikes. Each slot holds 100 dissipater spikes.
Figure 8 - Side view of the spike ball
Figure 9 - Section of the spike ball to illustrate how the spikes are inserted on the surface of the ball.
Dissipation Mast (Dissipation Rod)
The dissipation rod is made of steel or aluminum and connected to ground using lightning cables and a grounding rod.
The following is a schematic diagram of the lightning dissipater.
Figure 9 - Schematic diagram of the complete setup
Further Suggested Reading
- Study of the Effect of Dissipation Points on the Lightning Protection
- Lightning a Fundamental of Atmospheric Electricity
Lightning Spiders
An alternate design for for lightning dissipater is a lightning spider. Spiders are lightning dissipaters that are based on the same principles as above. These spiders are controlled and operated using AI. These spiders stay concealed in the structure (seapod, for example) and ascend when a storm approaches. They dissipate charge as long as the storm is overhead and descend again into the structure when the storm as passes.
Structure of a Lightning Spider
The lightning dissipater is made up the following components.
- Charge dissipation terminals (spikes)
- Spike Base
- Spider arms
- Dissipater Mast (dissipation rod)
Charge Dissipater Terminals or Spikes
Charge dissipater terminals, or Spikes are made up of thin aluminum or steel wires. The are 12 inches in length.
Spike Base
A spike base is a metallic rod that holds the spikes together. The rod is perforated and the spikes pass through the perforations on either side of the spike base. There are 3 base rods that are connected by hinges that form the spider arm. The three base rods fold in when not in use and open up when a storm is approaching.
Figure 10 - Side view of the spike base.
The base has a length of of 2 feet and is made of a tapering metallic rod. The rod is made of aluminum or steel. There are 3 rods of of various thickness to allow them to fold and nest inside the spider sleeve.
Spider Arm
The spider arm is a structure made of 3 spike base rods. The rods are hinged together and fit into the sleeve. There are 8 such sleeves mounted on an hydraulic lift.
Figure 11 - Spider arm folded in the sleeve (resting position of the lightning spider)
Figure 12 - Spikes on the spike base rod
The hydraulic lift is mounted on the dissipater mast. The lightning spider and hydraulic lift is operated electronically from within the building, structure or seapod using a lightning sensor. When the weather clear, the spike bases remain in this position - called the resting position. During a storm, when a thundercloud is in the vicinity, the
Dissipation Mast (Dissipation Rod)
The dissipation rod is made of steel or aluminum and connected to ground using lightning cables and a grounding rod.
The following is a schematic diagram of the complete setup of the lightning spider.
Figure 13 - Lightning spider schematic diagram in a resting position.
The following is an illustration of the lightning spider during a thunderstorm or when it senses a thundercloud approaching.
Figure 14 - A fully spread out lightning spider during a thunderstorm.
The lightning spider is controlled electronically using a lightning sensor or lightning detector.
Lightning Sensors
A lightning sensor is a device that detects lightning from far. There are multiple vendors who manufacture and sell handheld lightning sensors for home and commercial spaces. These devices are effective in detecting lightning strikes over 20 to 25 miles.
Storm detection and Lightning Spiders
Lightning spiders can be activated using lightning sensors or storm detectors. A weather radar constantly sweeps the area for approaching thunderclouds. When a thundercloud is within 1 kilometer of the structure, the lightning spider is activated automatically and gets into dissipation position within 1 minute. It stays in the dissipation position until the thundercloud in in a radius of 1 kilometer. Any lightning strikes that may occur is dissipated by the lightning spider. Once the thundercloud moves out of the 1 kilometer perimeter, the lightning spider retracts and goes back into the resting position.
An alternate method to control the lightning spider is to use a Web-based weather API to detect storms - depending on the location of the structure and Internet connectivity.
Here is some information on a potential system that does lightning prevention: https://www.mto.com.tr/mto-info and more below:
- https://www.mto.com.tr/lightning-protection-prevention-lng
- https://www.mto.com.tr/
- https://www.evodismarine.com/
Some more general information (video)
This project is being developed as an open-source project with the following licensing:
- Software: GPL-3.0 - https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html
- Hardware, Design & other Intellectual Property: CC-BY-SA-4.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Here is some other options that can be researched. Not sure if these are good alternatives or viable options but worth looking into:
1. https://www.lpsnet.com/
3. https://www.ingesco.com/en/
4. https://new.abb.com/low-