Preliminary Research and Documentation

Lightning Dissipater

Lightning dissipaters are devices that can prevent lightning from striking boats, buildings structures and seapods.

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 1 - 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.

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. 

1. Charge dissipation terminals (spikes)
2. Spike Base
3. Spike Ball
4. 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. 

A spike base is a circular metallic ring that holds the spikes together. The ring is perforated and the spikes pass through the perforations on either side of the spike base.

Figure 2 - Top view of the spike base with spikes

 

Figure 3 - 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.

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.

Further Suggested Reading

 

Lightning Spider

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.

1. Charge dissipation terminals (spikes)
2. Spike Base
3. Spider arms
4. 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 6 - 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 7 - - Spider arm folded in the sleeve (resting position of the lightning spider)

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 hydraulic lift moves each spider arm out of the sleeve and the arms spread out. 

Figure 8 - Illustration of the lightning spider when the thundercloud is approaching.

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.

 

Licensing

This project is being developed as an open-source project with the following licensing: