Prime Technologies has teamed up with: NCITCo.Ltd and has been appointed their authorized representative in the Dutch Caribbean region.
“NCITC.Ltd. is a leading professional tower manufacturer and exporter in China in the field of angle steel towers, tube towers (the voltage up to 1000kv), (tele)communication towers, monopoles, bionic towers, lightning rods, camouflaged monopoles, steel pipes, grating, cable and so on.
We also supply all kinds of steel profile products, as per customers’ requirements.
Other points of interest for Lightning Protection Device Towers:
1. The guarantee of lightning rod towers: About 50 years in CN.
2. The thickness of hot-dip galvanization: minimum 85 microns (um), ASTM-A123
3. We will provide you with the detailed drawings, installing & assembling drawings, etc. after the purchasing order is confirmed.
4. Our quotation also includes all tower accessories, such as bolts, nuts, washers, etc.
5. You can assemble all tower parts into the whole one easily according to our drawings.
6. Telecommunication tower drawing of Siemens in Honduras for your reference.
7. How to install the aviation obstruction lights?
The warning lights design photo is attached as well. We will supply support brackets of installing lights.
8. The square meters of steel that must be painted: about 90 m2
9. The square meters of top and bottom: top: 0.4m*0.4m (0.16m2); bottom: 2.8m*2.8m (7.84m2)
10. Design wind speed: 35m/s (130kmph)
Shared information on lightning strikes and towers
Watching a lightning strike is interesting. Photographs of lightning strikes have shown leaders that appear just before the discharge occurs. These leaders seem to develop downwards from the underside of the cloud in leaps of about 150 feet. They continue to extend toward the ground until, when several hundred feet from the ground; streamers begin to rise from the ground toward the leaders.
When the leaders and streamers connect, the ionized path formed provides the path for the lightning strike.
If we could prevent the leaders and streamers from making contact we might prevent lightning strikes.
Aircraft have what are known as wicks on the trailing edges. These wicks serve the same purpose as the lightning rods on the top of radio towers.
They allow the aircraft to discharge itself continually as it flies.
In the case of the lightning rod, the sharper the point the better the lightning rod works.
As the diameter of a conductor decreases, the voltage gradient increases toward the point. When the voltage at the end of the rod is sufficiently high it will bleed-off some of the induced lightning charge on the ground, streamers will be reduced or eliminated and the likelihood of a lightning strike is reduced. A corona develops at the tip of the rod, which sometimes can be seen.
An ounce of prevention
Several companies offer lightning protection devices that use a series of sharp-pointed electrodes mounted on the top of the tower. These are known as static ground charge dissipation systems and can be effective. It is also common practice to install a static discharge choke from the base of the tower to ground. However, if the standard ball gap is not properly adjusted it can cause more harm than good.
AM towers, with their large and low-resistance ground systems, seem to suffer less damage from lightning. Once a lightning strike enters the tower, its path toward ground is determined by the reactance in its path. Because the rise time of the wave front is rapid a reactance that might normally be considered insignificant can develop catastrophic voltages, which can bypass ground paths and jump to adjacent objects.
Different ground points can result in a voltage differential between devices.
A lightning strike on a power line can enter through the line itself.
Regardless of the amount of lightning activity in a station’s local area, surge protectors are essential. Some power lines contain intermittent spikes caused by load changes, as well as severe over-voltage surges caused by lightning.
The surge protector should be located where the line enters the building, and additional surge protectors on individual pieces of equipment are advisable.
It is essential that surge protectors be connected as closely as possible to the equipment to be protected, and in no case should long connecting cables be used.
There should be only one ground system connection. Otherwise it is possible for high voltages to develop between them in the event of a heavy strike.
The extensive ground system required by AM transmitters sometimes provides an ideal unity ground. However, all connections to this ground should be made with a flat, wide copper strap to ensure a low-impedance connection.
If possible, bring all ground connections close together so that there can be no potential differences between them.
If a lightning strike occurs near the transmitter building a voltage gradient will be produced across the area. If these three lines are brought through widely separated ports, surprisingly large voltages can develop between them if they are grounded in three places. Locating them together and connecting them to the same ground should reduce or eliminate lightning damage.