How do lightning occur?
When warm air in the atmosphere encounters a cold frontal system, it is pushed upwards. Meanwhile, the negative and positive electric charges in the clouds are separated and the negative charges are collected at the base of the cloud. When these negative charges attract positive charges on land or sea, lightning occurs. At this point, the positive electric charge rises to the cloud as fast as one-third of the light and produces a neon-like light. Nowadays, lightning strikes are considered as a natural disaster threatening human life and are increasingly encountered in parallel with climate changes.
In general, most lightning strikes occur in open spaces. Lightning strikes are a dangerous event that sometimes causes hearing loss, leading to deaths and injuries. Today, the most lightning and lightning in the world, the United States is Florida. In America alone, more than 800 people die every year due to lightning strikes. In our country, more than 100 people die from lightning every year. The region with the most lightning and lightning is the Black Sea region.
Lightning occurs between the clouds and the earth, while lightning is the transfer of electric charge that occurs only between the clouds. In fact, there is always talk of lightning, but the main thing is that the electric charge discharges from the earth into the clouds.
The most effective method of protection against lightning is lightning rods or lightning caverns placed on the roofs of buildings. Lightning rods allow the electrical charge to be transferred to the ground. The best way to avoid lightning, especially in the open area, is to get away from poles and trees, that is, upward spikes and puddles. Using umbrellas during lightning is often the most wrong thing to do. Cars are very safe in lightning, as cars can quickly transmit electricity through their wet tires to the ground.
In general, when a solid object is electrified, only the outer surface of the object is electrically charged. However, when the clouds become electrified, every particle of it is electrically charged. For this reason, clouds have very high electricity carrying power. Likewise, when such a cloud is approaching another electrically charged cloud or approaching the earth, a very strong electric arc is formed. In fact, air is an insulating material that is impervious to electricity. Therefore, it acts as an effective insulator between the clouds and the earth. However, when the cloud's electrical charge is too high, and the air is damp, electrical charges flow between the cloud and the ground. This is a powerful electric arc. The length of this electric arc between the clouds can reach 40 kilometers. The length of the electric arc between the cloud and the earth is up to 2 kilometers. Essentially, lightning, the electric arc between the clouds, has no harm to the earth, but the electric arc between the cloud and the earth, ie lightning, can cause loss of life and property.
What is Lightning Rod, Lightning Rod Inspection Controls What are the basics?
Lightning rods are a device that protects industrial plants and high buildings from lightning and ensures that the electrical charge generated during the lightning is transferred to the ground in the shortest way. Benjamin Franklin was the first to recognize the relationship between electricity and lightning. Franklin was the first person to develop this invention in 1760. This first lightning rod consisted of a simple pointed iron rod with one end tied to the ground. Then platinum was used instead of this iron bar.
There are basically three main components in today's lightning rods: rods, conductive cables and ground rods. Although the rods appear to be the most important part of the lightning rod assembly, they are not very important at all. The function of the bars serves as a terminal in order to discharge the electrical charge of the lightning. The shapes and sizes may be different. The most common shape is a long pointed rod and a smooth shiny sphere. Conductive cables are the structure that conducts electrical current from the top of the building to the ground. The cables go down from the roof of the building to the floor and are tied to the ground at several corners. Ground rods are thick, long and heavy rods buried in the ground and the main function is to provide grounding. Conductor cables are connected to these ground rods. Franklin built his first lightning rod on the north-facing roof of his house. The length of the iron bars is higher than 2.5 meters from the roof. The ground rod is embedded in the soil at a depth of 1.5 meters.
The purpose of lightning protection systems is to protect the building, its electrical installations, electronic devices and people from lightning. In order for lightning to discharge its energy, it must cross the ground in a safe way. Contrary to what is known, roofs do not attract lightning strikes. Their function is to ensure that the high electric current travels to the ground in a lower resistance path. Since lightning protection systems carry a high-energy electric impulse, if the system is low in capacity and has worn and worn conductors, high heat builds up in the conductors and can cause damage to the building. In this respect, it is important to have regular maintenance of installed lightning rod systems.
In the annex of, Maintenance, Repairs and Periodic Inspections in of the Regulation on Health and Safety in the Use of Work Equipment issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the criteria of the lightning rod control and inspection procedures shall be at least annually provided that the criteria set out in the relevant legal once.
According to the said regulation, the legal regulations that are taken into consideration in lightning rod controls are as follows:
- Regulation on Grounding in Electrical Installations
- Regulation on Electrical High Current Plants
- Electrical Internal Facilities Regulation
In addition, a few of the standards adopted in these studies are as follows:
- TS EN 62305-1 Lightning protection - Part 1: General rules
- TS EN 61557-1 Electrical safety in low voltage distribution systems - up to 1000 volt AA and 1500 vold DA - Equipment for testing, measuring or monitoring protective devices - Part 1: General specifications
- TS EN ISO 5349-1 Mechanical vibration - Measurement and evaluation of hand-held vibration to which persons are exposed - Part 1: General rules
