Below are some photos from recent lightning protection
and mitigation projects undertaken by NLSI.
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| USAF engineers receive NLSI Certification of Competency in civilian and military lightning protection codes. The class is taught 6-8 times a year. |
Installation errors lead to more than code violations — the lightning protection system is compromised and may not function as intended. |
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| Three major lightning code compliance issues in a very small space discovered during an NLSI on-site assessment. |
NLSI Founder R. Kithil with Prof. Chandima Gomes at the high voltage laboratory, University Putra Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) |
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| How to obtain low resistance grounding in volcanic lava (glass)? NLSI project on Mt. Haleakala, Hawaii. |
Site assessment shows propane tanks stored adjacent to tower's lightning protection system. Not a good idea... |
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| Question: How to protect worker,
fuel dispenser and fuel tanks from
lightning?
(Mining company, Peru) |
President of Rehdon College thanks NLSI president following NLSI's successful seminars to engineering students.
(Kathmandu, Nepal ) |
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| NASA Study Group, Kennedy Space Center Pad 39B. NLSI's R. Kithil with Aerojet's
J. Chai atop launch platform.
(NASA, Kennedy Space Center, Florida) |
Eleven violations of Motorola
R56 in this single photo.
(Adams
County E911 Operations, Denver, Colorado) |
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| Protection via isolation to
railroad circuits.
(Valero
Refinery, Delaware City, Delaware) |
1250-MW steam power plant went offline
due to lightning. Rosemont sensors required high capacity SPDs as
part of remediation.
(Cottonwood Operating Co., Orange, Texas) |
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| This earth electrode at a cement plant deemed satisfactory
although NEC 250 calls for 25 ohms.
(Metromount USA, Atlanta, Georgia) |
Rich Kithil, CEO of NLSI, at Sri Lanka lightning workshop. |
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| Elevated runway of the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport People Mover.
(Dallas, Texas) |
Garage in the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport People Mover.
(Dallas, Texas) |
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| Explosives handling wharf with overhead shield wires. (Trident
submarine base at Kings Bay, Georgia)
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NLSI CEO Rich Kithil at NASA's Wallops Island, Virginia site.
NLSI's assignment was at the 01B launch platform. |
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| Very poor grounding at a storage site.
Tight bend creates unwanted impedance. (NASA, Wallops Island, Virginia) |
Overhead shield wires at a U.S. Navy munitions storage site. |
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| Example of poor grounding at a telecommunications site. |
Evidence of lightning arcing
on communications surge protector as a result of
poor bonding practices. (Mining company, Peru) |
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| Very high resistance at air terminal down-conductor
indicates lightning will seek a more favorable path to ground.
Who knows where? (Mining company, Peru) |
Sacrificial tall rods positioned at 120 degrees surround and protect
a solar array and water monitoring system in Florida. |
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| Verification of earth electrode continuity. (Computer Center,
Cleveland, Ohio) |
Air terminals on roof? Which design? In this case, no design was
best. (Computer Center, Cleveland, Ohio) |
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| Outdoor worker lightning safety involves detection, notification,
and suspension/resumption of activities, as well as safe shelter.
(Client near Nashville, Tennessee) |
Lightning safety training in Bangladesh. |
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| Overhead shield wire is best air terminal for control center. (Mining company, Peru) |
Close encounters with unexpected safety issue. (Huntsville, Alabama) |
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| Signal cable SPD not grounded and ineffective. (Huntsville, Alabama) |
Bus bar grounding wire (at RHS) transits concrete. Alkaline will corrode the wire, causing future problems. (NASA, Kennedy Space Center, Florida) |
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| Bonding all interior metallic objects is essential, per USAF AFI 32-1065. (Langley Air Force Base, Virginia) |
Failure to bond may create voltage rise mismatches and resulting arcing. (Langley Air Force Base, Virginia) |
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| Challenging assignment to obtain low-resistance, highly conductive grounding at wind turbine farm. (Maine) |
Ground resistivity measured 850 ohms/cm
at this wind farm. How to meet specification
of 2 ohms per manufacturer's requirements? (Maine) |
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Lightning visits wind turbine blade. NLSI experience
can be applied to mitigate future insults. |
Site assessment at a high-value facility. (Virginia) |
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| It isn't rocket science, but if attention to details is missing, the lightning protection system won't function as it should. |
Helicopter approach to gold mine. Lightning to generators reduced electric power 50% for three months at a daily cost of $700,000. NLSI provides 24x7 global availability for emergency site assessments. (Papua, New Guinea) |
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Lightning can play havoc with complex electrical
systems. Grounding, bonding and surge protection defenses are essential. (Valero Energy plant, Delaware) |
Outdoor workers need timely notification of
approaching electrical storms. We develop a safety program for their well-being with minimal production disruption. (Metromont PreStress plant, Tennessee) |
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Lightning strikes to the main building caused failure of the primary backup generator. An overall site
assessment for power quality assurance was conducted by NLSI. (East Alabama Medical Center) |
A complex network of low voltage valves and relays was infected by indirect lightning events. Fuel supplies to diesel generators were compromised. Specialized surge protection was required. (Cayman Islands Electric Power) |
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| Client engineers discuss lightning protection topics for Peruvian mine during NLSI workshop. (Mining company, Peru) |
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