G
uest Article
Protecting your Electrical Panels/Control Systems/UPS/ PLC/Drives/LED Lights and Other Sensitive Electronic Equipment from Lightning and Voltage Surges
I
ntroduction
In today’s extremely competitive scenario, a company’s dependency on fast, accurate and convenient transmission of information increases dramatically. Businesses make great investments in state-of-the-art telephone systems, computer networks, high end machineries and expert diagnostic equipment in order to compete in the high-tech marketplace that exists in every industry today. So a few questions arise to ponder upon like how would your business be affected if it lost the use of these systems for an extended period of time? Or even for a day? Suppose the computer /PLC/HMI system you use to communicate is destroyed from a lightning surge. How big of an impact would this have on your operation? How long would it take to repair or replace a key piece of machinery or equipment that has been subjected to a voltage surge and rendered useless? So the main question arises is that - ARE YOU PREPARED IF IT DOES HAPPEN?
94 || April 2018 ||
ELECTRICAL MIR R OR
Power Quality
Many power problems originate in the commercial power grid, which, with its thousands of miles of transmission lines, is subject to weather conditions such as hurricanes, lightning storms, snow, ice, and flooding along with equipment failure, traffic accidents and major switching operations. Also, power problems affecting today’s technological equipment are often generated locally within a facility from any number of situations, such as local construction, heavy startup loads, faulty distribution components, and even typical background electrical noise. Electrical disturbances can result from problems within your facility, even though your supply voltage is constant. These disturbances can occur frequently and appear severe because the sensitive equipment is close to the disturbance source. For example, any load, such as an air conditioner which starts and stops, can cause problems for sensitive electronics. Therefore, achieving power quality requires a combined effort between your utility and you, the customer.
Lightning Strikes without Warning
Recent claims show a wide range of damage being attributed to lightning or voltage surges. Lightning has caused damage to computer terminals, printers, motors, controllers, high-tech instrumentation and telephone communication systems. Unexpectedly, these businesses find themselves trying to rebound from ||www.electricalmirror.net||