NON CONVENTIONAL LIGHTNING PROTECTION SYSTEMS

Both theory and experimental evidence show that Early Streamer Emission (ESE) principle does not work under natural field conditions and that there is no justification at present to assume that the ESE rods perform better than Franklin rods. The hallmark of ESE technology is the application of voltage pulses to the tip of lightning rods assuming that their effects will enhance the attractive radii of lightning conductors. Analysis presented here show that any lightning rod when exposed to the electric field produced by a stepped leader will act exactly like an ESE rod because the pulsating electric field of the stepped leader simulates the action of voltage pulses that are being used in ESE rods. It is estimated that the effect of the step like electric field changes caused by the stepping process of the stepped leader on a lightning rod is equivalent to a voltage source injecting voltage pulses of tens of kV or more at intervals of 10 to 50 mu s to the lightning rod. It demonstrates that the physics of the lightning attachment process of a Franklin rod is identical to that of an ESE rod and hence the attachment efficiency of a Franklin rod is identical to that of an ESE rod of identical geometry. The results presented in the paper also demonstrate that dissipation arrays cannot dissipate an imminent lightning flash either to the protected structure or to the terminal itself.