30th International Conference on Lightning Protection - ICLP 2010 (Cagliari, Italy - September 13th -17th, 2010)

CHALLENGES IN THE PROMOTION OF LIGHTNING PROTECTION KNOW-HOW IN DEVELOPING WORLD

Chandima Gomes and Mohd Zainal Abidin Ab Kadir
Centre of Excellence on Lightning Protection, University Putra, Malaysia chandima.gomes@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
The natural and induced conceptual barriers in promoting scientifically proven lightning protection technologies in several developing countries are analyzed in depth, based on several long term investigations conducted in South, South East and Middle East Asian regions. Most of these countries emerge as huge markets for lightning protection systems, hence the outcomes of this study are highly beneficial for the business community that markets lightning protection technology, commercial sector that seeks lightning protection and the engineering consultants that look forward to render their services in developing countries. As it is figured out, the major drawbacks in designing or purchasing good lightning protection systems are; the lack of flow of scientific information to the local engineer-level, the technical lapses in analyzing transient conditions, the low quality of electrical networking/wiring practices, the majority of decision-makers being non-engineers, the ignorance of engineers/consultants in conducting proper risk assessment, the lack of up-to-date codes and guidelines at national level, the flooding of the market with fake products and the unethical perks offered by the vendors to the consultants and decision makers. These shortfalls lead to dangerous grounding practices, inappropriate selection of lightning protection devices, excessively high cost of protection, and unacceptable level of system failure and low level of reliability. These undesirable conditions have highly negative impact on the impression and perception of general public on lightning protection devices and methodologies, thus centuries of scientific investigations on the subject becomes futile at application-level.

INTRODUCTION

Most parts of the South East Asian countries are placed at high lightning occurrence density levels, by the information released by the respective meteorological departments. They also record high level of lightning related injuries and accidents [1-5]. The countries in the region have either achieved or fast achieving Newly Industrialised Country (NIC) status. Hence, the development of industrial sector and wide extension of power and communication is progressing at a rapid pace, making the countries more vulnerable to lightning damage. Most of the countries in South Asia experience high isokeraunic levels in localized areas [6-9] although in some countries, the average lightning density is less when the entire country is considered; eg. Pakistan [10]. These countries are densely populated and have welldeveloped localized industries, especially in high lightning occurrence areas. Such situation results unacceptably high number of deaths and economic losses annually due to lightning strikes [11]. The Middle East Asian countries, though categorized as regions of low isokeraunic levels, have lightning hotspots that experience severe thunderstorms that cause immense damage (southern districts of Saudi Arabia) [12]. They are going through a phase of rapid industrialization and some of them are rich in petrochemical resources. Thus, these countries have become increasingly vulnerable to adverse effects of lightning, both direct and indirect. In this paper we analyse the information that we have obtained in these countries with respect to lightning protection through our long-term experience in operating in these regions as researchers, consultants and advisors in the subject. The outcome is, directly applicable to many other countries as per our correspondence with coresearchers in other parts of the world. Our findings provide valuable information to business and educational

1089-1

sectors in approaching developing countries to promote scientifically accepted methodologies and technologies in lightning protection. Throughout this paper we use the following abbreviations. LP: Lightning Protection LPS: Lightning Protection System SPD: Surge Protective Device ESE: early Streamer Emission 2 METHODOLOGY

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3. 1 Requirement of Lightning Protection In South Asia as we have observed that the percentage of cases where LP has been done after a proper risk assessment is less than 1%. In South East Asia this percentage seems to be above 50% and in Middle East it is over 70%. However, the number of cases investigated in South Asia is about 20 times more than that of both other regions. In most cases engineers or administrators had no knowledge regarding the existence of such risk assessment procedure. This is true even for installations where such risk assessment has been done in all 3 regions, so that we have found the risk assessment procedure only by going through the installers specifications. The informal interviews with site engineers, and decision makers at administrative level at many companies and institutions reveal that the reasons for taking a decision on the building protection and / or surge protection are the following (in the order of decreasing degree of prominence). 1. 2. Lightning accident has happened at the premises A marketing representative from a LP vendor has visited and persuaded them to install LP Lightning accident neighbourhood has happened in the

The information given in this paper has been collected over a period of 10 years (From April/2000 to March/2010); during the advisory and consultancy assignments and training programs for which the authors are directly involved. The data has been collected in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia. Furthermore some information has been collected from Singapore, Nepal and Iran through personal communication. The subjects include over 800 engineers and engineering administrators, about 300 non-technical administrative personnel, about 180 general public, 38 agents and dealers of LP (henceforth referred as vendors) and 162 installations. The modes of collecting information are 1. 2. 3. 4. Personal observation by site inspection Data provided by authorised personnel knowledgeable regarding the relevant subject Questioners when general public is involved Reliable documents such as authorised quotations and BOQs, maintenance reports and purchase orders Business/product promotional materials of companies Discussions with non-technical administrative personnel of relevant companies

3.

4.

Insurance companies have insisted (imposed a higher premium for not having LP) A high ranked company representative has participated in a Lightning Protection program The maintenance engineer or other senior engineer has anticipated lightning threat.

5.

5. 6.

6.

Each scope of this study has been re-justified with a number of observations over the long span of time during which the data is collected. Few unique observations, which are of interest to the engineering and business communities involved with lightning protection, have also been given.

The above reasons and the priority order are common to all three regions. Only in the last 2 case of reasons (few occasions) the client has demanded for a risk assessment from the LP vendor. The informal interviews with LP vendors revealed that less than 50% of them have employed or hired

1089-2

professionals who can conduct a risk assessment according to any standard. All of them were adhered to BS 6651 (1999) [13], while the re-enquiry in the last few years of the investigations revealed that only 3 companies have the resources that can conduct the risk assessment according to IEC-62305-2 (2006) [14]. The lack of correct motivation in the decision making of installing LP system opens an opportunity for the vendor to dictate the selection of LP scheme to the client. The lack of paying any significant attention to the risk assessment by the client gives the advantage for the vendor to decide the level of protection and the number of items, where and what to install etc. Most often we noticed that the opportunistic vendors have made unnecessary or sometimes even hazardous selections. We list out the following erroneous installations that have been made by vendors. 1. Structural protection given for no risk buildings: We have come across a considerable number of cases where the LP has been given to buildings that have very low risk index (no protection or only few protective components are required) according to the risk assessment of either [13] or [14]. These buildings include; a. Low rise buildings in areas of low lightning occurrence density Totally metallic structures 2. c. Buildings protected by high rise buildings in the near vicinity (e.g. base stations underneath tall and well grounded metallic towers)

One of the adverse effect of having copper down conductors on buildings made of steel metal structure and corrugated steel roofing is the corrosion of the steel due to galvanic effect. In most of the cases the dimensions of the roofing and supporting materials are well above the minimum values specified in IEC 62305-3 (2006) [15] for being self-sufficient airtermination and down conductor system. However, the unnecessary installation of the LP system causes serious corrosion problems which are detrimental to the building structure, especially in areas with high salinity and acidity in rain water. In such cases the only structural LP requirement is a proper grounding system connected to the base of the structure. Figure-1 shows an all-metal factory; structure made with I cross sectioned vertical iron struts, L cross sectioned horizontal iron struts that supports the corrugated iron roofing and sides covered with corrugated metal sheets. The structure only needs grounding of vertical struts at the base level at regular intervals as per [15]. The vendor has installed 4 ESE air-terminations which are grounded by bare copper tapes laid along the metal roof and facades. Note that the aluminium casing of the test-joint which is fixed to the facade by nuts and bolts causes even worse corrosive problems due to the presence of several metals together. Surge Protective devices without a proper plan: It has been found that at a number of commercial and industrial sites SPDs have been installed without any justification regarding the selection of location and specifications. Such practise leads to over-protection of some robust equipment and under-protection or no protection of sophisticated equipment.

b.

The LP system adopted in 90% of these cases is ESE technology (ESE technology issue is discussed under section 3.2). As the installations are not having any significant probability of strike even without the LP system, the vendors who provided LP is at a zero risk of failure. Such cases also contribute immensely to the noaccident statistics of installations with ESE devices; which is a false indication of the success of the technology.

3.2

Non-conventional air-termination systems

The issue of the suitability and scientific background of the non-conventional air-terminations has been debated for almost two decades by now. Irrespective of the fact that the performance of such technologies are non proven, theoretically, experimentally or statistically, it

1089-3

seems that the products based on such technology are successfully marketed in South and South east Asia, while such devices are not very popular in Middle East. The visual observations reveal that in Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and Indonesia the percentage of nonconventional air-termination systems (with respect to the total number of LP systems) is approximately 75%. The percentage of LP systems installed according to [15] or similar is less than 5% in Sri Lanka, about 20% IN Malaysia and about 10% in Indonesia. The rest is a partial protection system (usually single copper rod grounded by a single down conductor). Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Middle East is yet infiltrated by the vendors of non-conventional technology. In Singapore such technology is forcefully suppressed as a result of the dominance of few individuals.

About 90% of the non conventional air-termination systems are based on Early Streamer Emission (ESE) technology, while the rest is on lightning repelling or dissipating technology. The products based on the two technologies have been promoted with two different marketing approaches. 1. ESE technology: Manufacturers of ESE devices claim that the system can intercept with downward propagating stepped leader much earlier than the conventional rods, thus the chances of the lightning intercept with parts of the building is minimized. However, the technology has been rejected by a majority of the scientific community due to various reasons. Most of the internationally reputed standards have not included such methodology. Under such circumstance it is of interest to explore the reasons for the success of ESE technology in most of the countries where we have conducted the investigation. a. Inclusion of ESE technology in French and Spanish Standards: Being well-developed influential European countries, France and Spain make a considerable psychological impact on developing nations. Once said that such countries have included ESE technology in their standards the product gets an automatic endorsement to convince the general public regarding its efficiency. Even under a legal framework the vendor is safe as his product is in compliance with a European Standard. Non-rejection of ESE technology by any standard: Although many standards have not included ESE technology in their recommendations none of the standards have a vehement rejection of the ESE technology. Under such circumstances there are simply no grounds to persuade an ordinary engineer to reject a product based on ESE technology. One cannot expect a field engineer to read research papers or scientific documents as they are burdened with routinely work. The situation becomes even tougher for an anti-ESE campaigner

b.

Figure-1: An all-metal structure (supporting struts, roof and facades) installed with ESE air terminations and bare copper down conductors in contact with the building material. The air termination and aluminum test joint box have been highlighted by black circles.

1089-4

when it comes to the convincing of decision makers who are most often non-technical personnel. As a team of consultants and advisors we have tried our best to address both point (a) and (b) during our training programs, advisory sessions and consultancies; with the aid of scientific papers and statements issued by the scientific community. However, as the ground engineers complain, a standard issued by a well developed country is much more recognized in the eyes of an administration or official framework than research papers or mere statements that have no legal validity. c. Introduction as a new technology: The ESE technology surfaced in the late 70s but became a market force in the 90s. Thus, compared to the 300 year old conventional protection system ESE concept is a modern technology. It is very natural that the general public loves the modern technology. The ESE proponents use this human thinking pattern much to their advantage. The handsome look: ESE device is a much more attractive object to the human eye than a copper rod, which is either dull plated or pale-looking due to natural oxidization of the surface. In contrast ESE air-terminations come with various shapes and chromo plated surfaces. In many areas of Sri Lanka, for an example, existence of such fancy looking device on the roof is a symbol of prestige. To compete with such advantage of ESE devices several vendors who promote conventional systems in South Asia has started manufacturing Franklin rods with various attractive shapes. None of them are sold as ESE devices but the beautiful look attracts customers. Figure-2 shows several such rods marketed by a Sri Lankan company. Convenience for both the client and the vendor: In contrast to a LP system designed

according to [15] or similar, an ESE technology based LP system, designed according to a standard such as NFC-17102 (1995) [16] is less laborious and more convenient to be installed. Especially in the case of buildings that have decorated and complex shaped roofing, ESE technology is a big attraction. The single air-termination and single down conductor (in most of the buildings) cause much less disturbance to the aesthetic appearance of the building than the conventional systems do. One of the countermeasures that can be taken by the conventional LP system proponents is to promote the using of reinforcement steel structure for the purpose served by the down conductors. However, the conditions set forth in [15] for using the steel reinforcement structure for such purpose, highly restrict the adoption of this technique in practice. f. Powerful marketing strategies: The marketing promotional campaigns of vendors that sell ESE devices are much more rigorous and aggressive than those of other companies. The major reason for such affordability is the large profit margins that have been enjoyed by the ESE device vendors.

d.

e.

Figure-2: Various designs of non ESE type air-terminations (With courtesy of SAW Engineering (Pvt) Ltd)

1089-5

As a remedy, we proposed those who practise conventional LP systems to replace copper by galvanize steel and use the structural reinforcement system wherever possible, to reduce the cost of materials, so that they can offer competitive prices while having good profits. However, there are several hurdles to be overcome when such designs are proposed to the client; clients doubts about the system, architects/civil engineers opposition, most often client decides on LP after the building is constructed, practical constraints in implementing the conditions set-forth by [15], etc. g. Lavish rewards to the admirers: Another, unchallengeable strategy adopted by the vendors is to reward heavily the consultants that recommend and promote ESE technology. The large profits gained by the vendors make it permissible for them to offer lavish rewards to the consultants, thus, in turn they get more business; hence more profits. This positive feedback loop gradually adds more consultants into the loop and destroys the companies that are reluctant to stay away from the loop. During the last five years of this investigation, most of the companies that were previously reluctant to market ESE technology were sucked into the loop as they could not survive in the business outside the loop. Clients demand for ESE technology: In parallel with point f., the ESE vendors have created an atmosphere in many countries that the total solution of LP relies on the efficiency of ESE technology. Hence, most often, clients demand ESE based LP systems irrespective of the awareness offered by non-ESE technology based companies. Most often, the contract in line consists of the installation of both SPD system and structural protection system together. Thus, the refusal to offer ESE devices will cost the vendor the total

contract. As we have observed, several LP companies in South Asia, whose main concern is SPDs, started importing ESE devices as they have lost large scale projects due to the above reason. 2. Lightning repelling or dissipating systems: Proponents of these systems claim that once it is installed there will be no lightning attached to the building; the lightning stepped leader will either be dissipated or diverted to an unknown destination in the neighbourhood by the system. The concept is not accepted by almost the entire scientific community and also not recommended by any standard. However, the proponents have been successful in several occasions in the regions under investigation. As we have checked with several customers of such systems, we came across that almost all of them are well-satisfied with the installed system. Hence, to find about the real grounds of such perception, we visited one of the tower sites in South Asia where such lightning eliminating/repelling system has been installed. The location of the site is not revealed due to the request of the site owner. Our observations are listed below. a. The air-termination is a well spread metal structure (which supposed to repel lightning) that covers the entire tower and its equipment even by an angle of vortex as low as 10. The air termination is tightly connected (well bonded electrically) to the tower re-bars. The air-termination is connected to a down conductor which is fixed (electrical bonding again) to a tower foot at regular intervals. The down conductor and tower feet at the base are well integrated and connected to a well distributed grounding system (ring conductors, radials deep driven rods etc.) All metallic parts of the Base Transmission Station (BTS) are properly connected to

h.

b.

c.

d.

1089-6

grounding system, via a well coordinated SPD system (wherever necessary) or directly. The grounding resistance was around 0.5 (measured with a KYORITSU MODEL4105A earth resistance meter on a moderately dry day). e. As per the site engineers, the BTS and the tower related equipment have experienced heavy losses during the lightning seasons prior to the installation of the LP system. Since the system was installed there were zero damage for a period of about 5 years. The engineers strongly believe that the system repels the lightning.

to rectify the drawbacks of the electrical system. This is done either due to the lack of knowledge on the problem or the fear of losing the contract. The result will be the failure of equipment even after the installation of the LP scheme. Several of such problems in the electrical system are listed below. 1. Grounding at various points of the wiring system: This is one of the commonest problems in the subcontinent. About 20% of the engineers interviewed in this investigation expressed the view that greater the number of leads from the wiring system to the mother earth better the safety. Most of the engineers who had this view are the electronic/ communication engineers. As we suspect the recommendation of the manufacturers of communication equipment to have separate (or dedicated) ground may have prompted the engineers to have such view. Interestingly, during the period of investigation, the Electronics Department of an engineering university in a South Asian country, experienced serious damage to over 20 computers. As per the case study of the incident presented by one of the academics of the university during a workshop revealed that the department premises had more than 18 grounding points (lines connected to separate earth pits). The practise, for which the non-academic maintenance engineers are responsible, was due to the belief that computers should be given separate grounding. We have also come across 22 installations where the SPDs are connected to a grounding system different from the power ground. In all 22 cases the engineers of the site have done the installation after purchasing the SPDs from retail vendors. 15 of such installations, situated in high lightning density areas (over 70 thunder days per year), have records of major equipment damage before they rectified the situation on our recommendations. Most of these misconceptions could be eradicated after pictorial demonstrations of the hazardous practices to the technical personnel concerned (current loops and dangerous voltages between ground and line/neutral due to potential differences at different ground points).

It can easily be understood that with such comprehensive LP system the chances of equipment damage or personal injury is extremely small, even if many lightning strike the tower. Therefore, the satisfaction of the customer is well justified. However, the issue is that the vendor has charged for the so called lightning eliminating air-termination system about 1000 times more than that for an ordinary copper rod which could have served the same purpose. The cost of the rest of the system is similar to that of a similar system offered any other vendor. Interestingly, such systems are mostly installed in structures with small horizontal expansion (communication towers) and all-metal structures that can withstand lightning strikes even without airterminations (metal oil storages that has very thick walls and roof). The vendors also approach largescale business enterprises with very high revenue so that the cost of the LP system will not be a sizable fraction of the annual safety budget. 3.3 Erroneous Electrical Engineering Practices In number of cases of our investigation we have found that the losses and damages are attributed to are wrongly lightning; where the real culprit is the bad electrical installation and maintenance. Most often when the LP vendors are invited to forward quotations (without getting the service of a consultant), the usual practise is that the vendor offer SPDs without asking the customer

1089-7

2.

Wiring system defects: There are many malpractices in the installation and maintenance of wiring system, as we have observed. Few of them are stated below. a. Selection of wrong colour code: We have come across few sites where even green/yellow grounding wires are used for live or neutral at few locations of the wiring system, which may be extremely hazardous. Damaged wires due to mechanical mishaps and rat/squirrel bites: Ina addition to the safety threat, such damaged points give rise to regular arcing, generating transients in the system. In Middle East and some parts of South and South East Asia we frequently observe damage to outdoor cable insulation due to extreme weather conditions. Birds / squirrels make nests in panel boxes: Such animals and parts of their nests may cause sporadic arcing between bus bars. Unplanned power feeds routed outdoor: One of the biggest challenges of rectifying the wiring systems is to figure out and remove/re-route power lines that extend to outdoor feeds from points within the building. To make the situation worse, the extensions are most often taken from unsuspecting points; plug points, lamp holders or even splitting the insulation of the wires at any place convenient to the technician. Typically these extensions are done on temporary basis and after the purpose is served the extension is left unattended. In most of the countries and states of Southern parts of sub-continent, the festive season happened to be in MarchMay, during which decorative lamps and other displays that require power are implemented outdoor. Unfortunately this happens to be the period of peak lightning season as well.

installation of both earth fault tripping and over current tripping devices are compulsory. In Middle East and South East Asia most of the industrial sites are installed with such devices but not in small-scale out-of-city industries. 4. Unattended defective electrical appliances: Flickering florescent lamps, noise generating old UPSs, defective capacitor banks and inductive loads etc. are few examples of transient generators within premises. Irresponsible switching operations: We have come across at several occasions the on-off operations of some sophisticated loads have been done by inappropriate means. One common example is the switching on-off large number of computers by on circuit breaker, to save time and labour.

b.

5.

c.

3.4 Erroneous Practices of LP System Installation There are number of issues with respect to LP installations that we have observed during our investigation. Several of them have been already discussed earlier. The other issues are described below. 1. Improper installation and maintenance of down conductors: Down conductors have been observed with twisted, crooked and loosely hanging parts, U and L bends, undetectable ground termination, fixing bracket of different metals, parts inside cable ducts or installed close to equipment etc. Examples of several of these drawbacks are depicted in Figure-3. Another issue, the installation of insulated cables in metallic towers is discussed in details in [17]. Misconception of grounding: Apart from the multi-point earthing problem one of the most confused grounding issue, especially among the junior engineers is the maximum distance (50 cm) recommended for the grounding of SPDs. The Standards [18] clearly mention that the length of wire between the SPD and the grounding bar (which provide ground reference for the equipment to which power is supplied from the same panel) should be less than 50 cm.

d.

2.

3.

Absence of electrical safety devices: In the entire sub-continent it is only in Sri Lanka the

1089-8

4.

a 3.

Unfortunately some technical personal understand this as 50 cm maximum length between SPD or grounding bar and the mother earth. Figure-4 shows a ridicules attempt made by the technical personnel of an institution in South Asia to achieve this misunderstood concept. Several other erroneous practises with regard to the same issue have been discussed in detail in [19]

SPD d Dangling tape

e Down conductor

f Down conductor Main grounding bar

Figure-3: Erroneous installation of down conductors. a. Right angled bend about 3 m above ground level. b. U bend close to windows. c. Crooked and twisted down conductor. d. loosely hanging part of a down conductor e. Down conductor that runs very close to an entrance and an electrical equipment (down conductor is highlighted by a black line). f. Down conductor of which the ground termination cannot be traced.

Figure-4: Misunderstanding of standards. The technical personnel who designed the installation has successfully achieved (as he understood) less than 50 cm tape length between the main grounding bar and mother earth. The incorrect positioning of the main grounding bar makes the wire length between the SPD and the main grounding bar more than 2 m, which is a total violation of the Standards [15]. At such a location with no space restriction the designer could have easily planned the positions of both the SPD and the main grounding bar to be well in compliance with recommendations of [15].

1089-9

5.

Use of inappropriate backfill materials: It is a common practise among several companies and few consultants in all three regions of investigation to use salt (Sodium Chloride) as a backfill material to reduce grounding resistance of earth electrodes. Most often after the installation of grounding system with Sodium Chloride and pouring several gallons of water the ground resistance of the systems gives a reading, sometimes, th of the value for the same system without such material. Such reading facilitates the vendor (or contractor) to claim the payment from the customer, however, within few months the ground resistance may increased by 4-5 times (even higher than that of a similar system without Sodium Chloride) . The reality of this issue has been discussed in detail in [20]. Apart from the resistance increment, Sodium Chloride may seriously promote corrosive effects.

Most often the fakes are one to one similar in appearance to the genuine counterpart so that even the manufacturers could not identify the duplicated device without doing a proper test. Therefore, it is almost impossible to give guidance to the general public to identify the genuine products. The only advice that we used to give in this regard to the customers is to buy the products from authorised dealers of a given region; although such practise may not be 100% foolproof.

a Traces of smoke

3.4 Faking of Popular Brands South and South East Asia is plagues with fake LP devices, especially SPDs. In many other electrical products the fake has some value, although the quality is most often less than that of the original. Hence if the price is proportionately low, people buy them, sometimes knowingly, although such purchase is not ethical in the strict sense. In the contrary, the fake SPDs have zero value (except for the plastic casing and the material filled inside to increase the weight). The Figure-5 depicts one such case observed during the period of investigation. The SPDs shown in the figure bear a reputed international brand name, and installed in a banking premises in South Asia. During our inspection visit we noticed that one of the SPDs in the panel is discoloured and show burn marks in the panel and also in the panel cover. However, the fault indicator of the SPD (the red colour button that should pop out in the event of SPD failure) shows that it is in good condition. This prompted us to ask the technical personnel of the institution to remove the SPD from the panel and split it to inspect inside. We could see only partially melt lump of PVClike material inside. There were no signs of any surge protective component such as MOVs, GDTs, Zener diodes etc. We could not get photographs of the splitopened device as per the request of the technical staff.

Fault indicator has not popped up

b Large patch of smoke

Figure-5: a. Damaged SPD with faked brand name. Note that the fault indicator has not been popped up irrespective of arc signs. The defected SPD has been discolored showing signs of internal heating, which was verified on opening the device. b. Cover of the panel with large patch of black smoke (smoke patch coincides with the location of damaged SPD)

1089-10

3.5

Attitudinal and Administrative Barriers 2.

already been installed. We have also been informed at several institutions that the management has asked the engineering staff to refer the request for LP system to the financial departments to check the possibility of obtaining an insurance coverage against the lightning hazards in the place of an LP scheme. Due to the high competition among the insurance companies and also due to the lack of knowledge on LP, most of the insurance companies cover the risk against lightning damage (and even the losses due to downtime) without demanding for a proper protection scheme. In most of the industrial and service sectors, the administers are very reluctant to shut down the power supply for the requirements of rectification or replacement. However, the management overlooks the fact that in the event of a transient damage the most probable outcome is the unexpected and uncontrolled power outing. Sometimes the rectification needs structural modification which is a burden for the maintenance engineers as they need to plan and design modifications and relocations that are outside his routinely work. 4 CONCLUSIONS

Most of the issues discussed in the previous sections, could not be rectified for several years even after the pertinent engineering / technical staff was educated regarding the drawbacks. In some cases, the problems were not addressed even after 7-8 years despite the adverse effects due to the pertinent problems. It has been perceived that there are mainly two inter-related reasons for such observation. Those are the attitudinal problems and administrative red-tapes. The two factors complement each other in developing huge barriers preventing the issues being addressed scientifically and technically. During our interviews, it has been revealed that there is a considerably high reluctance among the ground level engineering/technical staff to go out of routinely work in rectifying the issues unless there are drastic losses. It was not an easy task to get correct and sincere information from the employees, during the discussions and interviews due to various reasons. Hence we have to study the procedures, and outcomes of a number of institutions with respect to LP concerns. As per the information we received we discuss the following factors. 1. At most institutions, the decisions on investing on infrastructure development are taken at managerial or directorial capacity of which the composition has no technical or scientific background. Hence, to convince such capacity the technical staff needs to quantify the safety and protection in terms of monitory values. Such practise is tedious and the ordinary engineer is hardly rewarded for such efforts. Instead, it is much more convenient to make a recommendation to the management asking for installing a lightning protection system. On this recommendation the authorities call quotations from vendors. As there are, most often, no knowledgeable personnel in the staff to evaluate the quotations, the contract is given to the lowest bid, unless there are some other reason (probably non-technical) to award it to a higher bid. Sometimes, the management rejects the request to install surge protection system after installing the structural protection system (or vice versa), stating that an LP system has

3.

4.

In this paper we discussed in details the challenges that one would encounter in promoting scientifically justified and internationally accepted lightning protection technologies in several developing countries in South, South East and Middle East Asian regions. Most of these countries emerge as influential markets for lightning protection systems due to both industrial development and prevalence of lightning. Hence the observations and results of this study are highly beneficial for the business community that markets lightning protection technology, commercial sector that seeks lightning protection and the engineering consultants that look forward to render their services in developing countries. As it is figured out, the major drawbacks in designing or purchasing good lightning protection systems are; the lack of flow of

1089-11

scientific information to the local engineer-level, the technical lapses in analyzing transient conditions, the low quality of electrical networking/wiring practices, the majority of decision-makers being non-engineers, the ignorance of engineers/consultants in conducting proper risk assessment, the lack of up-to-date codes and guidelines at national level, the flooding of the market with fake products and the unethical perks offered by the vendors to the consultants and decision makers. These shortfalls lead to dangerous grounding practices, inappropriate selection of lightning protection devices, excessively high cost of protection, and unacceptable level of system failure and low level of reliability. The ignorance, lack of awareness and negative attitudes in the part of the customer and the hunt for more profits (overlooking scientific reality), lack of knowledge, ignorance of standard practises and bad engineering in the vendors part has raised the failure of the installed LP systems in the region of the investigation to a considerably high level. Such failure affects the faith of the customer on LP systems and technologies as a whole (not only on singled out brands or companies in most cases). Unless the LP manufacturing and marketing community launch a joint program to eradicate such psychological negativity among the customers the market will dwindle in this region in the future, irrespective of the growing development and industrialization. Acknowledgement: The authors would like to acknowledge the Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia for placing excellent research facilities to complete the work and all the companies and individuals who contributed to this study in various ways. References [1] Murty, O P., Kian, Chong Kah, Ari Husin, Mohammed Husrul, Nanta Kumar, Ranjeev Kumar Mohammed Yusuf, Wan Yuhana, Fatal Lightning Strikes in Malaysia: A Review of 27 Fatalities, The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Volume 30 - Issue 3 - pp 246-251September 2009 [2] Chao T. C., J. E. Pakiam, J. Chia, A study of lightning deaths in Singapore, Singapore medical journal, Vol 22, No 3 June 1981

[3] C. Liew, Lightning problems encountered in low

voltage residential systems and their frequency of occurrence in Singapore, Proc. 4th Conf. Electric Power Supply Industry (CEPSI'82) Bangkok, Thailand, Paper No. 422 pp. 137, 1982

[4] Hidayat, S., Characteristic of Lightning in Indonesia observed by Lightning Location System, PhD Thesis, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 1996.
[5] Hamid E Y, Kawasaki Z, Mardiana R, Matsuura K., TRMM/LIS Observations of Lightning Activity over Indonesia and Comparison with Ground-based Measurement around Java Island. J Atmos Electr., Vol.19; No.2, Page.153-164, 1999 [6] Manohar G K and Kesarkar A P, Climatology of thunderstorm activity over the Indian region: a study of east-west contrast; Mausam 54 819828, 2003 [7] Manohar G K and Kesarkar A P Climatology of thunderstorm activity over the Indian region: II. Spatial distribution; Mausam 55 3140, 2004 [8] Manohar G K and Kesarkar A P, Climatology of Thunderstorm activity over the Indian region: III. Latitudinal and seasonal variation; Mausam 56 581592, 2005 [9] Nath Asha, Manohar G. K., Dani K. K., Devara P. C. S., A study of lightning activity over land and oceanic regions of India, Journal of earth system science vol. 118, no5, pp. 467-481, 2009, [11] C. Gomes, M. Ahmed, K.R. Abeysinghe and Firoza Hussain, Lightning accidents and awareness in South Asia: Experience in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP), Kanasawa, Japan, September, 2006 [10] Hazrat Mir, Ata Hussain, Zaheer Ahmed Babar, Analysis of thunderstorms activity over Pakistan during (1961-2000), Pakistan Journal of Meteorology Vol. 3: Issue 5, Pp 13- 34, June 2006 [12] Shwehdi, M H, Thunderstorm distribution and frequency in Saudi Arabia, J. Geophysical Eng. 2, 252 267, 2005

1089-12

[14] IEC 62305-2: Protection against lightning - Part 2: Risk Management, 2006 [13] BS 6651: Code of practice for protection of structures against lightning, 1999 [15] IEC 62305-3: Protection against lightning - Part 3: Physical damage to structures and life hazard, 2006 [16] NFC-17-102, French Standards on Lightning Protection, 1995 [17] Chandima Gomes and Arturo Galvan Diego, Lightning protection of communication sites: Revisited, Proceedings of the ICLP, Cagliari, 1240: 1-12, September, 2010 [18] IEC 62305-4: Protection against lightning - Part 4: Electrical and electronic systems within structures, 2006 [19] Chandima Gomes, A tutorial on the selection and installation of surge protection devices in a TT wiring system, Proceedings of the ICLP, Cagliari, 1084: 1-14, September, 2010 [20] Chandima Gomes, Chamath Lalitha and Chamalee Priyadarshanee, Improvement of earthing systems with backfill materials, Proceedings of the ICLP, Cagliari, pp 1086: 1-9, September, 2010

1089-13