Kapow! Might Be Time To Think About A Lightning Mast System

When lightning flashes around your open air activity, you should worry. Unprotected facilities in open areas indeed are vulnerable. The new PLP-30 lightning mast by LBA Technology can be quickly deployed almost anywhere to protect your installation from these thunderbolts!

You’re not sure if your exposed structures need a mast? Consider these stats from the National Weather Service:

• At any given moment, there are 1,800 thunderstorms in progress somewhere on the earth—16 million storms each year.
• Each lightning bolt can reach over five miles, sizzle at 50,000 degrees, and zap its target with 100 million electrical volts.

Have a sudden hankering for a little more protection for your facilities? LBA’s 30 foot (9.1m) PLP-30 lightning mast may be just the solution. Fully NFPA and UL compliant, the PLP-30 mast is ruggedly fabricated of aluminum alloy, engineered to resist 100 mph (160 kph) winds.

The PLP-30PK is a complete flyaway kit, shippable by UPS or Federal Express. It includes a quick install base, and can be typically installed in under one hour by two workers with hand tools. This easy portability makes the mast ideal for camp protection or other situations where temporary assets are deployed. Emergency command posts, storage depots, field hospitals, mobile satellite dishes, and pumping stations, for example, would be well served by a PLP-30 mast or series of masts.

However, the versatile PLP-30 lightning protection masts also can be permanently installed to shield such as research facilities, solar installations, roof top appurtenances, or public utility structures. Permanent installation is by an available base mount, or user furnished hardware.

Unlike most other lightning protection masts, the LBA PLP-30 requires no guy wires. It is completely freestanding in either portable or fixed configurations. The high wind resistance of the PLP-30 is important, as some of the greatest lightning threats come with the strong winds in hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, and tornadic activity.

A PLP-30 mast casts a cone of protection capable, for instance, of shielding eight foot (2.4m) high containers within a 40 foot (12.2m) protective radius. Multiple masts can protect bigger areas. By example, five masts can protect a 25,000 square foot (2325 sq.m.)area. The masts divert and ground lightning streamers that otherwise might seek attachment to a protected object.  The UL-listed streamer-retarding air terminal at the top has been demonstrated to discourage strikes or to ground them if they occur. Consulting with LBA engineers can determine what mast configuration will work best for you.

The PLP-30 uses static dissipation technology to improve its protection efficiency. The static dissipater uses point discharge phenomena to protect objects within a given area. The system dissipates static ground charges to the atmosphere through a low resistance route. This prevents build-up of ground charges to a level which would trigger a lightning strike. The PLP dissipator is comprised of many very fine stainless wires arranged in a “brush” configuration. These fine wires are optimized for maximum discharge effect. However, they are very conductive and durable in order to absorb a lightning strike, in the rare event that it might occur. Since the ground charge is dependent upon the strength and speed of the thunderstorm, it is possible for the static discharge capacity to be exceeded. In that case, the static dissipator acts as a UL-listed air terminal to safely conduct the bolt to ground.

LBA is a specialist in applying streamer retarding air terminals and dissipater arrays for the protection of antennas, towers, and vertical structures, as well as application of copper grounding products. Details of the PLP-30 and other lightning protection products are at https://www.lbagroup.com/international/tower-lightning-protection.php. Contact Byron Johnson for further information or a quotation. He can be reached at Byron.johnson@lbagroup.com or 252-757-0279.