Houses and high-rise buildings still using flawed lightning
protection systems
Tuesday, 11 April 2017
DESPITE living in a country with thunderstorms aplenty and
high incidence of lightning strikes, public awareness of lightning protection
is surprisingly little and general preparedness is low.
Lightning strikes kill more than a hundred people and injure
many more every year.
Not only does it put lives and properties at risk, it can
also result in losses and additional operational costs for businesses that may
run into millions of ringgit.
In 2004, a lightning bolt shot down a chunk of concrete from
the top of a block of apartments in Desa Mentari, Petaling Jaya. Debris rained
down on a car parked below but residents managed to run for shelter.
Last July, water supply was cut off for half a million
people in Terengganu after lightning damaged a main switch at a water treatment
plant in Air Kepong.
In November, lightning was also suspected to have caused a
double circuit at the 275kV Kemena-Selangau line to trip, bringing about two
power outages within nine hours in Sarawak.
The most recent case saw motorists from Damansara heading
towards Klang and Subang Jaya stuck in a frustrating 45-minute crawl after
lightning crashed SmartTag readers at the Damansara Toll Plaza, forcing PLUS
Highway staff to manually scan cards with hand-held devices.
Another concern is the widespread use of early streamer
emission (ESE) rods, which are seen on many rooftops despite being declared a
public safety risk in 2005 by the International Conference on Lightning
Protection.
This has prompted the Energy Commission (EC) to conduct
studies in Sabah and peninsular Malaysia to determine how many buildings are
not following the MS IEC 62305 standards for lightning protection.
EC electrical safety regulation director Mohd Elmi Anas said
the exercise was initiated after technical experts expressed alarm that 90% of
buildings, including those belonging to government agencies, had not conformed
to specifications.
This was in spite of the fact that a circular on lightning
protection standards was issued in 2011 – the same year that three wards at
Hospital Putrajaya caught fire after a lightning strike.
“Eighty per cent of buildings in the Klang Valley have
physical scars caused by lightning strikes,” said lightning research and
development consultant Hartono Zainal Abidin, who has 35 years of experience in
the field.
Studies showed that buildings with these rods had been
struck and damaged by lightning bolts, proving their ineffectiveness.
Another obvious flaw seen on most houses and high-rise
buildings is the sight of a single lightning rod protruding from the highest
point.
This was generally believed to be able to offer umbrella
protection for the entire structure, which Hartono said was not true.
The “Guide On Lightning Protection System For Buildings”
published by the EC states that the correct method is to have lightning rods
placed at corners and outer ridges of a rooftop.
Positioning of the rods also depends on building size,
structure and the presence of rooftop equipment such as staircases, antennas
and ventilation units.
The guideline lists four other major components to be looked
into. This includes network conductors to carry the lightning current safely
towards ground.
As a general rule, each down conductor must end in an
earthing electrode which can consist of conductors (at least three) in a crow’s
foot layout buried at least 0.5m deep.
It also asks for surge protection devices to be placed at
main and distribution switchboards.
The EC study, expected to be completed by the end of this
year, is viewed as an important step towards enhancing safety measures as
lightning strikes have been known to cause property damage running up to
millions, not to mention production downtime and expensive repairs.
“Voltage surge from a lightning strike can cause short
circuits resulting in premature failure or total loss in equipment linked to
plumbing, air conditioners, heaters, ventilation and wiring,” said Tenaga
Nasional Bhd (TNB) research power quality and energy efficiency specialist
Mohamed Fuad Faisal.
Even if power surges caused by lightning are not severe
enough to crash an electronic device immediately, rapid overheating followed by
gradual cooling in the wiring or circuit can result in a condition known as
“electronic rust.”
Known as the “silent killer” of electronic devices, it can
cause enough damage to bring down entire sections of a power grid over time.
Between 2014 and 2016, TNB received 21 complaints of
electronic rust caused by voltage surges.
Mohd Elmi advises owners of buildings completed before 2007
to redo their lightning protection system (LPS) assessment.
Though EC has not carried out any enforcement, under Section
50e of the Electricity Supply Act 2015, building owners found guilty of not
following Malaysian standards are liable to a maximum fine of RM200,000 or two
years’ jail.
Malaysian Electrical and Electronics Association council
member Lim Kim Ten said the EC study would have far-reaching consequences for
building owners as they would have to bear the costs of changing their LPS if
found to be non-compliant with the MSC IEC standard.
“The concept is like buying insurance. You may not use it
but you must buy it.
“Ideally, building owners should be given a grace period or
have a limitation be put on the law applying to structures built after a
certain year,” he said.
But Lim stressed that in view of the frequency of lightning
occurrences in Malaysia, there must be more awareness among building owners.
“In countries such as Japan, South Korea and China, an LPS
system adds more value to a building,” he said.
Building owners are advised to deal only with LPS vendors
that are certified by the EC.
For checking purposes, they can call up the regional offices
that will have a list of approved companies in their registry.
http://www.thestar.com.my/metro/community/2017/04/11/taking-bolts-too-lightly-houses-and-highrise-buildings-still-using-flawed-lightning-protection-syste/
