Electrical Protection
Raycap is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electrical protection devices. Its electrical protection systems are designed to provide the finest protection available for industrial equipment and sites. Electrical protection comes in numerous forms to divert the damage from specific electrical events, and the combination of these mechanisms into systems is the best way to provide complete protection from electrical surges.
The discussion of electrical protection for industrial sites must begin with identifying the types of electrical surges that most commonly happen, and the methodology with which they can be protected. Damage that occurs as a result of electrical surge is either equipment malfunction or total loss, and is typically a result of damage to the fragile circuitry inside microprocessors generally used to control industrial equipment. In addition, loss of data can occur with the damage. Electrical damage occurs as a result of surges in power, or “transients” in which the normal levels of electrical flow through power lines to equipment is disrupted by a sudden spike in voltage. This spike causes irreversible damage, and is either avoided or diverted through the use of electrical protection equipment.
Ongoing degradation of equipment lifespan also happens when equipment is turned off or on, causing transients to occur. This routine occurrence causes a spike in the voltage flow to the equipment each time a change of state happens, and even though the spike is minor when compared to a larger electrical surge event, gradual and ongoing damage to the equipment eventually results in equipment failure. Redundant systems for data loss prevention are put in place in order to prevent data loss through this failure, and voltage regulators are installed previous to sensitive equipment in order to keep overvoltage from coming in contact with the equipment itself. The purpose of Surge Protective Devices known as “SPD” is to break a circuit if voltage to a device goes over a specific level. At this point the electricity is diverted away from the equipment.
In the case of lightning strikes to industrial sites, several forms of electrical protection are used to combat the different types of strikes and resulting damage. A direct strike to equipment would most likely result in complete destruction, so lightning suppressors are put in place in front of the areas where equipment is housed in order to attract and divert the strike to ground, away from directly hitting the equipment. Strikes that happen either to power lines which are connected to equipment or to an adjacent structure will allow electricity to enter power lines attached to it. This surge propagation is mitigated by a combination of protection devices installed between the lines and the equipment. These devices are generally installed just previous to the equipment itself so as to allow for a lessening of surge over distance (if the strike is far away) as much as possible, as well as providing more ample time for identification of the surge and diversion.
Used in conjunction with lighting rods and other lighting surge arrestors, Raycap’s industrial electrical protection systems provide the best line of defense against power surge damage at industrial sites. Unprotected equipment faces the constant threat of a devastating lightning surge incident happening at any time, and even though such events are rare, the losses that can be sustained are large.
