by admin | Jun 4, 2014 | Lightning News |
Wind Turbine Damaged in Kansas by Lightning
by admin | Jan 17, 2014 | Lightning News |
Researchers in Spain are using high speed video to document high voltage streamers and leaders originating from wind turbine blades. The data indicates that high voltage streamers/leaders occur roughly every 3 seconds as the blades rotate and these events can last minutes or hours. The wind turbine blades do not need to be directly near an active storm as the streamers/leaders can appear while the storm is several kilometers away. This research provides terrific insight into the high voltage environment that wind turbines operate in. For more information regarding the research, click the link below: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013JD020225/abstract”...
by admin | May 25, 2013 | Lightning News |
A wind turbine blade outside Wichita, Kansas was recently punctured by lightning. The puncture hole does not appear to be significant on the outside of the blade but unseen structural damage could lie underneath. As seen in the photo below, the blade does not appear to have any lightning protection. In the heartland of the United States, lightning is very common. Lightning protection of the blade is a necessity. If you are installing or repairing wind turbines, consider using WXGuard segmented lightning diverters to protect your blade from lightning...
by admin | May 25, 2013 | Lightning News |
In Dexter, Minnesota lightning struck a 37 meter blade and caused it to split and fail. The operator is calling in a crane to remove and replace the blade, which is very expensive. The blade manufacturer should have used WXGuard segmented lightning diverters to prevent blade punctures. WXGuard lightning diverters are simple to use and install, and they provide excellent lightning...
by admin | Feb 27, 2013 | Lightning News |
This is another great video of lightning striking a wind turbine. With the advent of cameras in mobile phones, it’s likely we’ll see a lot more of this type of video in the future. Videos like the one below help scientists and engineers learn about the interactions of lightning on wind turbines. In this particular video you can clearly see a high voltage leader emanating from the blade before the big lightning currents travel through the blade....
by admin | Feb 17, 2013 | Lightning News |
During a recent storm, this video captured lightning striking the blade of a wind turbine. The strike is very bright and loud! One interesting note is the duration of the lightning strike. The turbine rotates about 30 degrees from start to finish. This rotation affects where lightning will attach to the blade. To protect your blades, try WXGuard Wind segmented lightning diverters. Contact Greg Shine at 1-800-543-5151 for more...
by admin | Jan 3, 2013 | Lightning News |
A new paper has been published by Energy magazine that discusses the effects of wind turbine blade speeds on the lightning protection system. From the testing conducted by the authors, it appears that lightning punctures near the tip increases as the tip speed increases. See an abstract of the paper at:...
by admin | Oct 31, 2012 | Lightning News |
An interesting article from the Journal of Geophysical Research identifies one possible scenario for upward lightning strikes that provides some insights for wind turbine strikes. Recent observations by lightning researcher Tom Warner and his staff have found that a majority of upward lightning strikes from tall objects (wind turbines, for example) are triggered by a preceding lightning flash. Read the research paper here:...
by admin | Oct 2, 2012 | Lightning News |
New research from Germany is using an old technique developed in Russia. Back in the 1940’s, Russian scientists found that the dielectric strength of materials often changes during lightning impulses. One of the materials that has a higher dielectric strength when exposed to lightning is water. With this bit of knowledge, the German engineers are using water and lightning to recycle old cement. The old cement is placed under water and is then exposed to lightning like electrical impulses. The lightning prefers to travel through the cement (away from the water). The lightning energy penetrates the cement and forces it apart from the inside, breaking the cement into its basic elements. The engineers on the project can process around 1 ton of material per hour but hope to raise the throughput to 20 tons per hour within a couple years. Read more about the interesting project here:...
by admin | Sep 17, 2012 | Lightning News |
This new video is from the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. At about the 20 second mark lightning strikes the water and narrowly misses a couple of boats and the dock. Lightning doesn’t always strike the highest or most conductive object. There are many photos of lightning strikes near wind turbine farms where the bolts completely miss the turbines and their blades. In most cases, lightning will strike the highest object. Turbines are very vulnerable during a long storm as there can be hundreds of lightning strikes in a small area. The odds of lightning striking a turbine are high. It only makes sense to protect your turbine blades with WXGuard segmented lightning diverters. WXGuard enhances a blade’s lightning receptors by directing the lightning to the receptors and away from the GFRP structure. WXGuard diverters can be easily installed during blade manufacture or in the field. Call Greg Shine at 1-800-543-5151 or contact Greg via e-mail at [email protected] for more information on WXGuard segmented lightning...
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