LIGHTNING TAKES TOLL ON GOVERNMENT FACILITY
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Lightning is powerful, terrifyingly beautiful, and a serious threat to technology everywhere. A Midwest, multi-department, government facility experienced the crippling aspects of lightning this summer as the result of electrical and grounding problems. Adding to the damage that the lightning caused to their facility was also numerous computer and electronic system failures that they had been experiencing for several years. The government agency had purchased and installed surge protection and UPS systems but was still suffering from thousands of dollars of lightning damage. Computer Power & Consulting Corporation received a call of help from the frustrated purchasing agent. Victor Ramos, a Computer Power & Consulting Corporation technical consultant, performed a on-site power survey in August of 1998. Victor itemized the survey into three major areas: the main electrical room survey, a lightning protection system survey, and a power quality survey. Starting the survey in the main electrical room, Victor inspected the five sub-panels, the main electrical service, and the old main service CT cabinet to insure that they were properly grounded and wired. During the main electrical room inspection, Victor diagnosed nineteen grounding issues and code violations. Among the problems diagnosed were several deficiencies with the main electrical service and the 800 amp sub-panel labeled "Panel DP." Continuing with the lightning protection system survey, Victor diagnosed eight problems. The main problem was that most of the lightning protection rods were not bonded correctly and there was an insufficient number of lightning and ground rods. For the power quality monitoring, Victor monitored two locations, the sub-panel DP and the main electrical service panel for three hours each. A Reliable Power Meters (RPM) power monitor/recorder was used for the monitoring process. Victor analyzed the results and concluded that the power quality of both panels was satisfactory, yet he recommended that additional power factor corrections be added to the mechanical loads for energy efficiency. Closer inspection of the monitoring results revealed the presence of "stray neutral current" caused by neutral current flowing through the ground system. This is a very common problem that can cause damage both to the computer and interconnected systems. Victor concluded the survey with a report sent to the government agency cataloging the problems and listing solutions. By correcting the deficiencies and enhancing the ground systems, the facility will be able to support the technology and keep it running when lightning streaks across the sky. BACK CASE STUDIES |
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