Every year, Canada sees an average of 10 to 25 days of electrical thunderstorms. These storms can cause millions of dollars in damages to your business property, production machinery, and industrial equipment.
This is because during a thunderstorm, thousands of lightning strikes hit the ground, creating a significant electrical power surge known as an overvoltage. Here are the three different types of overvoltages and some of the damages that they can cause.
Different types of overvoltages
Direct lightning strikes
When lightning strikes a building, it travels through its electrical wiring creating an overvoltage that can damage your equipment.
Low voltage lines are also subject to lightning strikes. They conduct high electrical currents to buildings, resulting in significant overvoltages of up to 20 times the normal voltage.
Indirect impacts of lightning strikes
When lightning strikes the ground surrounding a building, harmful electromagnetic fields are created. This is known as a transient overvoltage and can cause severe damage to equipment, especially very sensitive electronics, telecommunication wires, and building structures.
There are three types of transient damage:
Induction
Overvoltage generated by the electromagnetic field radiated by lightning strikes.
Conduction
Overvoltage travelling along a low voltage line or conductor, which has been in contact with lightning strikes, even those occurring a significant distance from the building.
Rising up from the ground
An overvoltage rising which tries to find a more favourable route to ground from the location of a lightning strike.
Operating and switching activities
Equipment and production machinery can also generate electrical variances by being switched on or off and other normal operating actions. This overvoltage type may go up to 5 times the normal voltage.
Loss of phase or phase imbalance
The vast majority of industrial equipment such as compressors, electrical motors, pumps, or ventilation systems are powered by three-phase electrical voltage. Minor electrical incidents, such as burnt fuses, may affect the electricity’s flow, causing an abrupt loss of voltage or an imbalance on a single phase. As a result, the equipment becomes severely damaged from overheating, since only two of three motor coils are properly powered. Loss phase incidents are one of the main causes of electrical motors prematurely aging.
Phase Reversal
Phase reversal describes what can occur when two of the three phases are inadvertently reversed by a technician or operator, resulting in the motor(s) unexpectedly turning the wrong way and causing severe damage to the equipment.
Here are some of our recommended loss prevention practices for phase reversal:
Lightning protection
Install a lightning conductor which works with the building’s electrical system, structure and plumbing to dissipate the electrical charge into the ground. Install lightning arrestors on the electrical panels of important equipment and machines. They provide excellent protection for compressors, motors, computers, electronic boards and other industrial equipment.
Transient voltage protection
Install transient voltage surge suppressors on sensitive equipment such as electronic cards for computers, production machinery, or HVAC systems.
Electrical phase protection
Protect equipment with ULC listed phase detectors to prevent electrical phase loss, imbalance, and reversal incidents. A qualified electrical contractor should conduct regular maintenance annually and thermographic inspections every three to five years so that your equipment is in good operating condition.
You can also consult an electrical contractor, equipment manufacturer, or an electrical engineer for recommendations on the protection devices that suit your equipment.
Protect yourself and your property with business insurance
While taking preventative measures and being prepared are solid first steps, there are things that are beyond your control, such as a lightning strike causing an electrical surge. Want to make sure your property is protected against these risks? Learn more by visiting our business insurance page today!
