Combat The Risk Of Fire With Fuel Tank Lightning Protection System

1. Combat The Risk Of Fire With Fuel Tank Lightning Protection System

2. As global warming progresses, the threat of lightning is expected to increase in areas that become warmer and drier. One lightning strike can cost an Oil and Gas manufacturing company anywhere from $500,000 or more depending on the size and type of facility. While the cost of a lightning strike can be prohibitive, Fuel Tank Lightning protection costs a mere fraction of that. It doesn’t matter what part of the world you are in or how often lightning events happen in your area, it only takes one strike to destroy precious product. In a lightning strike that terminates on or near a floating roof tank (FRT), for example, the current will flow in all directions and will vary in proportion to the lowest path of impedance. One unexpected arc across the roof-shell interface could ignite the fumes that are almost always present and as a consequence put that tank and an entire facility in immediate danger. https://www.lightningprotection.com/

3. To combat the risk of rim fires, the industry has been using metal strips called “shunts” that electrically bond the shell and roof of the tank. Unfortunately, the bond that these shunts establish is unreliable and creates a greater risk of sustained arcs due to: 1. Rust, waxy deposits and paint can line the inner wall of the shell, thus increasing resistance. The floating roof can drift slightly off-center and disconnect some of the shunts from the shell. API Testing proved that shunts will arc under all conditions, even if the tank wall and shunts are new and clean. 2. 3. For Fuel tank lightning protection, tank owners can choose between conventional conductors and retractable conductors wound on spring-tensioned reels. Because an FRT is most at-risk when the roof is high, it is desirable to have the bypass conductors be as short as possible to provide the lowest possible impedance. Retractable bypass conductors will always be as short as possible when the FRT roof is high. https://www.lightningprotection.com/

4. The Retractable Grounding Assembly (RGA) patented by Lightning Eliminators & Consultant Inc. It’s a retractable bypass conductor made specifically for FRT’s. Installation of bypass conductors is inexpensive and can be done on in-service tanks. Installing RGA’s on FRT’s will eliminate the arcing at the shunts and other roof-shell interfaces caused by the slow components of the lightning stroke. Therefore, installing RGA’s will substantially reduce or eliminate the risk of lightning related tank fires on FRTs. https://www.lightningprotection.com/

5. Contact us… Address: 6687 Arapahoe Rd. Boulder, CO 80303, USA Phone: 303-447-2828 Email: info@lecglobal.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lightningeliminators/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lightningprotec https://www.lightningprotection.com/