Experimental demonstration of the effectiveness of an early streamer emission air terminal versus a franklin rod

This paper is devoted to a detailed presentation of all aspects involved in a novel experimental technique to prove the effectiveness of an early streamer emission air terminal (ESEAT) versus a traditional Franklin rod in a laboratory. Firstly, a theoretical basis for the equivalent-circuit analysis of an ESEAT model is presented. It is shown that the dynamic electric field intensity on the active ESE rod is higher (theoretically even twice as high) than the static field intensity of the conventional Franklin lightning rod. Then, an experimental test using a method and associated with an electrostatic simulation demonstrates the effectiveness of an ESEAT (Pix3-60 from Piorteh Company) versus a conventional Franklin rod in the SIAME laboratory of the University of Pau in France. This method consists in locating both the ESE terminal and the Franklin rod together in the same configuration in accordance with the French Standard NFC 17-102 (09/2011). During the tests, all discharges were recorded on the ESEAT manufactured by Piorteh Company when its rod was active. This experimental test could be used on any kind of lightning protection device.