Reducing the damaging effects of lightning in an industrial co-generation plant

An industrial co-generation facility presents a case-study of lightning-induced voltage fluctuations, separation from the electric utility company, and power outages. Included in the discussion are transmission line design considerations, storm and lightning detection, and co-generation system protection basics. Several lightning engineering programs were studied in particular, the Windows(R)-based lightning protection design workstation (LPDW), developed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Also investigated was a computer-based tracking system designed to identify and locate electrical storms up to 483 km (300 miles) distant. The paper includes recommendations for the cogenerator to improve the reliability of the plant distribution system and provide better control of the generator(s).