It is very common that during or after lightning strike or thunderstorm, control and instrumentation system devices experience problems, such as false alarms and trips or even total damage to certain parts. This article will briefly discuss the symptoms and possible causes harm of DCS and PLC disturbances during lightning strikes. —Omazaki Consultant is a consultant who provides troubleshooting services for your faulty control and instrumentation systems, such as malfunction, error, broken, damage or failure distributed control systems (DCS), programmable control systems (PLCs) or automatic control system caused by indirect lightning strike or improper grounding or earthing installations. If you experience sensitive electronic equipment such harm automation devices and DCS damage or failure due to lightning, contact us by email at cs@omazaki.co.id or by filling out the contact form the form in contact.
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Symptoms Harm of DCS Problems Caused by Lightning
Disruptions or problems typically only occur when lightning strikes the building or related instrumentation. Symptoms of DCS problems due to or caused by lightning include:
- False alarm
- False trip
- Damaged card or analog input module
- Sensor burnt out
- Damaged other sensitive electronic equipment
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Possible Causes of Faulty DCS
There are many possible causes of problems or damage to faulty DCS devices related to lightning strikes, including:
- Errors in the external lightning protection system
- Inappropriate selection of external LPS design between isolated system type or non-isolated
- Direct strike to the structure or building
- Nearby strike which produce large electromagnetic pulse (EMP)
- Bad in lightning current dissipation (bad grounding design or installation)
- Bad inspection and maintenance
- and other
- Errors in the internal lightning protection system
- Surge protection devices (SPDs)
- Protective or electrical earthing (PE)
- Instrumentation earthing (IE)
- Incorrect separation distance
- Inappropriate separation distance of down conductor to surrounding mental
- Incorrect separation distance between lightning ground electrodes
- Errors in bonding installation
- Bonding is above ground
- Errors in instrumentation device installation
- Incorrect shield wire wiring resulting in a closed loop
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Contact Omazaki Consultant if you need consulting services for faulty harm of DCS or PLC problem or other sensitive electronic instrumentation and automation devices failure troubleshooting caused by lightning strike and/or bad grounding or earthing installation practices in your industrial electricity or power plant system.
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