Lightning Protection Blog

Week 86 | May 22, 2014

One of the highlights of the lightning protection business is that we get to work with people and companies all over the world. Our business partners Hitachi are one of these apexes. Hitachi Industries, a leading provider of industrial systems planning, design, construction and maintenance services holds a minority stake in Lightning Eliminators following an agreement signed in 2006. Hitachi’s Lightning Protection arm is Hitachi Critical Facilities Protection PTE Ltd. (H-CFP) formerly LEC Asia. Working together the two companies continue to invest in research and development projects, testing and knowledge share initiatives. It is thrilling to be working with a company of this caliber and a pleasure to be able to share their endeavors with you.

I am thrilled to have my guest blogger this week, H-CFP’s Paul Ng. Paul is integral to the advancements H-CFP makes in industry safety, relevant to lightning protection and is working on some very exciting projects throughout Asia and across the globe.

Enjoy!

As always,
The LightningDiva@Large

Protecting Critical Facilities with continuous research
By Paul Ng, Hitachi Critical Facilities Protection PTE Ltd.

Industries such as the Oil & Gas, Chemical, Defense and Telecommunication have critical needs for lightning protection because their businesses’ success and continuity are highly dependent on uninterrupted operations. Hitachi Critical Facilities Protection (CFP) provides integrated lightning protection solutions to meet the urgent need of these industries with critical facilities that have zero tolerance against lightning strikes and its devastating effects.

At Hitachi CFP, Research & Development (R&D) plays an active role to discover and continuously construct new knowledge about scientific and technological topics related to lightning protection. Their R&D team comprises of scientists, engineers and subject matter experts who work together to uncover and enhance lightning protection of vital industries in the region.

From 2013, Hitachi CFP added another team of researchers to their R&D team. As part of their Corporate Social Responsibility programme and the Science Mentorship Programme (SMP) under the Ministry of Education (Singapore), Hitachi CFP collaborated with Commonwealth Secondary School to study various subject matters specifically related to Lightning Protection. The collaboration provides students with opportunities to conduct research under the guidance of Hitachi CFP’s expert-mentors and the research projects will be submitted for participation in the Youth Science Conference (YSC) ¹.

The first Research Project entitled “Study of the Effect of Different Air Terminals on Lightning Protection” has won them a Silver Award in the 19^th Youth Conference 2013.

The purpose of the Research Project was to test the effectiveness of the Singapore Standard 2010 for building protection against lightning. The Singapore Standard 2010 specifies that lightning protection for buildings require a mesh of metal skirting to be built around the building’s rooftop.

The team studied four different air terminals:

(A)  The Franklin Air Terminal
(B)  C.B. Moore’s Blunt Air Terminal
(C)  A flat-round plate air terminal to represent the mesh method and
(D)  A charge transfer system (CTS) air terminal (DAS)

For year 2014, Hitachi CFP will be collaborating with Commonwealth Secondary School again on a Research Project “Grounding Resistance Study: Comparing the Impact of Granular Size of Chemicals in Copper Rods Based on Different Types of Soil Conditions”

Hitachi CFP is positive that this approach of engaging the community is set to continue. Participation in such research projects with student allow them to further understand lightning concepts and gain in-depth interest. Social Innovation in Hitachi is all about contributing to the betterment of society in a meaningful and positive manner. The fact that the first project has won them an award further demonstrates Hitachi CFP’s value to both businesses and the community.

¹ :The Youth Science Conference (YSC) is jointly organized by Defense Science and Technology Agency; DSO National Laboratories; National Institute of Education; National University of Singapore; Nanyang Technological University; Institute for Infocomm Research; Nanyang Polytechnic; Ngee Ann Polytechnic; Republic Polytechnic; Singapore Polytechnic; Singapore University of Technology and Design; and the Science Centre Singapore.

Hitachi Critical Facilities Protection PTE Ltd. (H-CFP) is headquartered in Singapore and represents Lightning Eliminators in Asia; including Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. If your project resides in any of these countries or you have any questions for Paul regarding H-CFP’s ongoing research and development email us at Info@lecglobal.com and put “Question for Paul” in the subject line.

As always if you have any questions or need additional information please feel free to contact me at LightningDiva@lecglobal.com

Be careful out there! Visit www.lightningprotection.com for all your lightning protection needs. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for more information and updates as well as some great photos.