Minerals are a natural occurrence in various geographical regions of the earth. They are there for everyone to invest in and explore. Since they are often buried deeply in the soil or seabed, minerals require high capital investments from any person that's looking to generate profits out of them. A significant part of that investment goes into setting up power substations to provide electricity for running the mining machines. These substations generate lots of electrical voltage and charge, which can lead to catastrophes when all that power encounters lightning. Here is a discussion shedding more light on lightning safety and mining substations:

What Are the Effects of Lightning?

Lightning has three notable characteristics. These are a high current capacity, high voltage measuring hundreds of millions of volts and high temperatures that are capable of starting up an electrical fire. When lightning strikes, all these things combine to form an acoustic wave referred to as thunder. Thunder is responsible for mechanical damage to plants, machinery and equipment installed and lying around in the mining site.

Besides a strong magnetic field, thermal sparking also occurs when lightning hits the ground. The sparks result from molten material shoved off from hot spots. In most cases, the exploding high current can fracture large objects like concrete structures.

What Design Elements Make Up a Lightning Safety Mechanism

Even though lightning has devastating consequences when it strikes, these effects can be averted or mitigated using a detailed safety system. Here are some of the design elements of the system:

Air Terminals – air terminals also referred to as lightning arresters have been a safety alternative for many years. Technicians install them on buildings to act as sacrificial points that attract the lightning first, with the aim of directing all that electric current safely into the soil. The simple yet effective technique diverts the attention of the electric flash from other expensive and important structures around, keeping them safe.

Bonding – when lightning strikes something on earth, the devastating damage occurs because of the differences in electric potential. The purpose of bonding is to ensure that there is equal electrical potential between the lightning flash and the item that it can potentially damage. Improper bonding means that lightning safety mechanism won't work. Bonding elements in the safety measures should be inspected frequently and replaced when necessary. This is because they are prone to corrosion and wearing off. During regular electrical inspections at the mining plant, make sure that the bonding of the lightning safety system is checked and in good shape.

For more information on power equipment and maintenance, contact a local supplier.