Experimental investigation and modeling of surge currents in lightning protection system

The paper presents results of the lightning protection system (LPS) tests for a small residential structure with the connected home appliances and electronics conducted in 2013 at the new test site in Poland using the mobile surge current generator. The primary objective was the same as in the previous studies, that is, to examine the current waveshapes in different parts of the circuit and the division of the injected surge current between the grounding system of the LPS and remote ground. The current waveshapes in the vertical ground electrodes differed from the injected current waveshapes and from the current waveshapes in other parts of the test system. Computer simulation using ATP-EMTP carried out in order to verify the measurements. Vertical and horizontal ground electrodes are modeled for specified parameter resulting from the geometrical configuration of the system and the measured soil conductivity. Computed results show a good agreement with the experimental data. A significant influence of frequency dependent components of the system impedances on current waveshapes has been noticed.