Electrical storms are especially dangerous for those installations that depend on electrical systems for their correct operation. This is the case of the AENA air traffic transmitter-receiver installation in Girona, which has been protected with a Nimbus lightning rod.
The function of these facilities is the reception and transmission of airspace information. These data are transmitted to ENAIRE, AENA’s Air Navigation Data Network, which provides air traffic services in Spanish airspace, for an efficient and safe airspace management.
This type of installations are composed of tall structures exposed to the elements in isolated terrain. Their location and characteristics make them highly susceptible to direct lightning strikes, and in some cases there are more than 6 lightning strikes per year. Therefore, the need for continuity of service as well as the criticality value of the information they transmit, together with the characteristics of this type of installations, require extreme safety in terms of lightning protection.
As a reference, the Girona installation consists of 3 receiving towers of more than 18m in height. The installation made by Torrente Tecno Industrial is effectively protected with a Cirprotec Nimbus® 30 lightning arrester, which stands out for its maximum performance and robustness (PDC technology with electronic advance priming device that provides a protection radius of more than 75 m, testing capacity to withstand discharges of 200kA, INOX AISI 316 steel, …).
Proof of this efficiency are the more than 20 lightning strikes on the installation itself, 5 to 6 strikes per year, without having caused any consequence on the tower’s continuity of service and remaining in perfect condition to continue protecting.
