Pittsfield, Mass.-based Lightning Technologies Inc. (LTI) will present a professional training course on lightning protection for wind turbines, May 6-7. The course will provide design engineers, operators and maintenance personnel with the principles of lightning protection design for wind turbine structures and electronic systems. It will also be useful to those concerned with specifications, codes and standards pertaining to lightning, and to those planning or performing lightning protection development or verification testing for wind turbines.
J. Anderson Plumer, founder and chief engineer at LTI, will present the course. Plumer has spent most of his engineering career in the study of lightning hazards and the development of protection methods for aerospace.
The course will review characteristics of natural lightning, including its formation, electrical and physical characteristics, and the ways in which it interacts with wind turbines. This is followed with a review of the effects of lightning on wind turbine structures and systems. Attendees will study principles and specific methods for lightning protection design against direct and indirect effects for wind turbine blades and nacelles, and electrical and electronic components. The roles of current conduction, bonding and grounding will also be discussed.
Students will witness demonstrations in LTI's high-voltage laboratory, including tests to determine lightning strike attachment locations and high-current tests of typical conductors and fittings.
A professional degree is desirable, but not required. The student should have a working knowledge of wind turbine structures and systems. Admission is by prior registration only. As the number of students is limited, notification by telephone of intent to register is recommended.
