Methodology to select lightning protection measures based on Brazilian standards and technology

This Article presents a methodology to determine the necessity of lightning Protection System (LPS) and which protection measures are preferable depending on the priorities of the installation. The selection of the protection measure will be based on: 1) Economic viability: comparison between the costs associated with each protection measure and their contribution for risk reduction. 2) Guarantee of service continuity: analysis of time between failures determines what measures should be taken, regardless of the costs associated. The methodology is based on the second part of the Brazilian Standard NBR 5419, which describes the risk management of an electromagnetic surge arising from lightning causing personal injury, damages to the building or equipment failure. It explains what risk components are more important depending on the priority of the installation under analysis and what risk components could be changed (and how they could be changed, giving practical solutions to the problem) to lower the risk to below the recommended level.