FURSE® EARTHING AND LIGHTNING PROTECTION
ABB's Furse earthing and lightning protection provides a complete Total Solution covering structural lightning protection, earthing, surge protection and technical design support.
PROTECTING PEOPLE, STRUCTURES AND SERVICES
Lightning is one of nature's most powerful and destructive phenomena. Lightning discharges have been measured from several thousand to over 200,000 amps, and even though of very short duration, can cause tremendous damage and destruction. Direct lightning strikes damage structures and create fire, explosion and electric shock hazards.Indirect lightning up to a kilometre away creates transient overvoltages that degrade electronic systems and disrupt essential services. The secondary effects of lightning, the short-duration high-voltage spikes called transient overvoltages, cause equally catastrophic if less visually obvious damage to electronic systems within structures.
National and international lightning protection standards now stress the need for a comprehensive solution encompassing both structural lightning and electronic systems protection. A structural lightning protection system alone cannot and will not protect electronic systems from lightning currents and transient overvoltages. Earthing standards demand critical safety of the electrical installation and personnel at site. This is why ABB advocates a Total Solution to earthing and lightning protection, an approach that delivers effective life safety together with long-lasting reliable protection for a structure and the electronic systems within.
The Furse Total Solution incorporates everything needed for complete earthing and lightning protection. Structural lightning protection captures and channels lightning strike current safely to earth through air termination systems, down conductors and conductor network components manufactured from high conductivity copper and aluminium alloys. Earthing systems provide the low-resistance path for that energy into the general mass of earth through earth rods, conductor systems, mechanical clamps, FurseWELD exothermic welding and equipotential bonding bars, with FurseCEM conductive earthing compound available to improve earth electrode resistance in difficult soil conditions. Electronic systems protection covers every incoming and outgoing metallic service line through fully coordinated Surge Protective Devices for mains power, data, signal, telecommunications and DC and photovoltaic systems. Technical design support provides customers with risk assessment, system design, soil resistivity surveys, earthing analysis and CPD accredited training through experienced engineers who actively participate in the development of national and international standards.
KEY FEATURES AND BENEFITS
<p>Furse products are manufactured from high quality materials within an ISO 9001 certified environment to ensure long-lasting performance, and are designed for the easiest possible installation. ABB offers comprehensive technical support services alongside the product range, from in-house lightning protection and earthing system design and StrikeRisk risk management software through to soil resistivity surveys, full earthing analysis and CIBSE CPD accredited training seminars.</p>
Safe
<p>Structural lightning protection components intercept, conduct and disperse direct lightning strike current safely to earth via air rods, down conductor networks and earth termination systems, preventing fire, explosion and electric shock hazards and eliminating step and touch voltages that could cause injury or loss of life at the protected site, with all components designed and positioned to comply with the rolling sphere method, protective angle method and mesh method as defined by IEC/BS EN 62305-3.</p>Reliable
<p>Furse products are manufactured from high quality materials within an ISO 9001 certified environment to ensure long-lasting performance, with air rods made from high conductivity hard drawn copper or aluminium, earth electrodes and clamps designed to withstand the thermal and electromechanical stresses of expected earth fault and leakage currents, and FurseWELD exothermic connections forming permanent molecular bonds tolerant to repeated fault current events throughout the service life of the installation.</p>Comprehensive range
<p>ABB offers a complete Total Solution covering every element of earthing and lightning protection within a single product family, from structural lightning protection air termination systems, down conductors, conductor fixings and bimetallic components, through to earth rods, conductor systems, mechanical clamps, FurseWELD exothermic welding and FurseCEM conductive earthing compound for earthing, and a full range of Surge Protective Devices for mains power, data, signal, telecommunications and DC and photovoltaic systems for electronic systems protection.</p>Uptime and availability
<p>The Furse range of Surge Protective Devices (SPDs) provides fully coordinated protection against transient overvoltages on all incoming and outgoing metallic service lines, preventing the progressive degradation and outright damage to electronic systems caused by indirect lightning up to one kilometre away and by switching transients on the power supply network, ensuring the continuous normal operation of critical electronic systems including mains power, data, signal, telecommunications and DC and photovoltaic systems.</p> <p> </p>Durable
<p>Furse earthing components are designed to withstand mechanical damage as well as the thermal and electromechanical stresses of expected earth fault and leakage currents, and are manufactured to exacting British, European and international standards to ensure robust long-lasting performance in even the harshest soil conditions, with FurseCEM conductive earthing compound providing a chemically inert non-corrosive permanent backfill solution that maintains constant earth electrode resistance without shrinkage, expansion or maintenance throughout the installation lifetime.</p>Technical support
<p>ABB's Furse technical design team provides specialist advice on all aspects of lightning protection, transient overvoltage and earthing systems including structural and electronic systems protection design, earthing design, soil resistivity surveys, full earthing analysis using state-of-the-art CDEGS software to determine step and touch voltages and earth potential rise, earth resistance measurement, supply of comprehensive drawings, and bespoke CIBSE CPD accredited training seminars, with StrikeRisk risk management software available to automate the complex risk assessment calculations required by IEC/BS EN 62305-2.</p>Easy installation
<p>Free-standing interception air rods are available from 0.5 m to 10 m in height and use concrete base blocks to secure them to roof surfaces without roof penetration, enabling rapid installation to protect rooftop equipment including air conditioning units and solar panels, while FurseWELD exothermic welding is a completely portable self-contained system requiring no external power or heat source that creates permanent molecular-bonded connections using the high temperature reaction of powdered copper oxide and aluminium within a reusable mould.</p>Compliant
<p>Certifications include IEC/BS EN 62305 protection against lightning, IEC 62561 series lightning protection system components, NFPA 780 standard for the installation of lightning protection systems, IEEE Std 80:2000 guide for safety in AC substation grounding, ENA TS 41-24 guidelines for the design installation testing and maintenance of main earthing systems in substations, BS EN 50522:2010 earthing of power installations exceeding 1 kVac, IEC 62561-7 for earth enhancing compounds (FurseCEM), ISO 9001 manufacturing quality management and UL 96 for selected conductor and air termination products.</p>INDUSTRIES WE SUPPORT
From residential construction to commercial and industrial projects, our products support professionals across diverse industries.
Buildings, Data centres, Oil and gas, Power generation, Wind power, Solar power, Railways, Water
CHALLENGES WE SOLVE
Our products are designed to help professionals solve installation, safety and performance challenges in demanding applications.
Safety and hazard, Uptime and availability, Cost reduction, Maintenance, Regulatory and standard compliance, Corrosive and marine conditions