Saint Elme Lightening conductors

Additional Details

The operating principle of the Saint – Elme® lightning conductor is to create free charges (ionized particles and electrons) in the air surrounding the lightning conductor and to create, within a cloud – ground electric field, a channel of high relative conductivity constituting a preferential path for lightning.Free charges are created by the corona effect by applying on the Saint – Elme® lightning conductor’s ionized point(s) the voltage supplied by cells of piezo – electric ceramics (lead zirco – titanate); their feature is to produce a very high voltage by simply modifying the applied pressure.
The Saint – Elme® lightning conductor is therefore equipped with a mechanical device that transforms the stress resulting from the wind action on the lightning conductor into a pressure stress on the piezo – electric cells. The voltage therefore produced is applied, through the high voltage cable that runs inside the lightning conductor’s support pole, on the ionized point(s) to create, by corona effect, free charges. Then, these charges are expulsed, by the Venturi system, from the lightning conductor’s head, profiled on purpose.The Saint-Elme®lightning conductor is designed for the protection of a site (building, manufacture, monument, open areas…) against the direct impact of lightning on important radii of protection.