New Wave Media

Meteorological product specialist Biral has created a solution that aims to improve the safety of offshore operations since introducing its BTD-300 Thunderstorm Detection equipment. The detector can be used across multiple industries and has proved to be a particularly effective device for offshore operations as confirmed by the results of a North Sea application, the developer said.

 

Biral supplied the BTD-300 to Cofely Fabricom – GDF Suez to install the system on a substation for the C-Power Thorntonbank wind farm 33 kilometers off the Belgian Coast. Due to the location of the windfarm, it is considered an extremely challenging and potentially dangerous place to live and work because of its exposure to prevailing weather conditions.

 

The installation of the BTD-300 on the C-Power substation was used to evaluate its ability to provide the wind farm operator accurate, real-time information about thunderstorm activity within a 56-kilometer radius, compared to its existing lightning warning service.

 

Since installing the equipment it has been possible to detect thunderstorms where there has been no visible lightning in the distance to warn the operators of an approaching storm, which could have led to serious consequences.  The software alerted them to a strong electric field at the site and within 15 minutes a strike was recorded more than 37 kilometers away, giving time for workers to implement the risk assessment protocol. Two minutes later, the BTD-300 detected a strike overhead. Their existing lighting warning service reported the same strike 10 minutes later than the BTD-300, which was after the event and too late to take any safety precautions. 

 

Denis Renson of Cofely Fabricom – GDF Suez commented, “This has clearly demonstrated why the Biral BTD-300 is such a useful tool for the offshore industries by giving an advanced warning of the possibility of a thunderstorm. This warning allowed our customer to make an informed risk assessment and to maintain the safe operation of the platform.” 

 

By installing the BTD-300 equipment and live on-site monitoring systems, workers on the Thorntonbank wind farm were able to receive accurate readings of a thunderstorm’s developments, including its distance and speed. This allowed them to immediately resume their activities once the storm had stopped and it was safe to do so, which significantly reduced operational downtime compared to traditional detection systems.

 

Thunderstorms play a key role in the disruption of the operations of offshore platforms, including the transportation of personnel using helicopters. The main reason for this is the danger of a lightning strike, but also the wind-shear and icing events which can take place inside a cumulonimbus cloud. In addition to lightning detection, the BTD-300 has the ability to detect the presence of electrically charged precipitation and strong electric fields, providing an early warning of potential nearby lightning activity and aiding the reporting of this significant cloud type. 

 

The equipment is also virtually immune to all forms of man-made radio-frequency interference which minimizes the likelihood of false alarms. This combined with the high sensitivity and ability to detect over twice as many flashes as conventional systems makes it ideal for reliable thunderstorm detection.