Omniflex has developed an 8-channel surge-protected termination board that protects reference electrode inputs without compromising high-impedance circuits essential to accurate CP measurements. The solution addresses a longstanding vulnerability in CP system design in lightning-prone areas, where reference inputs have remained exposed to lightning strikes due to the lack of purpose-built protection for CP applications.
Reference electrode circuits in CP systems require extremely high impedance and minimal leakage current to prevent depletion of the reference electrode. Standard surge protection devices designed for industrial instrumentation cannot provide this, meaning, to date, the global CP market had no means to reliably deliver in high-lightning environments.
Third-party alternatives that might meet electrical requirements are prohibitively expensive, requiring one device per channel. They can also create cabinet space challenges in systems monitoring hundreds of reference points.
Omniflex's solution integrates ultra-low leakage surge protection directly onto modular termination boards that connect to the company's new PowerView LR16i 16-channel reference input module. The design doubles channel density compared to previous eight-channel versions while offering customers the flexibility to specify standard or surge-protected termination boards based on site requirements. The compact, modular architecture reduces both cost and cabinet footprint compared to external protection devices.
"We didn’t find any other solution that specifically addresses cathodic protection requirements for surge protection on reference inputs despite it being a shared challenge across the industry," said Stuart McIntosh, business development manager at Omniflex. "The key challenge was maintaining the very high circuit impedance while keeping leakage currents at absolute minimum levels.
“The careful placement of components on the board ensures voltage spikes are directed to earth without compromising the protection we're trying to deliver," concluded McIntosh.
These new surge-protected termination boards are independently tested and certified to Class 4 of the IEC 61000-4-5 standard (the highest level of withstand in the standard of 4kV) and complement Omniflex's existing surge protection modules for transformer rectifier outputs and communication channels, providing comprehensive system-wide surge protection to the highest level. This solution is ideally suited to CP systems in high-lightning environments including steel-reinforced concrete structures, offshore platforms, pipelines, storage tanks and wind farms.
To learn more about how Omniflex’s CP expertise could help protect your structure,
www: www.omniflex.com
