Introducing the Alexit® BladeRep® Advanced Lightning Protection topcoat, ALP20, designed with Arctura’s innovative ArcGuide® technology.
ALP20 reduces blade damage and costly downtime
Validation Results
Validation Testing
The ArcGuide® coating was developed over a three-year period in coordination with a leading lightning test facility in Pittsfield, MA. In two parallel field tests, the coating was installed on a total of eight wind turbines at two wind farms under the management of two large owner/operators in the interior of the U.S. in 2022. The turbines are being monitored for lightning strikes and the coating is periodically inspected for surface erosion. As of June, 2024, none of the turbines have been struck by lightning and drone inspections have shown no surface erosion.
Funding for the development and validation of the ArcGuide® coating was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy and by the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation.
High Voltage Leader Attachment Tests
The images below show a scrap GE 1.5sle blade undergoing leader attachment testing with and without ALP20 applied to the tip in the vicinity of the outer receptor.
<—- This image shows the leader attachments with a baseline coating (that is, without ALP20). Of the six leader attachment experiments, four safely attached at the receptor while two punctured the skin of the blade.
The next image shows the leader attachment tests with ALP20 applied around the receptor.
These results, along with many similar tests performed in accordance with the IEC 61400-24 industry standard documentation, demonstrate the ability of ALP20 to “guide” the lightning to the tip receptor. Download our full whitepaper to see a compilation of these results and to understand how these results were used to project a 73% reduction in real-world damage caused by lightning.
High Current Arc Entry Tests
This image shows a high-current arc entry test conducted in accordance with the IEC 61400-24 standard. In this test, a thin wire carries 200 kA of current across the surface of the coating—representing the maximum current of a “full threat” lightning stroke. Early prototypes that sustained damage during testing were discarded. The final version of the ALP20 product withstood multiple high-current exposures with no visible damage, demonstrating its durability and long-term protective performance over the life of the blade.
The ArcGuide® Kit
Each ArcGuide® kit consists of about 1 kg of coating, sufficient for coating the recommended surface area near the tip of one blade. Each kit comes with detailed installation instructions customized for each blade model.
Download the White Paper for more details about the development and validation of the underlying technology.
Now available as the Mankiewicz Alexit® BladeRep® Topcoat ALP 20 with ArcGuide®.
Learn more about how to order it here.
Schedule a briefing for more information on how to protect your wind turbines from the threat of lightning!