Celebrating 10 years of BTD Technology
Biral are celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the innovative BTD Technology. On June 6th 2012, Biral’s prototype BTD-300 detected its first thunderstorm. Since 2012, Biral’s premises’ rooftop BTD-300 has detected ~140 thunderstorms within 20km of Portishead.
The BTD-300 is used in land-based applications and was designed to meet the needs of national and international airports. With a detection radius of 83km a single sensor will reliably provide warnings for any airport, wind farm or large industrial site. Its real-time output can be taken into any control or monitoring system and used to initiate alarms or warnings and to track the path of a storm cell. Its hard-wired connection means that it is reliable, even in when the worst storms arrive.
The BTD-350 was developed specifically for installation off-shore on marine platforms, oil and gas rigs, vessels and at off-shore wind turbine parks.
The BTD-350 features a strengthened vibration resistant design with extensive use of both stainless steel and marine grade paint technology to ensure a long life in the harsh marine environment. For example, when mounted on a marine sub-station, one BTD-350 can offer advance warnings of an approaching electrical storm to even the largest of off-shore wind farms. When mounted onto a service or support vessel, it becomes a mobile warning system which can be used at any wind farm, offering protection to all staff at that location.
The newest edition to the range is the BTD-200 early lightning warning system. In May 2022, the BTD-200 celebrated 5 years since the first thunderstorm was detected by the prototype.
This complete, simple to install and use lightning warning system reliably detects the local presence of all forms of lightning out to a range of 35km (22 miles) from the sensor.
The BTD-200 lightning warning system is a modular system. It is designed to operate out-of-the-box but is also expandable as requirements grow or change. The essential system comprises of a lightning detector which is placed outside, whilst a PC located indoors runs the supplied Lightning Works software (LW). The system includes a power supply and (optionally) the cabling to connect to the power and the host PC.
The BTD-200 is designed to be installed and set up by non-specialist contractors. It comes complete with a power supply for the detector and the essential PC application – Lightning Works – for monitoring and warning of approaching thunderstorms.
There are many applications where there is an ability to reliably warn of the presence of thunderstorms. This can increase both safety and productivity. For example, the leisure industry must consider and manage the risks posed by thunderstorms. Risk to both customers and staff at outdoor events. In these situations it is advisable to install a professional lightning detector.
Biral have sold over 250 BTD sensors globally since 2012 and there are some exciting projects in the pipeline which are currently being worked on.
Learn more about our BTD-300 on YouTube
Find the best lightning detector for you here.