When lightning struck near a gas odorization station recently, it did more than just damage equipment – it sparked a new way of thinking about protecting these crucial safety systems.
GPL Odorizers’ employees from left to right: Brando Bustos, Harrison Baer (Electrical Engineer), Andrew Bakas, and Brian Paulson
A Close Call with Lightning
The strike hit close enough to fry the odorizer’s gas signal input. Circuit boards melted, and capacitors fried inside the controller. While the station itself wasn’t directly hit, the nearby strike packed enough punch to knock out vital safety equipment.
“It was a wake-up call,” says Harrison Baer, who handles programming at GPL Odorizers. “We knew lightning could damage equipment, but seeing those melted circuit boards really drove the point home. Even a strike that’s not direct can take out sensitive electronics.”
Why This Matters for Safety
When an odorizer stops working, several problems pop up quickly:
- Gas flowing through pipes becomes impossible to smell
- Leaks could go unnoticed by nearby residents
- Local communities face increased safety risks
- Gas companies may fall out of regulatory compliance
Building Better Protection
After studying what happened, our engineers rolled up their sleeves and got to work. They partnered with Phoenix Contact to create a new surge protection package specifically for odorizers that:
- Stops lightning-caused voltage spikes in their tracks
- Keeps sensitive electronic parts safe
- Makes sure odorizers keep running
- Prevents expensive repairs and downtime
More Than Just Lightning Protection
While lightning sparked this project, the protection helps with everyday power problems, too. Brief power surges and electrical hiccups happen more often than you’d think. For gas odorizers, having this protection matters because it:
- Keeps gas smelling like it should for public safety
- Saves money on replacing damaged parts
- Helps meet safety regulations
- Cuts down on repairs
“We wanted something that lets operators sleep better at night,” Baer explains. “Nobody should lose sleep wondering if their odorizer will survive the next storm.”
Getting Protected
Any GPL odorizer can now come with this built-in surge protection. It’s part of our push to make our equipment more reliable and longer-lasting.
What You Get:
- Works with every odorizer we make
- Drops right into existing systems
- Almost no extra maintenance is needed
- Guards against all kinds of power surges
Looking Ahead
Sometimes, it takes a close call to spark better safety solutions. This new surge protection makes our odorizers tougher and more reliable, which means safer operations for gas companies and their neighbors.
Need More Info? Want to learn more about protecting your odorizer? Reach out to our technical team:
