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ArcFlashHazardCalculationIn9StepsUsingIEEE1584
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ArcFlashHazardCalculationIn9StepsUsingIEEE1584(photocredit:complyworks.com)
ArcFlashHazardSafepractices
TheInstituteofElectricalandElectronicEngineers(IEEE)publishedtheIEEE1584GuideforPerformingArc
FlashHazardCalculations.Itcontainsdetailedmethodsanddatathatcanbeusedtocalculatearcflashhazards
forthesimplesttothemostcomplexsystems.
IEEEspentmanyyearsdevelopingthesemethods.TheyarebasedonempiricaltestingofclassRK1andclassL
fuses,lowvoltagemoldedcasecircuitbreakers(MCCB),insulatedcasecircuitbreakersandlowvoltagepower
circuitbreakersaswellastheoreticalmodeling.
IncludedinIEEE1584arespreadsheetprogramsthatsimplifythecalculationofincidentenergyand
flashprotectionboundaries.
DownloadSpreadsheet
IEEE1584doesnotaddresstheSafetyrelatedWorkPraticesinthesamemannerasNFPA70E.Itconcernsitself
primarilywithperformingthecalculationsthatmaybenecessarytodeterminesafepractices.The
calculationmethodsinAnnexDofNFPA70EarebasedonIEEE1584,butdonotcontainallthedataor
descriptionsofhowthesemethodsweredeveloped.
IEEE1584outlines9stepsnecessarytoproperlyperformanArcFlashhazardcalculation//
Step#1
Collectthesystemandinstallationdata.
Dependingonwhetheryouaredoingacompletesiteanalysisorlookingatoneindividualportion,thisstepcan
takeafewminutesorseveralweekstoperform.Beginbyreviewingthelatestuptodatesinglelinediagram(s)of
theequipmentorsystemyouareanalyzing.Ifsinglelinediagramsarenotavailable,youmustcreatethem!The
utilitycanprovideyouwiththeavailablefaultMVAandX/Rratioattheentrancetoyourfacility.
Ifyougenerateyourownelectricity,orifyouhaveemergencyorstandbygeneratorsandlarge
motors,amoredetailedanalysismustbeperformed.
Inordertocalculatetheboltedfaultcurrentavailableatthepointofyourapplication,youmustrecordonyour
singlelinediagramalltransformersandtheirratings,circuitbreakersorfusibledistributioncircuitsandtheir
ratings,MCCs,andallotherequipmentbetweenthepowersourceandtheareayouareconcernedwith.
Next,youmustrecordthesize,type,length,andnumberofcablesorbusbars,etc.usedbetweentheutilityand
thedistributionandcontrolequipmentbeinganalyzed.Thetypeofconduitorracewaymustalsoberecorded.
AlltransformerdatamustberecordedincludingMVAratingsandimpedance,andallovercurrentprotective
devicesmustbeidentifiedwiththeirspecificcharacteristicsortripratingsrecorded.
Step#2
Determinethesystemmodesofoperation.
Mostinstallationshaveonlyonemodeofoperationwithoneutilityconnection.However,largerindustrialor
commercialbuildingsormanufacturingplantsmayhavetwoormoreutilityfeederswithtieswitchingoftwoor
moretransformers,orcogeneratorsrunninginparallel(exampleshownbelow).
Eachmodecanbeverycomplexandrequireadetailedhazardanalysis.
CoGenerationConfigurationExample(schemecredit:GE)
Step#3
Determinetheboltedfaultcurrents.
Youcanperformhandcalculationsorusecommerciallyavailablesoftwareprogramstocalculatetheboltedfault
currentsatallpointsbetweentheutilityandthedistributionorcontrolequipmentyouareanalyzing.
Itwillbenecessarytopluginallofthedatayouhaverecordedaboutthetransformers,cablesizesandlengths,
andtypeofconduit,etc.usedineachinstallationtodeterminetheboltedfaultcurrents.
Step#4
Determinethearcfaultcurrents.
Afterdeterminingtheboltedfaultcurrents,IEEE1584providesaformulatocalculatethepredictedarcfault
currentduetotypicalarcimpedanceandotherfactors.
Thepredictedarcfaultcurrentforsystemvoltagesunder1kVdependsontheboltedfaultcurrent,
systemvoltage,arcgap,andwhetherthearcwouldmostlikelyoccurintheopenairorinan
enclosedboxconfiguration.
Step#5
Findtheprotectivedevicecharacteristicsandthedurationofthearcs.
FromthedatacollectedinStep1andthepredictedarcfaultcurrentdeterminedinStep4,thenextstepisto
establishthetotalclearingtimeoftheovercurrentprotectivedeviceimmediatelyontheLINEsideofthe
equipmentyouareanalyzing.
Ifthefusemanufacturerorcircuitbreakermanufacturerpublishesmaximumandminimumclearingtimes,it
isimportanttousethemaximumclearingtimepossibleforthepredictedarcfaultcurrent.
NOTE//Thisstepcanbeomittediftheovercurrentprotectivedevicesarethosealreadytestedandlistedinthe
IEEE1584document.
Step#6
Documentthesystemvoltagesandclassesofequipment.
Makesureyoudocumentthesystemvoltagesandclassofequipmentsuchas15kVswitchgear,5kVswitchgear,
lowvoltageswitchgear,lowvoltagemotorcontrolcenters(MCC)andpanelboards,orcableruns.
Step#7
Selecttheworkingdistances.
IEEE1584hasestablishedthreetypicalworkingdistancesfordifferentclassesofequipment.Aspreviously
discussed,incidentenergycalculationsandHazardRiskCategorieswilldependontheworkingdistances
selected.
Step8
Determinetheincidentenergyforallequipment
YoucanuseformulasincludedintheIEEE1584documentorcommerciallyavailablesoftwaretocalculatethe
incidentenergypossibleincal/cm2attheworkingdistanceselected.
Step9
Determinetheflashprotectionboundaryforallequipment
TheformulasgivenwithinIEEE1584canbeusedtodeterminethedistancefromthearcatwhichtheonsetofa
seconddegreeburnwilloccurtounprotectedskin.Thisdistancemustbeestablishedandwillvarybasedon
systemparameters.
Softwareprogramsautomaticallycalculatethedistancebasedonthearcfaultcurrent,systemvoltage,arcgap,
andarcflashduration.
Iftheovercurrentprotectivedevices(OCPD)aresomethingotherthanthosecoveredbyIEEE1584,orifthe
voltagelevelsandshortcircuitcurrentsexceedtheIEEE1584limitations,thentheopeningtimesofthe
overcurrentprotectivedevicesmustbeanalyzedandthecorrespondingFlashProtectionBoundaryandincident
energymustbecalculatedbyanothermethod.
Arcflashsafetyequipment//
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Reference//ElectricalSafetyHazardsHandbookLittelfuse