Abstract
Arc faults can produce very high temperatures and can easily ignite combustible materials; thus, they represent one of the most important causes of electrical fires. The application of arc fault detection, as an emerging early fire detection technology, is required by the National Electrical Code to reduce the occurrence of electrical fires. However, the concealment, randomness and diversity of arc faults make them difficult to detect. To improve the accuracy of arc fault detection, a novel arc fault detector (AFD) is developed in this study. First, an experimental arc fault platform is built to study electrical fires. A high-frequency transducer and a current transducer are used to measure typical load signals of arc faults and normal states. After the common features of these signals are studied, high-frequency energy and current variations are extracted as an input eigenvector for use by an arc fault detection algorithm. Then, the detection algorithm based on a weighted least squares support vector machine is designed and successfully applied in a microprocessor. Finally, an AFD is developed. The test results show that the AFD can detect arc faults in a timely manner and interrupt the circuit power supply before electrical fires can occur. The AFD is not influenced by cross talk or transient processes, and the detection accuracy is very high. Hence, the AFD can be installed in low-voltage circuits to monitor circuit states in real-time to facilitate the early detection of electrical fires.
Highlights
As reported by the United States Fire Administration (USFA), there were an estimated372,900 residential building fires in the United States each year from 2011 to 2013, causing an estimated13,125 injuries, 2530 deaths and $7 billion in property damage [1]
After the USFA studied the sources of heat in residential building electrical fires, they stated that arc fault accounted for 82% of the electrical fires [6]
When arc faults occurred in branch B1, arc fault detector (AFD) 1 could detect them in a timely manner and interrupt the circuit power supply before an electrical fire was produced to ensure the prevention of electrical fires
Summary
As reported by the United States Fire Administration (USFA), there were an estimated. Statistical data from fire administrations show that electrical fires are usually caused by arc faults, over currents, short circuits, leakages [1,2,3,4,5,6], etc. The USFA stated technology as an effective means of preventing fires caused by electrical wiring faults in homes” [17] that “The(page. UL 1699: UL for interrupter safety arc-fault technology as an effective preventing fires caused by electrical wiring in homes”. Many currents and high-frequency signals from low-voltage circuits will be acquired to study the general features of arc faults.
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