Effect of Electrode Geometry on Arc Flash Protection Boundary

Abstract

In arc flash hazards calculations, protection boundary can be used to gain insight in personnel protection against thermal injuries. Although IEEE 1584-2002 has provided the calculation guide based on tests with the arcing electrodes in a vertical plane, applications where the traditional vertical arrangement is not directly applicable have been drawing more attention over the past few years. Due to the varied thermal behaviors of arc under different equipment configuration and the varied bus connection mode, for the purpose to achieve the adequate protection on arc flash thermal injury, it is necessary to analyze the effect of different electrode geometries on arc flash protection boundary (AFPB). According to the prior work on the development of IEEE 1584-2018, this article fully discusses the impact of electrode geometry on incident energy exposure level and AFPB. With the multiple electrode geometry designed tests, thermal behaviors of arc under different electrode orientation, gap distance, and equipment configurations have been analyzed. According to test results, correction equations were derived under each typical electrode geometry to adjust the AFPB calculation model of IEEE 1584-2002. Through the comparisons, the corrected model can better reflect the actual effects of electrode geometry, meanwhile showing a good ability to provide reasonable AFPB for practical uses.