Electrical safety and arc-flash hazards

Abstract

Electrical safety and reduction of arc-flash hazards are a priority in the petroleum and chemical industries. Due to a growing need to address this critical concern, a wide variety of products, designs, and system modifications are available today from electrical equipment manufacturers. Various standards committees are addressing the issue by establishing new guidelines and standards such as IEEE PI584, aimed at limiting arc-flash burns. The differences among the various standards have forced the power distribution engineer to consider and evaluate various standards to determine which is best for each particular application. Also, the guides and standards do not cover all possible conditions. The power distribution engineer must make choices related to basic system design alternatives when considering the many solutions available to reduce the hazards associated with arc flashes. The IEEE C37.20.7 working group has developed a technical paper to supplement their guide for testing medium-voltage metal-enclosed switchgear for internal arcing faults. Numerous papers have been written on the closely related subject of system grounding.