Download our slide show on The Hazards of Arc Flash
You and your EHS or Compliance department need to consider the necessity of these Arc Flash Analysis guidelines.
Sprint Electrical will assess all of the facilities building power, document all of the required information, and create a one-line diagram. From there, the SKM software will compute all of the hazard energy levels. Once completed, there will be clearly identified, designated areas of safe working perimeters, and or required PPE category levels listed on all switch gears, distribution centers, load centers, bus ducts, control cabinets, etc.
Arc-Flash reports will include:
• Potential solutions to mitigate hazards..
• Limited coordination study and potential solutions to correct mis-coordinated equipment.
• Equipment short circuit study and replacement recommendations for equipment which fails the short circuit evaluation.
• Hazard Energy Labels
Arc Flash Study Detail
A short circuit analysis of your system will provide a final report with a tabular listing of the available bolted short circuit current levels at each designated point in the system.
• The short circuit current analysis begins at the point where the local utility provides power and includes all alternative electrical power sources. It continues down through the low voltage terminals of the utility vault transformers, through the main switchgear to the switchboards panel boards, and motor control centers further downstream. Individual motor circuits (>50hp) will be shown including motor disconnects, as label points. A representative motor circuit (<50hp), including motor disconnect switch, will be shown for each MCC to validate that a generic PPE Level 0 label can be used for those small motor disconnects.
• The analysis will include industrial control panels as defined by NEC Article 409, bus duct and panel board rated 100 amps or greater. Typical circuits will be shown for small panels/loads to validate low hazard ratings on labels. This constitutes the designated points or buses for which the analysis will be completed.
Arc Flash Evaluation Detail
• The Arc Flash Evaluation will be conducted using the Short Circuit Study results gathered in the previous steps. The arcing fault current through the protective devices is calculated from the bolted fault value and used to automatically find the time duration of the arc from the time current coordination (TCC) curves. Based on this information, the approach (shock) boundaries, incident energy and arc flash boundary are calculated for each designated location in the power system following the NFPA 70E and IEEE 1584 standards.
• Once the incident energy is calculated at each designated location, a PPE Hazard Level is determined and corresponding personal protective equipment (PPE) can be specified in conjunction with the NFPA 70E guidelines.
