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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.

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Reference//ElectricalSafetyHazardsHandbookLittelfuse