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Ark Flash - Practical PDF
Ark Flash - Practical PDF
by Tony Demaria
Tony Demaria Electric, Inc.
F irst, here is the good news. We all like happy and successful stories. Our
electrical industry has seen a substantial decline in electrical injuries in the
last 10 years.
is not easy and requires experienced,
trained personnel.
The calculator was developed to
address the needs found in industrial
facilities, specifically the petrochemical
This is due to: industry. In these types of industries,
1. Increase in general safety awareness the transformer and switchgear feed-
2. NFPA 70E and the people behind 70E ing the electrical equipment is large
3. Attorneys and large court settlements and usually easy to identify. The trans-
former nameplate frequently can be
As good as 70E is, it is difficult to understand and implement under the vast read to find its impedance. Since there
number of variable site conditions we experience in the field. It is the task of are many motors, it is common to have
each type of industry and each site to adopt the excellent provisions of 70E to a large motor current contribution to
its electrical hazards. any short-circuit fault conditions.
No one will question that zero injuries is the goal of safe electrical work The math used to determine the
practices. It is the journey to this goal that provides the challenge. The arc-flash fault current at the secondary of trans-
calculator presented here can be part of that journey. It is designed to give you, formers under these conditions is basic
the worker, a tool that can be used at the job site to assist in determining what algebra, and the principles are easy to
PPE is needed. This is in addition to your daily Job Hazard Analysis ( JHA) and understand. Why perform this task
Energized Work Permit (EWP) and to be used in conjunction with them. It which is time consuming and difficult
to remember, when an inexpensive
slide rule can do it for you quickly and
480V Transformer Fault Calculator accurately? (See figure 1)
The transformer primary current is
considered to be an infinite bus, which
it usually is not, but this will give a
conservative short-circuit current.
As you probably know, finding the
maximum fault current is only part of
the process, and it is the easy part at
this point. If only life could always be
this simple.
Turn the slide rule over and let the
Figure 1 (front side of calculator) real work start. (See figure 2.) The
next step is to determine how long
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. FIND THE TRANSFORMER kVA RATING ON THE “TRANSFORMER kVA” LINE.
this fault is going to continue. How
2. SLIDE THE SLIDER UNTIL THE TRANSFORMER LINE-TO-LINE VOLTAGE CORRESPONDS TO THE TRANS- reliable are the original devices and
FORMER kVA. what is their condition? When will the
3. SLIDE THE CLEAR SLIDER LINE OVER THE TRANSFORMER (IMPEDANCE LINE) AT THE PERCENT OF MO- upstream protective device open? Parts
TOR LOADING ON THE TRANSFORMER. of 70E suggest two clearing times to
4. READ THE TRANSFORMER SHORT-CIRCUIT CURRENT ON THE SHORT-CIRCUIT CURRENT SCALE.