Enhanced Safety Internal Arc compliant Switchgear Assemblies intemal arc fault is a type of short circuit with a huge energy level up to 20 MW qycle, very high temperature up to 3000°C, and pressure rise up to 3 atm. resulting in extensive damage, monetary loss and even personnel injury. Despite the continuous improvement in design of electrical switchgear and controlgear assemblies, failures may occasionally occur during its operation. The probability of the occurrence of an internal arc in Voltage (LV) switchgear assemblies during its entire service fetime is rather low but it cannot be completely disregarded Low PROSPECT / RETROSPECT Ithas always been common practice to include arc fault containment in Medium Voltage (MV) and High Voltage (HV) switchgear. However the same is not included for LV assemblies. Therefore IEC 61641 Report marks the first attempt to measure the ability of LY switchgear to contain the effects of an arcing fault The Internal Arc Fault Test is neither ‘a type test nor a mandatory tes LV Switchgear Assemblies. tt is a special test subject to an agreement between manufacturer and user. Great effort has been involved in the creation of an enclosure system -Mr. AP Rao; Mr. P Patel; Mr. TN Shah ‘Switchgear Design & Development Center which minimizes the possibilty of an arc fault occurring and also limits the effect of accidental arcs. This is accomplished by containment within the enclosure and allowing the safe release of the resulting over-pressure and gases L8iT takes pride in the fact that all the products and designs are proven to be reliable and fit for this purpose. (See table below) This issue of L&T Current Trends elaborates various aspects of intemal arc compliant switchgear assemilies TESTS CONDUCTED BY L&T Sr.No. Product eppcebte IES Certified for Guide i Power Control Center 1EC SOKA 0.5 sec 2. Motor Control Center sical TOKAV 0.5 secIntroduction An arc fault normally begins as a short circuit between two or more contact points, and can quickly develop to pose a serious threat to personnel safety. With an internal core temperature of 3000°C, an arc lasting just 500 ms can cause ‘tremendous damage Causes of Internal Arc Faults > Ageing of insulating materials under electrical stress > Corrosion v Thermal overstressing Over-voltage > Defective installation > No maintenance or incorrect maintenance > Mal-operation/ abuse > Pollution - humidity, small rodents penetrating in the switchgear Development of Internal Arc fault resistant Switchgear Assembly It is a well known fact that the arc resistance is quite high. Itis possible that under internal arc fault condition, short circuit protective device may not operate as current can be below pickup current of magnetic release. When an internal arcing fault occurs, a lighting plasma arc forms short circuit and eneray of many mega joules is released within a fraction of second. Most of that energy is transferred to the Arc fault occurs due to reduction of dielectric clearances normally caused by human intervention. ‘Once the path is established, short circuit current flows through air until the upstream protection device clears the fault. surrounding air which is heated to several thousand Kelvin within milliseconds. This causes the gas to expand. explosively emitting a pressure wave. At such high temperature, part of the energy is consumed by dissociation and ionization of the gas molecules; another part of it is emitted as thermal radiation, heating the surrounding material. Progressing intime, an increasing part of the energy is consumed by heating and melting and evaporation of material, known as the thermal phase. Finally, hot gases at high pressure, carrying gleaming particles, are emitted to the surrounding medium. Under internal arc fault condition mechanical parts are subjected to considerable amount of stress due to development of high pressure in the enclosure. To avoid the destruction of switchgear assembly it is necessary to integrate overpressure relief systems in form of ventilation vent outlets persons close te openings, etc. Besides this, the switchgear are also at risk during the internal arc ‘The safety of operators against hot gases, radiation and fragmentation of the enclosure must be secured. The spatial and temporal distributions of pressure and ‘temperature and gas velocities, that result from an intemal arc fault, plays @ key role in determining mechanical design of flaps & vents. {As shown in the figure flaps can be incorporated at the top of enclosure to release ionized gases within enclosure. Hot gases formed inside enclosure flows through cable compartment & ionized gases will get released to environment without any damage to assembly or surroundings. Consequences of internal arc fault During an internal arc fault, enormous amount of energy is released within milliseconds. The arcTable 1 ‘Arc Duration (ms) Effect on personnel & Equipment <10 Little or no injuryidamage 10-100 Risk of injuny/damage 100-500 High risk of injuny/damage energy is directly proportional to the square of the arc current and the time duration, during which the arc sustains, ie, energy is proportional tort Table 1 shows the effect of arc on personnel & equipment Internal Arc Fault Test The arcing phenomenon is complex therefore itis difficult to predict the behavior of arc and its secondary effects. Consequently, it has not been possible to arrive at internationally acceptable safety criteria that would take into account all the possible ramifications of internal arcing faults. The absence of such a standard means the ability of a manufacturer's assembly to withstand the effects of an internal arc fault may never be known until one actually occurs. Although many LV switchgear manufacturers were carrying out ‘their own safety testing as long ago as 1984, there were no guides as to ‘the conditions under which this testing had to be conducted. Consequently, a customer had no way of comparing the safety of one manufacturer's switchgear with another's IEC 61641 was first technical report for low voltage switchgear & control-gear assemblies which provide guidelines for testing under conditions of arcing due to internal fault. The second and latest edition of IEC 61641 was published in 2008. Procedure of Internal arc fault test The test should be carried out on a test specimen not previously subjected to an arcing test or on a specimen cleaned & prepared accordingly. The specimen & the equipment in it may be repaired or replaced before each test The mounting conditions should be as close as possible to those of normal service. The arcing test is carried out as a three phase test according o the service conditions Voltage: The applied voltage of the test circuit is 105% of the rated operational voltage. Current: To test a permissible current under arcing conditions, the ‘test supply is adjusted by making a short circuit as close as possible to the incoming terminals of the assembly. Frequency: Frequency of test voltage for a rated frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz, at the beginning of the test should be between 45 Hz & 67 Hz, At other frequencies it should not deviate from the rated value by more than + 10 %. Duration of test: The power supply duration of the assembly under test is given by the manufacturer. It is chosen according to the time response of electrical protection devices. If details regarding these devices are not known, power supply duration of at least 0.1 s is applied. Normally this duration shouldnot exceed 0.55 Arc Initiation: The arc is initiated between the phases without connection to earth by means of a bare copper ignition wire connecting the adjacent conductors across the shortest distance, & connected to three phases, With regard to test current, the sizes, of copper ignition wire given in Table 2 should be used, Table 2 Test crank M5 | Wire size mm 5 O75 325 10 >a0 15 A test is not necessary at any area which fulfils the requirement of an arc-free zone. The ignition wire is connected only to accessible bare conductors. Insulating material onconductors is not to be destroyed, removed or punctured when the ignition wireis connected. Indicators: Black cretonne should be used for the indicators so arranged that their cut edges do not point towards the test unit, Care should be taken in mounting the indicators to ensure that they do not ignite each other. The indicator dimensions should be about 150 mm X 150 mm Indicators should be fitted vertically at all sides of assembly which are readily accessible to operating personnel. Indicator should be placed up to maximum height of 2 m & distance of 300 mm 5 % from assembly, facing all points where gasis likely to be emitted Assessment criteria for the test > Correctly secured doors, covers, etc. donot open. Test sample > Parts of assembly, which may cause a hazard, donot fy off v Arcing does not cause holes to develop in the freely accessible external parts of the enclosure as result of burning or other effect > Indicators do not ignite. is still ¥ The protective circuit effective ¥ The assembly is capable of confining the arc to the defined area where itis ignited, & there is no propagation of the arc to other areas within the assembly. v The switchgear assembly shall withstand dielectric voltage at a value of 1.5 times the rated operational voltage for 1 minute, Conclusion While working on Switchboard Indicator General test setup for internal arc fault test assemiblies, panel operators are exposed to potential risks during normal operation of low voltage power distribution switchgear due to the high levels of energy that are involved when internal arc fault occurs. An arc withstand panel proves to be a great option for life extension, improved productivity and most importantly operating personnel safety. This is @ voluntary test made either at the discretion of the manufacturer, or subject to an agreement between manufacturer and user, but arc fault resistant assemblies should be considered for any application where the safety of personnel or the reliability of equipmentis a majorconcern ooo Visit us at ELECRAMA-2010 : Venue :- Elecrama, Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, India -: Stall no. H1N41P42, Hall no. 1 -: Dates 20-24 January 2010 ~: Visiting hours :~ 1000hrs to 1800hrs only for business visitors 6 For farther dotals on this subject please contact ) ( Electrical Systems & Equipment, Larsen & Toubro, SakiVihar oad, PO. Box 8901, Powal, Mumbai 400 072 ) "Tel +91-22:5705 174812857 & Fax: 022-6705 1024 * E-mail ese-cmt@)ntebg.com q Print by Printania Offset Put. L1a,0 20/21, Shalimar Indusinal Estate, Matunga (East), Mumbai 400 019. Te: 2407 7996/ 9866/8540 Fax 2402 4703 Email. pdsé@rediinal.com The views expressed inthis magazine are nat necessariy those of the management of Larsen & Touro The contents of this magazine should not be reproducted without the \antton permission of the Elton. Not for sale-onlyforeculation among the customers. Edlforial Coordinatrs "Mahendra Gehio, eer )\ Swat Rangaaian Hama Shan /