The safety benefits of arc resistant metalclad medium voltage switchgear

Author

Kalkstein, Edward W. ; Doughty, Richard L. ; Paullin, Alfred E. ; Jackson, James ; Ryner, Jerry

Author_Institution

E.I. Dupont Denemours & Co., Wilmington, DE, USA

fYear

1994

fDate

12-14 Sep 1994

Firstpage

309

Lastpage

317

Abstract

One cause of serious injuries to electrical workers in the petrochemical industry is flash burns from arcing faults in medium voltage metalclad switchgear. First introduced in Europe, arc resistant switchgear designs are now being marketed in North America to eliminate this potential cause of injuries by containing the arc byproducts and venting the gases in a safe manner. This paper discusses current worker safety regulations, the arcing fault process, standards governing arc resistant switchgear, switchgear design, application and cost/benefit considerations. One manufacturer´s experience testing a new arc resistant switchgear design is included

Keywords

arcs (electric); circuit-breaking arcs; personnel; petroleum industry; safety; standards; switchgear; switchgear testing; MV metalclad switchgear; application; arc resistant switchgear; arcing fault process; arcing faults; containment; cost/benefit; design; experience; flash burns; gas venting; petrochemical industry; standards; testing; worker safety regulations; Chemical industry; Europe; Injuries; Medium voltage; Metals industry; North America; Petrochemicals; Resistance; Safety; Switchgear;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Petroleum and Chemical Industry Conference, 1994. Record of Conference Papers., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Incorporated Industry Applications Society 41st Annual

Conference_Location

Vancouver, BC

Print_ISBN

0-7803-1987-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PCICON.1994.347603

Filename

347603