A Comparison of Arc-Flash Incident Energy Reduction Techniques Using Low-Voltage Power Circuit Breakers

Increasing industry awareness of arc-flash hazards has led to the development of a number of techniques for the reduction of arc-flash incident energy levels with low-voltage power circuit breakers. This paper describes the system parameters that control arc-flash incident energy levels and how these parameters can be controlled in different ways to achieve reductions in these energy levels when low-voltage power circuit breakers are used. Practical applications of these techniques to power systems utilizing low-voltage power circuit breakers are presented and analyzed. The effects of implementing these techniques vs. system reliability are also discussed