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Free Arc Flash Handbook


Understand arc flash and how to provide arc flash protection.

HOME > CONTENT > CALCULATING ARC FLASH ENERGY LEVELS

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CalculatingArcFlashEnergyLevels
AchoiceofmethodsleadstomultipleconclusionsFindmore
articlesonArcFlash/ArcFault
BenjaminO.Medich,P.E.,BallingerElectricalConstructionandMaintenance

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Sep1,2007

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While not a major topic of consideration when designing and maintaining facilities in past years, codeenforcement bodies have become increasingly aware of the danger of arc flash incidents associated with
working on live electrical gear. As a result, facility managers and their consulting engineers are paying
more attention to arc flash analysis. While the National Electrical Code (NEC) requires
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Whilenotamajortopicofconsiderationwhendesigning
andmaintainingfacilitiesinpastyears,codeenforcement
bodieshavebecomeincreasinglyawareofthedangerofarc
flashincidentsassociatedwithworkingonliveelectrical
gear.Asaresult,facilitymanagersandtheirconsulting
engineersarepayingmoreattentiontoarcflashanalysis.

WhiletheNationalElectricalCode(NEC)requiresonlya
genericlabeltowarnofthepossibilityofarcflashdanger
onallequipmentthatissubjecttoarcflashhazards,NFPA'sStandardforElectrical
SafetyintheWorkplace(NFPA70E2004)goesastepfurther,requiringthat,Aflash
hazardanalysisbedoneinordertoprotectpersonnelfromthepossibilityofbeinginjured
byanarcflash.Thisstandardalsorequiresthattheanalysisincludeacalculationofthe
flashprotectionboundaryofeachpieceofequipmentanddeterminationoftherequired
personalprotectiveequipment(PPE)attheappropriateworkingdistanceforeachpiece
ofequipment.

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BothNFPA70EandIEEE1584,GuideforPerformingArcFlashHazardCalculations,
prescribetheirownmethodsofcalculationfordeterminingtheavailablearcflashenergy
ataparticularpieceofequipment.However,forbothmethods,typicalworkingdistances
aregiveninTable3ofIEEE15842002.

Calculatingarcflashenergy
Therearetwodistinctmathematicalmethodsofcalculatingtheavailablearcflashenergy
presentataspecificpieceofequipmentbothofwhicharedetailedinAnnexDofNFPA
70E.
Thefirstmethod,commonlyreferredtoastheNFPA70Eequationforanarcflashina
cubicbox,is:

varietyofelectricvehicles
producedacrosstheglobe

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NewTopics

New3,000AmpService
lastreplybyChrisHinPowerDistribution

EMB=1038.7DB1.4738tA[0.0093F20.3453F+5.9673]

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WhereEMBisthearcflashenergy,DBistheworkingdistance(fromTable3ofIEEE
1584),tAisthedurationofthearc,andFistheshortcircuit(orfault)current.This

HowtoGetMoreDone
forLesswithaGPS
FleetTrackingSystem

equationusesinchesfordistancemeasurements,andgivesresultsdirectlyincaloriesper

Laborcostsoften

centimetersquared(cal/cm2).

representoneofthe
biggestexpensesinancompaniesbudget.Youcan

Thecubicboxisthecommonlyusedequation(asopposedtotheopenairequation)
becausethisequationmostaccuratelyapproximatesthebehaviorofanarcflashevent
withinastandardpieceofelectricalequipment(switchgear,fusedswitch,etc.).However,
thisequationisonlyvalidoverthelimitedrangeofconditionswheretheshortcircuit
current(F)isbetween16kAand50kA.
AbroaderrangeofshortcircuitvaluesiseffectivelymodeledbyusingtheIEEE1584set
ofequations:

reducethosecostsandgetmoreworkdonebyusingthe
More
techniquesoutlinedinthiseBooktoimprovedriver

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log[En]=k1+k2+1.081log[Ia]+0.0011GandE=4.184CfEn(t0.2)(610x
Dx)

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WhereEisthearcflashenergy,Enisthenormalizedarcflashenergy,Iaisthearcing

The2014NationalElectricalCodehasexpandedthe

current,Cfisthecalculationfactor,tisthedurationofthearc,Disthedistancefromthe

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arctotheperson(fromIEEE1584,Table3),XisthedistanceXfactor,k1andk2are

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constants,andGistheconductorairgap.
Amorerigorousmethodofcalculatingarcflashenergy,thissetofequationsusesmetric
units,givesresultsinJoulespercentimetersquared(J/cm2),andisvalidovertherange
of0.208kVthrough15kVandashortcircuitcurrentof0.7kAthrough106kA.

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Arcflashenergyvs.faultcurrent

...

Inexaminingeitheroftheseequations,itbecomesclearthattheenergyofanarcflashis
dependentuponthelengthoftheflash,theavailableshortcircuitcurrent(orboltedfault
current),andinversely(andexponentially)relatedtoone'sdistancefromtheoriginofthe
flash.

More

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Figure1(clickheretoseeFig.1)showstherelationshipbetweenarcflashenergyand
boltedfaultcapacity.NotethatthisrelationshipisquitelinearfortheIEEE1584
equationsandsomewhatlogarithmicfortheNFPA70Eequations.Furtherexamination
alsoindicatesthatovertherangeofvalidvalues(above16kAforNFPA70E),theIEEE
1584methodiscalculatedmoreaggressively,andtheNFPA70Emethodismore
conservative.

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<b>Fig.2.</b>TheNFPAmethodproducesmore
conservativeresults.

Figure2showstherelationshipbetweenarcflashenergyandthedurationofthearcing
event,whichislinearforbothmethodsofcalculation.However,itshouldbenotedthat
theIEEE1584methodisonceagainmoreaggressivethanitsNFPA70Ecounterpart.
It'simportanttonotethatwhenusingeithersetofequations,theworkingdistanceis
consideredtobefixed,baseduponthevoltageandtypeofequipmentonwhichthe

introductiontotheessentialsofelectricalgroundingand
bonding...

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technicianwillbeworking.Therefore,thedependentvariableswillbetheavailableshort
circuitcurrentandthedurationofthearc.Theshortcircuitcurrentwillbedetermined
bytheconfigurationoftheelectricalsystem,andthefaultdurationwillbedeterminedby
thetrippropertiesandsettingsoftheupstreamprotectivedevice.However,it'susually
assumedthattheouterlimitforthearcingtimeisnomorethan2seconds.Althoughthis
isnotahardandfastrule,itaccountsforthelikelihoodthatthearcingmaterialinan
arcingfieldwilllikelybeeitherburnedofforexpelledbytheforceoftheblast.Inany
case,thiswouldextinguishthearcevent.

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<b>Fig.3.</b>Typicalcurvesfora400Amoldedcasecircuit
breakerand2,000A,LSIsolidstatebreaker.

Figure3showstypicaltripcharacteristicsfora400A,moldedcasecircuitbreakeranda
2,000A,LSIsolidstatebreaker.Inspectionofthesetripcharacteristicsshowsthatfor
certainregionsofthecurve,wheretheshorttimeregionmeetstheinstantaneousregion,
forexample,therearegreatswingsintheoperatingtimeofthecircuitbreakers.This
pointisatapproximately16kAforthe2,000Abreakerand2.8kAforthe400Abreaker.
Figure4(clickheretoseeFig.4)showsthecalculatedarcflashenergyforthe2,000A
breaker,usingbothIEEE1584andNFPA70Ecalculationmethods.Asyoucanseefrom
thegraph,theavailablearcflashenergypeaksattwopoints:7.5kAand16kA.Asyou
mightexpect,thesepointscoordinatewiththebreakpointsofthetripcurvewhere
thereistransitionfromthelongtimetoshorttimetripregionandatthetransitionfrom
theinstantaneoustoshorttimetripregion.ThesepeaksarenotreplicatedontheNFPA
70Ecurvebecausethatequationisnotvalidintheassociatedtriprangeforthe2,000A
breaker.However,wherelargercurrentsareused,thesepeakswilloccurusingtheNFPA
70Eequationaswell.
Figure5(clickheretoseeFig.5)showsthecalculatedarcflashenergyforthe400A
breaker,usingbothIEEE1584andNFPA70Ecalculationmethods.Forthissizeof
breaker,theNFPA70Eequationresultsarenearlyuseless,astheNFPA70Eequation
becomesvalidat16kA(40timesthetripratingofthebreaker).However,theIEEE1584
resultsindicatealargespikeat3kA,whichisintheareaoftransitionbetweenthe
instantaneousandshorttimetripregions.
Basedonthesefigures,it'sclearthatcalculatingarcflashenergydoesnotnecessarily
meshwiththeconservativeapproachofcalculatingtheworstpossiblecaseofshort
circuitcapacity(i.e.,thehighestvalueofshortcircuitcapacity).Inmanycases,alower
shortcircuitcapacitymayproduceamuchlargerarcflashenergylevel.Forthisreason,
IEEErecommendsthatthearcflashenergybecalculatedbothatthecalculatedarcing
currentandagainat85%ofthearcingcurrent(alsoknownasthesecondarcing
current)andthatthehigherarcflashenergyvaluebeused.Notethatthearcing
currentisbasedupontheboltedfaultavailableshortcircuitcapacity,andiscalculated
forsystemsbelow1kVas:

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log[Ia]=K+0.662log[Ibf]+0.0966V+0.000526G+0.5588Vlog[Ibf]0.00304G
log[Ibf]Orforsystemsover1kVas:log[Ia]=0.00402+0.983log[Ibf]
WhereKisaconstant,Visthevoltageofthesystem,Gistheairgapbetweenthe
conductors,andIbfistheboltedfaultavailableshortcircuitcapacity.
Aftercalculatingthearcflashenergylevel,anappropriateselectionofPPEismadeusing
Table130.7(C)(11)fromTableNFPA70E.

WhatarethetablesinNFPA70E?
Inadditiontousingthecalculatedmethodsfordeterminingthearcflashenergyand
requiredpersonalprotectiveequipment(PPE)describedabove,thereisathirdmethodof
determiningwhattypeofprotectiontousewhenworkingonliveequipment.Thismethod
isthedirectapplicationofTable130.7(C)(9)(a)fromNFPA70E.Thistableisintendedto
beaconservativeapplicationoftheprinciplesofAnnexD,withouttheneedfor
performingacompletearcflashevaluationandstudy.However,thistableisbasedon
severalassumptions:

1. Forpanelboardsandswitchboardsrated600Vandless,theavailablefaultcurrent
is25kA,andtheclearingtimeoftheprotectivedeviceis0.03seconds(twocycles)

2. For600Vclassmotorcontrolcentersandothersuchequipment,theavailablefault
currentis65kA,andtheclearingtimeoftheprotectivedeviceis0.03seconds(two
cycles)

3. Forinsertionorremovalofstarterbucketsinmotorcontrolcentersasnotedabove,
theavailablefaultcurrentis65kA,andtheclearingtimeoftheprotectivedeviceis
0.33seconds(20cycles)and/or

4. For600Vclassswitchgearcontainingfusedswitchesorpowercircuitbreakers,the
availablefaultcurrentis65kA,andtheclearingtimeoftheprotectivedeviceis1
second(60cycles).
Althoughthistableisausefulguidewherethereisnootherinformationavailable,itis
clearthattheassumptionslistedabovearenotnecessarilyapplicabletothesystemsyou
maybeanalyzing.Assuch,theywilloftenleadtooverclassificationofprotectivegearfor
workonaspecificpieceofequipment.However,itisofevenmoreconcernthatthereisa
potentialforunderclassificationoftheprotectivegearrecommendedforworkona
specificpieceofequipment.
Inarecentarcflashstudyofafacilitythatencompassedmorethan700piecesof
equipment,itwasfoundthatin7%ofcases,theapplicationofTable130.7(C)(9)(a)
withoutanappropriatesystemstudy,wouldleadtotheuseofinsufficientprotectivegear
whenworkingonliveequipment.Inaddition,itwasfoundthatthePPErequirementsof
Table130.7(C)(9)(a)wereinexcessofthosedeterminedthroughcalculation62%ofthe
time.Therefore,althoughthetablesareofbenefitwhenworkingatalocationwherethere
isnoexistingarcflashstudy,theyarenosubstituteforacompleteanduptodatearc
flashstudy.

Ausefulmethod
Whencomputerbasedarcflashevaluationsarerun,thecalculationsofthesoftware
shouldnotbeblindlyaccepted.Inmanycases,theNFPA70Eequationsareapplied
outsideoftheirapplicablerange,andtheresultsaregivenwithonlyafootnotetoindicate
thatthecalculationisoutofrange(i.e.,invalid).Therefore,itisimportantthatthe
softwareoutputbethoroughlyreviewedandappliedasisappropriatetothenecessary
systems.
Also,itisimportantthatboththeNFPA70EandIEEE1584equationsbeusedcorrectly.
Byusingbothsetsofequations,aconservativesetofvaluescanbeassembled.Itisgood
practicetocalculatetheflashenergyusingbothmethods,andtousethevalidvalue
(whereonlyonesetofequationsisvalid)ortousethemoreconservativevalue(where

bothsetsofequationsarevalid).
SomefacilitymanagersprefertocomparetheNFPA70Eand/orIEEE1584calculated
valuestoTable130.7(C)(9)(a)fromNFPA70Eandtousethemostconservativeflash
protectionequipmentrecommendation.However,thisisnotarequirementofNFPA70E,
andthereisdebateastowhetheroverprotectionintheformofflashsuitsisappropriate,
asitiscumbersomefortheworker.

Aconsolidatedprocedureforperforminganarcflashanalysis
Thefollowingstepsoutlineasuggestedprocedureforperforminganarcflashanalysisof
afacility.Althoughthisisnottheonlypossibleprocedure,itdoescoverawiderangeof
conditions,andtakesaconservativeapproachtotheapplicationofbothIEEE1584and
NFPA70Eequations.

1. AssembleexistingasbuiltdocumentationStartbycollectingalloftherelevant,
existingasbuiltdocumentation.Includepowerfloorplansshowinglocationsof
electricalequipment,andsinglelinediagramsindicatingtheovercurrentprotective
devicesandcablesizesforallrelevantareas.

2. FieldverifyexistingconditionsBecauseconditionsmayhavechangedsincethe
originalinstallation,it'scriticalthattheexistingconditionsbefieldverifiedto
ensurethatthearcflashanalysisisperformedusingaccuratebreakersettingsand
fieldconditions.

3. Obtaintheavailableutilityfaultcurrent(range)andX/RratioTheserving
utilityshouldbeabletoprovidethisinformation.Notethattheutilitynormally
guaranteesarangeofshortcircuitcurrent,andthatthehighestarcflashenergy
valuemayoccuranywherewithintherangeofavailableshortcircuitcurrent
values.

4. PerformashortcircuitanalysisTheshortcircuitanalysismustbeperformedto
obtaintheavailableboltedfaultandarcfaultcurrentsateachpointinthesystem.

5. PerformanNFPA70EarcflashanalysisPerformthearcflashanalysisusing
theNFPA70Eequationsandparameters.

6. PerformanIEEE1584arcflashanalysisPerformthearcflashanalysisusing
theIEEE1584equationsandparameters.

7. Repeatsteps4through6fortheentirerangeofpossiblevaluesTheshortcircuit
andarcflashstudiesmustberepeatedovertheentirerangeofvalidutilityfault
capacities.Thestudiesmaybeperformedinarangeoffaultincrementstoensure
thatthehighestarcflashenergyvalueiscapturedateachcomponent.For
example,asystemthathasafaultvaluerangingfrom3,000Athrough12,000A
mayberunin1,000Aincrements.

8. Repeatsteps4through7foralllikelyoperatingconditionsThereportmustbe
runforalllikelyoperatingconditionsforthefacility,includingnormaloperation,
loadsheddingmodes,paralleloperation,tiebreakersopenandclosed,and
operatingonstandbypower.Itisimportantthatallconfigurationsbefully
evaluatedtoensurethattheworstcasescenarioisdevelopedforeachpieceof
equipment.

9. EliminateinvaliddataExportthearcflashreportstospreadsheetsoftware,and
deleteinvalidvaluesbecausetheydonotfallwithintherangeofvalidconditionsfor
theequationsetused(i.e.NFPA70Evaluescalculatedfromshortcircuitcurrents
thatarenotbetween16kAand50kAasrequired).

10. SorttheworstcasevaluesforeachcomponentorbusUsingaspreadsheet,the
remainingvalidvaluesmaybesortedandtheworstcaseextractedforeach
componentwithinthesystem.Thisvaluewillbeconsideredtheavailablearcflash
energyatitsassociatedpointinthesystem.

11. AssemblethecomprehensivereportThefinalreportshouldindicatetheavailable
shortcircuitcurrentusedateachcomponent,theavailablearcflashenergy,the
categoryofPPErequiredtosafelyworkontheequipment,andwhichsetof
equationswasusedtodeterminetheavailableenergy.Thereportshouldalso
includetheworkingdistanceusedinthecalculation,andtheflashprotection
boundary(generallythethresholdwheretheavailableenergyexceeds1.2cal/cm2).
Inaddition,anyinformationthatyourspecificclientrequires(durationofarc,
closingtimeofbreaker,equipmentrequiredforsafeoperation,etc.)shouldbe
includedinthereport.
Allofthisinformation,alongwiththebuilding'ssinglelineandshortcircuitcapacity
diagrams,shouldbecollectedinacoherentfashionandpresentedtotheclientina
binderfortheiruse.
Thismethodisstraightforward,andkeepsthereport'sfocusonsafety.Mostimportantly,
itremindstheengineertoevaluatehisequationsindependently,toensurethatthereport
containsinformationthatisaccurate,valid,anduseful.Withproperpreparation,arc
flashanalysisisatoolthatcanpreventneedlessaccidentsandinjuriesinthefacilityfor
whichitispreparedtheintentofNFPA70E'srequirement.
MedichisaseniorelectricalprojectengineeratBallingerinPhiladelphia.

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DiscussthisArticle

onJul12,2012

GordanKinkela(notverified)

MyfirstcontactwithCalculatingArcFlashEnergyLevels.Very
interestinganduseful.
LogInorRegistertopostcomments

FindlingAssociates(notverified)

onAug13,2013

Thisarticlewasalsomyfirstexperienceincalculatingarcflashenergy
levelsexcellentpresentation.
LogInorRegistertopostcomments

Jwhitney

onJan28,2014

Verythorougharticle.TheonlyactivityIwouldaddistoverifythe
conditionofmaintenanceoftheequipmentandconfirmthatthe
equipmentisinstalledinconformancewithmanufacturersrequirements
andapplicablecodesandstandards.ThestudyisinvalidiftheOCPDdoes
notfunctionasintended.WehaveencounteredCT'sinstalledwith
incorrectpolarityandsomewhichwereopencircuit,etc.
LogInorRegistertopostcomments

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