Tripping With the Speed of Light: Arc Flash Protection

Robert A. Wilson, ABB Inc.

presented to

2007 Texas A&M Relay Conference

March 27, 2007

Clearing Time is Critical

IEEE 1584 Final Step in Incident Energy Calculation

For applications up to 15 kV
x t 610 E = C f En x 0.2 D

cal/cm2

For applications above 15 kV

t E = 5.12x10 VI bf 2 D
5

cal/cm2

where:

t = arcing time = relay time + breaker time

Reducing Relay Time

Temporary instantaneous settings for faster operation

(+) Fairly fast (about 2 cycles) (+) Inexpensive to implement () Activation requires operator action () Normal coordination may be sacrificed () Failure to deactivate could result in undesired tripping

Install high impedance bus differential protection

(+) Fairly fast (about 2 cycles) () Requires CTs on all circuits expensive to implement () Concerns with CT saturation () Cannot protect feeder cable zone areas

Reducing Relay Time

Install zone interlocking scheme

(+) Fairly fast (5 -10 cycles); some delay required for blocking (+) Inexpensive to implement () Requires communication between devices

Install dedicated optical arc flash protection

(+) Ultra fast (2.5 ms or 0.15 cycles) (+) Fairly inexpensive to implement (+) No coordination with downstream devices required (+) Can support sectionalized arc flash zones and circuit breaker failure schemes

Optical Arc Flash Protection

Designed to detect the optical flash from an arc event Supervised with current from the source breakers

For security, tripping normally requires both light and current

First generation Introduced in the early 1990s

Uses single-point light receptors (lens sensors)

Second generation Introduced in 2000

Uses long fiber optical sensor for more economic installations

Extremely fast typically 2.5 ms operating time

Uses current peak detectors and solid-state (IGBT) tripping outputs

Typical Optical Fiber Sensor Routing

Optical Arc Flash Relaying Energy Comparisons

Long Fiber Optical Arc Flash Relay Applications

Ideally suited to gear with vacuum interrupters

Where no exposed arcing normally takes place

Some concern with older air magnetic switchgear

Where arcing takes place within arc chutes Successfully tested with 1200A, 500MVA GE Magneblast breakers More tests on other brands planned

Arc Flash Relays Detromovice Power Plant

Detromovice Power Plant Czech Republic June, 26, 2002 Closed breaker racked in (mechanical interlocks bypassed) Minimal damage

Soot damage confined to the affected frame Breaker rosette connectors replaced, breaker cell cleaned No injuries

Arc Flash Relays Kemira Grow-How Plant

Fertilizer plant Uusikaupunki, Finland 2003 Event occurred one day after arc flash relay installed Event resulted from operation error

Disconnect switch failed to interrupt capacitive current on an energized, unloaded cable

Fault cleared before any significant damage occurred Plant was restored to service in about 4 hours

(One day of lost production costs $ millions) Without arc flash protection, clearing time would have doubled

Conclusions

Fast response is critical to minimizing arc flash hazards Faster clearing times = lower incident energy, lower collateral damage and possibly lower PPE levels Optical arc flash relaying is the fastest available protection Actual arc flash events have proven optical arc flash protection works Replacement of older, slower breakers to faster modern vacuum breakers should also be considered