Contribuição ao Desenvolvimento de um Laboratório de Arco Elétrico Controlado para Medição da Energia Incidente

Abstract

Arc flashes are events of great electrical hazards and with a destructive power that can lead workers to disability and death, and cause serious damage to equipment. In the last 20 years, there have been significant advances in laboratory tests of arc flash to measure incident energy. For instance, the IEEE Standard 1584 - 2018 shows laboratory setups for tests and provides mathematical models to determine the incident energy. However, the literature is scarce regarding tests under several weather conditions, like moisture and different temperatures. These issues are especially important when it comes to the Brazilian context, since Brazil is a large country with several singularities, and understanding the effects of these conditions on arc flash can be of vast scientific importance. Therefore, this paper demonstrates the constructive aspects of a high-current laboratory for measuring incident energy in different conditions of moisture and temperature. Thus, the paper discusses about the limitations of the laboratory’s voltage, current and arcing time, as well as its main equipment, methods to arc ignition and a methodology to measure the resulting incident energy through calorimeters and a thermographic camera . With the laboratory’s conclusion, it is intended to contribute with the existing methodologies for testing arc flash in laboratory and the respective measurement of incident energy, as well as to provide results that can collaborate with more accurate sizing of personal protective equipment in several weather conditions.