Intelligent Power Today Magazine

Advanced approaches to addressing direct-current arcing faults

BY MICHAEL FURTAK & LEW SILECKY, Mersen

Let’s face it: there is not very much information available about direct current (DC) arc flashes. And, if you have searched in vain, well hopefully this feature will give you some insight into arc flash with relevance to DC circuits. Essentially, we want customers to be armed with information so that they can accurately determine the necessary level of protection required when working around these circuits.

In this feature, direct-current arcing fault incident energy calculations are presented to assess the level of risk involved when working...

A new method to choosing personal protective equipment

BY JIM WHITE, Shermco Industries, Inc.

Table 130.7(C)(15)(a) in the 2012 edition of NFPA 70E: “Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace”, published by the National Fire Protection Association, has always been difficult for technicians and safety professionals to use in the field. Even though it has an outstanding record since being introduced in the 2000 edition of NFPA 70E, some members of the technical committee have been solidly against it.

One of those committee members stated that if the tables were eliminated, everyone would be forced to have an incident...