DC Arc Flash: Testing and Modeling Incidents in a 125-V Substation Battery Backup System

Austin C. Gaunce; Xuan Wu; John D. Mandeville; Dennis J. Hoffman; Amrit S. Khalsa; Joseph Sottile; Ronald J. Wellman

doi:10.1109/TIA.2020.2971478

DC Arc Flash: Testing and Modeling Incidents in a 125-V Substation Battery Backup System

Austin C. Gaunce, Xuan Wu, John D. Mandeville, Dennis J. Hoffman, Amrit S. Khalsa, Joseph Sottile, Ronald J. Wellman

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Station batteries used as a backup source to supply station direct-current (dc) power to relays, etc., present a source of personnel exposure to dc arc flash. However, dc arc flash is less understood compared with the arc-flash phenomena that occur in alternating-current (ac) systems. Some models exist to quantify the potential hazards posed by dc electrical systems; however, there is little empirical data available. Additionally, the lower voltage and/or lower capacity station batteries are even less researched. As a result, a series of arc-flash tests were performed at the Dolan Technology Center of American Electric Power (AEP) utilizing two 125 V_dc batteries with rated capacities of 100 and 150 Ah. For these tests, working distance and gap width were used as independent variables. Upon the conclusion of testing, various relationships were analyzed to generate a predictive model for incident energy. This model serves as a compilation of the empirical data collected during testing and will contribute to future research efforts to better understand dc arc-flash incidents from station batteries.

Original language	English
Article number	8981921
Pages (from-to)	2138-2147
Number of pages	10
Journal	IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications
Volume	56
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TIA.2020.2971478
State	Published - May 1 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 1972-2012 IEEE.

Funding

The authors would like to thank everyone at AEP’s Dolan Technology Center who provided assistance and dedicated time and effort into the testing required for this research. In addition, the authors would like to thank M. Lang and Dr. W.-J. Lee for providing the necessary information to develop the test setup. Finally, the authors would like to appreciate all the support from AEP Transmission Leadership.

Funders	Funder number
AEP Transmission Leadership

Keywords

Direct-current (DC) arc flash
empirical data
predictive model
station battery

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Control and Systems Engineering
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Access to Document

10.1109/TIA.2020.2971478

Cite this

@article{529b003a6c434505b3eeef386ed5dda2,

title = "DC Arc Flash: Testing and Modeling Incidents in a 125-V Substation Battery Backup System",

abstract = "Station batteries used as a backup source to supply station direct-current (dc) power to relays, etc., present a source of personnel exposure to dc arc flash. However, dc arc flash is less understood compared with the arc-flash phenomena that occur in alternating-current (ac) systems. Some models exist to quantify the potential hazards posed by dc electrical systems; however, there is little empirical data available. Additionally, the lower voltage and/or lower capacity station batteries are even less researched. As a result, a series of arc-flash tests were performed at the Dolan Technology Center of American Electric Power (AEP) utilizing two 125 Vdc batteries with rated capacities of 100 and 150 Ah. For these tests, working distance and gap width were used as independent variables. Upon the conclusion of testing, various relationships were analyzed to generate a predictive model for incident energy. This model serves as a compilation of the empirical data collected during testing and will contribute to future research efforts to better understand dc arc-flash incidents from station batteries.",

keywords = "Direct-current (DC) arc flash, empirical data, predictive model, station battery",

author = "Gaunce, {Austin C.} and Xuan Wu and Mandeville, {John D.} and Hoffman, {Dennis J.} and Khalsa, {Amrit S.} and Joseph Sottile and Wellman, {Ronald J.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 1972-2012 IEEE.",

year = "2020",

month = may,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1109/TIA.2020.2971478",

language = "English",

volume = "56",

pages = "2138--2147",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - DC Arc Flash

T2 - Testing and Modeling Incidents in a 125-V Substation Battery Backup System

AU - Gaunce, Austin C.

AU - Wu, Xuan

AU - Mandeville, John D.

AU - Hoffman, Dennis J.

AU - Khalsa, Amrit S.

AU - Sottile, Joseph

AU - Wellman, Ronald J.

PY - 2020/5/1

Y1 - 2020/5/1

N2 - Station batteries used as a backup source to supply station direct-current (dc) power to relays, etc., present a source of personnel exposure to dc arc flash. However, dc arc flash is less understood compared with the arc-flash phenomena that occur in alternating-current (ac) systems. Some models exist to quantify the potential hazards posed by dc electrical systems; however, there is little empirical data available. Additionally, the lower voltage and/or lower capacity station batteries are even less researched. As a result, a series of arc-flash tests were performed at the Dolan Technology Center of American Electric Power (AEP) utilizing two 125 Vdc batteries with rated capacities of 100 and 150 Ah. For these tests, working distance and gap width were used as independent variables. Upon the conclusion of testing, various relationships were analyzed to generate a predictive model for incident energy. This model serves as a compilation of the empirical data collected during testing and will contribute to future research efforts to better understand dc arc-flash incidents from station batteries.

AB - Station batteries used as a backup source to supply station direct-current (dc) power to relays, etc., present a source of personnel exposure to dc arc flash. However, dc arc flash is less understood compared with the arc-flash phenomena that occur in alternating-current (ac) systems. Some models exist to quantify the potential hazards posed by dc electrical systems; however, there is little empirical data available. Additionally, the lower voltage and/or lower capacity station batteries are even less researched. As a result, a series of arc-flash tests were performed at the Dolan Technology Center of American Electric Power (AEP) utilizing two 125 Vdc batteries with rated capacities of 100 and 150 Ah. For these tests, working distance and gap width were used as independent variables. Upon the conclusion of testing, various relationships were analyzed to generate a predictive model for incident energy. This model serves as a compilation of the empirical data collected during testing and will contribute to future research efforts to better understand dc arc-flash incidents from station batteries.

KW - Direct-current (DC) arc flash

KW - empirical data

KW - predictive model

KW - station battery

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084177630&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85084177630&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1109/TIA.2020.2971478

DO - 10.1109/TIA.2020.2971478

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85084177630

SN - 0093-9994

VL - 56

SP - 2138

EP - 2147

JO - IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications

JF - IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications

IS - 3

M1 - 8981921

ER -

DC Arc Flash: Testing and Modeling Incidents in a 125-V Substation Battery Backup System

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this