Pressure Estimation during Internal Arc Test

Abstract

During line maintenance of the low voltage & medium voltage panels, sometime due to mistake of operator there can be an accident due to short circuiting of busbars. Short circuiting of the busbars creates very heavy heating which can develop very high pressure. This pressure can lead to opening of a door or busting of the enclosure panel. Blast of the panel can be responsible for death of operator working at place. At present, pressure rise test is carried out in testing laboratory using internal arc test standard IEC 61641. This test is not a mandatory test. After practical test the result available does not indicate the exact pressure distribution inside enclosure and heat distribution. In this report, an internal arc test simulation method for two different models is given. Result of these simulations is very near to the test results. Manufacturer can use this method and can find pressure rise during internal arc inside the panel which will save the time and cost.