Featured Service

Arc Flash Incident Energy Analysis

An arc flash is an electrical explosion due to a fault condition, resulting in a possible injury or death.

WHERE & WHEN CAN AN ARC FLASH OCCUR?

An arc flash can occur in any electrical device with voltages above 50V and in which energy is high enough to sustain an arc. Common places for a fault to occur include:

  • Industrial control panels

  • Panel boards & switchboards

  • Motor control centers

  • Metal clad switchgear

  • Transformers

  • Motor starters

  • High voltage switching & grounding

  • Pad mount switchgear

  • Anywhere electrical equipment failure can occur

WHO IS MOST AT RISK?

Personnel who are typically affected by arc flash hazards are maintenance workers, electricians, equipment operators and HVAC technicians. Examples of tasks that require arc-rated clothing under NFPA-70E are:

  • Removing or installing circuit breakers or fuses

  • Low voltage testing

  • Working on control circuits with energized parts exposed

  • Applying safety grounds

  • Racking circuit breakers

  • Racking starters

  • Removing bolted covers

Our team has been performing
turnkey Arc Flash Studies for clients in all types of industries & facilities since 2002.

ARC FLASH

An arc flash may occur at various types of electrical equipment, new or old, big or small. This is why our team is backed by Master and Journeyman Electricians who’s years in the field are extremely valuable when it comes to knowing the electrical equipment, inside and out. This enables us to relate the calculated arc flash hazards to practical real world scenarios.  

ARC FLASH MITIGATION

We can also provide practical arc flash mitigation methods where warranted.  Whether you have existing equipment with high arc flash ratings, or are looking to install new equipment with arc flash levels as low as possible, we can recommend the latest and most cost effective methods to reduce the arc flash incident energy levels that workers may be exposed to.

ADDITIONAL SERVICES

  • Pre-installation consultation to help lower the arc flash hazards

  • Custom arc flash label design with the customer

  • PPE Consultation

  • Arc Flash Mitigation

  • Infrared Scans

  • Create Electrical One-line only

  • Circuit tracing and updating panel schedules

  • Electrical Code compliance

  • Electrical Safety Audits

  • Assistance with Electrical Safety Programs

  • Assistance wit Lock-Out Tag-Out Programs

  • Substation Preventative Maintenance per NFPA-70B and electrical equipment maintenance program

OUR PROCESS TO A COMPLETE ARC FLASH INCIDENT ENERGY ANALYSIS

On-Site Data Collection & Field Verification

Collection necessary electrical equipment data by licensed journeyman or master electricians. We will conduct visual inspections, remove equipment covers when necessary, and collect additional documentation from the customer to ensure a complete understanding of their electrical system.

Electrical System Modeling

Create one-line diagrams of the electrical distribution system with the latest and most popular software on the market.

Perform Arc Flash Incident Energy Calculations

IEEE-1584-2018 calculations are used to determine the arc flash incident energy and arc flash boundary for all equipment on the one-line diagrams.

Arc Flash Mitigation

  • Identify equipment where incident energy can be lowered by various methods.

  • Recommend specific methods to reduce the hazards.

Project Closeout

  • Arc flash labels applied by Pieper Electric.

  • Review study findings with customer at project closeout meeting.

  • Provide project deliverables

HIERARCHY OF CONTROLS

Our focus is at the top of the Hierarchy of Controls pyramid. A common mistake is overlooking all the steps ahead of PPE. We want to help you eliminate the hazards, if we cannot eliminate the hazard, we can help to reduce and engineer the hazard to a lesser severity. We look at PPE as being the last option, when all others have been exhausted.