Arc flash is a dangerous electrical event that occurs when an electrical fault causes a sudden release of energy, resulting in an intense explosion. This event can produce extreme heat, light, pressure, and sound, leading to severe damage to equipment and posing significant safety hazards to personnel. In environments such as data centres, where electrical systems play a critical role in ensuring continuous operation, managing the risk of arc flash is essential for safety and reliability.
In this blog, Senior Electrical Engineer at Future-tech, Atousa Zaeim, delves into what is an arc flash, why its important in data centres and how to leverage it in data centre design.
What is Arc Flash?
An arc flash occurs when there is an uncontrolled discharge of electrical current through the air between conductors or from a conductor to ground. This phenomenon typically results from equipment failure, human error, insulation breakdown, or the presence of conductive dust.
When an arc flash happens, it can release tremendous energy in the form of:
Heat: Temperatures can reach up to 35,000°F (19,400°C), which is hotter than the surface of the sun. This can cause severe burns to anyone nearby.
Pressure Wave: The sudden release of energy creates a blast that can throw personnel across a room and damage equipment.
Shrapnel: Molten metal and debris from the explosion can project outward, posing additional risks.
Light and Sound: The flash of light can cause temporary or permanent blindness, and the sound can damage hearing.
Importance of Arc Flash in Data Centres
In data centres, managing arc flash hazards is critical for both safety and operational continuity. Here’s why:
Personnel Safety:
Arc flash incidents can cause life-threatening injuries to maintenance staff or anyone working near energized electrical equipment. Ensuring proper safety measures protects staff from severe injuries or fatalities.
Equipment Protection:
Data centres rely heavily on uninterrupted electrical systems for servers, data centre cooling, and networking equipment. An arc flash event can not only damage critical infrastructure but also result in costly repairs and extended downtime.
Minimising Downtime:
Downtime in a data centre can result in significant financial losses and disrupt services to clients. Managing the risk of arc flash helps reduce the likelihood of equipment failure and unplanned outages.
Regulatory Compliance with Safety Standards:
Various data centre safety standards, including NFPA 70E and IEEE 1584-2018, provide guidelines for calculating arc flash hazards and ensuring that the proper protective measures are in place. Compliance with these standards is essential for the safe operation of data centres and avoids regulatory penalties.
Techniques and Standards We Follow for Arc Flash
When performing arc flash assessments, we strictly follow IEEE 1584-2018, which provides improved methods for calculating incident energy levels. This standard introduced empirical formulas that account for various parameters such as system voltage, fault current, equipment configuration, and working distance. This allows for a more accurate prediction of arc flash hazards.
In addition, we comply with NFPA 70E 2024 to ensure our designs meet the latest safety requirements. This includes establishing Arc Flash Boundaries, determining appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for workers, and generating accurate labelling for electrical equipment.
By using ETAP software, we can automate much of this process. ETAP’s ArcSafety™ Solution allows for the rapid calculation of incident energy levels and flash protection boundaries. The software also ensures compliance with OSHA 1910.269 for medium and high voltage systems, further enhancing safety in mission-critical environments.
ETAP and Arc Flash Analysis
ETAP is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive tools for conducting arc flash analysis. The software provides multiple benefits, including:
Auto-Evaluation of Arc Flash Hazards: ETAP automates the evaluation of incident energy levels, making it easy to assess risks across multiple points in the electrical system. This speeds up the process, reducing costly downtime for equipment modifications.
Graphical Arc Flash Calculators: ETAP offers a user-friendly, graphical interface for running “what-if” scenarios. These calculators help us determine how system changes affect arc flash hazards, ensuring safety measures are optimized in real time.
Standards Compliance: ETAP ensures that our designs align with global safety standards, such as IEEE 1584-2018 and NFPA 70E, as well as European standards like DGUV-I 203-077. This makes our solutions robust, future-proof, and compliant with both local and international regulations.
Leveraging Arc Flash Studies in Data Centre Design
Data centres require high levels of operational reliability, and arc flash studies are a crucial part of ensuring that reliability. By conducting detailed arc flash assessments, we can identify the most vulnerable points in a system and take proactive steps to mitigate potential hazards.
In the data centre design phase, we model the electrical network using ETAP to simulate potential arc flash events. This allows us to optimise the placement of protective devices, such as circuit breakers and relays, to minimize fault currents and reduce arc flash energy. ETAP’s Arc Quenching Devices and Zone Selective Interlocking (ZSI) also help reduce the severity of arc flash events by improving the coordination of protective devices.
Additionally, ETAP’s Star™ Auto-Evaluation feature helps us ensure that all protective devices are properly coordinated, minimizing the risk of arc flash by ensuring devices operate in the correct sequence during fault conditions.
Conclusion
At Future-tech, we are committed to designing safe and reliable data centres by conducting comprehensive arc flash studies using ETAP. By adhering to IEEE 1584-2018, NFPA 70E 2024, and other global standards, we ensure that our clients benefit from optimised safety measures. ETAP’s advanced tools, such as the ArcSafety™ Solution and Graphical Arc Flash Calculators, help us deliver fast, accurate, and compliant arc flash assessments. This not only protects personnel and equipment but also ensures uninterrupted data centre operations, making arc flash studies a vital part of any data centre’s safety strategy.
Get in touch with our specialist data centre engineers today to find out more about our data centre design services.
All Future-tech content is produced by human writers based on their expertise, without the use of AI technology.