Arc Flash Studies – Protecting People, Equipment and Your Business
Electrical faults can occur without warning, releasing enormous amounts of energy in a fraction of a second. An arc flash event can produce extreme temperatures, intense pressure waves, molten metal and flying debris capable of causing serious injury, equipment damage and lengthy production downtime.
An arc flash study helps identify these risks before an incident occurs. By understanding the potential incident energy throughout an electrical installation, businesses can implement practical measures to improve safety, reduce equipment damage and ensure personnel are protected when working on or near energised electrical equipment. Importantly they also identify if the protective devices will trip with an arc flash event.
At Coral Process Solutions, we provide professional arc flash studies for industrial facilities, manufacturing plants, utilities and commercial installations throughout Australia.
What is an Arc Flash?
An arc flash is an electrical explosion caused by an unintended electrical fault between conductors or between a conductor and earth. Unlike a short circuit contained within equipment, an arc flash releases energy into the surrounding environment.
Temperatures inside an arc flash can exceed 19,000°C, generating:
- Intense radiant heat
- Molten metal
- Pressure waves
- Flying debris
- Loud acoustic energy
- Toxic gases
Even relatively low-voltage switchboards can produce dangerous levels of incident energy depending on the available fault current and the time taken for protective devices to clear the fault.
What is an Arc Flash Study?
An arc flash study is an engineering assessment used to determine the potential incident energy at electrical equipment throughout a power distribution system.
The study identifies:
- Equipment with elevated arc flash risk
- Incident energy levels
- Arc flash boundaries
- Appropriate PPE requirements
- Opportunities to reduce fault clearing times
- Improvements to electrical protection coordination
The results are used to improve electrical safety procedures and assist organisations in managing electrical hazards.
Why is an Arc Flash Study Important?
Every electrical installation is different. Two switchboards supplied from the same transformer may have significantly different arc flash risks due to variations in:
- Protective device settings
- Cable lengths
- Fault current levels
- Equipment configuration
- Operating modes
Without an engineering study, it is difficult to accurately assess the level of risk or determine suitable control measures.
An arc flash study provides the information needed to make informed decisions about electrical safety and maintenance practices.
What Does an Arc Flash Study Involve?
A typical study includes several stages.
1. Site Data Collection
Accurate system information is essential. This may include:
- Single line diagrams
- Switchboard schedules
- Transformer data
- Cable sizes and lengths
- Protection relay settings
- Circuit breaker information
- Motor data
- Existing labels and documentation
Where documentation is incomplete, site inspections are often required to verify equipment details.
2. Power System Modelling
The electrical distribution system is modelled using specialist engineering software such as ETAP or PowerCAD.
The model represents:
- Incoming supply
- Transformers
- Switchboards
- Distribution boards
- Feeders
- Protective devices
- Major motors
The model forms the basis for subsequent calculations.
3. Short Circuit Analysis
The available fault current is calculated throughout the electrical system.
This establishes:
- Maximum fault levels
- Minimum fault levels
- Protective device performance
4. Protection Coordination
Protective devices are reviewed to ensure they operate selectively wherever practical.
Proper coordination can:
- Reduce equipment damage
- Improve system reliability
- Reduce unnecessary outages
- Minimise incident energy
5. Arc Flash Calculations
Incident energy is calculated for relevant items of electrical equipment using recognised engineering methods.
Typical outputs include:
- Incident energy (cal/cm²)
- Arc flash boundary
- Working distance
- Clearing time
- PPE category (where applicable)
- Equipment labels
6. Engineering Recommendations
The study concludes with recommendations that may include:
- Protection setting changes
- Equipment upgrades
- Maintenance improvements
- Arc-resistant equipment
- Remote switching
- Current-limiting devices
- Improved operating procedures
Benefits of an Arc Flash Study
An arc flash study provides several important benefits.
These include:
- Improved worker safety
- Better understanding of electrical hazards
- Reduced equipment damage
- Improved protection coordination
- Reduced downtime
- Better maintenance planning
- Improved risk management
- Assistance with electrical safety compliance
When Should an Arc Flash Study Be Updated?
An arc flash study should be reviewed whenever significant changes are made to the electrical installation, including:
- New switchboards
- Additional transformers
- Protection setting changes
- Modifications to plant cabling
Periodic reviews also help ensure documentation remains current.
The comprehensive nature of an arc flash study can also highlight other potentially unsafe situations in an electrical network such as switchboards and cables incorrectly rated
Industries We Support
Coral Process Solutions provides electrical engineering services to a wide range of industries, including:
- Manufacturing
- Food and beverage
- Water and wastewater
- Packaging
- Mining support facilities
- Process industries
- Industrial automation
- Commercial facilities
Whether your installation includes a single main switchboard or a complex industrial power distribution network, we can assist with assessing electrical risk and identifying practical improvements.
See our main electrical engineering page Electrical Engineering Consultants
Why Choose Coral Process Solutions?
Worksafe Victoria contains some excellent information for self evaluation of arc flash energies, and we recommend reviewing this information https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/arc-flash-self-audit-tool, but the expertise and knowledge with arc flash study is with the network information gathering and analysis rather than entering the final numbers into a calculation. Inaccurate network analysis can lead to dangerous underestimated requirements.
We are chartered professional electrical engineers that combine decades of practical industrial engineering experience with a strong understanding of electrical power systems, switchboards, protection systems and industrial automation.
We are able to offer services and expertise equal and beyond the level of larger electrical engineering consultants at a much more competitive rate due to our lower overheads. We have a standard schedule for arc flash study based upon the number of networks and protective devices so are able to provide a fixed price to complete the task very rapidly.
Our approach focuses on providing practical, technically sound recommendations that improve both electrical safety and operational reliability.
Every project is tailored to the client’s installation, ensuring the study reflects the actual operating conditions of the electrical system.
Contact us to discuss your electrical system and learn how an arc flash study can improve the safety and reliability of your operations.
