MARK WARNER
New member
I would appreciate any help and advice I could get regarding arc flash PPE and their use. We have just received the results of an short circuit and coordination and resultant arc flash study. This study revealed that incident energy of 63 cal/cm2 exists at our NWP's and switch gear. I have been advised that this exceeds the minimum of 40cal/cm2 of level 4 PPE and that we should not operate main or tye switches and that the stickers we are to apply to our equipment states, and I quote, " DANGER HAZARD LEVEL EXCEEDS MAX ARC FLASH PROTECTION" I have seen that there are suppliers of PPE rated at 70 cal/cm2. My question is, can I purchase the heavier PPE and have my technicians safely operate this gear and thusly continue my operations? We presently have 4 feeders and perform switching to insure redundancy whenever the utility takes a single feeder from us. We can not insure redundancy without moving those switches..I am not a degreed electrical eng. and know not who to turn to.