Seattle IAS January Meeting - Arc Quenching Switchgear
This month we’ll be talking with Cameron Clark of Eaton on Arc Quenching Switchgear. This type of switchgear advances the state-of-the-art for arc flash safety solutions by reducing incident energy to a level where the switchgear will survive an arc flash event, while providing enhanced safety and minimal equipment downtime.
Meeting Summary
- Exceptional incident energy reduction – Reduces incident energy to less than 1.2 cal/cm2, far below methods that rely solely on a power circuit breaker to clear the fault. (For 480 V systems with 85,000 A of available fault current or less at a working distance of 18")
- Enhanced safety – Exceeds C37.20.7 arc-resistant testing requirements by demonstrating acceptance even when breakers are removed, doors are open and covers are removed - without the need for ducts, plenums or special construction.
- Advanced equipment protection – Protects valuable switchgear assets from arc flash damage.
- Dramatically reduced downtime – Switchgear can be quickly returned to service after an arc flash event.
How Arc Quenching Switchgear works:
Arc Quenching Switchgear detects and contains an arc fault in less than 4 milliseconds, drastically reducing the incident energy. It works by detecting the ignition of an arc inside the switchgear and transferring it to the Arc Quenching Device. Arc Quenching Switchgear transfers the arc by creating a lower-impedance arcing fault, not a bolted fault, safely contained inside the Arc Quenching Device. This reduces the peak fault current by at least 25% and puts less stress on upstream equipment during a quenching operation.
Cameron Clark
Mr. Clark is the Northwest District Application Engineer for Eaton’s Electrical Sector business. His main responsibility is supporting and
educating the design engineering community in
the correct application of electrical distribution
equipment, and developing electrical distribution
systems to serve commercial and industrial
facilities. He also educates the design community
on new technology developments in the industry
and strategies to apply these, to meet evolving
code requirements and improve the safety of
electrical distribution systems.
Mr. Clark has 34 years of experience in the
electrical industry working for electrical
distribution equipment manufacturing
businesses. He has served in various roles within
the electrical distribution products industry
including Technical Sales, Marketing, and
Technical Application. He has extensive
experience with design of electrical distribution
systems for different market segments including,
Data Center, Commercial Construction,
Institutional, Healthcare, Water / Waste Water,
Industrial facilities, and utility applications.
Mr. Clark is a graduate of the University of Utah
Electrical Engineering program. He is currently
serving as Vice Chair of the Seattle chapter of the
IEEE Industry Application Society, and is the
treasurer and sits on the Board of Directors of
the Electric League of the Pacific Northwest.
Date and Time
Location
Hosts
Registration
-
Add Event to Calendar
- 701 Pike St
- Suite 1200
- Seattle, Washington
- United States 98101
- Building: Brown & Caldwell
- Click here for Map