Electrical Safety

Use Of SF6 Gas In The Electrical Transmission Industry

Use Of SF6 Gas In The Electrical Transmission Industry

SF6 Gas

In The Electrical Transmission Industry

Bluefield

Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) gas circuit-breakers have been a critical technology under review by the European Union (EU) for some time. Bluefield applied our collective knowledge and learnings to inform and recommend an alternative the use if SF6 gas-type switchgear.

Problem

A site required upgrades to its existing High Voltage (HV) electrical switchboards. The site’s aim was to reduce all arc flash hazard categories to ‘everyday work clothing’ or less.

Bluefield identified that the existing switchboard equipment utilised the SF₆ gas-type circuit-breakers

SF₆ gas circuit-breakers have been a critical technology under review for some time.

Bluefield further investigated the risks of use, possible alternatives, and opportunities for the site to reduce its arc flash hazards.

Investigation

• The European Union EU regulation 517/2014, due to be reviewed in 2020, will potentially declare the complete phasing out of the use of SF₆ gas type equipment.
• SF₆ is the greenhouse gas with the most significant global warming potential (GWP) – 22,800 times more than CO₂.
• SF₆ decomposes under electrical stress, forming toxic by-products; this by-product, disulphur decafluoride (S₂F₁₀), has a toxicity on a par with phosgene gas, and is extremely hazardous to employees.
• Only licensed or authorised hazardous waste managers are permitted to handle, transport, and recycle SF₆ (OPSGG 1989)
• A significant number of assets in the site’s HV electrical infrastructure utilised SF₆ gas type circuit breakers.

Results

Bluefield recommended the use and future change out to Vacuum-type circuit-breakers.

Service experience shows them to be reliable, almost maintenance-free, and safe under operating conditions. They have negligible global warming potential (GWP), with no reporting required under the Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act, no suffocation or poisoning risk due to toxic by-products or leakage, and no fire hazards or explosion risk due to over-pressurisation or overheating of the gas.

Bluefield also recommended the installation of remote or wireless switching of circuit breakers to remove the arc flash hazards associated with this task.

The site subsequently changed its business philosophy on the use of SF₆ gas-type circuit-breakers. They implemented the use of Vacuum circuit-breakers, and utilised remote switching to achieve their target for arc flash reduction and risk mitigation.

About Bluefield

Bluefield believes that: –

• Equipment reliability starts with the quality execution of the lifecycle maintenance plan
• Software solutions should make it easier and less labour intensive to operate equipment within design limits and execute quality maintenance to a defined lifecycle plan
• Maintenance management is about managing maintenance and reliability, whereas asset management is about making sure the physical assets deliver the best bottom line outcomes for the business

We have proven our ability to assist our clients in mining, rail and gas industries to sustainably get more from their assets; more throughput, more reliability, more uptime, more productivity and more cost reductions. Our methods ensure that the site teams own the improvements and therefore they actually get implemented. We use the latest technology to get results faster.

Specialist Suppliers of High Voltage Electrical Equipment & Cable Accessories

LV, MV & HV Jointing, Earthing, Substation & Electrical Eqpt

Thorne & Derrick International are specialist distributors of LV, MV & HV Cable Installation, Jointing, Duct Sealing, Substation & Electrical Equipment – servicing UK and global businesses involved in cable installations, cable jointing, substation, overhead line and electrical construction at LV, 11kV, 33kV and EHV.

THORNE & DERRICK Product Categories: Duct Seals | Cable Cleats | Cable Glands | Electrical Safety | Arc Flash Protection | Cable Jointing Tools | Cable Pulling | Earthing | Feeder Pillars | Cable Joints LV | Joints & Terminations MV HV 

Thorne & Derrick | Stockists & Suppliers | Joints Terminations Connectors up to 66kV

Medium Voltage Electrical Safety Tips | MV HV

MV and LV Electrical Substation Hub: Courtesy OSHA

• Guest Article By Sam Pherwani. P.Eng, CESCP Engineer, Instructor, Entrepreneur

Medium Voltage Electrical Safety

Five years+ of doing this, I’m still a student.

However been grateful to my customers for the exposure to windfarms, oil and gas, substations, pulp/paper meeting many fine electricians and learning from spirited discussions on how industry in US and Canada interprets Electrical Safe Work practices. Of course, NFPA 70E/NEC/CSA Z462 form the basis of Electrical Safety on this side of the pond.

These few pointers come out of experience in the Medium Voltage (per ANSI C84.1) Electrical Systems practically (2.4kV-69kV). Hope we see more of these best practices considered and frequently I might add, as the new world rolls into a better future.

1. Electrical Safety Footwear – Conventional Electrical Hazard rated Safety Boots most electrical workers have are rated to ASTM F2413-11 and CSA Z195-14 offer very little electrical shock protection, 600VAC or less if in wet conditions. Most well written MV electrical safety Risk Assessment forms (JHA/JSAs) call for secondary protection such as dielectric insulating mats or dielectric insulating safety overshoes but human error, inertia sometimes causes these steps overlooked. ASTM F1117 Class 2 AC EN 50321 dielectric boots now offer 17kV/20kVAC protection, comparable to Class E hard hats, making it a better fit for MV workplace.
2. Arc Rated Suits & Arc Flash Protective Clothing  – Until NFPA 70E-2015 the soft “do not exceed” threshold for unsafe energized work was 40 cal/cm2 of incident energy at working distance (3-4 feet, length of hot-stick away from equipment). Since then, PPE manufacturers making arc flash suits rated to as high as 140 cal/cm2 have influenced the standards to soften stance on that verboten verbiage. Their rationale – no OSHA recorded fatalities for arc blast at these higher cal ratings. My take – first of all, probably none of the mavens have experienced a 100 cal blast first hand from within the arc flash suit or PPE. Secondly, G-forces of even a 1.5 cal/cm2 blast could rattle human vitals like jello, permanently marring a victim with weakened resistance to other adverse forces soft or direct, possibly even a shorter lifespan if not an instant injury. Personally, I’d find a way to minimize high incident energy exposure regardless of the arc flash protective clothing.
3. Current Probe – So you want to work on MV Medium Volage electrical equipment (make modifications) … you de-energize the system, test for absence of voltage, and apply grounds, You troubleshoot with a voltage detector, not clearly distinguishing between nominal, stray, backfed or induced voltages. Would be nice to have a current meter clamped device hotstick mountable to gauge trace currents. Can’t find one? Until we do, here is one good at least for measuring current draw on troubleshooting. An amp-probe such as this one works well in tandem with a tick tracer. https://sensorlink.com/products/ampstik-plus. Consider adding one to your toolbox.
4. Rescue Hooks – OSHA 1910.269, 70E-110 are not clear on when rescue hooks or insulating sticks are to be used for shock mitigation. The urban legend of using a 2×4 lumber on an electrocution won’t die, the victim might, especially in an MV environment. In addition to switching bare overhead substation equipment, racking of breakers, 4160V MCCs justify use of rescue shepherd hooks. The second Qualified Electrical person should secure the worker with a rescue hook and correct body position, weight pulling outward passively. Many a site has a rescue hook sitting in a warehouse collecting dust, just for the fact nobody included it in their electrical safety program conditions.
5. Infrared Thermograhy – 70E/Z462 very clearly say equipment may not be in normal operation if equipment is not properly maintained. So you buy a maintenance contract (per NFPA 70B, CSA Z462, NERC) for peace of mind. You still could have a potential situation where a transformer or breaker is in imminent danger of failure owing to end of life, service fatigue, process upsets or transients. Infrared thermometers, prohibitively expensive 20 years ago are now very feasible tools, reasonable in price and are way preferable to contact troubleshooting methods. A big plus is predictive maintenance if baseline images/videos have been established. Care is required to use rated instruments in outdoor MV environments, outside restricted approach shock boundary.
6. Performing Ground Resistance Studies – You inherit a substation, so you’re only worried about above ground equipment maintenance right? Whats under the ground can hurt you … Copper theft, corrosion, increase of plant or station capacity from initial Ufer/ring ground design, improper grounding and bonding could result in fault currents light up the ground in ripples (step & touch potential hazards). Yes, those yellow sleeves on guy wires have a real purpose. NEC 250 requires 25 ohms or under as ground resistance for industrial sites but utilities, power generation consultants usually count five ohms or less as rule of thumb. Its a good idea every few years to perform a ground resistance test – three/four point method, preferably during a shutdown in vicinity of mains transformer.

Further Reading

• Electrical Safety – Arc Flash Accidents & Electrocution In LV-HV Installations
  
• Arc Flash Calculation – Selecting Clothing & PPE To Protect Lives Against Arc Hazard
• IEC 61482-2:2018 – Get Up To Speed With The New Arc Flash Standard
• Arc Flash PPE | 7 Top Considerations
• Arc Flash The Basics

Insulating Matting | Voltage Detectors | Substation Kits | Phase Comparators

Arc Flash Clothing | Polo Shirts | Jackets | Coveralls | Trousers | Sweatshirts | Helmets

THORNE & DERRICK

Thorne & Derrick are national distributors of LV, MV & HV Cable Installation, Jointing, Substation & Electrical Equipment – servicing businesses involved in cabling, jointing, substation, earthing, overhead line and electrical construction at LV, 11kV, 33kV, 66kV and EHV. Supplying a complete range of power cable accessories to support the installation and maintenance of low/medium and high voltage power systems:

• Slip-on Cable Terminations
• Cold-shrink Cable Terminations
• Heat-shrink Cable Terminations
• Cable Joints – Heat & Cold-shrink
• Separable Connectors (Euromold)
• Surge Arresters & Switchgear/Transformer Bushings

Key Product Categories: Duct Seals | Cable Cleats | Cable Glands | Electrical Safety | Arc Flash Protection | Cable Jointing Tools | Cable Pulling | Earthing | Feeder Pillars | Cable Joints LV | Joints & Terminations MV 

How Thorne & Derrick Improve Electrical Safety……

Mark Henderson (CATU) and Natalie Lundie (Thorne & Derrick International)

Electrical Safety

Mark Henderson (Sales Engineer) at CATU Electrical visited Thorne & Derrick offices today to discuss with Natalie Lundie (Supply Chain: Marketing Lead) how we can work together on some joint marketing initiatives to further increase sales lead generation.

CATU Electrical manufacture electrical safety equipment for LV HV and EHV applications including switching and maintenance work on low and high voltage electricity switchgear and cable systems – the range includes voltage detectors, substation life saving kits, insulating sticks, insulating gloves and insulating matting.

Mark has recently took on a new role at CATU Electrical as a Electric Vehicle Safety Equipment Specialist and has requested the help of T&D to build a marketing campaign around products specific to the EV industry.

💡 Blog Electrical & Hybrid Vehicles | Improving Electrical Safety for the EV Industry

Ready for the Revolution? Thorne & Derrick can support the implementation of electrical safety precautions with automotive manufacturers, dealership networks and garage repair specialists – products specifically designed to prevent electrocution.

Mark Henderson Sales Engineer at Sicame Distribution UK comments, “Thorne & Derrick are the UK’s largest stockist and distributor for CATU Electrical – supplying Safety Equipment for underground, overhead line and substation safety on LV, MV and HV cable networks including the renewables industry.”

T&D’s Sales Engineers have excellent product knowledge and are supported by CATU Electrical with ongoing training. Their team are friendly and technically astute going “above and beyond” –  offering a proactive customer service which also includes joint product demonstrations and field support. The sales team are strongly supported by a marketing team whose expertise and strengths are SEO, social and digital marketing,” Mark adds.

➡ Look out for our Q&A with Mark about EV Electrical Safety.

CATU Electrical Safety Equipment

Stockists & Suppliers of Electrical Safety Equipment

ALADIN Individual Voltage Alarm With Headlamp For MV Overhead Lines 10-400kV

ALADIN | The Helmet Mounted Voltage Detector

Individual Voltage Alarm With Headlamp

• uploaded by Chris Dodds - Sales Marketing Manager Thorne & Derrick International

MV Medium Voltage Overhead Lines 10-400kV

P&B Weir together with Thorne & Derrick introduce an innovative new electrical safety product to the UK market – ALADIN is an individual voltage alarm with headlamp suitable for use with MV overhead lines in the voltage range of 10-400kV.

The electrical safety device is designed like a headlight to be attached on helmets or hard hats and complies with European Directives EN 61000-6-2 and EN 61000-6-4.

ALADIN is extensively used throughout the Rail, Renewable, Data Centre, Transmission & Distribution, Oil & Gas and Utility sectors for safe working around Medium & High Voltage Electrical Equipment, Switchgear, Substations, Cables & Overhead Lines with typical operating voltages 11kV 25kV 33kV 66kV 132kV 400kV.

Improved electrical safety levels for workers operating near live equipment

The personal electric field detector combined with professional headlamp provides the user with an audible safety alarm offering an additional level of safety for workers operating near energised equipment e.g during maintenance, rescue operations, painting and pruning.

The frequency of the audible alarm increases as the detected electric field increases. Example situations where the ALADIN provides improved electrical safety:

• Misunderstanding: the operator approaches a danger zone
• Voltage unexpected return. mistake during an operation on disconnected network
• Involuntary approach: quick move in direction of energised area during operation
• Diversion: the operator is distracted and moves towards a high potential energised conductor unconsciously

Calibration & Testing | The Aladin has an auto-test function but can also be checked by placing it in contact with an unshielded low voltage element such as a wall outlet or power cord.

ALADIN is suitable for outside and indoor medium voltage electrical equipment.

ALADIN is supplied in a cardboard box with a universal charger and micro USB cable, interface for fitting to a helmet, an elasticated band and four hooks, a reinforced protective case and users’ instructions.

ALADIN – MV Overhead Lines 10-400kV

ALADIN Advantages

• 360° detection around the wearer : the ideal position of the detector on top of the protective helmets makes detection of an electric field equally effective, whether it is located in front of or behind the wearer
• Smart Mute exclusive feature: smart alarm:
  – It is used to silence the warning sound once at working place, the device is remaining in vigilance and still measuring the electric field
  – The warning sound will automatically restart in case of increase of the level of detected electric field (closer or sudden presence of voltage)
  – Acts as an additional fencing which can be set at the working place
• Wide voltage range from 2kV to 400kV
• Integrated professional dual-beam LED headlamp
• Compact and lightweight
• No influence of the electromagnetic fields
• 2 types of light are available :
  − 1 light for remote vision (overhead lines, poles, …)
  − 1 light for closer vision (walking trip, working place, …)
• Light and compact device
• Rechargeable by standard micro USB 5 V plug

ALADIN

Technical Specifications

Individual Voltage Alarm With Headlamp For MV Overhead Lines 10-400kV

PB WEIR PORTABLE EARTHING & ELECTRICAL SAFETY EQUIPMENT

• Substation Earthing – Line End & Earth End Clamps
• Substation Operating Poles & Sticks
• Link Box Earthing Kits
• Network Rail PADS Approved Operating Poles
• Network Rail PADS Approved 25kV OLE Electrified Lines AC & DC Portable Earths
• Transmission & Overhead Line Portable Earthing EHV 132kV 275kV 400kV
• Westminster Voltage Detectors
• Distribution Line Earthing Equipment
• Buchholz Relays

The Aladin Range of Personal Alarms for Voltage Detection 

ALADIN provides extra safety level for workers operating near energized equipment (during construction, maintenance, rescue operations, painting, pruning) up to 400kV.

Aladin 50kV 400kV Voltage Detectors

Aladin 10kV 69kV Voltage Detectors

Aladin 2kV 400kV Voltage Detectors

PB WEIR – DISTRIBUTORS, STOCKISTS & SUPPLIERS

PB Weir Substation Earthing and Transmission Line Earthing Equipment include line end clamps, earth end clamps, portable earthing leads and operating poles for high voltage substations, overhead power line and transmission line applications – voltages include 11kV, 33kV, 66kV, 132kV up to 400kV.

Thorne & Derrick provide competitive prices and fast delivery from stock for the complete range of PB Weir substation earthing and transmission line earthing equipment.

➡ Read More Here: PB Weir Working With Thorne & Derrick – Portable Earthing & Electrical Safety Specialists

LV, MV & HV JOINTING, EARTHING, SUBSTATION & ELECTRICAL EQPT

Thorne & Derrick International are specialist distributors of LV, MV & HV Cable Installation, Jointing, Duct Sealing, Substation & Electrical Equipment – servicing UK and global businesses involved in cable installations, cable jointing, substation, overhead line and electrical construction at LV, 11kV, 33kV and EHV.

CBS ArcSafe & Thorne & Derrick

Providing Arc-Flash Protection With Remote Circuit Breaker Racking Devices MV HV

• Press Release: Chris Dodds - Sales & Marketing Manager with Thorne & Derrick International

Remote Racking

Thorne & Derrick International, the Specialist Distributors of LV HV Jointing, Earthing, Substation & Electrical Eqpt have signed a MOU to undertake the Sales Distribution & Marketing of the CBS ArcSafe range of Remote Circuit Breaker Racking products – this product range provides arc-flash protection with remote circuit breaker racking devices for LV MV HV power systems including high-risk aging assets.

The CBS ArcSafe range of remote racking products covers 95% of global switchgear market applications – we will be servicing the UK market with site training, demonstration and visits.

This UK agreement augments our Electrical Safety product range to ensure the safe installation, operation and maintenance of LV MV HV substations, underground cables and overhead line conductors from 600V up to 420kV.

CBS ArcSafe offers the electrical industry’s largest inventory of remote racking and switching solutions for switchgear – the systems operate without modification to existing electrical equipment and allow authorised technicians and personnel to operate equipment from a safe distance of up to 300 feet.

➡  view catalogue.

CBS ArcSafe | the highest quality remote operation equipment for protection of people’s lives and plant operations against arc flash hazards.

THORNE & DERRICK

Thorne & Derrick are national distributors of LV, MV & HV Cable Installation, Jointing, Substation & Electrical Equipment – servicing businesses involved in cabling, jointing, substation, earthing, overhead line and electrical construction at LV, 11kV, 33kV, 66kV and EHV. Supplying a complete range of power cable accessories to support the installation and maintenance of low/medium and high voltage power systems.

Key Product Categories: Duct Seals | Cable Cleats | Cable Glands | Electrical Safety | Arc Flash Protection | Cable Jointing Tools | Cable Pulling | Earthing | Feeder Pillars | Cable Joints LV | Joints & Terminations MV