OVERCURRENT COORDINATION, SECTIONALIZING, AND RELAYING STUDIES

Overcurrent coordination, sectionalizing and relaying requirements vary depending on the degree of protection required. The basic objectives of this protection are:

• Prevent or minimize damage to equipment and circuits.

• Prevent hazards to personnel.

• Maintain or improve continuity of service to electrical facilities.

Protection schemes can range from the use of inexpensive fuses to the use of more costly and sophisticated relays.

ICPE can perform the studies and calculations to determine the fault currents available and determine the proper size and ratings of protective equipment required, and specify the proper fuse sizes or relay settings that will result in proper coordination of the protective devices. ICPE also has the necessary equipment and experience to test and calibrate the relays and other protective devices during installation or on a periodic, ongoing maintenance basis. Any problems encountered are identified and solutions are recommended.

ARC FLASH STUDIES

ICPE can perform the detailed Arc Flash Analysis to compute the incident energy exposure level and define the Hazard/Risk Category for working on or near live (energized) parts. This analysis includes determinations for:

• The Limited Approach Boundary

• The Flash Protection Boundary

• The appropriate category of Flame Resistant Clothing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that persons within the Flash Protection Boundary shall use.

• Flame Resistant Clothing and Personal Protective Equipment to meet the Hazard/Risk Category requirements.

• Equipment Label requirements and Labels

Arc Flash Analysis is completed in strict conformance to meet the requirements of NFPA 70E.

GROUNDING STUDIES

Almost every electrical project requires a ground system design. These designs range from a simple ground rod to an entire ground mat complete with cathodic protection, neutral grounding resistors, ground fault relaying and detection, lightning shielding, and static electricity control.

For all power system grounding design, ICPE performs the following checklist of items:

• Select the ideal type of power grounding system for the application such as solid, high or low resistance, ungrounded, grounding transformers and/or ground fault relaying and detection.

• Specify installation requirements to meet code criteria, bonding and shielding requirements, and safety requirements.

• Prepare ground grid design to ensure proper levels of step and touch potentials.

• Ensure that sensitive electronic and computer equipment are properly protected from signal or noise discharge or electrostatic discharge.

• Account for all problem areas such as corrosion, lightning strokes, transferred earth potentials and power generation.

• Perform field performance testing on the installed grounding system to ensure that the proper levels of impedance are attained.

• Evaluate the required BIL (Basic Impulse Level) for the operation and verify equipment and verify equipment and protection ratings.