An Enhanced Method of Incident Energy Measurement

Incident energy ratings of arc flash personal protective equipment are based on standard test methodology described in well-established industry tests. The generated arc primarily subjects test specimens to incident energy due primarily to radiation. However, an actual arc flash may include an ejected arc where there is a higher degree of convective heat transfer, and may not be adequately represented in the standard tests. A sensor has been developed, and tested, that measures the incident energy due to convection and radiation, separately. Staged testing was performed to compare the results of the new sensor with traditional slug calorimeter instrumentation. The new sensor provided data comparable with the traditional sensor, while providing more information about the source of the incident energy. Application of the new sensor will better inform which types of personal protective equipment are better suited for protection against incident energy transferred via radiation, and that with more energy transferred convectively, such as the arc-in-a-box scenario.