The IEEE 1584-2002 arc modeling debate and simple incident energy equations for low-voltage systems

The data set and equations presented in the IEEE Standard 1584-2002, IEEE Guide for Performing Arc-Flash Hazard Calculations, were examined in previous work by the authors. Simple estimations for predicting arc current and incident energy were also presented. This work furthers the understanding of arcing by comparing theoretical circuit results with the low-voltage data published in IEEE 15842002. The applicability of popular approaches to arc modeling is discussed. Also, simple formulas for predicting the incident energy released by three-phase arcing faults in low-voltage (<1 kV) systems are validated and compared with results based on IEEE 1584-2002 equations. The role of arc duration in predicting incident energy is addressed.