FIRE & EXPLOSION HAZARD

FROM ELECTRICITY

K. SATYA PRASAD, SO/C

ELECTRICAL SECTION

To be discussed
Electrical

System

Faults
Causes
Fire

& explosion
Static electricity
Prevention measures

Earthing
Isolate by providing insulation

Safety

Electrical System
Bare

means not covered with insulating

materials;
Cable means a length of insulated single
conductor
Circuit means an arrangement of conductor
or conductors for the purpose of conveying
energy

 Circuit

breaker means a device, capable of making and

breaking the circuit under all conditions automatically.
Cut-out means any appliance automatically interrupts a
circuit with a fusible element.
Flameproof enclosure means an enclosure for
electrical machinery which doesnt communicate the
internal flammation (or explosion) to the external
inflammable gas or vapour in which it is designed to be
used.

 Intrinsically

safe as applied to apparatus or

associated circuits shall denote that any sparking
that may occur in normal working is incapable of
causing explosion of inflammable gas or vapour.
Voltage
Low less than 250V
Medium 250V to 650V
High 650V to 33KV

Faults
Current

flowing from its

intended path.
Results into flow of higher
currents and releases large
amount of heat energy
which is catastrophic in
nature.

Fire & explosion

47% accidents happened during operational

jobs

Causes of accidents:
71%

human error
11% Failure of plant
18% Presence of ignition source

 Most

fires
are
caused
either
by
carelessness or faulty equipment.
In electrical Cabling may also be a cause of
serious fires with risks of extensive damage
to the installation.
Batteries give off flammable and toxic gases.

major fire risks and detection

difficulties within Substations

Electrical arcing and the build-up of static electrical

charge within equipment.
Overheating of electrical control equipment, switchgear
and cabling.
Once initiated, a fire may rapidly spread due to the
presence of large amounts of combustible material in the
form of hydrocarbons contained in cabling and insulation.
The environment within uninterrupted power supply areas
(i.e. battery room) may become explosive from the build
up of high concentrations of hydrogen gas.

 Substations

are usually unmanned, thus,

early intervention by staff may not be
possible in the event of a fire
Underground cable trenches linking the main
areas of substation. High levels of
background pollution present in these areas
may cause easy spreading of fire.

 The

layout of the plant and the design of the

building play a major part in reducing the
spread of fire and the effect of explosions.
buildings should be arranged to have vents
which rupture rather than allowing an
explosion.

Electric shock
Electric

current passing through

the body may disrupt the nervous
system, cause muscular reaction
and the painful sensation
called electric shock.
Electric shock sign
In some instances, the consequence is death from
cardiac arrest, or from ventricular fibrillation,
respiratory arrest.

Electric shock
The

physiological effects are largely

determined by the magnitude and frequency
of the current, its duration and the path.
Admissible limit of touch voltage (i.e. the
product of the current through the body
called touch current and the body
impedance) as a function of time.

Electric shock
The

different parts of the human body (such as the

skin, blood, muscles, other tissues and joints) have
a certain impedance.
This impedance also depends on current path, on
touch voltage, frequency, degree of moisture of the
skin, surface area of contact, pressure exerted and
temperature.
A thumb rule: At an applied voltage of 230 V at 50
Hz, the total body impedance for a hand-to-feet path
will be in the range 1000 to 2500

 Direct

contact shocks: Touching of bare live

wires or terminals
Indirect contact shocks: Touching of an
exposed conductive part that has become
live under fault conditions

What Is Earthing
The process of connecting metallic bodies of all
the electrical apparatus and equipment to huge
mass of earth by a wire having negligible
resistance is called Earthing.

Purpose of Earthing

To save human life from danger of electrical shock or death by

blowing a fuse i.e. To provide an alternative path for the fault current
to flow so that it will not endanger the user
To protect buildings, machinery & appliances under fault conditions
ie. To ensure that all exposed conductive parts do not reach a
dangerous potential.
To provide safe path to dissipate lightning and short circuit currents.
To provide stable platform for operation of sensitive electronic
equipments i.e. To maintain the voltage at any part of an electrical
system at a known value so as to prevent over current or excessive
voltage on the appliances or equipment .
To provide protection against static electricity from friction

THANK YOU