Arc Flash Study
An arc flash study, determines the incident energy (AFIE) in case of an arcing current fault in an electrical power system. In order to perform the arc flash study a short circuit and coordination study must first be performed or the results of these studies must be available to the engineer performing the arc flash study.
The result of the arc flash study will determine hazard at specific equipment based on the incident energy, as well as identify the Arc Flash Protection Boundary (this is the closest approach allowed before PPE must be worn).
Inside the Arc Flash Protection Boundary, a worker must be wearing the proper clothing, or Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The main objective of the PPE is to limit the burns to the body resulting from an arc flash event, to a survivable level. (i.e. 2nd degree or less) per NFPA 70E.
