Method for predicting arc flash energy and PPE category within a real-time monitoring system

1. A method for simulating an arc flash event on an electrical power system, comprising:

comparing a virtual system model of the electrical power system with a real-time of the electrical power system in real-time based on real-time data from the electrical power system;

synchronizing a virtual system model with a real-time model when a difference between the real-time data and predicted data from the virtual system model exceeds a threshold;

modifying a virtual system model of the electrical power system to introduce a short circuiting feature to an uninterrupted power supply bypass circuit branch;

simulating the arc flash event utilizing the modified virtual system model;

calculating a quantity of arc energy released by the arc flash event using results from the simulation; and

communicating a report that forecasts an aspect of the arc flash event.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting a standard having equations for applying in the arc flash event calculations.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the standard applied is IEEE 1584.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the arc flash event is an alternating current arc flash event.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying an equipment classification for a protective device impacted by the arc flash event.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the standard applied is NFPA 70E.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the calculation of the quantity of arc energy released includes:

determining bolted fault current values for the electrical system;

determining a system voltage level for the electrical system;

identifying an equipment classification for a protective device impacted by the arc flash event;

predicting the required PPE level as per Table 130.7(C)(9)(a) of NFPA 70E.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forecasted aspect is an arc flash protection boundary around a component within the electrical system.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the component is a protective device.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the protective device is selected from the group consisting of a circuit breaker, a fuse, and a relay.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forecasted aspect is a level of personal protective equipment (PPE) to be worn by personnel operating around components of the electrical system.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the level of PPE is based on National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E classification categories.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the NFPA 70E classification categories are selected from a group consisting of Category 0, Category 1, Category 2, Category 3, and Category 4.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein Category 0 denotes that the PPE must withstand minimum incident energy of 1.2 Cal/cm 2 .

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein Category 1 denotes that the PPE must withstand minimum incident energy of 4 Cal/cm 2 .

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein Category 2 denotes that the PPE must withstand minimum incident energy of 8 Cal/cm 2 .

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein Category 3 denotes that the PPE must withstand minimum incident energy of 25 Cal/cm 2 .

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein Category 4 denotes that the PPE must withstand minimum incident energy of 40 Cal/cm 2 .

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the report is communicated using graphics and/or text on a display.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the report is communicated by way of synthesized speech generated by a client terminal device.

21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating arc flash labels displaying the forecasted aspect.

22. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying where the arc flash event is occurring within the electric power system while the arc flash event is analyzed.

23. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a visual image illustrating the difference between the real-time data and the predicted data.

24. The method of claim 1 , further comprising reporting the arc flash event and results of comparing the virtual system model and the real-time data to a remote computer device.