HudsonMcKay
ARC FLASH MITIGATION RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
The client problem presented
In 2009 the BHP Mount Arthur Coal Mine, Coal Handling and Preparation Plant presented Hudson McKay with the challenge of providing a solution to their increasing fault levels, while also lowering the arc flash\blast incident energies calculated in accordance with IEEE 1584-2002 to less than 1.2 cal\cm2.
The solution
The solution is a simple but elegantly engineered, fault current limiting parallel high speed fuse assembly installed between the tansformer low volage transformer terminals and the MCC.
Significant research and development was undertaken to understand parallel fuse behaviour and to engineer a parallel fuse interrupter module. Continuous improvement of the module and 3rd party standards verification testing over a period of four (4) years resulted in a simple, robust and reliable engineered assembly being adopted in the mining sector as part of the owners arc flash mitigation strategy.
This assembly is known as SafeARC™, and is subject to intellectual property protection under Australian Innovation Patent No. 2011101542 "ARC FLASH PROTECTION APPARATUS" - Divisional of International Patent Application No. PCT/AU2010/001350
