Methods for Evaluating DC ARC-Flash Incident Energy in Battery Energy Storage Systems

Renewable energy systems are one of the fastest growing segments of the energy industry. This paper focuses on how battery energy storage technology behaves under direct current (dc) arc conditions. The lack of formal dc arc-flash incident energy calculation guidelines such as IEEE Std. 1584-2018™, has made it necessary to rely on different modeling equations presented by various researchers. Some of the methods currently being used tend to overestimate the arc-flash (AF) incident energy (IE) in dc systems. This paper discusses the behavior of energy storage systems under arcing conditions and presents the results of available methods to estimate the dc AF IE. This paper provides a comparative analysis of a proposed AF IE calculation method against available laboratory tests. Explanations are provided regarding the effect the various types of batteries may have under short-circuit (SC) and arcing conditions. Comparisons of the proposed calculation method simulation results and laboratory dc arc test measurements are included.