Merry Chirstmas everyone, and a joyous New Year.
Hope for 2012 to bring even great happiness and success than 2011. Stay safe and alert this 2012 when working with electricity.
Why I’m a Card Carrying IEEE Member
December 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Over the years there has been a number of different reasons why I was an IEEE member, and why I served on the executive.
How I got started
It started when I was at Dalhousie University and was looking for a group to get involved with to help my resume and meet people in the industry. The IEEE Student Branch seemed like a great place to start, so I started volunteering as the Secretary and the local Section, Canadian Atlantic Section invites all students to attend their meetings which is where I started to meet the people that worked in the area.
IEEE members are great people to hang out with.
One of the activities that the student branch ran was a trip around the province to visit various companies from small manufacturing, pulp and paper mills and and power generation stations. This trip was a great time and opened my eyes wider on some of the benefits of an IEEE member.
From that point on I was a serial volunteer taking positions of Student Branch Chair (sorry Leo), section secretary, to vice-chair and regional newsletter editor and finally holding the Chair in Spokane.
That is my history as an IEEE member since 2002.
I'm a member because...
Mo El-Hawary
Some of the reasons to why I have continued with my membership has changed over the years, and others have acted in cycles. For example, when I first joined as a student, the major reason was to get to know some of the people in the industry that I was interested in entering, and possibly help get a position in the area, and when I moved to Spokane, while I already had a job lined up, I didn't know anyone from the area and IEEE was a great starting point.
IEEE has also afforded me the ability to travel all over North America, and meet amazing people and make life long friends, whether it was a student conference in London, ON or the sections congress in Quebec City, QC and San Francisco, CA.
IEEE membership has also allowed me to learn from the giants in the industry, whether it is discussing power system analysis from the people that write the seminal text books, or learning the challenges of building the life-safety system in the Mercury program from one of the lead engineers.
(Photo Credits:
Featured Photo - UCLA IEEE Student Branch
Second Photo - Section Congress 2008 Photo page
Third Photo - Sections Congress Facebook Page)
GFCI vs GFEP vs AFCI
August 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) is a safety device which is intended to interupt the circuit that it is protecting quickly and under very small currents to ground. The intent is to ensure that there is no chance of shock or electrocution from a fault to ground. UL and CSA specify that the circuit must interrupt between 4 and 6 mA
Ground Fault Equipment Protector (GFEP) is a equipment protective device. They work on the same principle as a GFCI but are typically set at 30mA. They are used with outdoor installations such as ice melting, heat trace, etc
Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) is the new kid on the block. A AFCI is newly required by the NEC and CEC in all bedroom circuits, they are designed to trip on a arc signature. These types of faults have been found at the cause of many residential fires. By including this type of protection on circuits in the home the electrical source will be cleared before a fire has a chance to start. There is talk that they will be required on all residental circuits by the 2012 code. NEMA has a great website for AFCI's called AFCIsafety.org
Both the NEC and CEC have requirements where each type of ground fault interrupter must be used, however this does not include ground fault protection on grounded wye systems.
If you would like to know more about this topic, or have a question please leave a comment or take advantage of the contact page.
What is Arc Flash?
June 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment
An arcing fault, which is the cause of an arc flash is described below.
Arcing faults (an Arc Flash) are defined as high-impedance faults, since any fault current must travel through air, as opposed to the low-impedance path normally associated with a short circuit. A short circuit study of the electrical system is required to determine the maximum available short circuit energy, which in turn may then be used to calculate the potential incident energy available.
There are intense heat and pressure waves associated with these types of faults. This heat and pressure wave will cause shrapnel and molten metal to explode from the point of the fault.
The core temperature of an arc fault can easily reach 5000ºC (source), for comparison the surface temperature of the Sun is only 6000 ºC and the boiling point (not melting point, but BOILING) of copper is 2500ºC.
Assuming that the electrical protective device in the circuit operates fast enough to extinguish the fault so that these extreme temperatures do not cause greater than second degree burns to the operator, the ignition temperature of the typical non-PPE clothing the operator is wearing would have been reached, this burning will cause serious harm to the operator if they are not extinguished quickly
When proper PPE is worn for the calculated incident energy at the fault, the worker should walk away from the incident with a maximum of second degree burns.
Arc Flash Hazard
April 10, 2008 By 1 Comment
When an electric current passes through air between ungrounded conductors or between ungrounded and grounded conductors, the temperatures can reach 35000F.
Exposure to these extreme temperatures both burns the skin and causes the ingnition of clothing. Each year more than 2000 people are admitted to burn centers with severe arc-flash burns.
An arc-flash can and do kill at distances 10ft or greater.
Source: NFPA 70E-2004, Annex K.3