The Difference Between European and American Standards For Arc Thermal Protection

Arc flash fire is the more likely cause of electrical workers’ electric shock accidents. The temperature of about 35,000 degrees Fahrenheit at the point where a severe arc occurs is 4 times the surface temperature of the sun. The surrounding materials are vaporized or spewed out at high temperatures. If the worker’s clothing is ignited, it will cause extensive body burns.

The current testing standards for arc protective clothing mainly include European standards and American standards.

The European standard arc protective clothing fabric testing standard is: for 4 fabrics exposed to the arc reaction, the corresponding data results of the fabrics are tested. The test conditions are as follows: the test voltage is 400V, the arc flash time is 500ms, the upper electrode is made of aluminum, the lower electrode is made of copper, the electrode space is 30mm, and the distance between the test sample and the electrode is 300mm.

The European standards for ready-to-wear design requirements are: the design of the clothing will not cause any movement obstacles to the user in use and work; the clothing must be designed with long sleeves to protect the entire upper body torso; the buttons or zipper accessories of the clothing are in the arc flash fire It can still function normally after the reaction; the sewing thread, accessories, buttons or zipper accessories of the clothing will not cause further human injury after the arc flash fire reaction; metal accessories, buttons or zippers must be covered by fabrics, non-metal accessories, buttons or zippers Can be exposed on the surface.

American standard arc protective clothing is mainly judged from the flame retardant performance, fabric weight, tensile strength, tear strength, color fastness to washing, washing shrinkage and arc protection value determination. Its arc protection value measurement method is based on 21 fabrics exposed to arc reaction.

The requirements of American standards for clothing: clothing sewing threads, accessories, buttons or zipper accessories will not cause further human injury after arc flash fire reaction; clothing should use flame-retardant sewing thread and face 191A flame retardant test 260 It will not melt at a test temperature of ℃; if any clothing accessories, zippers or buttons may cause heat transfer or melting in the arc flash fire reaction, they must be covered with fabric to avoid direct contact with the skin.

The arc protective clothing produced by Wuxi Deep-Protection Textile can meet the standards of NFPA70E of American Standard and IEC61482-1-1 of European Standard.