3-phase power went bang, how did this happen. (pic).
Discussion
This shows damage to lagging inside a building about six metres from where something 3-phase was connected up wrongly.
The power travelled through pipework, burst a 5" flexi, drained the system of water and about £5k worth of glycol.
Luckily nobody was hurt but it could have been much worse.
Being on the mechanical side we were wondering how electricity works and why it stopped at this junction.
The power travelled through pipework, burst a 5" flexi, drained the system of water and about £5k worth of glycol.
Luckily nobody was hurt but it could have been much worse.
Being on the mechanical side we were wondering how electricity works and why it stopped at this junction.
3 phase power is pretty destructive when it goes wrong.
Working at a UK water treatment plant some years ago. 'Mad Scientist' chemist decides to connect big three-phase ozone generator to control panel, like wiring a plug. Site was underground in a large hangar size enclosure . Switches it on, and blows the three 60 amp fuses. He has no more cartridge fuses so bridges the blown ones with doubled up fusewire, despite my telling him not to.
Next switch on, fuses blow again, flashover destroys the control panel cubicle, sprays vapourised wire everywhere, and shuts down the treatment plant pumps. Large repair bill ensues.
Working at a UK water treatment plant some years ago. 'Mad Scientist' chemist decides to connect big three-phase ozone generator to control panel, like wiring a plug. Site was underground in a large hangar size enclosure . Switches it on, and blows the three 60 amp fuses. He has no more cartridge fuses so bridges the blown ones with doubled up fusewire, despite my telling him not to.
Next switch on, fuses blow again, flashover destroys the control panel cubicle, sprays vapourised wire everywhere, and shuts down the treatment plant pumps. Large repair bill ensues.
Fault currents can be into the thousands of amps (helps the protection operate quickly) but they are quite ruthless in their quest to reach earth!
If the system is earthed and bonded well it isn’t usually an issue, but if not then the fault current will track down anything remotely like an earth conductor. We have had 25KV earth faults vapourising telecoms cables before now due to detached earths!
If the system is earthed and bonded well it isn’t usually an issue, but if not then the fault current will track down anything remotely like an earth conductor. We have had 25KV earth faults vapourising telecoms cables before now due to detached earths!
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