Arcing fault detection system
AssigneeSquare D Company
InventorGary W. Scott
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical isolation device is provided for use in an electrical distribution network having a plurality of branch circuits each defined by line and neutral conductors connected between a power source and a load, the line conductor being electrically connected to one of a plurality of line buses at an electrical distribution panelboard, the neutral conductor being electrically connected to a neutral bus at the electrical distribution panelboard. The isolation device includes a capacitance coupled between the line and neutral conductor of each of the branch circuits and is designed to provide a low impedance path for an arcing fault occurring on the line conductor of the branch circuit. The capacitance is sufficiently large to provide power factor correcting current.
Claims16
An arcing fault detection system for an electrical distribution system distributing power from a utility source through a plurality of branch circuits each having line and neutral conductors for delivering said power to a load, said arcing fault detection system comprising:
- an arcing fault detector in each branch circuit for detecting the occurrence of a high-frequency arcing fault signal in that branch circuit;
- an isolation circuit on the power side of each arcing fault detector, said isolation circuit comprising a capacitance to provide a low impedance path to neutral for said arcing fault signal, said capacitance being sufficiently large to provide a power factor correcting current contribution of about 1 to about 5 amps;
- and
- at least one line interrupter in each branch circuit and responsive to said arcing fault detector for disconnecting the load from the power source in any of the branch circuits in which an arcing fault signal has been detected.
A load center for distributing power from a utility source through a plurality of branch circuits each having line and neutral conductors for delivering said power to a load, said load center comprising:
- an arcing fault detector in each branch circuit for detecting the occurrence of a high-frequency arcing fault signal in that branch circuit;
- an isolation circuit on the power side of each arcing fault detector, said isolation circuit comprising a capacitance to provide a low impedance path to neutral for said arcing fault signal, said capacitance being sufficiently large to provide power factor correcting current contribution from about 1 to about 5 amps;
- and
- at least one line interrupter in each branch circuit for disconnecting the load from the power source in any of the branch circuits in which an arcing fault signal has been detected.
An isolator for an electrical distribution system distributing power from a utility source through a plurality of branch circuits each having line and neutral conductors for delivering said power to a load, said electrical distribution system having an arcing fault detector in each branch circuit for detecting the occurrence of a high-frequency arcing fault signal in that branch circuit, said isolator comprising:
- an isolation circuit including a capacitance to provide a low impedance path to neutral for said arcing fault signal, said capacitance being sufficiently large to provide power factor correcting current contribution from about 1 to about 5 amps.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.