• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.332-338
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• 2010

Annually, electrical fires caused by arcing phenomena in power system rapidly increase as the use of more electric appliances, but there is no established method for the prevention of the accidents. With this background, this paper dealt with the experimental results on a series arc detection technique and a device for air conditioners. Series arcing phenomena that is generated in incomplete connection of air conditioners was simulated, and the frequency spectrum was analyzed. The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of the arc pulse showed that the dominant frequency components exist in ranges of 190 kHz~250 kHz and 900 kHz~1.6 MHz. An arc detection circuit with low cut off frequency of 170 kHz to attenuate 60 Hz by 170 dB and a signal discriminator were designed. Also, an algorithm which separate series arc signal from unwanted noises produced by switching operation, inverter, and surge was proposed. Application experiment was carried out on several types of air-conditioners by using the arc generator specified in UL1699, and the results showed the over 99 % accuracy.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2009

Several electrical loads such as inrush current, normal operation arcing and non-sinusoidal loads have normal current waveforms similar to arc waveforms. To detect arcs in such loads, therefore, it is necessary to analyze difference between current waveforms with or without arcs. In this paper, using apparatuses of arc generation in UL 1699, arcs are generated in these loads and, then, arc current waveforms are investigated in both the time and the frequency domains to find arc characteristics. This investigation shows that arc current signals have shoulders at some zero current points in the time domain and increment of spectrum magnitude in all over frequency domain. It also shows that the arc characteristics at normal operation arcing and non-sinusoidal loads are detected more easily in the frequency domain than in the time domain. This investigated arc characteristics are expected to be utilized as the basis of development of arc-fault circuit interrupters.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.477-481
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• 2008

This paper dealt with a detection method of series arc existence which is a symptom of electric fires in low-voltage system. The proposed detection circuit consists of a high-pass filter with a low cut-off frequency of 3kHz to attenuate power frequency voltage by 80 dB and an active band-pass filter with a center frequency of 4kHz to detect only the series arc signals. The performance of the circuit was evaluated in a phase-controlled incandescent lamp as a non-linear load and an inverted-fed induction motor as a high frequency load by using the arc generator specified in UL1699. From the experimental results, it was confirmed that the proposed method solved the detection error, which is being the most problem, by discriminating the series arc signal even in non-linear and high frequency loads.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.271-276
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• 2021

Arc fault detector based on multilevel DWT with analysis of high-frequency noise components over 100 kHz is proposed in this study to improve the performance in detecting serial arcs and distinguishing them from inverter noise in PV systems. PV inverters generally operate at a frequency range of 20-50 kHz for switching operation and maximum power tracking control, and the effect of these frequency components on the signal for arc detection leads to negative arc detection. High-speed ADC and multilevel DWT are used in this study to analyze frequency components above 100 kHz. Such high frequency components are less influenced by inverter noise and utilized to detect as well as separate DC series arc from inverter noise. Arc detectors identify the input current of PV inverters using a Rogowski coil. The sensed signal is filtered, amplified, and used in 800kSPS ADC and DWT analysis and arc occurrence determination in DSP. An arc detection simulation facility in UL1699B was constructed and AFD tests the proposed detector were conducted to verify the performance of arc detection and performance of distinction of the negative arc. The satisfactory performance of the arc detector meets the standard of arc detection and extinguishing time of UL1699B with an arc detection time of approximately 0.11 seconds.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.41-48
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• 2010

In this paper, a new type of integrated AFCI is designed and implemented by combining individual circuit breaker characteristics, which can effectively detect arc fault signals in real-time. The proposed integrated AFCI satisfies the UL1699, the USA certification standard, and the Korean circuit breaker standards such as KS C4613 and KS C8321. Data signals are transferred to the management server via ZigBee network to analyze dangerous factors and to prevent unwanted trip. It is also shown by experiments that arc fault signals are detected and analyzed by using the integrated AFCI with ZigBee networks.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.182-187
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• 2008

This paper dealt with the detection algorithm of series arcing, which is a cause of electric fires in low-voltage wiring systems. To find the distinguished electrical features of series arc, we simulated series arcing by the arc generator specified in UL1699. An electric heater, an inverter-controlled vacuum cleaner, and a phase-controlled incandescent lamp were used as loads to generate series arcing. A high-pass filter (HPF) with the low cut-off frequency of 3 kHz at -3 dB was fabricated and applied to separate the series arc signal from the AC voltage source. The experiment showed that the high frequency signal generates randomly during series arcing, and the phase-controlled incandescent lamp produces high frequency pulses even in normal state. In this case, the magnitude, the width, and the randomness of high frequency signal should be analyzed to estimate series arcing precisely.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.118-123
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• 2023

The main cause of solar facility fires is arc, and in the last 3 years ('16 to '18), about 80% of domestic solar facility fires have been caused by arcs. The capacity of solar power facilities installed around the world continues to increase, and fires caused by arcs are also expected to increase as the solar power generation facilities that were initially installed become obsolete, In this paper, an arc generation test was conducted based on the UL1699B test standard. As a result of the test, the arc generation satisfied the minimum arc current according to the test conditions, and DC arc characteristics were analyzed through data such as arc voltage and arc current according to variables such as speed of moving electrodes and electrode spacing.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2013.11a
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• pp.231-232
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• 2013

본 논문에서는 아크검출 알고리즘을 제안한다. 아크를 검출하기 위하여 아크의 전기적 특성 중 하나인 고조파에 대하여 분석하고 아크로 인한 홀수고조파의 변화를 분석하여 아크를 검출할 수 있는 아크 검출 알고리즘을 설계한다. 이를 증명하기 위하여 UL1699에서 제안하는 직렬아크 발생장치를 통하여 아크를 발생시키고 측정한 전류파형을 기반으로 알고리즘을 검증하였다.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2010.07a
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• pp.119-120
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• 2010

일반적으로 전선이 낡고 오래되거나 또는 강한 열이나 외부적 충격 등에 의해서 절연이 파괴된 경우 전기화재의 원인이 되는 아크 현상이 발생한다. 이러한 아크 사고는 Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI)를 통해 예방할 수 있다. UL1699규정은 AFCI의 성능 시험을 위한 규정으로 구체적인 여러 성능 시험을 제시하고 있다. 그 중 EMI 필터 시험에 대한 부분을 한국의 전기 배선에 맞게 재구성하여 실험하고, 아크 검출에 EMI 필터가 어떤 영향을 미치는지 분석하여 UL에서 제시한 EMI 필터 시험의 타당성을 검증한다.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2011.07a
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• pp.2146-2147
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• 2011

전기화재의 원인인 아크 신호는 전류 돌입형, 비선형 및 전류 단속형 부하들의 정상상태와 유사한 전류파형을 갖는다. 이러한 부하들에서 아크를 정확하게 검출하기 위해서는 아크 유무를 정확히 판단 할 수 있는 시스템이 필요하며 이러한 시스템에서 아크검출을 정확히 하는 필터가 중요하다. 본 논문에서는 UL1699의 직렬 아크 발생장치로 아크를 발생시키고 시간 및 주파수 영역에서 아크 전류파형을 분석하였다. 분석결과 아크전류파형은 시간영역에서는 영점전류의 처짐 현상(shoulder)이 발생하고 주파수영역에서는 60Hz의 고조파 성분을 제외한 전대역의 주파수에 걸쳐서 스펙트럼이 증가하였다. 본 논문에서 제시된 아크 검출용 필터는 이러한 특징들 중 주파수 영역의 특징을 검출한다.