Electrical Switchgear Safety Inspection Services - Dubai

Carelabs is authorized provider of Electrical Installation’s Study, Analysis, Inspection, and Certification services in UAE, and offer electrical switchgear safety inspection services.

In an electric power system, switchgear is the combination of electrical disconnect switches, fuses or circuit breakers used to control, protect and isolate electrical equipment. Switchgears are used both to de-energize equipment to allow work to be done safely, and to clear faults downstream.

Electrical Switchgear is Composed of Passive and Active Components

• Passive components include the horizontal and vertical bus structures.
• Active components are the power circuit breakers and fusible switching devices. Their role is to protect the electrical assets downstream, disconnect the circuit, and protect personnel in case of an arc flash event.

Passive and active components require regular maintenance to ensure equipment integrity and proper mechanical and electrical functionality, as well as to optimize the equipment’s useful life. A regularly scheduled electrical system preventive maintenance program is intended to detect, repair, or replace affected electrical components, parts, or equipment before they lead to catastrophic damages, significant power interruptions, and loss of business functions. Current Injection Tests for Switchgear and Switchboards Current-injection tests will prove current wiring is in accordance with design specifications.

Ten Tips to Optimize the Life of Electrical Switchgear

• Perform Infrared Inspections
• Exercise Circuit Breakers Annually
• Don’t Neglect Recommended Maintenance
• Recondition the Equipment
• Keep Good Records and Trend Performance
• Upgrade the Equipment
• Outsource Preventive Maintenance Via a Long-Term Maintenance Contract
• Comply with NFPA 70E
• Utilize Predictive Maintenance Tools and perform a Short Circuit Analysis and a Time Current Coordination Study

You should regularly inspect, maintain and test all switchgear and its environment, for example the switchroom. In all cases you should do this in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

Switchgear InspectionYou should inspect substations regularly. During the inspection work you should prioritise any remedial actions as follows:

• Immediately (this should always be the case when security of the substation enclosure has been interfered with).
• Earliest possible opportunity.
• Next scheduled maintenance.

You should include the following items in the inspection schedule:

• Switchgear environment (switchroom access and surrounds, including fence and external walls if outdoors), signs of water getting in/dampness, signs of unauthorized access and/or interference, condition of fire fighting equipment and warning notices, and general housekeeping.
• Signs of abnormal conditions such as high temperature, smell of hot substances or ozone, presence of smoke, signs of fresh leakage of oil or compound, distortion and evidence of deformation on enclosures.
• General condition of switchgear, such as corrosion, evidence of leaks, fluid levels, presence/condition of labels, padlocks and key exchange interlocks, condition of instruments and protection equipment.
• Condition of ancillary equipment such as batteries and chargers, control panels etc.

General Visual and Mechanical Inspection of SwitchgearSwitchgear should be inspected for proper anchorage, alignment, grounding and required clearances.

1.) Inspect the physical, electrical, and mechanical condition of switchgear or switchboard, including its anchorage, alignment, grounding and required clearances. When performing acceptance testing, verify that the equipment nameplate data matches project drawings and specifications. This is important because switchboards are designed and rated for specific applications and should not be used otherwise, unless explicitly approved by the manufacturer.

2.) The unit should be clean and all shipping braces, loose parts, and documentation shipped inside the cubicles removed. Keep all documentation in a safe location for maintenance personnel in the future while loose parts and switchgear tools should be safely stored outside of the enclosure for easy access. When performing maintenance programs, clean the assembly using industry accepted methods of cleaning.

3.) For initial acceptance, verify that fuse and/or circuit breaker sizes, types, and protective settings match the project drawings and coordination study. Circuit breakers equipped with microprocessor-communication packages should be programmed with the proper digital address. All instrument transformer current and voltage ratios should also correspond to project drawings.

Moisture and Corona Inspections for Switchgear and Switchboards

If corona occurs in switchgear assemblies, it is usually localized in thin air gaps that exist between a high-voltage bus bar and its adjacent insulation or between two adjacent insulating.