Understanding Electric Asset Impact on Industrial Safety

By Traci Hopkins SMIEEE, CRL

Electric assets, such as transformers, circuit breakers and motors, are vital for industrial operations, ensuring that machinery and processes run smoothly and efficiently. However, the condition and performance of these assets also directly impact workplace safety. A failure in electric equipment can lead to hazardous situations, including electrical fires, explosions, equipment damage and other risks to human life. This blog explores how electric assets influence industrial safety, the potential hazards involved and strategies for mitigating these risks to create a safer environment for personnel and plants.

The Role of Electric Assets in Industrial Safety

Electric assets in industrial facilities perform the vital role of power distribution, ensuring that equipment receives the correct voltage and current to operate efficiently. These assets often operate under high load conditions, and their failure can be very disruptive and cause a sharp rise in safety risks. Typical causes of failure include aging, improper maintenance, overloading and environmental conditions.

Key Electric Asset Failures and Their Safety Implications

Electric asset failures pose significant risks to industrial operations, potentially leading to equipment damage, production downtime, and safety hazards. Transformers, circuit breakers and motors are critical components that must function reliably to ensure smooth operations.

• Transformer failures: A malfunctioning transformer can cause voltage imbalances, overheating, and rupturing (or occasionally explosions) that, in turn, endanger personnel and damage surrounding infrastructure. Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) is a preventive tool that detects early signs of transformer faults, helping owners address issues before catastrophic failures occur.
• Circuit breaker malfunctions: Circuit breakers are critical for isolating faulty circuits and preventing overloads. A malfunctioning circuit breaker may fail to trip, allowing unsafe electrical conditions to persist, leading to fires or equipment damage. Regular testing and calibration ensure that breakers function as designed in emergencies.
• Motor failures: Motors used in industrial equipment are prone to overheating, bearing failures and insulation breakdowns. A motor failure can halt production, but more critically, it can create fire hazards or cause mechanical failures in connected machinery, risking the safety of nearby personnel.
• Harmonics are often created by power electronics devices in power inverters, chargers and variable frequency drives (VFD) for electric motors. Harmonics can stress electric equipment further, including heating in transformers (a typical cause of premature failure). Monitoring harmonics to ensure they remain below the levels described in IEEE.519-2014 will help avoid unforeseen failures and outages.

Electrical Hazards in Industrial Settings

Several hazards are associated with electric assets in industrial environments:

• Arc flashes: High-voltage equipment can generate arc flashes when electric current leaps across an air gap between conductors. Arc flashes release intense heat and energy, causing severe burns, fires, or even fatalities. Properly maintained equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE) and arc-flash mitigation strategies can reduce these risks.
• Electrocution: Exposure to live electrical parts due to insulation breakdowns, faulty wiring, or improper maintenance is a significant risk. Ensuring electric assets are correctly insulated and grounded is essential for worker safety.
• Fires and explosions: Overloaded circuits, short circuits and electrical faults can lead to fires or explosions, mainly when flammable materials are present. Regular equipment inspections, overload protection and appropriate fire suppression systems can prevent these incidents.
• Rupturing: Although not as severe as an explosion, ruptured transformers leak substantial amounts of insulating liquids (oil), creating both an environmental and safety hazard, clean-up and typically, unplanned outage. Rupturing is a common failure that can often be avoided using online DGA monitoring.

Strategies to Enhance Safety Through Asset Management

Electric assets must be carefully monitored, maintained and managed to ensure industrial safety. Some key strategies include:

• Monitoring technologies: Real-time monitoring systems such as online DGA (for transformers), infrared thermography and vibration analysis can provide critical insights into equipment health. These technologies help operators identify problems in electric assets early, reducing the risk of failure and improving overall safety.
• Regular inspections and testing: Regular testing of equipment like circuit breakers, transformers and protective relays is crucial to ensure they function correctly in an emergency. Routine visual inspections can also identify potential safety hazards like exposed wiring, corrosion and leaks.
• Electrical safety training: Training personnel on electrical safety, properly handling electric assets and recognizing warning signs of failure is vital. Well-trained teams are better equipped to handle emergencies and reduce the likelihood of accidents.
• Arc-flash mitigation systems: Installing arc-flash detection and suppression systems in high-risk areas can limit the severity of arc-flash events. This reduces both the risk of injury to workers and damage to equipment.
• Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM): Although not always possible, performing maintenance based on plant condition versus a time-based maintenance schedule can help. CBM uses real-time data from sensors to monitor the actual condition of electric assets. By detecting anomalies early, such as increased dissolved gases, overheating, or vibration, CBM can prevent failures before they create an unsafe condition.

The performance and reliability of electric assets are closely linked to industrial safety. Equipment degradation can pose significant safety risks to personnel and facilities if not corrected timeously. Online monitoring using hydrogen sensors provides insight into when to perform maintenance (or remove an asset from service). Prioritizing the safety of electric assets not only ensures operational continuity but also protects workers from dangerous electrical hazards, creating a safer industrial environment overall.

This understanding highlights the critical importance of managing electric assets for operational efficiency and safety in industrial settings. Ready to discuss protecting your industrial transformers? Contact us to talk to one of our application engineers.

Traci Hopkins started her journey in electric power reliability in June 2012 as an adjunct instructor in various Training & Education departments for transformer technologies. Shortly after, she transitioned into the role of Diagnostic Analytic Coordinator for the international market while continuing to support training & education through international events. In 2022, she joined H2scan as the Sales Manager, Latin America responsible for promoting hydrogen sensing across multiple industries. Traci has received the CRL, MTMP, MTRP and DPS Training certifications. Traci is also a Senior member of IEEE PES, the Association of Asset Management Professionals, and WIRAM (Women in Reliability and Asset Management) organizations.