Emergency System Design

[philly]

I have seen variouis types of emergency system designs throughout the past several years and as I look at the different methods of distribution I am curious if there is a standard or method for designing emergency distribution in order to meet certian emergecny system requirements. For example, I have seen simple disigns that involve just a generator and ATS switches to more elaborate deisgns with multiple redundant ATS switches, tie breakers etc...

Is there a standard or design guide that dictates the design of emergency system design where the design may depend on the amount of redundancy required? Is a certain degree of redundancy required for certain types of facilities? I believe I have seen systems in the past that had stuff like N+1, etc... but I never really fully understood.

Thanks

 

[lielec11]

I have seen variouis types of emergency system designs throughout the past several years and as I look at the different methods of distribution I am curious if there is a standard or method for designing emergency distribution in order to meet certian emergecny system requirements. For example, I have seen simple disigns that involve just a generator and ATS switches to more elaborate deisgns with multiple redundant ATS switches, tie breakers etc...

Is there a standard or design guide that dictates the design of emergency system design where the design may depend on the amount of redundancy required? Is a certain degree of redundancy required for certain types of facilities? I believe I have seen systems in the past that had stuff like N+1, etc... but I never really fully understood.

Thanks

On a basic level, you should take a look at NEC sections 700, 701 and 702. This is the breakdown of the emergency system on a national level for all buildings. Going further than that, different types of facilities have different requirements. For example, health care facilities have much more stringent requirements. You can reference NEC 517 for this information. Additionally, NFPA 99 has more requirements depending on the type of health care facilities. On top of that, there may be local requirements at the state/city level.

 

[Pharon]

In addition to that, there's also the Uptime Institute Tier Certification (I, II, III, and IV) for Data Center designs. They classify certain requirements for redundancy, though it's not technically an "emergency" system as defined by the NEC.

http://uptimeinstitute.com/images/stories/press_kits/UIPS_TiersSummary_1000511.pdf

 

[iceworm]

... I am curious if there is a standard or method for designing emergency distribution in order to meet certian emergecny system requirements.

... Is there a standard or design guide that dictates the design of emergency system design where the design may depend on the amount of redundancy required? ...

Pretty broad request. So, pretty broad answer: For design guides, I tend toward ieee standards.

Maybe look at IEEE 446 (r2000)
RECOMMENDED PRACTICE
FOR EMERGENCY AND STANDBY POWER SYSTEMS FOR
INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS