How do you ground 4160V switchgear bus?

[nuckythompson]

At our plant, we rarely fully de-energize the 4160V switchgear bus. We need to do replacements on some shutters, and I am concerned of residual static. I have seen grounding carts that rack into the breaker cubicles to ground the bus but is there any other way? I am thinking I could open up the back of the switchgear, hoping the bus bars are not coated, and apply some ground chains.

Anyone run into this before? Any ideas?

Thanks!!!

 

[petersonra]

It seems to me that the first thing that has to be done is to do a risk analysis. Once you decide what the risks are, you can decide what steps to take to reduce the risks to an acceptable level.

 

[drktmplr12]

At our plant, we rarely fully de-energize the 4160V switchgear bus. We need to do replacements on some shutters, and I am concerned of residual static. I have seen grounding carts that rack into the breaker cubicles to ground the bus but is there any other way? I am thinking I could open up the back of the switchgear, hoping the bus bars are not coated, and apply some ground chains.

Anyone run into this before? Any ideas?

Thanks!!!

by chains do you mean the same things utility linesmen use?


available from Hubbell

agree with previous poster. you need to do a risk analysis of the system and determine how to mitigate the identified risks. are there UPS's? solar panels? batteries?

how many different ways can the bus be energized, normally or otherwise (back fed from another source)?

if the MV switchgear being maintained is fed from gear where the load side lugs are accessible, you could put ground clamps there. below is excerpt from Square D white paper. might be worth reviewing the whole document.

[link]



best of luck and please stay safe