Research And Development on internal arc test

The current valid international standard for metal-enclosed switchgear and controlgear for rated voltages from 1 kV and up to and including 52 kV is written in the first edition IEC 62271-200 from November 2003.

The current standard is the result of the revision of IEC 60298 from December 1990 [3]. In 2006, the second edition of IEC 62271-200 was prepared by subcommittee SC17C and the project was assigned to maintenance team 14. The target date for the committee draft (CD) is proposed for June 2007, which will be followed one year later by committee draft for voting (CDV) in June 2008. The final draft international standard (FDIS) is foreseen in June 2009 and the date of publication as an international standard will be in December 2009.

The major change of IEC 62271-200, edition 1.0, is the revision of new definitions and classifications of equipment of metal-enclosed switchgear and controlgear. Other main modification are the introduction of internal arc classes (IAC) and the description of methods for testing. The qualification of a new design of a metal-enclosed switchgear and controlgear is done by several type tests.

The personal protection due to an internal fault in medium voltage metal-enclosed switchgear became in IEC 62271-200 a significant higher importance.