Fault Prediction Based on Unbalanced Current Detection of Three Phase Heater and Selection of the Protective Device

Abstract

Three phase heaters in 7 buildings of 2 sites were examined for precise diagnosis. The sample size was 626. Precise examinations of current and the heater wiring status revealed contact failures and arcs in equipments that had CUF larger than 10%. Contact failures and arcs may cause electrical fire. Therefore, the correlation between the CUF and the imperfections in heater equipment and its wiring was analyzed for three phase heaters. In addition, the protection devices used for detection of heater imperfections were found to be unsuitable for the purpose. Current status of the protection devices was analyzed, and suggestions for improvements were made for new standards of the protection device selection.