Electrical Systems Study for North County Transit District Facilities
Electrical Systems Study for North County Transit District Facilities
Client: North County Transit District
Location: San Diego, CA
Key personnel included John J. Lopez, PE, Neil Sherer, Bela Wouters, Donald Crawford, and Wesley Breckenridge who performed an Arc Flash Study for the North County Transit District (NCTD) in San Diego County, CA. This study analyzed and evaluated the electrical systems for all at all their facilities in San Diego County. Existing drawings for the electrical system were reviewed; electrical system components were visited, observed by LEI personnel, and electrical system data gathered. NCTD maintenance personnel familiar with NCTD electrical systems accompanied study personnel on some of the site visits. NCTD provided flaggers for five (5) of the sites where initially pictures were taken ad data was gathered from and later Arc Flash Labels were applied to electrical equipment near the train rails. SKM software was used to perform voltage drop, short circuit, and arc flash calculations as well as overcurrent coordination. Many facilities were constructed in the 1980’s and 1990’s, with several older buildings built in the 1960’s. The electrical system evaluated included over 400 panelboards, switchboards, disconnect switches, and enclosed circuit breakers.
This Electrical Arc Flash Study encompassed twenty-three (23) Rail/Sprinter Stations, One (1) Sprinter/Breeze/Customer Service station, and seven (7) buildings and four (4) maintenance yards. They gathered the existing electrical drawings, opened all panel boards, switchboards, switchgear, and motor control centers and gathered nameplate data for all electrical equipment, including individual circuit breakers in switchboards and distribution panel boards. LEI personel investigated feeder sizes, estimated feeder lengths, gathered circuit breaker dial settings, and developed single line diagrams. Analysis of single line diagrams for hazards was performed, California Electrical Code violations were identified, voltage drop, short circuit, and arc flash studies were prepared, overcurrent coordination was performed, and Arc Flash labels were prepared and installed on electrical equipment.