twm22 wrote:
the arc flash energy will not be reduced in an incident occurs, and may, in fact, be worse, since the doors may become part of the flash plasma or may blow off and increase injury
I think that
might depend on the switchgear. I have seen some newer arc resistant switchgear that is designed with blowout panels to channel the blast away from the operator. Some (I have specifically seen Arc Armor Enclosures) are advertized that the control compartment is designed for minimal PPE to operate. At the time I was looking into conpartmentalized enclosures for an application where the feed from the grid was 50 - 75 cal/cm^2
twm22 wrote:
There are suits up to 100 cal, but the blast becomes the issue and might not be survivable ?
I am not sure why someone would design a suit where the only assurance would be that corpse would be presentable.
If you have a 100 cal/cm^2 incident, aside from the fact that the average human body can only withstand 50psi instantaneous pressure differential, you can be assured that the blast pressure will likely far exceed that and knock you back perhaps 50-100 feet, possibly into a concrete wall.