Electrical cabinets are simply enclosures that are used to house and protect electrical equipment such as disconnect switches; overcurrent protection devices (i.e., fuses and circuit breakers), bus bars, terminals for connecting service and branch circuit wiring; more sophisticated equipment such as surge protection; and control writing. Electrical enclosures come in different ratings as classified by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) to operate safely in damp, wet, dusty, and other environments that would affect the electrical components within. Finally, there are electrical enclosures that are rated for safe operation in electrically hazardous environments; that is, environments that have or may have an explosive atmosphere due to flammable gas or vapors present in the operating environment.
Electrical systems must be designed to meet the requirements of the National Electrical Code (NEC). One of NEC’s primary objectives is reducing the risk of fire in electrical applications. Simply stated, when electrical current flows through a wire, the wire heats up. Insulation is wrapped around electrical wiring to reduce the surface temperature to reduce the fire risk. Wiring that is overloaded can present a fire risk due to an elevated surface temperature. In addition, the switches within electrical cabinets can arc (a jump of electric current through the air), and this arc presents an ignition source. If electrical cabinets are cluttered with too many wires, the insulation of which is flammable or excessively dusty, there is a fire hazard. Bus bars (large conductors of metal that serve as amperage manifolds for many circuits) can also be overloaded and overheated which presents an ignition source.
Stat-X® condensed aerosol fire suppression provides a means to contain and suppress a fire within the enclosure. When a fire breaks out, the Stat-X system quickly detects and suppresses the fire at the source within seconds. By containing the fire event to the cabinet, the damage can be limited which limits downtime and ensures business continuity.
Our animation video illustrates how our thermally activated fire suppression units works in this application.
Condensed aerosol systems are approved by the International Fire Code and NFPA 2010.
What is an Industrial Electrical Cabinet?
How do you suppress an industrial electrical cabinet fire?
What are the types of industrial electrical cabinets?