High Security Alarm Systems K.E. Brown Electrical Switchboards has developed an electrical distribution board, PowerSafe board that maximises safety during installation, upgrading and maintenance of switchboards for applications where continuity of power supply is critical.
K.E. Brown Electrical Switchboards’ PowerSafe board is designed to comply with the OH&S Act 2000 for employers involved in applications such as data processing, financial, food service, industrial process automation, retail, telecommunications and other sectors.
The PowerSafe board improves safety and reduces downtime by using an advanced combination of isolators and circuit breakers to achieve isolation of individual circuits for work to proceed on them without the need to isolate the entire distribution board. Isolation of entire boards is a common industry practice resulting in extensive downtime.
Early adopters of K.E. Brown Electrical Switchboards’ PowerSafe technology include the Australian Crime Commission, Boral, CPS International, Fujitsu, HP, Hutchinson, National Australia Bank, Powertel, Primus, St George Bank, Sydney Futures Exchange, Unisys and Woolworths. The technology can also be applied to 24/7 industrial manufacturing and processing operations.
PowerSafe permits a company’s electrician to:
Replace or add circuit breakers without having to take the distribution board offline. This means that workplace functionalities (computing, data processing, heating, lighting, automation equipment, for example) can be added or deleted without downtime affecting any of the scores of other functions on the same board
Change ratings up to 50 amps per circuit. This permits individual functionalities in one area to be upgraded or adapted without affecting all other functionalities
Convert single pole functionalities to three pole functionalities with the same advantages – meaning these functionalities can also be upgraded without wider workplace disruption
In addition, each circuit on the PowerSafe board can be fitted with fine monitoring technology so switchboard controllers can see exactly how much power individual circuits are drawing, enabling them to achieve load-based cost allocation, overload protection, load management and load balancing, for example.
The PowerSafe boards incorporate world class fine monitoring technology, including Schneider Electric Power Logic family H704 series branch circuit monitors to measure the individual current drawn by each breaker in a distribution board rather than the collective draw created by boards that may include many dozens of such breakers.
“The safety innovations incorporated into PowerSafe boards are better than those in the conventional power distribution technology,” says K.E. Brown Electrical Switchboards’ Operations Manager,Peter Silsby.
“Our design response to state and federal OH&S requirements went a step further than facilitating good work practices. We actually designed out hazards where this was possible and enclosed or isolated hazards where this was possible, using good design and new technology”.
“Thoughtful design has also resulted in a distribution board that offers safe cable entry throughout the entire length of the board, for ease of servicing and modification. In addition, service and modification is further facilitated by isolators that protrude through the PowerSafe board’s escutcheon so there is no need to access this section during servicing. And circuit breakers are all individually wired from isolators - simply turn off the isolator and the circuit is safe to work on.
The incoming mains section of the PowerSafe board can be further customized to user requirements with:
- Main and bypass circuit breakers
- Emergency power off
- Surge protection
- BMS interface
- Door open alarm
- Supply available indicator
- Phase failure monitoring
- Power measurement metering for individual circuits