2:00 arc flash interior substation racking breaker refineria Barranca Ecopetrol

[ianessable]

Jeffrey, hi, I want to use this video as evidence in a court case, can you tell me who holds the copyright? Please post an answer here if possible.

Thanks.

[SouthGAPowerlineman]

Shouldve wore the hot suit!

[TheJeffersonpimp]

I believe my instructor was talking about this today, he was the owner of the company, he was feeding a fish line into some tubing (forget the technical term) and he didn't realize at the other end where he was feeding the fish line that it was live. If this is the same story he spent the next two years recovering, and he didn't die. But who knows.

[buffer545]

Ohmy God. Watt a shocking tragedy. I am amp-ly distraught by this electrifying video.

[statpevenson]

I bet he didn't even know watt hit him.

[GreatDarkKnight]

I guess these guys are engineers? What are they working on there?

[SupermarketsRevil]

Shocking!

[arafat88ryu]

Sometimes I wonder, why I into this field?

[bkwflash]

Just got certified today. This is crazy dangerous, i dont even want to do this anymore but here are some fun facts for thos who dont know. if you are in an arc flash there will be a blinding light, then a sound with decibles that blow the eardrum the heat off of it it 4 times the heat of the surface of the sun the copper expands to 65000 times its original size and flys out of the panel at 700 miles an hour. SUIT UP!!! IT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE! this is NO JOKE. be Very VERY CARFULL.

[BrutalAWEsomeness]

Holly fuck....this shouldn't be on youtube...

[bobbj77]

this is why SCADA is used for switching in the UK more and more

[TheTrujillo44]

Our instructor showed it to my class for safety and what could happed. He told us that man died

[logitek256]

Electrical Engineering Portal ... Cannot post link

[logitek256]

More details are on a website

[marlenus11]

This incident happened in Las Vegas Nevada. My partner was there. He is racking in a high voltage breaker. He survived the experiance and wasn't doing anything wrong.

[donnydillon]

@marlenus11 This man died, this happened in a Navy yard in columbia, not in this country. the man had no flash suit on and did not survive

[legslikewhoa]

my instructor showed this video to my 9c class to show the importance of tag-out and ppe. scared the crap out of me.

[Lewis2931]

the one guy who was not by the flash is fine scared but fine other guy 3d dagree burns missing his wrist or arm

[lcserg87]

both death

[NCTClion1684]

Pushing that fish tape too fast and wild. Theres 4160 reasons to wear that suit

[naynay101hotdog]

I like how OSHA isn't in all plants world wide..... (Sarcasim) This mother fucker could have lived if he had a Flash suit on... I KNOW THEIR HOT BUT IT'S BETTER THAN BEING DEAD!

[Nealieboyee23]

@naynay101hotdog

Yeah a flashsuit would probably have saved him. So much for health and safety

[naynay101hotdog]

@Nealieboyee23 My plant hooks us up with the ones with fans built in.

[jasowink]

but will it blend ?!

[PolskiHetman]

the idiot with the cellphone caused this accident

[jorgemanriqueh]

It´s hard ti believe nobody died, the arc didn´t get them, in fact, the guy run out with no injuries.

[CBGunz]

the guy that walked away was the guy that SHOULD have been working on getting the breaker closed, instead he let his buddy do it. I bet he feels like shit.

[luvbigexplosions]

there is blast doors there for a reason

[DJMavex]

OMG O_o

[trinitylancer]

Some switchgear that has been analyze for arc flash magnetude potential sometimes have ratings that state that the switch cannot be opened by human means. It usual means unsafe to open or closed regardless of what you wear. They have robotic means for opening and closing switches of this category, by remote means under the control of the electrician well outside the danger zone. Some of these robotic devices are even equipped with a camera option also.

[iloveredalert3]

im not sure he died...but the camera died

[difunto91]

PIKACHU WINS !

[ledzeppelin1161]

i just took an osha/msha course and the instructor said arc flashes can go up to 35000 degree Fahrenheit, thats 3 times the surface of the sun. that guy was vaporized instantly.

[ldwhite69]

just run him under a cold tap for a few minutes and hell be fine

[nibletxxx]

i saw this video it work today... they told me he was killed.....

[claasjaguar960]

is he dead ?

[theoneandonly690]

why fix it with the electricity on?

[88Ghillie]

@theoneandonly690 the bus bar probably feeding building blocks, hospitals, streets, factories?

[DOSeater]

That might of hurt

[patapoche]

moi, ben jpense qu'y crinquais le main breaker d'un transfer switch pour la generatrice... sinon, apres l'incident, normallement, elle aurais du demarer... ou pire: la generatrice fonctionnais lors de la maintenance... entk, fo tjrs en avoir peur au minimum... quoi que le gars savait ce qu'il faisais et les risques composes......

[333OutLaw152Ave]

wow.... first that gets blown up in your face, then everything just goes completely dark

-.- Sucks.

[smirkingsaint]

Must be a failed Interlock, I would imagine that he has Racked the CB out under load conditions, probably from the live busbar. As you are racking out at independant speed you will always draw an arc in those situations, this in turn would probably have ignited the isulative medium (which most racked breakers is oil) and so it caused the explosion.

In short, he made a mistake, a big one.

[Satchmoeddie]

@smirkingsaint No telling what these guys did. Failed to check? I have racked things out with a harness on and guys ready to yank my scrawny ass clear out of the room. Thankfully nothing ever happened that was this bad. (I think) We were yanking old wire out of a basic BS 480 volt service and someone had but spliced bare copper to the ground in the mid point of the run and pulled that splice into the conduit. I was already taking cover when the bare wire hit the buses. Another guy lost an eye.

[88Ghillie]

@smirkingsaint do you reckon he might have shorted out the phases?

[Tamaslammer]

Well thank God the camera was hooked up to the backup power supply.....whew...

[BoomShaka209]

where did he go

[BruceJAX]

...(cont. from prev comment)...

If something seems wrong, never force it. I personally had 480 V, 2000 Amp Main Breaker (SD PAL) AF on me (C-B-A Phase, Line Side, Exposed, Arms Length). I have been doing Switchgear Maint (10), Infrared (9), Transformer Work (10), AF Analysis & Traing (4) for (years). Trust me...Wear the PPE...and recognize all hazards and thier levels!

[BruceJAX]

Look at the conduits on this. These are GE AKR-30 breakers (480 Volt, 800 Amp frame) and the Main Buss is probably 480 V, 3000-4000 Amp. Probably from the size of this it is feed by a 2.5 - 3.0 MVA Transformer. This is easy CAT 4 (40 cal dual layer AF Suit...big spaceman suit), over 25 cal but less than 40 cal. Not CAT 2 (8 cal). And both of them should have been wearing that (this would have about a 7-9' Flash Prot. Boundry. They were having problems racking it in obviously...If something seems

[zipasa123]

energy gone  but camera still recording ?! wtf

[douro20]

The guy actually survived.

[mrtrizzae]

I'm sure there is probably a sticker on those breakers like there are on our's. Close the door before you load the springs. In fact if you look at the door you can see the hole you put the crank through so you can load them with the door closed.

[ActiasLinnaeus]

Demon face manifests at 1:15.

[picksboy]

Door open, I would be at PPE Level 4. I would have to change my shorts and get a new 40cal suit.

[thuthmosis1]

sucedio en la refioneria de barrancabermeja-santander colombia. al tabajador le dicen moneda hehehe, no le pàso nada gracias a DIOS.

[OBQM]

lol, emergency call to UPS service company. "Yeah, I'll need a tech dispatched immediately. The UPS just blew up and vaporized the site engineer."

[Erzahler]

Looks like he was charging the circuit and something failed... violently.

[terrorofterrors]

@Erzahler He wasn't charging a circuit, he was changing a breaker. Some HV breakers have to be cranked into place for safety reasons. He was probably putting it back in place after servicing it, and one of the blades touched something it shouldn't have, which caused the arc. Also, he's only wearing lvl2 PPE, which is only rated for 8cal. Almost assuredly he received 3rd degree burns everywhere IF he survived, which he probably did not.

[Erzahler]

@terrorofterrors Thanks for the information. I wasn't aware that some breakers had to be installed when the circuit was live. Definitely a lot different from changing a breaker in my house!

[coffeeintheface]

5 minutes later = a late night emergency call to their maintenance service provider, lol

[sixstringZZ69er]

Did he died?

[Gohamonem100times]

yeeeaaahhh.......pretty sure he went to hell

[SENTRY000]

Your suppose to close the door before you crank it!

[BruceJAX]

@SENTRY000 he was having problems racking it in (made sure fully racked out, looked...probably at the rack in interlocks on the sides, racked in, racked out, looked...then made the mistake of forcing it in...) If he only would have thought of closing the door when he put his faceshield on...or pull it back off the rack and figure out whats going on...or best yet 1. do it energized or 2. do with 40 cal AF suit for both of them...see my comments I just made on this for more...

[joseph7784]

damn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mitchellmitchell4000]

no1 died check for your self 8hO1s_SFHe0&NR=1

[BruceJAX]

@mitchellmitchell4000 on that video (which is obviously part of an Arc Flash Training video, the singed sub he is standing in front of is a ITE K-Line Sub and they are K-Line 600 Breakers (600 V, 600 A Rated) and obviously the door is closed and it's not the same incident as the "Industry Provided Video". CAT 2 would be good for him, and from what it sounded like from her, he was probably in proper PPE...This video though, definetly they should have had CAT 4 on (CAT 3 possible with minor injury

[MrRedeyedJedi]

did that guy die?

[ccraig412]

@MrRedeyedJedi Yes, one week later. I saw it in another video someone said.

[MrRedeyedJedi]

@ccraig412 how horrid /=

[hitachi088]

someone died or ?

[made4speed1]

well i take that back what it looked like they were doing to me and their story are tottally different things i just watched the other video. they just ignored safty protocals basically is what i got out of it as to what caused it i still can't find anywhere with an explanation.

[made4speed1]

looks to me as if they were pulling line throught conduit they probably didn't energize anything but obviously somthing was live. just pull pilot rope attached to the line. would be why they weren't wearing very much gear too.

[djsaturn26]

Yup, he's barbeque.

[jorgemanriqueh]

@djsaturn26 No man, he is alive and run out harmless.

[guimbadriver]

shazam....bumm ki droga keimou,,,

[kyismaster]

And this is another reason why i chose anything else than to become a electrician like my mother told me to. Happily going for mechanics. i already get electrocuted enough. 

[rashaverak710]

@kyismaster you were shocked. you have never been electrocuted. if you had, you'd be dead.

[kyismaster]

@rashaverak710 people lived through electrocution before. fyi

[MichaelJE2]

@kyismaster Electrocution means "the stopping of life by any type of electric shock". So no, people don't live through electrocution.

[shadowman1952]

I worked for a very large plant. We had a bunch of above ground vaults like this that we did Preventive maintenance on a lot before the plant was going down hill. We did it on manufacturer recommended basis until they didn't care any more. It was like biannual and went to every two years. We did it for 30 years without any protection at all. Eventually we got blast suits and always checked for shorts that would read a fraction of an ohm. The highest level of a blast suit should always be used.

[Nnovata]

does the lights went out or the camera didn't work anymore?

[jorgemanriqueh]

@Nnovata The lights went out when the main breaker tripped. The guy lived to tell the story, its difficult to believe but it is the truth, I am know him in person.

[laakeri84]

@jorgemanriqueh , Must be something wrong with the camera too. Or don't they have battery powered reserve lights, which go automatically on when power failure occurs?

[Darkbegining845]

this is what happens when you don't follow the directions and wear the proper PPE's

[xXxmidgexXx]

Pause exactly at 1:15. XTREM Brightness. :D

[andrewells134]

you guys do know there is a way to test these things for direct shorts before you rack them. I always do it before i rack them, just as i check for direct shorts before i energize or commission new switch gear.

[Nivicoman]

@andrewells134 How often do breakers like these have shorts? And what causes the shorts? One story I did see was that this breaker had been left outdoors and got saturated with moisture. They towel "dried" it and obviously there was still moisture deep within. Moisture + 13.8 Kv = KABOOM! That was just one posting I saw. No one seems to know the exact story on this one.

[MPArmstrong84]

This is some scary shit! What in the hell happened?!? Was somethin' cross fased ,some kind of short or somethin' else?

[Nivicoman]

@MPArmstrong84 No one seems to know the story behind this one. One story was that the breaker had been left outside and gotten wet. They towel "dried" it and surely there was still moisture deep inside. That and 13.8 Kv ain't a good combo. 480 volts is bad enough. Son of a bitch I would shit myself if someone made me work with distribution level voltages.

[johnorlitta]

I believe jorgemanriqueh is correct, I just checked out the Palo Verde incident video, the person who identifies himself as the person who threw the breaker is substantially larger in size than the man in the actual arc flash accident video.

[adventure002006]

Guys are very lucky. We have level 2 and level 3 arc flash suits and helmet with blast hood over top, That looks like it would be level 3, needing the full arc flash suit with helmet and gloves. the PPE they were wearing is not even level 2 protection. Level two is hardhat with full face shield.

[Crpetersena]

That's one he** of an arc flash, I heard the guy lived, and helped the PPOE folks to do a documentary about how it saved his life..

[lharr29]

it happened in palo alto arizona in 2008. both men survived because they were wearing the proper PPE.

[jorgemanriqueh]

You are wrong, the explosion occurred at Ecopetrol Refinery as Arid said. Nobody was hurt, and losses were low. God exists! Protective equipment was inappropriate, they did not use arc flash suit. They just were lucky.

[lharr29]

You're wrong. Look up Arc Flash Incident Palo Verde Arizona 2008 and you'll see a full documentation of the incident produced by the facility where it happened.

[jorgemanriqueh]

You are still wrong, I watched the video and they are not documenting this incident, they use the video with a title Industry supplied video. I can tell the truth because I work at the Refinery in Barranca. Search Arc Flash Refineria Barranca at youtube, and you will see what other people say.

[CaptainDonkey]

@lharr29 You are wrong this is not the same facility. If you actually watched that video you will notice the Palo Verde incident was with outdoor switchgear.

[mikeb56]

@jorgemanriqueh It's got nothing to do with god; it's more about engineers.

[gotgearz350]

@jorgemanriqueh are you kidding me, nobody got hurt? the ppe that guy was wearing wasnt any where near enough do you know the temperatures and pressures involved in an arc blast? that guy is lucky if he got out alive, but you are saying that nobody was hurt.

[pjblanda]

@gotgearz350

Really....he was fine! I am going through training right now and this guy was interviewed in a safety video. He got through it without any injuries. It doesn't look good in the video, but he wasn't hurt.

[gotgearz350]

@pjblanda im also going through training, with Cummins Power Generation. who are you training with?

[mick818522]

Sad. Love to his family.

[JeffreyMeade]

Can we find an official report?

[98JOJO]

Yeah, the guy racking the breaker is deader than damnit

[HoneycombAgent]

@JeffreyMeade Where's the emergency lighting? We can't see anything from 1:23 onwards.

[drpower444444]

From my experience the possible causes of such flash over are:

1- Breaker was in close position while rack in (mechanical problem, internal mechanism should prevent rack in breaker while in close position).

2- Bus bar shutter fail down in one or more phases after tulip contact get in touch with live part (some switchgear have metallic shutter).

3- Misalignment while rack in lead to breaker tulip contact touching live part with ground body.

[lcserg87]

@drpower444444 in your experience are they both death

[bambamfuck]

ok this is what ive heard about this(as said by other ppl):

Happened in Colombia,Bogota. It happened at a naval pier, they were racking a breaker into a live bus after replacing the trip unit. Problem happened because the breaker was allowed to sit in a damp shop next to the pier and the fiberglass insulation panel protecting the stabs of the breaker became saturated and allowed voltage to leak across the second and third phase of this 480V distribution center. He died as a result.

[Nivicoman]

@bambamfuck I reply to everyone asking about this one. I refer to your post on moisture causing the flashover. For some reason I thought it was 13.8 Kv. In my shop I saw an arc flash when on a muggy April day the condensed moisture on a breaker made it flash over between the too closely spaced lugs. The only thing that kept the tech from being seriously hurt was our soft lines feeding the test bay. That and the 1000 amp service entrance breaker tripping and shutting down the whole building.

[knaxl]

@bambamfuck :

It definitely is a bad idea to rack a circuit breaker into a live busbar. Wet storage or not. Disconnector switches should be open during maintenance.