An Analysis of Fires Due to Violation of the Rules for Design and Operation of Electrical Plants, and How to Prevent them in Residential Buildings (on the Example of the Amur Region)

The paper presents the studies on the dynamics of fires in the Amur Region for the period from 2006 to 2016. The studies involved an analysis of main causes of their occurrence and damage. It is shown that most of the fires occur due to the violation of the Rules for design and operation of electrical plants (VRDOEP) in residential and industrial buildings. It is established that the phase currents in the 0.38 kV electrical networks are objectively considerably unbalanced, which leads to the zero-sequence currents in the neutral conductor of the three-phase electrical network and corresponding overheating of this conductor. This, in turn, leads to the destruction of the insulation of the neutral and phase conductors and corresponding single-phase short circuits. As a result, conditions for fires arise. The ways, methods and engineering solutions for preventing fires caused by violation of the Rules for operation of electrical installations are analyzed. The analysis demonstrates that the most effective engineering solution is the use of special balancing devices that significantly reduce the zero-sequence current in the neutral conductor and, accordingly, prevent its overheating. A technique for determining the parameters of balancing devices is proposed.