Reduction of Fire Hazard in Individual Residential Buildings under the Conditions of Unbalanced and Nonlinear Loads

The article considers the possibilities of using methods and technical means to reduce the risk of fire-hazardous situations to occur in individual residential buildings (IRB) as a consequence of unbalanced operation modes caused by unbalanced and nonlinear loads. The maximum allowable current values through the neutral conductor of the IRB internal electrical network and in a 0.4 kV four-wire network under various temperature conditions have been determined. Based on the actual measurements of electrical energy parameters in the IRB internal electrical network, the connection of the newly developed balancing device to the IRB input distribution board was simulated. The effectiveness of using the balancing device was analyzed from the viewpoint of reducing the risk of fire to break out. It has been established that the use of a balancing device reduces heat losses, which can cause a fire hazard in the electrical network under study, by more than 60 %. The results obtained may be of interest to companies involved in the design and construction of IRBs, as well as to scientists who investigate unbalanced operating modes of low-voltage electric networks.