Industrial Electrical Safety and Systems

On successful completion of this programme, learners can:

1. Recognise the safety standards associated with working with electrical circuits and understand how to use electrical test equipment correctly.
2. Appraise, apply the principles, and perform calculations on AC and DC electric circuits.
3. Apply power calculations to electrical systems and understand the effects on transmission and distribution of electrical power in Ireland.
4. Describe the operation, configuration and testing of AC induction motors, interpret electrical drawings and build a basic electrical circuit

Basic Electric Circuits:

• Basic atomic structure
• Conductors and insulators
• Conductor resistance
• Ohm’s law
• Connection of voltmeters and ammeters
• Kirchoff’s Voltage and current laws
• Voltage divider rule
• Series and Parallel Circuits
• Calculate the value or resistances in Series and Parallel and use a multimeter to measure the resistances
• Power

AC Power and Energy:

• Calculation of AC circuit power
• Power transfer, losses, and efficiency
• Electrical energy
• Sinusoidal AC waveform
• Peak, average and RMS values
• Phase relations and phasor diagrams
• Inductor and capacitor in AC circuit
• Reactance and impedance
• Power factor and power factor correction
• Electric Supply Systems: The various stages involved in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electrical energy
• State how three phase AC is produced and its advantages

Transformer and motor operation:

• The magnetic field
• Flux density
• Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction
• Calculation of induced voltage
• Outline the magnetic effects of electricity and the rules governing magnetic fields
• Explain the operation of a three-phase transformer and a squirrel cage induction motor
• State how to change the direction of rotation
• Calculate the synchronous speed of a three-phase motor
• Recognise the effects of star and delta connections
• Test a three-phase motor for continuity of phases and for insulation between phases and between each phase and the motor frame

Operation and Testing of Control and Power Circuits:

• Outline how contactors and solenoids work
• Predict voltages at given points on an electrical circuit
• Use standard symbols and numbering systems
• Understand wiring, circuit, and schematic diagrams
• Construct control circuits using commonly used electrical components such as, normally open switches, normally closed switches, auxiliary contacts, contactors, thermal overloads, etc.
• Construct and test a DOL motor control circuit
• Carryout fault-finding on the DOL circuit and other circuitsand its advantages

Electrical Safety:

• Identify electrical safety hazards and present ways to minimize or avoid their consequences
• Types of Electrical Faults
• Electrical Safety Standards e.g. I.S. 10101:2020
• Establish a Safe Work Condition, lockout/tagout
• Employer and Employee responsibilities
• State how to protect against indirect contact by means of double insulation, automatic disconnection by earthing, residual current device (RCB), equipotential bonding
• Understand electrical safety devices and such as fuses, MCBs, RCDs, RCBOs etc