Electricity is boon for mankind. Electricity is good servant but bad master. It makes human life very easy & comfortable but it can prove to be very dangerous if circuits are not properly protected.  Electricity constitutes one of the major sources of ignition for fire accidents and explosions. Over 20% of fire world wide and 40% fire in India are due to faulty electric circuits. Besides equipment damage and property loss, electrical hazards also include injuries and fatalities to personnel due to electric shock. Electricity having become an indispensable part of our life, electrical risks are to be managed effectively.

ELECTRICAL HAZARDS

The following hazards are within the use of electricity:

• Primary Hazards

1. Electrical shock
2. Burns
3. Fire and Explosion: Spark and Static rty loss, electrical

• Secondary Hazards(Involuntary Reflex Action)

1. Persons falling from  height
2. Dropping of tools and object

• Continuous increase in cost of energy

There is increase of 100 to 300% in cost of energy in last 6 year.

• Depleting sources of primary energy like coal, oil, and natural gas

World oil & Gas reserves are estimated to last for limited period of 40 to 60 years.

• Continuous increase in demand of energy

Due to Industrialization & Improvement in standard of living there is continuous increase in demand of Energy  

• Increased competition due to liberalization and globalization

This has driven every business to adopt and implement various cost cutting and quality improvement measures. Energy cost is very significant cost in economy of most of the industries, utilities and service sector.

Energy contributes a significant part of operational costs across the globe, as high as 30% in many process industries.

• Environmental issue

Adverse impact of increase in energy production and consumption on the environment, particularly climate change arising from greenhouse gas emissions.

Power quality is of major concern to all types of industries and commercial buildings, data centers, especially those operating with critical machinery and equipments. Poor power quality leads to problems of Voltage Sag, Voltage Swell, Voltage Spike, Harmonic distortion, Voltage Unbalance…..etc. This in turn into leads to major problems like break-downs, erratic behavior of equipment, production interruptions, excess energy consumption etc. Modern industries require automation of their operation enabling them to produce quality products and also for mass production. The conventional systems are being replaced by modern power electronic systems, bringing a variety of advantages to the users. Classic examples are DC & AC Drives, UPS, soft starters, etc. Since the Thyristor converter technology is rapidly gaining ground in the modern industrial plants, the power supply systems are contaminated as the ideal sinusoidal current and voltage waveforms are getting distorted. This in turn is affecting the performance of the equipment in the electrical network.