DC Arc Flash Hazard is a significant concern in battery packs, but at the moment doesn’t appear to be that thoroughly understood. The concern is around the thermal runaway of an HV battery pack when lots of graphite is ejected by one or more cells. The pathway for an HV Arc that can result in significant current and hence heat that will accelerate the thermal runaway.
Needs review: This page only sketches the DC arc flash problem for battery packs and says outright that more research is needed. It would benefit from battery-pack-specific incident energy/arc flash boundary worked examples (using the IEEE 1584 / Jim Phillips DC methods referenced below), which requires subject-matter judgement calls about representative pack voltages and fault currents that shouldn’t be guessed here.
DC Arc Flash Hazard Calculations
In January 2010, Jim Phillips introduced DC arc flash calculation methods in his Arc Flash Studies training program and also in his book “Complete Guide to Arc Flash Hazard Calculation Studies”
The calculation methods are based on several highly regarded technical papers which are listed below and referenced in this guide. These methods are used by many arc flash programs. Although not officially part of a standard, this guide is based on the better known methods currently available for DC arc flash calculations.
It would be great to find more research on this subject for battery packs.
See also: Positive Temperature Coefficient