Friday June 4 2010 at 22.30 local time Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, was the scene of a devastating fire killing 117 to 150 people and at least the same amount of people injured. All the sources are in agreement to indicate the cause of the fire as the result of the explosion of an electric transformer. Subsequently, the fire spread to a nearby plastics factory, totally incinerating four buildings in the vicinities.

This type of catastrophic events underline, once more, the need to develop programs for integrated protection applying the Best Available Techniques (BAT) and Best Environmental Practices (BEP). Through an alert management of the Life Cycle (LCM – Life Cycle Management) of the fleet of electrical equipment with insulating oils it is possible to constantly monitor their health condition and prolong their useful life, with respect for the safety of the asset itself, public health and the environment. 

We remind that IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), and in particular Technical Committee TC10, have developed a normative body at international level to prevent and/or mitigate catastrophic events. The two most representative norms in the sector are:
IEC 60422 – Mineral insulating oils in electrical equipment –Guidelines for management and maintenance.
IEC 60599 – Equipment in operation impregnated in mineral oil – Guideline for the interpretation of the analysis of dissolved and free gases.
These norms invite the monitoring of electrical equipment through the analysis and the subsequent diagnosis of the insulating liquids they contain. Form the correct interpretation of the analytical results, it is possible to delineate the state of health of the equipment and to anticipate catastrophic failures. In ace such equipment is contaminated by PCBs, the technical norm of reference is (LCM – Life Cycle Management)


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dhaka-fire-bangladesh
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Bangladesh_blaze_death_toll_climbs_to_109/