ELECTRICAL GROUNDING AND EARTHING SYSTEMS

Presented By:

T.Sidharth Sankar Achary

Regd No-1021106019

7th sem.

Electrical Engg.

CONTENTS• INTRODUCTION.• DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROUND AND NEUTRAL.• TYPES OF EARTHING SYSTEMS.• TYPES OF GROUNDING.• USES.• CONCEPT OF VIRTUAL GROUND.• MULTIPOINT GROUND.• CONCLUSION.• REFERENCES.

INTRODUCTION• In electricity supply systems, an earthing system defines the electrical

potential of the conductors relative to that of the Earth's conductive surface.

• The choice of earthing system has implications for the safety and electromagnetic compatibility of the power supply.

• A protective earth (PE) connection ensures that all exposed conductive surfaces are at the same electrical potential as the surface of the Earth, to avoid the risk of electrical shock if a person touches a device in which an insulation fault has occurred. It also ensures that in the case of an insulation fault, a high fault current flows, which will trigger an over current protection device (fuse, MCB) that disconnects the power supply.

• A functional earth connection serves a purpose other than providing protection against electrical shock.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROUND AND NEUTRAL.

• Ground or earth in a mains (AC power) electrical wiring system is a conductor that exists primarily to help protect against faults and which in normal operation does not carry current.

• Neutral is a circuit conductor that may carry current in normal operation, and which is usually connected to earth. In house wiring, it is the center tap connection of the secondary winding of the power company's transformer.

• In a polyphase or three-wire AC system, the neutral conductor is intended to have similar voltages to each of the other circuit conductors, and similar phase spacing. By this definition, a circuit must have at least three wires for one to serve as a neutral.

• In the electrical trade, the conductor of a 2-wire circuit that is connected to the supply neutral point and earth ground is also referred to as the "neutral". This is formally described in the US and Canadian electrical codes as the "identified" circuit conductor.

TYPES OF EARTHING SYSTEMS

• International standard IEC 60364 distinguishes three families of earthing arrangements, using the two-letter codes TN, TT, and IT.

• The first letter indicates the connection between earth and the power-supply equipment (generator or transformer):

T : direct connection of a point with earth (French: terre); I : no point is connected with earth (isolation), except

perhaps via a high impedance.The second letter indicates the connection between earth and

the electrical device being supplied: T : direct connection with earth, independent of any other

earth connection in the supply system; N : connection to earth via the supply network.

TN NETWORK

TN-S NETWORK

TN-C NETWORK

TN-C-S NETWORK

TT NETWORK

IT NETWORK

TYPES OF GROUNDING

• In radio frequency communications • In AC power wiring installations • Circuit ground versus earth.• In lightning protection

In radio frequency communications • An electrical connection to earth for as a reference potential for radio frequency

antenna signals.

• High frequency signals can flow to earth through capacitance, capacitance to

ground is an important factor in effectiveness of signal grounds.

• An ideal signal ground maintains zero voltage regardless of how much

electrical current flows into ground or out of ground.

• The resistance at the signal frequency of the electrode-to-earth connection

determines its quality, and that quality is improved by increasing the surface

area of the electrode in contact with the earth, increasing the depth to which it

is driven, using several connected ground rods, increasing the moisture of the

soil, improving the conductive mineral content of the soil, and increasing the

land area covered by the ground system.

In AC power wiring installations • In a mains (AC power) wiring installation, the ground is a wire

with an electrical connection to earth, that provides an alternative path to the ground for heavy currents that might otherwise flow through a victim of electric shock.

• These may be located locally, be far away in the suppliers network or in many cases both.

• This grounding wire is usually but not always connected to the neutral wire at some point.

• The ground wire is also usually bonded to pipe work to keep it at the same potential as the electrical ground during a fault.

• Water supply pipes often used to be used as ground electrodes but this was banned in some countries when plastic pipe such as PVC became popular.

• This type of ground applies to radio antennas and to lightning protection systems.

Circuit ground versus earth • In an electrical circuit operating at signal voltages (usually less

than 50 V or so), a common return path that is the zero voltage reference level for the equipment or system.

• Voltage is a differential quantity, which appears between two points having some electrical potentials. In order to deal only with a voltage (an electrical potential) of a single point, the second point has to be connected to a reference point (ground) having usually zero voltage.

• This signal ground may or may not actually be connected to a power ground.

• A system where the system ground is not actually connected to earth is often referred to as a floating ground.

In lightning protection

• A ground conductor on a lightning protection system is used to dissipate the strike into the earth.

USES• A power ground serves to provide a return path for fault

currents and therefore allow the fuse or breaker to disconnect the circuit.

• Filters also connect to the power ground, but this is mainly to stop the power ground carrying noise into the systems which the filters protect, rather than as a direct use of the power ground.

• In Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) electrical distribution systems, costs are saved by using just a single high voltage conductor for the power grid. This system is mostly used in rural areas where large earth currents will not otherwise cause hazards.

• Signal grounds serve as return paths for signals and power at low voltages (less than about 50 V) within equipment, and on the signal interconnections between equipment.

GENERAL GROUNDING

GENERATOR EARTHING

VIRTUAL GROUND CONCEPT

• If two opposite power sources are connected each other by a conductive medium so that their opposite output quantities are superposed (summed), zero or reference level result referred to as virtual ground appears somewhere along the medium.

• In this "conflict" point, the efforts of the "fighting" sources are "neutralized". The process is associated with continuous energy wasting from both the sources as a result of a continuous energy flow through the medium.

• Shortly, virtual ground phenomenon is summing of opposite equal quantities associated with continuous energy wasting; virtual ground represents the result of summing two opposite equal quantities.

MULTI POINT GROUND• A Multipoint Ground is an alternate type of electrical

installation that attempts to solve the Ground Loop and Mains hum problem by creating many alternate paths for electrical energy to find its way back to ground.

• The distinguishing characteristic of a multipoint ground is the use of many interconnected grounding conductors into a loose grid configuration.

• There will be many paths between any two points in a multipoint grounding system, rather than the single path found in a star topology ground.

CONCLUSION

Grounding and Earthing systems form the first line of defense in every type of electrical systems. The system may be a generator/transformer/housing installation/generating station/etc. So it is strictly advised to know the basic concepts of grounding as far as electrical engg. is concerned.

THANK YOU