Neutral Grounding Resistor (NGR) Monitoring Relay with Ground Fault and

Neutral Grounding Resistor monitor NGRM700 in Mines & Oil Fields.

Indian Electricity Rule Clause 116 mentions that in the interest of safety, the magnitude of the earth
fault current shall be limited to 750mA in 550/1100 V system for mines and oil fields and 50A in
3.3KV/6.6KV system in mines by installing a suitably designed restricted neutral of supply. Further the
effectiveness and healthiness of the protecting system shall be continuously monitored to avoid
unsafe condition. Further the over-voltages should be monitored to be within safe limits. Canadian
Standard CSA M421 for use of Electricity in Mines Clauses 4.5.6 & 4.5.7 mentions that the overvoltage
in case of fault shall be limited to 100V or less by using suitable neutral grounding device and supply
to be de-energised if fault voltage higher than this. Also the continuity of grounding connection to be
monitored. Further audible and visual alarm shall be provided for providing overvoltage and earth
fault current.

The Neutral Resistance Grounded systems is created if the neutral is tied to ground via NGR (Neutral
Grounding Resistor). The main advantage of High-resistance grounded system is that it takes the
benefits of both Ungrounded/Floating System and Solidly Grounded System. The NGR limits the
amount of current flowing through earth fault thereby reducing the maximum possible leakage
current to a low pre-determined level. Typically, NGRs are used to limit the maximum fault current to
750mA, 1A, 10A, 50A, 100A etc depending on local system requirements. This limitation in earth fault
current avoids tripping of Load MCBs & Fuses thereby maintaining continuity of power supply to loads.
Thus, the system becomes less hazardous (in fault conditions) as compared to solidly grounded
system. Further the use of NGR limits the fault/transient voltages on the loads to acceptable limits
and maintains the line to earth voltages within limits thereby avoiding overvoltage malfunction and
damage to connected loads.

The ground fault current magnitude depends on system voltage, the resistance of ground fault and
the resistance of NGR.

In a NGR system if the NGR connection or resistance assembly breaks the resistance would become
infinite between neutral and earth and the former resistance grounded system will become
ungrounded/floating and there will not be any scope for ground return current to flow. Also, in such
a situation there is an increased risk of transient over-voltages on loads. Further in case the NGR gets
shorted due to some reason the neutral will be solidly grounded thereby increasing the fault current
to very high dangerous levels.

BENDER with its large amount of experience and R&D efforts over more than 70 years provide
ingenious solution for earth fault monitoring and protection for various applications. Bender devices
are known for successfully working in presence of various electrical noises without spurious operation
and indications (EMI/EMC qualified) across the world. Thus, for safe & efficient operation of NGR
grounding system a Bender make NGR monitor NGRM700 is available and the details are discussed
below.

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The NGRM700 is intended for use in high-resistance grounded systems.
In these systems, the NGRM700 monitors

• the current through the neutral-grounding resistor (NGR) including selectable harmonic
components,
• the voltage between the star point of the transformer and earth (voltage drop across the
NGR),
• the continuity and break condition of the NGR,
• line-to-line and line-to-earth voltages.
• Self-diagnostics

The NGRM700 monitors NGR resistance value RNGR, neutral voltage UNGR and neutral current INGR as
follows.

1. NGR resistance is monitored using both an active and a passive procedure:

Active Procedure
The device generates an active test pulse and measures RNGR even if the installation is de-energised.

Passive Procedure
Only for energized installations: The resistance RNGR is determined when INGR or UNGR exceeds an
internal threshold. The device measures the existing current and voltage and calculates RNGR.

2. A ground fault is signaled via the corresponding ground-fault relay when INGR or UNGR exceeds the
selectable thresholds. After the configurable delay time has elapsed, the power system can be shut
down with the trip relay. A connection to installations ranging from 400 V…25 kV is possible via the
appropriate CD-series Coupling Device. INGR is measured with (universal) measuring current
transformers CT with 5 A or 50 mA secondary ratings. With the conversion ratio of the used
measuring current transformer the current measurement is internally set in such a way that it
adjusts best to INGR.

The phase monitoring function of the NGRM700 can be used to indicate which phase has the ground
fault. Direct coupling is possible up to a system voltage of 690 V. For higher voltages, the coupling
is carried out via potential transformers (PT) with an adjustable conversion ratio.

The NGRM700 has a detachable HMI FP200 which can be placed separately on the enclosure door.
The NGRM700 has in-built communication interface for Ethernet, Modbus TCP and 0(4)…20mA or
0(2)…10V analog output for remote indication of RNGR or INGR . The NGRM700 has multi-functions
which are detailed below.

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Device features

• Determination of RNGR with passive and active measurement methods

• Continuous monitoring of the RNGR even if the installation is de-energised;
• Alarm or trip on ground fault
• Monitoring of the current INGR
• Monitoring of the voltage UNGR
• Phase-to-ground fault indication (optional; up to 690 V direct coupling, otherwise via potential
transformers)
• Communication via Ethernet/Modbus TCP
• Web server
• Language selection (German, English GB & US, Spanish, French)
• Test button (internal, external) with/without tripping
• FFT analysis of the measuring signals
• Pulser for manual ground fault location
• Relay for detection of ground faults and resistor faults
• Relay for shutdown of the installation after a configurable time
• Can be combined with RCMS… for automatic shutdown of feeders
• Wide supply voltage range (24 to 240 Vac/Vdc)
• Range of use up to 5000 m altitude above MSL
• Fault/History memory

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• Analogue output of measured values (0…10 V, 4…20 mA, etc., selectable parameters)
• Detachable HMI for door mounting
• Password protection
• Tripping on RMS, fundamental component signal or harmonics
• Detection of AC and DC ground faults

Sr.No Description Model Qty

1 Ground-Fault and NGR Monitor NGRM700
2 Coupling device for NGRM700 ; Un= AC 0 ... 1000V CD1000
Coupling device for NGRM700 ; Un= AC 0 ... 5000V CD5000
Coupling device for NGRM700 ; Un= AC 0 ... 15000V CD14400
3 Residual current transformer up to 25A AC or Upto W2-S70
Residual current transformer up to 10A AC /DC Upto W120AB
4 Power Supply for residual current transformer (only for W...AB AN420
CTs)
5 Remote user interface (optional) FP200-NGRM
6 PT for phase monitoring (Optional) will be in customer scope

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