STUDY ON GROUNDING SYSTEM AND

SAFETY PRACTICES

MOHAMMED FAIZ M
S7 EE
ROLL NO. 25

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING KIDANGOOR

10:18 AM DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS, CE, KIDANGOOR 1

 CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. EFFECT OF ELECTRIC FAULT CURRENT
3. TYPES OF GROUNDING
4. FAULT RETURN CONDUCTOR
5. METHODS OF SENSING AND CLEARING A FAULT TO EQUIPMENT
6. OTHER PATHWAYS
7. CONCLUSIONS
8. REFERENCES

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 INTRODUCTION
Grounding, generally means providing a connection from one conductor of the
system to an electrode that is buried in the earth.
Grounding is generally accepted as an operation to make systems safe.
The fault return conductor brings the potential at equipment enclosures to ground
but only when there is no fault current.
The potential rise due to the fault current flow can raise the potential to a
hazardous level.
Simple grounding does not provide for safe systems.

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 INTRODUCTION(Contd… )

The fault return conductor and the overcurrent protective device, in combination,
may prevent ventricular fibrillation and provide safer systems.
Grounding or connection to earth, is an action to minimise the consequence on
electrical faults.
If the enclosure is at earth potential and an individual is in contact with the earth,
there will be no difference in the potential to result in a shock.
For a fault current flows in the connection to the earth, the enclosure is raised in
potential equal to the product of the fault current and the impedance to the earth.
Now there will be a difference of potential between the enclosure and the body in
contact with the earth, and a shock potential is established.

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 INTRODUCTION(Contd… )

Non-normal electric current flow results in electric shock and fire.

Fires are started by raising the temperature of a combustible material above its
ignition point.
The power generated by a current flowing through a resistive element is
determined by the i2R function.
The power dissipated in the resistive element can raise the temperature.
Minimizing the total time that the fault current flows will minimize the total energy
developed.

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 EFFECTS OF ELECTRIC FAULT
CURRENT
The effects of an electric current through the body (1000ohm) from 5 to 95
percentile have been measured as follows (independent of time):
Threshold of feeling: 1 mA
Let-go current: 6-14 mA for women and 9-22 mA for men
Arrest respiration: 20 - 40 mA across chest.

Thus, maximum fault voltage of 6 V is desirable.

Obtaining this low level of fault voltage may not be practical.
The two factors which defines the level of safety of an electrical system:
magnitude
duration

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 EFFECTS OF ELECTRIC FAULT
CURRENT(Contd… )

The relatively safer system is one that minimizes the magnitude of the fault voltage
and/or the duration that the fault current exists.
The fault magnitude is determined by:
 the impedance of the fault path
 the fault voltage.

The impedance of the body, including the contact impedance where the current
enters and where it leaves the body is the limiting factor.
The fault duration is determined by:
 how long the body is subjected to the fault current.

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 TYPES OF GROUNDING

System Grounding
Equipment Grounding

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System Grounding

NEEDS OF SYSTEM GROUNDING:

1. to limit the voltage imposed by lightning

2. to limit the voltage due to unintentional contact with higher-voltage lines
3. to limit the voltage due to line surges
4. to stabilize the voltage to the earth during normal operation.

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 Fig 1. System Grounding

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System Grounding (Contd… )

The supply system has a connection to ground and is "system" grounded.

When lightning strike to a load side conductor, system grounding provides a path
for the lightning current to travel to the earth.
There is no electrical connection from the faulted supply conductor and the human
in contact with the enclosure.
Line surges, if they are voltage, cannot be reduced by system grounding which is a
current path.
Only surge protective devices can provide a means of short circuiting an
overvoltage to ground.

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System Grounding (Contd… )

Sudden opening of single conductor in a 3 phase long distribution system leads to

unstable voltage.
The capacitance to ground and the inductance of the line react to result in ferro-
resonance and an overvoltage can occur.
System grounding changes the capacitance vs inductance relationship and prevents
the overvoltage from occurring.
System grounding provides little assistance in minimizing the amplitude or duration
of downstream faults at equipment.
 The fault current must return through the earth with its relatively high resistance
compared to fault supply current conductors.

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Equipment Grounding

NEEDS OF EQUIPMENT GROUNDING:

1. to facilitate fault current clearing

2. to minimize the hazardous fault voltage

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 Fig 2. Equipment Grounding

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 Equipment Grounding (Contd…)

The supply system has a connection to the earth and is "grounded".

There is a fault at load equipment between the supply ungrounded conductor and
the metal enclosure of the load.
There is a connection to the earth from the equipment enclosure and the equipment
is "grounded". This conductor is truly an "equipment grounding conductor"

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 Equipment Grounding (Contd…)
The fault voltage at the enclosure with respect to local ground is:
𝑉𝑓𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑡 = 𝐼𝑓𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑡 × 𝑍𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛
𝑉𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦
𝐼𝑓𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑡 = 𝑍
𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒 +𝑍𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛

𝑉𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦
𝑉𝑓𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑡 = 𝑍 × 𝑍𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛
𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒 +𝑍𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛

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 Equipment Grounding (Contd…)
The fault voltage will be very close to the supply voltage by Ohm's Law for series
circuits.
Any increase in conductor size or reduction of circuit length will merely make the
fault voltage higher.
Fault current magnitude is minimal due to the relatively high resistance through the
earth back to the system grounding connection and finally to the source.
Thus equipment grounding, there fore, does not minimize the fault voltage.

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 FAULT RETURN CONDUCTOR

Fig 3. Fault Return Conductor

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 FAULT RETURN CONDUCTOR (Contd…)

The conductor connecting the enclosure directly to the earth has been removed.
A separate conductor has been added between the enclosure and the source.
The added conductor provides a path for the fault current to the source without
passing through the earth.
 This conductor is known as “fault return conductor”.

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 FAULT RETURN CONDUCTOR (Contd…)

The magnitude of the fault voltage can be calculated because the resistance of the
return path is a known quantity.
To provide a high level of fault current, a low-impedance electrically conductive
path from potentially faulted piece of equipment to the system source is necessary.
If that path is through the earth, the impedance of the earth will generally limit the
fault current to low levels that are insufficient for fault clearing.

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 METHODS OF SENSING AND CLEARING
A FAULT TO EQUIPMENT

Zero-sequence current sensing:

 Use a current transformer to sense the current going and leave the load.
 If the currents are not equal, there is a fault current returning to the source by some other
path.
 The current transformer output is used to operate the overcurrent device.
 Commonly found in kitchens, bathrooms etc.
 These devices are capable of opening the circuit in under 1 s.

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 METHODS OF SENSING AND CLEARING A FAULT
TO EQUIPMENT (Contd…)
By the use of a current transformer surrounding all of the circuit conductors.
 If the net current is not zero, the current transformer secondary output is used to trip the
supplying overcurrent device.

Circuit overcurrent protection device:

 Circuit breaker, fuse, or relay can provide fault current clearing if the fault current is in
excess of the normal device rating.
 Most of these devices have an inverse time-current characteristics.
 To operate this device quickly it is necessary to provide a high overcurrent.

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 OTHER PATHWAYS
There may be one or more fault return paths in parallel with the fault return wire
conductor.
The other paths are metallic raceways and building steel.
Metallic raceways are considered as a fault return conductor without regard to
material or size.
Raceway encircles the phase conductor, the net magnetic field is near zero inside
raceway, resulting in minimum impedance.
In buildings that have a structural steel metal frame, electrical equipment is often
fastened to the structural steel.
The structural steel is generally bonded to the earth and is a parallel path for the
fault current to return to the source.

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 OTHER PATHWAYS (Contd…)

Issues that reduce the effectiveness of the raceway as a conductor:

 High fault currents flow on the inner surface of the raceway due to eddy currents on
the outer surface.
 Reduces the effective cross-sectional area and thus increases the impedance of the
raceway.
 High fault currents will saturate the steel and hence increasing the impedance of the
raceway.

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 OTHER PATHWAYS (Contd…)

The parallel paths make the system safe in following ways:

 It reduces the effective fault return impedance.
 It reduces the fault voltage.
 It reduces the fault current through the human.
 It increases the fault current through the overcurrent protective device.
 It fasten fault clearing.

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 CONCLUSIONS
The act of grounding does not make systems safer.
In fact, grounding minimizes the hazardous voltage due to an enclosure fault is a
myth.
The relatively safer system is one that minimizes the magnitude of the fault voltage
and/or the duration of the fault current.
This is accomplished by a combination of an adequately sized fault return
conductor and an overcurrent device with a current versus time characteristic
adequate to operate rapidly.

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 REFERENCES
1. E. Rappaport, “Grounding vs. bonding—What the National Electrical Code
Does Not Explain”, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Year-2014,
Volume: 50, Issue: 4, Pages: 2776-2779.
2. E.Rappaport, “Does Grounding Make A System Safe? Analyzing the factors
that contribute to electrical safety”, IEEE Industry Applications Magazine •
May|june 2015 Pages:48-57.
3. John P. Nelson ,” Improved Electrical Safety Through High Resistance
Grounding ” IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Year: 2015, Volume:
51, Issue: 6 Pages: 5198 – 5203.
4. S. K. Kaul; Jai Kishore , Electrical safety in india - a perspective , Electrical
Safety In Industry, 2000. Proceedings of 2000 IEEE IAS Workshop ,Year: 2000,
Pages: 42 – 47.

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 REFERENCES (Contd…)

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_(electricity)
6. http://electrical-engineering-portal.com/good-grounding-system
7. http://electrical-engineering-portal.com/what-is-the-difference-between-bonding-
grounding-and-earthing
8. http://ecmweb.com/power-quality/ground

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 THANK YOU

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