What is the difference between Bonding, Grounding and Earthing?

http://electrical- engineering- portal.com/what- is- the- difference- between- bonding- grounding- and- earthing January 8, 2013

What is the difference between Bo nding, Gro unding and Earthing?

Content
1. Int roduct ion 2. Bonding 3. Eart hing 4. Grounding 5. Micro Dif f erence bet ween Eart hing and Grounding 6. Illegal Pract ice of int erchange Purpose of Grounding and eart hing wire 7. Conclusion

Introduction
One of t he most misunderst ood and conf used concept is dif f erence bet ween Bonding, Grounding and Earthing. Bonding is more clear word compare t o Grounding and Eart hing, but t here is a micro dif f erence bet ween Grounding and Earhing. Eart hing and Grounding are act ually dif f erent t erms f or expressing t he same concept . Ground or eart h in a mains elect rical wiring syst em is a conduct or t hat provides a low impedance path to the earth t o prevent hazardous volt ages f rom appearing on equipment . Eart hing is more commonly used in Brit ain, European and most of t he commonwealt h count ries st andards (IEC, IS),

while Grounding is t he word used in Nort h American st andards (NEC, IEEE, ANSI, UL). We underst and t hat Eart hing and Grounding are necessary and have an idea how t o do it but we dont have cryst al clear concept f or t hat . We need t o underst and t hat t here are really t wo separat e t hings we are doing f or same purpose t hat we call Grounding or Eart hing. T he Eart hing is t o ref erence our elect rical source t o eart h (usually via connection to some kind of rod driven into the earth or some other metal that has direct contact with the earth). T he grounded circuit s of machines need t o have an ef f ect ive ret urn pat h f rom t he machines t o t he power source in order t o f unct ion properly (Here by Neutral Circuit). In addit ion, non-current -carrying met allic component s in a Syst em, such as equipment cabinet s, enclosures, and st ruct ural st eel, need t o be elect rically int erconnect ed and eart hed The earthing co nnectio n to switchbo ard rear do o r (metal properly so volt age pot ent ial cannot exist parts) bet ween t hem. However, t roubles can arise when t erms like bonding, grounding, and earthing are int erchanged or conf used in cert ain sit uat ions. In TN Type Power Distribution System, in US NEC (and possibly other) usage: Equipment is eart hed t o pass f ault Current and t o t rip t he prot ect ive device wit hout elect rif ying t he device enclosure. Neut ral is t he current ret urn pat h f or phase. T hese Eart hing conduct or and Neut ral conduct or are connect ed t oget her and eart hed at t he dist ribut ion panel and also at t he st reet , but t he int ent is t hat no current f low on eart hed ground, except during moment ary f ault condit ions. Here we may say that Earthing and grounding are nearly same by practice. But In t he TT Type Power Distribution System (in India) Neut ral is only eart hed (here it is actually called Grounding) at dist ribut ion source (at distribution transformer) and Four wires (Neutral and Three Phase) are dist ribut ed t o consumer. While at consumer side all elect rical equipment body are connect ed and eart hed at consumer premises (here it is called Earthing). Consumer has no any permission t o mix Neut ral wit h eart h at his premises here eart hing and grounding is t he dif f erent by pract ice. In bot h above case Eart hing and Grounding are used for the same Purpose. Let s t ry t o underst and t his t erminology one by one. Go t o Cont ent

Bonding
Bonding is simply t he act of joining two electrical conductors together. T hese may be t wo wires, a wire and a pipe, or t hese may be t wo Equipment s. Bonding has t o be done by connect ing of all t he met al part s t hat are not supposed t o be carrying current during normal operat ions t o bringing t hem t o t he same elect rical pot ent ial. Bonding ensures t hat t hese t wo t hings which are bonded will be at t he same elect rical pot ent ial. T hat means we would not get elect ricit y building up in one equipment or bet ween t wo dif f erent equipment . No current f low can t ake place bet ween t wo bonded bodies because t hey have t he same pot ent ial.

Bonding itself , does not protect anything. However, if one of t hose boxes is eart hed t here can be no elect rical energy build-up. If t he grounded box is bonded t o t he ot her box, t he ot her box is also at zero elect rical pot ent ial. It prot ect s equipment and person by reducing current f low bet ween pieces of equipment at dif f erent pot ent ials. T he primary reason f or bonding is personnel saf et y, so someone t ouching t wo pieces of equipment at t he same t ime does not receive a shock by becoming t he pat h of equalizat ion if t hey happen t o be at dif f erent pot ent ials. T he Second reason has t o do wit h what happens if Phase conduct or may be t ouched an ext ernal met al part . T he bonding helps t o creat e a low impedance pat h back t o t he source. T his will f orce a large current t o f low, which in t urn will cause t he breaker t o t rip. In other words, bonding is there to allow a breaker to trip and thereby to terminate a fault.

Typical bo nding co nnectio n

Bonding t o elect rical eart h is used ext ensively t o ensure t hat all conductors (person, surface and product) are at t he same electrical potential. When all conduct ors are at t he same pot ent ial no discharge can occur. Go t o Cont ent

Earthing
Eart hing means connecting the dead part (it means the part which does not carries current under normal condition) t o t he eart h f or example elect rical equipment s f rames, enclosures, support s et c. T he purpose of eart hing is t o minimize the risk of receiving an electric shock if t ouching met al part s when a f ault is present . Generally green wire is used f or t his as a nomenclat ure. Under fault conditions t he non-current carrying met al part s of an elect rical inst allat ion such as f rames, enclosures, support s, f encing et c. may at t ain high pot ent ial wit h respect t o ground so t hat

any person or st ray animal t ouching t hese or approaching t hese will be subject ed t o pot ent ial dif f erence which may result in t he f low of a current t hrough t he body of t he person or t he animal of such a value as may prove f at al. T o avoid t his non-current carrying met al part s of t he elect rical syst em are connect ed t o t he general mass of eart h by means of an eart hing syst em comprising of eart h conduct ors t o conduct t he f ault current s saf ely t o t he ground. Eart hing has been accomplished t hrough bonding of a met allic syst em t o eart h. It is normally achieved by insert ing ground rods or ot her elect rodes deep inside eart h. Earthing is to ensure safety or Protection of electrical equipment and Human by discharging the electrical energy to the earth. Go t o Cont ent

Grounding
Grounding means connecting the live part (it means the part which carries current under normal condition) t o t he eart h f or example neut ral of power t ransf ormer. It is done f or t he prot ect ions of power syst em equipment and t o provide an ef f ect ive ret urn pat h f rom t he machine t o t he power source. For example grounding of neut ral point of a st ar connect ed t ransf ormer. Grounding ref ers t he current carrying part of t he syst em such as neut ral (of the transformer or generator). Because of light ening, line surges or unint ent ional cont act wit h ot her high volt age lines, dangerously high volt ages can develop in t he elect rical dist ribut ion syst em wires. Grounding provides a saf e, alt ernat e pat h around t he elect rical syst em of your house t hus minimizing damage f rom such occurrences. Generally Black wire is used for this as a nomenclature. All elect rical/elect ronic circuit s (AC & DC) need a ref erence pot ent ial (zero volt s) which is called ground in order t o make possible t he current f low f rom generat or t o load. Ground is May or May not be earthed. In Elect rical Power dist ribut ion it is eit her eart hed at dist ribut ion Point or at Consumer end but it is not eart hed in Aut omobile( f or inst ance all vehicles elect rical circuit s have ground connect ed t o t he chassis and met allic body t hat are insulat ed f rom eart h t hrough t ires). T here may exist a neut ral t o ground volt age due t o volt age drop in t he wiring, t hus neutral does not necessarily have to be at ground potential. Cant see this video? Click here to watch it on Youtube. In a properly balanced syst em, t he phase current s balance each ot her, so t hat t he t ot al neut ral current is also zero. For individual syst ems, t his is not complet ely possible, but we st rive t o come close in aggregat e. T his balancing allows maximum ef f iciency of t he dist ribut ion t ransf ormers secondary winding. Go t o Cont ent

Micro Dif f erence between earthing and Grounding

T here is no major dif f erence bet ween eart hing and Grounding, bot h means Connecting an electrical circuit or device to the Earth. T his serves various purposes like t o drain away unwant ed

current s, t o provide a ref erence volt age f or circuit s needing one, t o lead light ning away f rom delicat e equipment . Even though there is a micro difference between grounding and earthing:

1. Difference in Terminology
In USA t erm Grounding is used but in UK t erm Earthing is used.

2. Balancing the Load Vs Safety

Ground is a source for unwanted currents and also as a ret urn pat h f or main current some t imes. While eart hing is done not f or ret urn pat h but only f or prot ect ion of delicat e equipment s. It is an alt ernat e low resist ance pat h f or current . When we t ake out t he neut ral f or a t hree phase unbalanced connect ion and send it t o ground, it is called grounding. Grounding is done t o balance unbalanced load. While eart hing is used bet ween t he equipment and eart h pit so as t o avoid elect rical shock and equipment damage.

3. Equipment Protection Vs Human Safety

Eart hing is t o prot ect t he circuit element s whenever high volt age is passed by t hunders or by any ot her sources while Grounding is t he common point in t he circuit t o maint ain t he volt age levels. Eart h is used f or t he safety of the human body in fault conditions while Grounding (As neutral earth) is used f or t he protection of equipment. Eart hing is a prevent ive measure while Grounding is just a ret urn pat h. T he ground conduct or provides a ret urn pat h f or f ault current when a phase conduct or accident ally comes in cont act wit h a grounded object . T his is a saf et y f eat ure of t he wiring syst em and we would never expect t o see grounding conduct or current f low during normal operat ion. IMPORTANT: Do not Ground the neutral second time when It is grounded either at Distribution Transformer or at Main service panel of Consumer end. Grounding act as neutral. But neutral cannot act as ground.

4. System Zero Potential Vs Circuit Zero Potential

Eart hing and Grounding bot h is ref er t o zero potential, but t he syst em connect ed t o zero pot ent ial is dif f er t han Equipment connect ed t o zero pot ent ial .If a neut ral point of a generat or or t ransf ormer is connect ed t o zero pot ent ial t hen it is known as grounding. At t he same t ime if t he body of t he t ransf ormer or generat or is connect ed t o zero pot ent ial t hen it is known as earthing. T he t erm Eart hing means t hat t he circuit is physically connect ed t o t he ground and it is Zero Volt Pot ent ial t o t he Ground (Eart h) but in case of Grounding t he circuit is not physically connect ed t o ground, but it s pot ent ial is zero(where t he current s are algebraically zero) wit h respect t o ot her point , which is also known as Virtual Grounding. Earth having zero pot ent ial whereas neutral may have some pot ent ial. T hat means neut ral does not always have zero pot ent ial wit h respect t o ground. In eart hing we have Zero Volt pot ent ial ref erences t o t he eart h while in grounding we have local Zero Volt potential reference to circuit.

When we connect t wo dif f erent Power circuit s in power dist ribut ion syst em, we want t o have t he same Zero Volt ref erence so we connect t hem and grounds t oget her. T his common ref erence might be dif f erent f rom t he eart h pot ent ial. Go t o Cont ent T op

Illegal Practice of interchange Purpose of Grounding and earthing wire

Neut ral wire in grid connect ions is mandat ory f or saf et y. Imagine a person f rom 4t h f loor in a building uses Eart h wire (which is earthed in the basement at Basement) as neut ral t o power his light s. Anot her Person f rom 2nd f loor has a normal set up and uses neut ral f or t he same purpose. Neut ral wire is also eart hed at t he ground level (as per USA practice Neutral is Grounded (earthed) at Building and as per Indian Practice it is Grounded (earthed) at Distribution Transformer). However, ground wire (Neutral wire) has a much lower elect rical resist ance t han Eart h Wire (Earthing) which result s in a dif f erence of elect rical pot ent ial (i.e. volt age) bet ween t hem. T his volt age is quit e a hazard f or anyone t ouching a Eart h wire (Met al Body of Equipment ) as it may have several t ens of volt s. T he second issue is legality. Using ground wire inst ead of neut ral makes you an energy t hief as t he met er uses only t he Phase and neut ral f or recording your energy consumpt ion. Many Consumers make energy t hef t by using Eart hing wire as a Neut ral wire in an Energy met er. Go t o Cont ent

Conclusion
Ground is a source f or unwant ed current s and also as a ret urn pat h f or main current . While eart hing is done not f or ret urn pat h but only f or prot ect ion of delicat e equipment s. It is an alt ernat e low resist ance pat h f or current . Eart h is used f or t he saf et y of t he human body in f ault condit ions while Grounding (As neutral earth) is used f or t he prot ect ion of equipment . Go t o Cont ent