Break InHuman Beings

We all know about 3-phase 4-wire system which is commonly used in shore. But lets know what kind of unique
system we use on board ships. Know why we use such unique type of grounding system on board ships? The
Earthing/Grounding system which provides double-safety on board ships.

How Earthing Works on Shore

Before delving into ship grounding, let us study about shore grounding to have a basic understanding of the concept.
In shore we use 3-phase 4-wire systems, in which 3 wires are representing each phase and 4th wire is neutral which
carries the return current. The neutral is earthed at many places for the safety of human beings against shocks. If any
conductor carrying current has its insulation failure, then if the conductor comes in contact with the metal enclosure
part of the machinery, then it may cause voltage accumulation, leading to shock to human beings which is highly
fatal. Thus to maintain the safety of human beings against the accidents due to circuit failures, the neutral is earthed
at various places like transformers, distribution sub-stations etc. This makes the equipment to automatically get out of
supply by tripping the protection devices.

Insulated Neutral Sytem--The Reason for Using it Onboard for Ship grounding

The requirement ashore is the safety of human beings. So, inorder to prevent human-electrical accidents, the neutral
is earthed. The priority is neither the safety of the machinery nor the continuous necessary operation of the
machinery. But the scenario onboard ship is totally different. The priority is the continuous operation of the
machineries which are classed "essential". The distribution system followed onboard is "insulated neutral" system.
The main priority onboard is the safety of ship which includes navigation & fire safety..etc. If due to earth fault, the
machinery classed as"essential" gets isolated, say for eg: steering gear, then the safety of ship is at question, which
may lead to collison, grounding, fire & pollution etc..So the priority onboard ship is to maintain the continuity of the
supply to the machinery in the event of "single earth fault occuring".

Circuit Faults:
 A basic circuit consist essentially of Two parts:

1. The Conductor--which carried the current around the circuit.

2. The Insulation---which keeps the current inside the conductor.

Only 2 types of circuit faults can occur. Either break in the insulation or break in the conductor.

The break in the conductor leads to non-flow of current in the circuit. A break in the insulation leads to an earth fault,
allowing the conductor to touch the hull or earthed metal enclosure.

A short-circuit fault is due to the double break in the insulation, allowing both conductors to get connected, thus a very
high current passes through, by-passing the load.

A majority of earth faults occurs within the equipment. Generally insulation failure occurs which leads to the conductor
getting in contact with the body of the metal enclosure. When such earth faults happen, the metal enclosure of the
equipment if not earthed, it would cause a heavy shock, and may result in fire accidents too..

SIGNIFICANCE OF EARTH FAULTS:

If an earth fault occurs in an "earthed distribution system", it would be equivalent to a

"short-circuit" fault across the load via ship's hull. The resulting large earth fault current will immediately "blow-up" the
fuses in the line. Thus the equipment is isolated from the supply and thus rendered safe. This may result in
hazardous situation, if the equipment is classed as "essential" for eg: steering gear. Thus the "earthed distribution
system" requires only one earth fault on the line conductor to cause an earth fault current to flow.
If the earth fault occurs in "insulated neutral distribution system", will not cause any equipment to go out of operation
and thus maintains the continuity of operation of the equipment. This point is to be noted," the machinery still
continues to operate". Thus a single earth fault will not provide a complete circuit for the fault

current to flow. If a second earth fault occurs, then the two earth faults together would be
equivalent to a short circuit fault ( via ships hull) thus resulting large current would operate the protection devices,
cause disconnection of, perhaps, essential services creating a risk to the safety of the ship.

An insulated neutral distribution system requires two earth faults on two different lines to cause an earth fault current
to flow. Thus an insulated neutral system, is ,therefore, more effective than an earthed system in maintaining
continuity of supply to equipments. Hence it is adopted for mostmarine electrical systems.

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Let's start with what a ground is, and why it's important. "Ground" is a large reservoir of chage that I can take however much I
need from, or add as much as I need to, and not change it at all. We use grounds to ensure that everything is at the same potential,
and some other reasons as well.. 

A physical analogue of a ground would be taking a cup of water (charge) out of the ocean (ground). The fact that I took some
water out didn't change how much was available from the ocean. 

So, on ships and offshore equipment, the ground is attached to the metal framework in the ocean, where we can get access to as
much charge as we need. Pretty much the same as a grounding pole in the earth. 
On planes, however, it's a bit different. There we use a "floating ground" and use the body of the plane itself as the reservoir.
Anything connected to that shell will have the same potential. While the shell is a pretty big reservoir, it can be overwhelmed.
Using our water analogue case, it's the difference between using the ocean as my reservoir, and a swimming pool - There's still a
_lot_ of water available, and my adding or removing a cup won't really change things that much, but I can see a point where I
could conceivably empty the pool with enough need.

posted 9 months ago

Bill A.
Group Operations Manager at Animalcare plc
see all my answers
Boats to have a great big lump of metal attached to the outside which acts as a sacrificial electrode so as current passes to ground
it eats away the electrode rather than the boat hull of more likely on plastic boats the screw 

Aircraft are basically insulated in the air when flying and can discharge relative to ground when they touch down. I guess the
question then is when do they ground, when their insulating rubber wheels touch down or when the engineer fits the grounding
strip. Problem changes again when you think about seaplanes and planes landing on say snow/ice/ metal/concrete etc

posted 9 months ago

Shreeram R.
Student at Mid Sweden University
see all my answers
Electrical "grounding" does not mean that all electrical systems have to be 
connected to the ground. For example, a battery operated flashlight is not 
connected to the ground, nor is the electrical system in your car. 

Electrical grounding is a protective mechanism that helps prevent electrical 

shock. For example, a toaster has electrical connections to the heating 
elements inside the toaster. If a fault occurred that allowed a connection 
between those heating elements and a metal (electrically conductive) shell 
that is part of the toaster, then someone who touched the outside (shell) of 
the faulty toaster could be exposed to a high voltage. The circuit's fuse 
or circuit breaker only protects from a high current, so a fuse/circuit 
breaker would not protect the person in this situation. 

By providing an electrical ground, current would be allowed to flow from the 

toaster's shell through the ground circuit which would have less resistance 
that somebody's skin touching the faulty toaster's shell. This protects 
someone from receiving an electric shock if they touch the toaster's shell. 
Current only flows through the ground circuit when there is a problem 
(fault). Normally there is no current through the ground circuit. 

Airplanes use their jet engines to generate electrical power while they are 
in flight (at the gate, they are normally connected to electrical power from 
the airport). The plane's electrical circuits can still have "grounds" that 
would prevent an electric shock hazard from faulty electrical equipment on 
the plane. 

Todd Clark, Office of Science 

U.S. Department of Energy 
===================================================== 
Electric systems do not need to be "grounded" in order to work. Rather, the 
purpose of grounding on earth is to make sure that harmful or undesired 
electric voltages are not present in the event of a malfunction. 
Humans and buildings are usually at the electric potential of the earth. 
Thus, to avoid appliances or other electric devices giving a shock, the 
outer part of the appliance is connected to ground with a wire. That way, 
if something goes wrong inside, a person will not get a shock. 
Airplanes are usually made of metal, so the metal frame is used as a 
conducting "ground" for all the electrical components inside the aircraft. 
So "ground" on an airplane is usually the frame. A metal frame also 
protects the occupants from lightning strikes. Parts of the aircraft that 
are made of plastics or composites are protected with a metal mesh or 
fibers. 
The aircraft itself becomes charged as it is flying. Snow, dust and rain, 
as well as ionization of the air by the engines, can cause the airplane to 
develop a static charge up to several million volts. Because the passengers 
and the equipment is inside the metal shell, there is little noticeable 
effect other than communications. Communications are disrupted by the radio 
frequency static that occurs when corona discharge or electrical leakage 
occurs.
In electrical engineering, the term ground or earth has several meanings depending on the specific application areas.
Ground is the reference point in an electrical circuit from which other voltages are measured, a common return path
for electric current (earth return or ground return), or a direct physical connection to the Earth.

Fig. 1: A typical earthing electrode (left of gray conduit) at a home in Australia. Note the green and yellow marked
earth wire.Electrical circuits may be connected to ground (earth) for several reasons. In power circuits, a connection
to ground is done for safety purposes to protect people from the effects of faulty insulation on electrically powered
equipment. A connection to ground helps limit the voltage built up between power circuits and the earth, protecting
circuit insulation from damage due to excessive voltage. Connections to ground may be used to limit the build-up of
static electricity when handling flammable products or when repairing electronic devices. In some types of telegraph
and power transmission circuits, the earth itself can be used as one conductor of the circuit, saving the cost of
installing a separate run of wire as a return conductor. For measurement purposes, the Earth serves as a
(reasonably) constant potential reference against which other potentials can be measured. An electrical ground
system should have an appropriate current-carrying capability in order to serve as an adequate zero-voltage
reference level. In electronic circuit theory, a 'ground' is usually idealized as an infinite source or sink for charge,
which can absorb an unlimited amount of current without changing its potential.
The use of the term ground (or earth) is so common in electrical and electronics applications that circuits vehicles
such as ships, aircraft, and spacecraft may be spoken of as having a "ground" connection without any actual
connection to the Earth.