Professional Documents
Culture Documents
056-091 Equipotential Earth Bonding PDF
056-091 Equipotential Earth Bonding PDF
1 OVERVIEW
In certain situations, DSE modules may be susceptible to damage caused by a potential difference (pd) across earth
connections. This leads to the creation of an unforeseen fault current path through the module. A typical example of
such a scenario would be:
2 INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
o Each component of the earthing circuit must be adequately specified to handle the demands of the
system it is designed to protect, including calculated fault currents.
o The layout of the system must be considered. Cables, terminals etc. must be in locations suitable for the
function and serviceability of the system.
o There must be no pd across all earth terminals and the S2 connection of each CT must be connected to
earth.
o The impedance of the earthing circuit must be low enough to negate the possibility of fault currents
causing significant pd’s, such as the condition described above.
Continued overleaf
NOTE: The diagram shows a generic earthing configuration. For further information on earthing
conventions, such as floating or positive earth, refer to the relevant DSE operator’s manual.
NOTE: For further details of earth fault protection, refer to DSE Publication: 056-019 Earth Fault
Protection
The diagram below shows a typical 3 phase, 4 wire, star (wye) generator system connected to a generic DSE module
S2 of each CT must
be connected to earth.
If not connected
dangerous voltage
levels could be
induced across the CT
windings, leading to
incorrect current
readings, damage to
the CT and, possibly
the DSE module.
Examples of earth faults include:
Breakdown of conductor
insulation creating a leakage path
to earth, a fault on the load or a
lightning strike to the system.
A high potential at the
CT common terminal
with respect to the
star point earth may
cause damage to the
DSE module.