Earth Loop Impedance Testing

The testing of earthing pit alone cannot ensure the safety of man and machine during electrical faults.
The main reason for earth loop impedance testing is to verify that, if a fault occurs in an electrical
installation, sufficient current will flow to operate the circuit breaker protecting the faulty circuit within a
predetermined time to prevent accidents such as Electric Shock, Short Circuit, Fire etc.

The total impedance of the system can be measured at once by using a loop tester. This instrument
simulates a fault between a phase conductor and ground, and thereby measures the total impedance of
the entire ground loop, including conductors and the earth return path back to the transformer and its
winding. If any of these elements have too high a resistance, protective devices may be inhibited from
operating properly, resulting in damage, fire, and even fatal shocks. With an earth loop impedance test
from Dew Energy, you can avoid electrical hazards and ensure your worksite is safety compliant.

The following will affect the value of earth fault loop impedance:
▪ Earthing Resistance
▪ Resistance of Phase and Earthing Conductors/Cables
▪ Conductor Joints and Connections
▪ Transformer Impedance
▪ Type of Earthing System TT, TN or IT

Why earth fault loop Impedance test is necessary

Earth fault loop impedance testing can help us to evaluate the following:
▪ Safety of human beings from electric shock and fire.
▪ Tripping of protection equipment during earth faults.
▪ Absence of earthing or very high resistance of earthing.
▪ Combined values of protection and neutral earthing/Grid.
▪ Possibility of bad contacts present on the PE, neutral or line conductor.
▪ Continuity of Earthing conductors.
▪ The possible type of Earthing system TT / TN / IT.
▪ Accidental interconnection of neutral with equipment earthing.
Earth fault loop impedance testing
The value of the earth fault loop impedance is the sum of transformer coil winding resistance, phase
conductor resistance and the protective conductor (PE) resistance as well as the source earth resistance
and installation resistance.

The Zs impedance value, necessary for determining whether the protection is proper or not, must be
measured. During measurements of short-circuit current with the use of the technical method, an
"artificial short-circuit" is created. The unloaded voltage is measured first. Then the voltage drop caused
by the impedance is measured. These two values are compared, and the difference is used to calculate
total loop impedance. The test is performed so rapidly, within two half-cycles of the utility sine wave
(16millisec), that protective devices are not tripped, and no disruption of the electrical service occurs.

By testing a live circuit with utility power, rather than employing a battery source in the tester to merely
approximate a fault, the loop tester gives a genuine AC impedance reading under real-world conditions.

Dew Energy Services Pvt. Ltd.

HO: 2746, Sector-46, Gurugram, Haryana-122003
BO: 47E, NIT Ind. Area, Faridabad, Haryana-121001
Phone +91 9971690541
Email: deepak@dewenergy.com