CHAPTER THREE
EARTHING
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Content of topic
Concept of Earthing Systems
What Is Earthing ?
Purpose of Earthing
Methods of Earthing
Concept of Earthing Systems
To achieve this protection, earthing system of an installation
is defined, designed and installed according to the standard
requirements..
EARTHING
• Earthing means connection of the neutral point of a supply system or
the non-current carrying parts of electrical apparatus such as:
– metallic frame work,
– metallic covering cables,
– metal covers of switches,
– metal casing of portable apparatus,
– frame of every generator and motor etc.
to the general mass of earth in such a manner that at all times
immediate discharge of electrical energy takes place without danger
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earthing can be classified into two types.
• Neutral Earthing, generator, transformer, motor etc.
• Equipment Earthing.
The system earthing/ Neutral Earthing,
that is to say the connection between the transformer neutral
points and earth, is of high importance to the behavior of a
power system during an unsymmetrical fault.
Equipment Earthing
Earthing all metal work of electrical equipment's earthing other
than which are normally live or current carrying.
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Why Earthing is Required?
t…
The earthing protects the personnel from the short-circuit current.
The earthing provides the easiest path to the flow of short-circuit
current even after the failure of the insulation.
The earthing protects the apparatus and personnel from the high
voltage surges and lightning discharge.
• Lightning can occur between opposite
charges within the thunderstorm cloud (intra-
cloud lightning) or between opposite charges
in the cloud and on the ground (cloud-to-
ground lightning)
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The earthing system consists of conductive material above ground, and
metal electrodes within the soil and the surrounding soil itself
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Element of Electrode
• Earth electrodes are made by a number of materials which include cast iron, steel, copper
and stainless steel. They may be in the form of plates, tubes, rods or strips
• Electrode Driven to earth wider earth contact area usually 1 to 2 m length and 16
mm diameter will give relatively low resistance
• Rod electrode
Plate Electrode
They offer a better grounding system than rod electrodes are
generally used in permanent communication and computer
sites.
Iron or steel type: Not less than 6.3mm thickness
Copper type: Not less than 3.15mm thickness
Plate electrodes shall be the size of at least 60cm X 60cm
Plate electrodes shall be buried at a depth of not less than
1.5m
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Soil resistivity
is a measure of how much the soil resists the flow of electricity
Ideally, you would find a location with the lowest possible resistance.
Soil resistivity testing
The resistance of an electrode highly influenced by a resistivity
of the soil
R = ρL/A
Type of earth (Clay, sand stone,
granite, ashes, shale or loam)
Moisture content
Temperature
Chemical composition and
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concentration of dissolved salt
Soil resistivity testing Methods
Wenner Method
It requires the longest cable lay out , largest electrode spreads and for a
large spacing one person per electrode is necessary to complete the
measurement
Rho (ρ) expressed
in Ohm-Meters
representing the
resistance of a cubic
meter of soil
Using four pins or electrodes driven into the earth along
a straight line at equal distances of d = A, to a depth of
b, the current passed through the outer pins while a
voltage reading taken with the two inside pins
Schlumberger array
The outer electrode are moved four or Five times of each move of the inner electrodes
more practical to use when the task is to plot soil resistivity at several different depths
Lower voltage reading are obtained during this method
Driven rod Method
The driven rod method called three pin or Fall – 0f – potential method
It is normally suitable for use in circumstances such as transmission line
structure earths or areas of difficult terrain
Installation methods
A protecting conductor connecting the main earthing terminal of an
installation to an earth electrode or other means of earthing
There are several methods of making a connection to earth, three common
types of installation are
Buried ring
Earthing rods
Vertical plates
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1. Buried ring
Most of the time used for new building, The electrode should be
buried around the perimeter of the excavation made for the
foundations.
It is important that the bare conductor be in intimate contact with the
soil (and not placed in the gravel or aggregate hard-core, often
forming a base for concrete)
The conductors may be:
Copper: Bare cable (≥ 25 mm 2 ) or multiple-strip (≥ 25 mm 2 and ≥ 2
mm thick)
Aluminum : with lead jacket: Cable ( ≥ 35 mm 2 )
Galvanized-steel cable: Bare cable (≥ 95 mm 2 ) or multiple-strip (≥
100 mm 2 and ≥ 3 mm thick)
• R=2ρ/L
The approximate resistance R of the electrode in ohms: Where: ρ =
resistivity of the soil in ohm –meter L = length of the conductor in
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meter 5/20/22 06:29 PM
Earthing rods
By far the most popular method in everyday use
The rods may be:
Copper or (more commonly) copper-clad steel.
The latter are generally 1 or 2 metres long and
provided with screwed ends and sockets in
order to reach considerable depths, if necessary
(for instance, the water-table level in areas of
high soil resistivity)
Galvanized steel pipe ≥ 25 mm diameter
or rod 15 mm diameter, ≥ 2 meters long in each
case
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Cont…
When earthing is done by rods, It is often necessary to use more than one
rod as shown below, in which case the spacing between them should
exceed the depth to which they are driven, by a factor of 2 to 3
The approximate resistance R obtained is:
R= ρ/nL
if the distance separating the rods > 4L Where: ρ = resistivity of the soil in
ohm –meter, L = length of the rod in meter n = Number of rods
16
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Vertical plates
Plates are used like in rocky hard soil or an
area with total rock after about 2.5 feet of
digging
Rectangular plates, each side of which
must be ≥0.5 meters, are commonly used as
earth electrodes, being buried in a vertical
plane such that the center of the plate is at
least 1 meter below the surface of the soil.
The plates may be: Copper of 2 mm
thickness or Galvanized steel of 3 mm
thickness
R=0.8 ρ/L 5/20/22 06:29 PM 17
Conductive parts.
• All metalwork associated with electrical
apparatus and systems, termed as exposed
Conductive parts.
– Examples include conduit, trunking and the metal
cases of apparatus.
• All metalwork liable to introduce a potential
including earth potential, termed as
extraneous conductive parts.
– Examples are gas, oil and water pipes, structural
steelwork, radiators, sinks and baths.
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Bonding
Is the practice of intentionally electrically connecting all exposed
metallic parts not designed to carry electricity and extraneous
conductive parts in a room or building to protect from electric
shock.
•
Equipotential Bonding
Electrical Connection maintaining
various exposed conductive parts
and extraneous conductive parts as
substantially the same bonding
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Classification of Earthing systems
• There are different types of earthing systems
• These systems have been designated in the IEE
Regulations using the letters T, N, C and S. These
letters stand for:
• T - Terre (French for earth) and meaning a direct
connection to earth.
• N - Neutral
• C - Combined
• S -Separate
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There are different earthing arrangements:
IT system
TT system
TN system
TN-C-S
The first letter defines the situation of the neutral point in relation to earth
T: Solidly earthed to neutral
I : unearthed or high impendence earth to neutral
The Second letter defines the connection method of electrical installation exposed
conductive path
T: The exposed conductive parts are interconnected and solidly earthed,
regardless of whether the neutral part is earthed or not
N : The exposed conductive parts are directly connected to neutral conductor
The third and Fourth letter indicates the arrangement of earthed supply conductor
system
C: Combined S: Separate
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TT system
A TT system has a direct connection of the
supply source to earth and a direct
connection of the installation metalwork to
earth.
This arrangement covers installations not
provided with an earth terminal by the
Electricity Supply Company
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TT system
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IT system
• The IT system can have an unearthed supply, or
one which is not solidly earthed but is
connected to earth through a current limiting
impedance.
• Exposed- and extraneous-conductive-parts of
the installation are connected to an earth
electrode
• An impendence b/n 1 k-ohm and 2 k-ohm are
frequently used.
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Cont….
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TN system
The neutral point is directly earthed
The exposed conductive parts of the loads are connected to the
neutral conductor
There are two possible system depending on whether the neutral
conductor (N) and protective conductor (PE) are on the same or
not
A TN–S system has the supply source directly connected to earth,
the installation metalwork connected to the earthed neutral of the
supply source via the metal sheath of the supply cable, and the
neutral and protective conductors throughout the whole system
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performing separate functions
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TN–c system
TN – C Earthing system
The Neutral and protective conductors form a single conductor called PEN
It is advised to connect PEN to ground
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TN–C–S system
• A TN–C–S system is as the TN–S system but the supply
cable sheath is also the neutral, i.e. it forms a combined
earth/neutral conductor known as a PEN (Protective
Earthed Neutral) conductor).
• The installation earth and neutral are separate conductors.
• This system is also known as PME (Protective Multiple
Earthing
• The neutral is earthed close to the source of supply,
at the intake of the installation and at necessary
points throughout the distribution system
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Reading Assignment
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THANK YOU
