Earthing system

1. Definition of earthing

Earthing means connecting the metal body of electrical device to the general
mass of earth by a wire of negligible resistance.

2. Significance of earthing

• Earthing means connecting the metal body of electrical equipment to the earth.
• Example : Electrical equipments frame, enclosure, supports etc.
• The purpose of earthing is to minimize the risk of electric shock.
• In earthing system, a electrode is inserted deep inside earth & a wire of
resistance is connected between this electrode and metal body of the
equipment.
• Earthing ensures safety & protection of electrical equipment & human life by
discharging the fault current to the earth.
• Generally, green wire is used for this connection.
 Earthing system

• To understand the importance of earthing, lets us consider a non-earthed

electrical equipment such as electric iron.
• If the fault develops in the equipment, it causes contact between phase
conductor & metal frame of equipment as shown below.

• Then the frame becomes live (i.e. current flows through the frame). Thus there
is no path for fault current to flow.
• In such condition when person touches the metal frame, the fault current flows
through his body & the person experiences the electric shock.
• But if the metal frame of equipment is earthed then, there is a alternate path for
the fault current o flow as shown in figure.

• Thus the fault current flows to the earth, as the magnitude of fault current is
very high it causes blowing of fuse & thus the circuit gets opened and prevent
the electric shock.
 3. types of earthing

• Earthing can be done in many ways. The various methods employed in

earthing
are as follows.
1. Strip or Wire Earthing
2. Rod Earthing
3. Earthing through a Water Mains
4. Plate Earthing
5. Pipe Earthing

1. Strip or Wire Earthing :

• In this system, the strip electrode of copper with cross section of
25mm*16mm is buried in the horizontal trench.
• This trench shall have minimum depth of 0.5 M.
• Instead of strip electrode of copper we can also use,
i. Round copper conductor with 3mm2 cross sectional area.
ii. Galvanized iron or steel conductor with 6mm2 cross sectional area.

• The length of buried conductor should not be less than 15 meters.

• The electrode shall be placed in single straight trench or a circular trench
or in a number of trenches radiating from point.
• This type of earthing is used in rocky soil earth bed, where excavation
work is difficult.
2. Rod Earthing :
• In this system, a 12.5 mm diameter solid rod of copper or a 16 mm
diameter solid rod of G.I. or steel or 25 mm G.I. pipe of length not less
than 2.5 M is vertically driven into the earth.
• The wire (earth wire) is tied to the rod with the help of clamp.
• This system of earthing is suitable for sandy areas.
• It is very cheap because no excavation work is required.
3. Earthing through Water Mains :
• In city areas, an underground water mains system is made up from
metal pipes.
• These metal pipes are sometimes used for earthing purpose.
• While making the earthing connection to the main water pipe, a
specially designed earthing clamp is used to minimize the contact
resistance.
• This method is not useful if water mains is of concrete or cement type.
4. Plate Earthing :
• Plate earthing is one of the common system of earthing.
• In this earthing system, the plate electrode of G.I. or copper is buried
into the earth.
• If G.I. plate is used, its size should be 60cm*60 cm*6.36mm & if
copper plate is used its size should be 60cm*60cm*3.18mm.
• This plate is buried into the earth at a depth of 4 meters. The space
around the plate is filled with layer of charcoal and salt for minimum
15 cm thickness.
• This plate is connected to earth wire with the help of bolt, nut &
washers as shown in figure.
• A galvanized iron plate fitted with the funnel. To pour water in the
earth pit to reduce earth resistance.
Click on below
link to watch
Plate Earthing

https://youtu.b
e/ax-KUL17YJ4
4. Pipe Earthing :
• In this method, the G.I. pipe of diameter not less than 38.1 mm & 2
meter in length for ordinary soil & 2.75 meter length for dry & rocky
soil is embedded vertically in the ground.
• The depth at which the pipe should be buried in the ground depends
upon the soil condition.
• The earth wire is fastened to the top section of the pipe with nut bolts.
• The pit area around the G.I. pipe is filled with alternate layers of salt &
charcoal.
• A funnel is fitted on the top of G.I. pipe to pour water in the pit.
• In this method, the earth wire is connected with G.I. pipe above the
ground level, so it is easy to check & carry out continuity test.
• Below figure shows the details of pipe earthing.
Click on below
link to watch
Pipe Earthing
https://youtu.be
/8PTNjw-hQIM
 4. Factors affecting earth resistance

• Following are the factors on which earth resistance depends,

i. Soil condition : Resistance of soil varies from place to place. If
soil is dry, then soil resistance value is high & thus earth
resistance becomes high.
ii. Soil Resistivity : Soil resistivity depends on physical condition of
soil, moisture, dissolved salt, current magnitude etc.
iii. Moisture : The resistivity of soil depends upon quantity of water
held by soil. If moisture content in soil is more, the soil resistivity
drops down.
iv. Effect of current magnitude : If a fault current of large
magnitude flows for long duration it causes significant drying of
soil & increases soil resistivity.
v. Dissolved Salts : Pure water is poor conductor of electricity.
Small quantity of salt in water reduces soil resistivity by 80 %.
vi. Area Available : Single electrode or plate may not achieve the
desired resistance. If a number of electrode are installed &
interconnected, the desired resistance can be achieved.
vii. Obstructions : Soil may look good on the surface but there may
be obstructions below few feet like rocks. In this case the
resistivity of soil affects.
viii. Material used for earth electrode & earth wire.
ix. Size of earth electrode & earth wire.
x. Depth of earth electrode in soil.
xi. Quality of connections made.
xii. Contact resistance between the earth electrode & soil.
 5. Maximum permissible values of earth resistance
• There is no hard and fast rule for resistance of earth.
• Generally the earth resistance should be as low as possible, but
following value of earth resistance at different locations will give
satisfactory results.

Sr. No. Location Earth Resistance

1. Large power Stations 0.5 Ω
2. Major Power Stations 1Ω
3. Small Power Stations 0.5 – 1.5 Ω
4. DTR Structure 5Ω
5. Tower Foot Resistance 10 Ω
6. All Other Cases 5Ω
7. Residential Wiring 5–8Ω
8. H.T. Line 1–2Ω
9. L.T. Line 2–3Ω
 6. Methods of reducing earth resistance

Following are some methods to reduce earth resistance,

i. Using number of earth electrodes & connecting them in parallel.
This reduces the earth resistance.
ii. Using larger size of earth electrode.
iii. Increasing the depth of the earth electrode in the soil.
iv. Increasing pit area & filling it with additional charcoal & salt.
v. In dry season, salt water is poured through the funnel to increase
the moisture content.
vi. Chemical treatment of the soil surrounding the earth electrode.
For this purpose Magnesium Sulfate, Copper Sulfate or Ordinary
rock is used.
7. Testing / measurement of earthing resistance for various
installations as per IE rules

Following methods are used for measuring earth pit resistance,

1) Earth Tester : i. Three Point Method
ii. Four Point Method
2) By potential drop / Fall of Potential Method
3) Water Tap Method
1) Earth Tester :
• Below figure shows connection diagram of earth tester.

• The earth tester has two coils named current coil & pressure coil.
• Three G.I. or Iron rods called electrodes are embedded in the
ground. The distance between the electrode No.1 & No.2 is kept
100 Feet (30M). The connections are as shown in figure.
• Initially electrode No.3 is kept or embedded in the ground near to
electrode No.2.
Procedure :
• Make the connections as shown in figure.
• Rotate the handle of earth tester near to 100 to 120 RPM &
measure the reading of earth tester.
• Remove the rod No.3 & place at the distance of 90 feet from rod
No.1 & embed in the ground. Rotate the handle of earth tester &
measure second reading.
• The some procedure is repeated & rod No.3 is kept at 80 Feet, 70
Feet, 60 Feet upto 0 Feet from the rod No.1. measure the reading
of earth tester.
• The graph is plotted between the earth resistance value & the
distance between rod No.1 & rod no.3.
2) By Potential / Fall of Potential Method :

• In this method, an external DC source battery or handle driven

generator is used as DC source.
• The current flowing through the rod No.1 & rod No.2 electrodes
is measured.
• At the same time voltage across the rod No.1 & rod No.3 is
measured. By applying ohms law.
R=V/I
Procedure :
• Make the connections as per circuit diagram.
• Firstly, the Rod No. 3 is placed near to Rod No. 2 (At a distance
20 M from Rod No.1). Measure the voltage & current, calculate
resistance.
• Then the Rod No.3 is placed at a distance 23 M from Rod No.1 &
voltage & current is measured, resistance is calculated.
• Finally, the Rod No.3 is placed at a distance of 17 M from Rod
No. 1 & resistance is calculated.
• From these three resistances, a mean value of resistance is
calculated & it is declared as earth resistance.
3) Water Tap Method :
• Below figure shows arrangement for water tap method.

• Make the connections as per circuit diagram.

• The common link of C1 – P1 is connected to the earthing pit &
common link of C2 – P2 is connected to the water tap.
• The distance between the water tap & earthing pit should be near
to 20 M.
• Then by rotating handle of earth tester, the earth resistance of the
pit is measured.
 8. Adverse effect of improper earthing system

i. There will be danger of electric shock to human life.

ii. Danger of lightening stroke will be severe.
iii. Due to absence of earth wire there will be malfunctioning of
relays & other switchgears.
iv. Poor service reliability.
v. Improper earthing causes burns from arcing.
vi. Tools plugged into improper earthing circuit may become live.
9. Connection diagram of earth tester
 Assignment no. - 5

1. Define earthing. State its types. 2M

2. State the procedure for tasting of earth pit resistance with necessary
diagram. 4M
3. State he significance of earthing. Draw & explain pipe earthing. 2M
4. State the values of earth resistance for i) Substation, ii) Residential Wiring,
iii) H.T. Line, iv) L.T. Line. 4M
5. Give the justification with diagram “Earthing saves the human life during
electric fault”. 4M
6. State the adverse effect of improper earthing system. 2M
7. Explain the criteria to be applied in deciding the earthing system for an
electrical installation. 4M
OR
7. Explain the factors affecting earth resistivity. 4M
8. Draw & explain plate earthing system. 4M