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INTRODUCTION
Definition:
Earthing means a conducting connection by which an electric circuit or equipment is connected to the earth or some conducting body of relatively large extent that serves in place of the earth". Earthing means the connection of non-current carrying parts to ground.
Function:
The function of an earthing system for an electrical installation can be split into three broad bands, To limit the potential of any part of an installation to a pre-determine value with respect to the general mass of earth. To permit the flow of current to earth. To ensure that, if a fault occurs, non-current carrying metal work associated with the equipment does not attain a dangerous potential with respect to the general mass of earth.
Purpose of Earthing:
Earthing system has 3 main purposes:
1-Over voltage protection 2-Voltage stabilization 3-Currentt path in order to facilitate the operation of over current devices.
Reasons:
There are a number of good reasons of earthing but primary among them is to ensure personnel safety. A good earthing system will improve the reliability of equipment and reduce the likelihood of damage as a result of lightning or fault currents.
SAFETY:
Main purpose of earthing is safety. That is the protection of: 1. Personnel Safety 2. Equipment Safety
Personnel Safety:
It is for human life safety. Personnel protection from electrical shocks, fire etc.
Equipment Safety:
It includes electrical circuit or equipment protection from failure, over current protection, fire, cable failures etc
TYPES
CLASSIFICATION OF EARTHING
Earthing can be classified into the following categories based on the purpose for which the part of the equipment connected to the general mass of earth. System Earthing Equipment Earthing
SYSTEM EARTHING
Earthing associated with current carrying parts of the equipment is called system Earthing. The system security, reliability, performance, voltage stabilization, all relied only on the system Earthing. For example Earthing Neutral of Transformer, Surge arrester Earthing System Earthing Methods : a. Solid Earthing b. Resistance Earthing
Solid Earthing
This type of grounding system is most commonly used in industrial and commercial power systems, where grounding conductors are connected to earth ground with no intentional added impedance in the circuit.
Resistance Earthing
In resistance earthing the resistance is added along the earthing conductor to keep fault currents within limits. Thus protecting the insulation of the conductor. It has 2 types: Low resistance Earthing (voltages below 150V) High resistance Earthing (150-600V)
EQUIPMENT EARTHING
Earthing associated with non-current carrying parts of Electrical Equipment are called as Equipment Earthing. Safety of operator, consumer, safety of their property are mainly based on Equipment Earthing. Eg. Body of the Transformer, Body of Motor
EARTHING DESIGN
Earthing Design
The substation ground grid design is based on the substation layout plan. The following points serve as guidelines to start a earthing grid design: The substation should surround the perimeter and take up as much area as possible. It reduces resistance of the earthing grid. Typically conductors are laid in parallel lines. Typical substation grid systems may include 4/0 bare copper conductor buried 0.3-0.5 m (12-18 in) below grade and spaced 3-7 m (10-20 ft) apart in a grid pattern. All earth connections are to be made visible as far as possible.
Earthing Conductors:
The earthing conductor is commonly called the earthing lead. It
joins the installation earthing terminal to the earth electrode or to the earth terminal provided by the Electricity Supply Company. It is a vital link in the protective system, so care must be taken to see that its integrity will be preserved at all times. Mostly copper is used for earthing conductors because it has the highest electrical conductivity of any of the commercial metals. Copper is resistant to corrosion, that is, it will not rust. It is malleable, ductile and has long life.
Earthing Conductors
Bonding Conductor
These ensure that exposed conductive parts (such as metal enclosures) remain at approximately the same potential during electrical fault conditions.
Earth resistance:
Earth Resistance is the resistance offered by the earth electrode to the
flow of current in to the ground. The fault current is to be cleared as quickly as possible and this is done by having the earth resistance low. Persons touching any of the non current carrying grounded parts shall not receive a dangerous shock during an earth fault. Each structure, transformer tank, body of equipment, etc, should be connected to earthing mat by their own earth connection. Generally lower earth resistance is preferable but for certain applications following earth resistance are satisfactory In large power station - 0.5 Major Substation above 110KV - 1.0 Minor Substations Below 110KV - 2.0
used is EARTH MEGGER. The megger is a portable instrument used to measure resistance. It is used to measure very high resistance of the order of mega ohms.
same will prove to be of immense help in maintenance of earth grid and equipments. The condition of the electrodes, joints are also to be checked. If the electrodes are corroded immediate steps for replacement are to be taken. The earth resistance is to be measured periodically.
Earth Electrodes
A conductor buried in the ground, used to maintain conductors
connected to it at ground potential and dissipate current conducted to it into the earth, known as earth electrode; grounding electrode.
Why must we have earth electrodes?
The purpose of the earth electrode is to connect to the general mass
of earth.The principle of earthing is to consider the general mass of earth as a reference (zero) potential. Thus, everything connected directly to it will be at this zero potential. The effectiveness of an earth electrode in making good contact with the general mass of earth depends on factors such as soil type, moisture content, and so on. A permanently-wet situation may provide good contact with earth, but may also limit the life of the electrode since corrosion is likely to be greater
Driven Rod The standard driven rod or copper-clad rod consists of an 8 to 10 foot length of steel with a 5 to 10-ml coating of copper. This is by far the most common grounding device used in the field today. Driven rods are relatively inexpensive to purchase, however ease of installation is dependent upon the type of soil and terrain where the rod is to be installed. The steel used in the manufacture of a standard driven rod tends to be relatively soft. Purpose of copper on the rod is to provide corrosion protection for the steel underneath.
Grounding Plates Grounding plates are typically thin copper plates buried in direct contact with the earth. The National Electric Code requires that ground plates have at least 2 ft2 of surface area exposed to the surrounding soil. Grounding plates should be buried at least 30 inches below grade level. Non-ferrous materials (copper) need only be .060 inches thick. Grounding plates are typically placed under poles.
Electrolytic Electrode The electrolytic electrode was specifically engineered to eliminate the drawbacks of other grounding electrodes. This active grounding electrode consists of a hollow copper shaft filled with natural earth salts and desiccants whose hygroscopic nature draws moisture from the air. The moisture mixes with the salts to form an electrolytic solution that continuously seeps into the surrounding backfill material, keeping it moist and high in ionic content. The electrolytic electrode is installed into an augured hole and backfilled with a special highly conductive product.
The electrolytic solution and the special backfill
material work together to provide a solid connection between the electrode and the surrounding soil that is free from the effects of temperature, environment, and corrosion
Multiple Electrodes
Earthing Electrodes
A typical earthing electrode (left), consisting of a conductive rod driven into the ground
Soil Resistivity
Soil resistivity is a measure of how much the soil resists the flow of
electricity. It is a critical factor in design of systems that rely on passing current through the Earth's surface. An understanding of the soil resistivity and how it varies with depth in the soil is necessary to design the grounding system in an electrical substation. In general there is some value above which the impedance of the earth connection must not rise, and some maximum step voltage which must not be exceeded to avoid endangering people and livestock.
temperature and chemical content. Typical values are: Usual values: from 10 up to 1000 (m) Exceptional values: from 1 up to 10000 (m)
SI unit of resistivity
The SI unit of resistivity is the Ohm-meter (m); in the United States
Wenner method
The Wenner method is one of the widely used methods for measuring soil
resistivity. In this method, four test rods are inserted a short distance into the soil in a straight line with equal spacing between the probes. A test current is applied to the outer probes and the resulting potential difference between the inner probes, is measured. The potential difference divided by the test current give an apparent resistance in ohms. The apparent soil resistivity is obtained from the measured resistance.
Using the Wenner method, the apparent soil resistivity value is:
only for a short distance (as normally happens), the previous equation can be reduced to: E = 2aR
Schlumberger method
In the Schlumberger method the distance between the voltages probe is a
and the distances from voltages probe and currents probe are c.
where E = measured apparent soil resistivity (m) a = electrode spacing (m) b = depth of the electrodes (m) c = electrode spacing (m) RS = Schlumberger resistance measured as V/I in Figure ()
EARTH MAT
Potential Hazards
Potential Hazards
In electrical engineering, earth potential rise (EPR) also
called ground potential rise (GPR) occurs when a large current flows to earth. The potential relative to a distant point on the Earth is highest at the point where current enters the ground, and declines with distance from the source. Ground potential rise is a concern in the design of electrical substations because the high potential may be a hazard to people or equipment. The change of voltage over distance (potential gradient) may be so high that a person could be injured due to the voltage developed between two feet, or between the ground on which the person is standing and a metal object
Step Potential:
Step potential is the potential difference between the feet of a person standing on the floor of the substation, with 1m spacing between the feet (one step), through the flow of earth fault current through the grounding system.
Touch Potential:
Touch potential is a potential difference between the fingers of raised hand touching the faulted structure and the feet of the person standing on the substation floor. The Touch Potential should be very small.
Point to be noted
Tolerable touch potential of human body is less than tolerable
step potential. Hence Touch potential is more critical for design while Step potential is usually academic. Step potential is independent of the diameter ( cross- section) of the earthing conductor. For 400% increase in diameter, reduction in Touch potential is only 35%. Thus cross- section has minor influence on Touch and Step potentials.
The temperature limits, which a joint can withstand. The most frequently used grounding connections are mechanical
pressure type. Pressure-type connections produce a mechanical bond between conductor and connector by means of a tightened bolt-nut or by crimping using hydraulic or mechanical pressure. On the other hand, the exothermic process fuses the conductor ends together to form a molecular bond between all strands of the conductor. Temperature limits are stated in standards such as IEEE 80 and IEEE 837 for different types of joints based on the joint resistance normally obtainable with each type. Exceeding these temperatures during flow of fault currents may result in damage to the joint and cause the joint resistance to increase, which will result in further overheating.
together than the length of the rod. Normally, this is 10 ft (3 m). It should be noted that as the number of rods is increased, the reduction of ground resistance is not in inverse proportion. Twenty rods do not result in 1/20th of the resistance of a single rod but only reduce it by a factor of 1/10th. For economic reasons, there is a limit to the maximum distance between rods. Normally, this limit is taken as 6 m. At more than 6 m, the cost of additional conductor needed to connect the rods.
4. Soil Preparation
Soil resistivity is an important consideration in substation grounding system
design. The lower the resistivity, the easier it is to get a good ground resistance. Areas of high soil resistivity and those with ground frost need special consideration. The highest ground resistivity during the annual weather cycle should form the basis of the design since the same soil will have much higher resistivity during dry weather when percentage of moisture in the ground becomes very low. One approach to take care of this problem is to use deep driven ground rods so that they are in contact with the soil zone deep enough to remain unaffected by surface climate. The other approach is to treat the soil around the ground rod with chemical substances that have the capacity to absorb atmospheric/soil moisture. Use of chemical rods is one such solution
personnel safety. Step potential is the voltage difference between a persons feet and is caused by the voltage gradient in the soil. The potential gradient is steepest near the fault location and thereafter reduces gradually. Touch potential represents the same basic hazard, except the potential exists between the persons hand and his or her feet. This happens when a person standing on the ground touches a structure of the substation, which is conducting the fault current into ground . In both situations, the potential can essentially be greatly reduced by an equipotential wire mesh safety mat installed. Such an equipotential mesh will equalize the voltage along the workers path and between the equipment and his or her feet. With the voltage difference (potential) thus essentially eliminated, the safety of personnel is virtually guaranteed. To ensure continuity across the mesh, all wire crossings are brazed with a 35% silver alloy. Interconnections between sections of mesh should be made so as to provide a permanent low-resistance high-integrity connection.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION: For good earthing following considerations must be followed: Size conductors Selection of right connector Pay attention to ground rod length, number, placement, and spacing Prepare the soil Eliminate step and touch potential Ground the foundation Ground all disconnects switch handles Ground all surge arrestors Pay attention to temporary grounding