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Medium and Low Voltage Grounding Methods

The ASSET Company


August 20, 2010
Establish a voltage
relationship between the
system neutral and ground.
Overvoltage protection for
system component
insulation
Controlled single-phase-to-
ground fault current
magnitude
Establish a voltage
relationship between
energized phase conductors
and ground.
System Grounding


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Establish a consistent
reference plane for all system
components.
Personnel safety
Optimum single-line-to-
ground fault current
distribution
Safe conduction of
lightning discharge
currents
a.k.a. bonding
Equipment Grounding


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Cable Sheath
Neutral Wire
Water Pipes
Building Steel
lg
Human Physiological Response:
1 ma threshold of sensation
6-9 ma let go currents
9-25 ma muscular contraction
60-100 ma ventricular fibrillation

Body resistance: 5000 ohms or higher
Perceptable gradient voltage: 50 volts & above
Harmful gradients: 375 volts and above
Controlling factors
o Magnitude of Potential Gradients-
magnitude of ground fault current
phase-neutral voltage
complexity of return path
o Duration of Potential Gradients-
protective device settings
fuse, relay, & breaker operation
Z


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Cable Sheath
Neutral Wire
Water Pipes
Building Steel
I
g
Distribution of I
g
:
Kaufmanns work showed that 90-95% of
the fault current will return through the
cable sheath and/or neutral wire

I
g
= I
C
+ I
N
+ I
P
+ I
S
Example:
I
g
= 20000 A
I
S
= 0.05 x 20000 = 1000 A
For V
s
> 100 V, Z > 0.1 Ohms
Power cable- ground shield at both ends to
help equalize electric potential along cable
length, but be mindful of magnitude and
duration
Communication cable- do not ground
communication cable at both ends to avoid
circulating current that would act as noise
I
C
I
N
I
P
I
S
Z


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Cable Sheath
Neutral Wire
Water Pipes
Building Steel
I
g
Conclusions:
Ineffective grounding at any voltage sets the
stage for personnel injury or death.
The likelihood of these distracting gradients is
insignificant at low voltages
Low voltage systems can be solidly grounded
without undue concern for distracting
potential gradients.
Ineffective grounding at higher voltages can set
the stage for potential gradient shocks which
are severe enough to distract personnel in the
workspace
I
C
I
N
I
P
I
S
Z


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Cable Sheath
Neutral Wire
Water Pipes
Building Steel
I
g
Ineffective grounding at any voltage sets the
stage for personnel injury or death.
The likelihood of these distracting gradients is
insignificant at low voltages
Low voltage systems can be solidly grounded
without undue concern for distracting
potential gradients.
Effective grounding at higher voltages can set
the stage for potential gradient shocks which
are severe enough to distract personnel in the
workspace
I
C
I
N
I
P
I
S
Z
System Neutral Ground- an intentional electrical connection between the neutral of
the power system and ground
Grounded System- a system in which one conductor, usually the neutral, is
intentionally connected to ground.
Ungrounded System- a system in which none of the electrical conductors is
intentionally connected to ground
Solidly Grounded Neutral- a direct electrical connection between the neutral and
ground with no added impedance
Resistance Grounded Neutral- an electrical connection in which a resistor is
inserted between neutral and ground
Reactance Grounded Neutral- an electrical connection in which an inductive
reactance is inserted between neutral and ground
Capacitance Grounded Neutral- an electrical connection in which a capacitor is
inserted between neutral and ground
Note: There is an inherent distributed
capacitance between each conductor
and ground. Hence, an ungrounded
system is really capacitively grounded
s

s

s



The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Effective Grounding- grounding such that the steady-state operating voltage on the
healthy phases of the power system during a single-line-to-ground fault will not
exceed 140% of the open-circuit line-to-neutral RMS voltage.



and
Both must be met
- Industrial Power Systems Handbook
General Electric Company

Donald Beeman, editor
Since power sources are fewer in number than
loads and are less likely to be disconnected, they
are preferred as grounding points.
Forms of
Neutral
Grounding
-G Fault
Magnitude
Transient
Over-
voltages
Arrester
Applications
(% of V
L-L
)

System
Protection
Selectivity
Comments
Ungrounded 0 Very high 100% None Not Recommended
Solidly I
3
< 140% 80% Generally
Good
Common at high voltages
and low voltages
Low
Resistance
100 1200 A Not Excessive 100% Generally
Good
Common at medium
voltages
High
Resistance
2 10 A Not Excessive 100%

Requires
Special
Equipment
Alarm application for
continuity must trip >5kV
Reactive < I
3
> 0.125 I
3

Not Excessive 100% Generally
Good
Special case rarely need
Resonant 0 Not Excessive 100% Special
Treatment
Special case very rarely
need
Capacitive I
3
High 100% Generally
Good
Special case very rarely
need


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
or
or
Ungrounded
Solidly
Grounded


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Low
Resistance
High
Reactance
High
Resistance
Ground
Low
X
L R


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010

C
Resonant Neutral
Grounding
Capacitive Neutral
Grounding


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
R
A
B
C
400 A
10 sec
V
R
=0
Effectively
Grounded
R
A
B
C
400 A
10 sec
V
R

V
R
= 7970 Volts
If V = IR, and you wish to limit
I to 400 Amps, 7970 = 400 R
R = 19.9
Resistor must be insulated at
One terminal for 8000 V and to
pass 400 Amps for 10 seconds
without damage
7970
A
B
C
7970
A
B
C
7970
A
B
C
V
R

7970
A
B
C


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
For Low
Resistance
Resistors
ANG80-4 13800 8000 400 20 46 60 76 900
I BM Substation
Neutral Grounding Resistor


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Impedance Transformer
Effectively
grounded under
normal conditions
7970:240 V
Grounding
Transformer
Lets limit ground fault
current to 10 amps


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
If I
G
is 10 amps, then the power through
the transformer is:
Power in the secondary is the same:
Transformer spec : 75 kVA or 100 kVA
7970 : 120 V
Resistor spec: 0.723 Rated for
240 VAC operation for 10 seconds
I
G
I
G
I
R


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
- Low voltage or 5 kV process
plant distribution
- Delta winding transformers
- Generators


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Scott-T Connection
-Small, lightweight
-Economical
-Off-the-shelf in common ratings
-Not practical for unusual applications
(i.e. voltage, frequency, current levels)
-Limited to Low-R applications
Y - Transformer
-Standard transformer
-Applications are readily
field-designed
-Can be used for any grounding mode
-Grounding resistor can be inside delta
if single phase units are used in Hi-R scheme
-Offers option for redundant backup protection
Zig-Zag
Potential Transformers
-Custom designed
-Can fit any application
-Can be designed to
provide full reactive
limitation with no external impedance
-Can be used for effectively grounded system
-Usually required
for metering
-Economical
-Thermal ratings suitable for
-highly restricted schemes only
-Application may not provide desired limitation of
transient overvoltages because the grounded wye
winding is high impedance
H
1
,
1
H
2
,
2
H
3
,
3
X
2
X
1
X
3
X
2
X
1
X
3
H
1
,
1
H
2
,
2
H
3
,
3

2
X
2
X
3
H
1
X
1
H
2

2
H
3
X
2

3
This wye-delta transformer connection doesnt limit fault current,
except the winding impedance of the grounding transformer.


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
13800 V
13800 V
Low resistance ground fault
limiting same type calculations as before.


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
13800 V
13800 V
Legend
AM- Ammeter
CPB- Control Power Breaker
CR- Main Contactor
CT- Current Transformer
HR- Horn Relay
HRX- Auxiliary Relay
MR- Meter Relay
PR- Pulsing Relay
PT- Potential Transformer
R3- Fault Time Delay
R4- Pulsing Adjustment
TR- Timing Relay
UV- Undervoltage


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Placing a Resistor in the transformer secondary will limit the primary
ground fault current.


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
H
0

H
3

H
2

A
C

B
H
1

R= 0.106
X
1
X
6
X
4
X
5
X
3
X
2
Transformer ratio is 23900 GRY 120 V delta. This is 13800 V to
ground on the primary, and is the voltage on each winding.
The secondary voltage of 120 V is the voltage across
each winding.


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Under non-faulted balanced system conditions, the voltage at
the corner delta = 0
1
3
8
0
0

V = 0
1
2
0



The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010

B
When one phase suffers a bolted fault,
a phase for instance, the voltage vectors
change:
1
3
8
0
0

C
The resulting voltage at the delta corner rises to 208 V.
For a 0.106 Resistor with 208 V across it, the current through it
is 1963 Amps.
(The resistor is rated 208 V, 1960 Amps, 10 sec.)


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010

B
7
9
7
0

C
The resulting voltage across the resistor is 120 V, and the
0.106 resistor has 1,132 Amps through it.
6
9
.
3

V

Ours is actually a 13800 V L-L system:


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010

B
7
9
7
0

C
6
9
.
3

V

The resulting voltage across the resistor is 120 V, and the
0.106 resistor has 1,332 Amps through it.





This system is a high impedance grounding system that limits
current to 10 Amps.
The relay settings for the job were:
300 Amp pickup on the secondary side, which equates to 2.6 Amp
primary. 50 V setting on the 59 G relay is equal to




A voltage element, looking at voltage across the resistor, and a
current element, looking at current through the resistor, are used
in conjunction for redundant ground fault detection.
Voltage element is
much more
sensitive than
current element


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
High Voltage Bus
Normal central station practice no
generator breaker
GSU neutral not required
on generator side
Saves cost of startup transformer
Availability of suitable breakers
GSU neutral grounding required
on generator side


The ASSET Company
August 20, 2010
Low Voltage
(< 1000 volts)

Medium Voltage
(through 15kV)

High Voltage
(> 15kV)
1. Solid Grounding
2. High Resistance

1. Low resistance grounding
2. High resistance grounding
3. Effective grounding

1. Effective grounding
(at the source)

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