Chapter 2

Earthing Systems
Part I
Insulation faults and consequences

Dr. Imane Maatouk, Eng. Amani El Saied 1

Outline
1. Definition of insulation
2. Causes of insulation faults
3. Hazards linked to insulation faults
• Risk of electric shock
• Fire hazards
• Unavailability of electrical power
4. Managing the electrical hazard
• Direct contact protection measures
• Indirect contact protection measures

Dr. Imane Maatouk, Eng. Amani El Saied 2

1. Definition of Insulation
• Insulation is achieved by:
o Insulating material which is a non-conducting material with a sufficiently high electrical
resistivity and a dielectric strength sufficiently high Adequate thermal and mechanical
properties.
o Clearances in gases and crawling distances to prevent flashover on electrical switchgear

• Insulation is characterized by specified voltages

o Insulating voltage (highest network voltage);
o Lightning impulse withstand voltage : overvoltage of external origin (1.2kV/50 µs wave);
o Power frequency withstand voltage: overvoltage of internal origin (2U + 1000 V for 1min).

Dr. Imane Maatouk, Eng. Amani El Saied 3

2. Causes of insulation faults
• Insulation faults causes:
o mechanical deterioration of a cable insulator
o dust with a varying degree of conductivity
o thermal ageing of insulators due to excessive temperatures caused by: climate, too many cables in a duct, a
poorly ventilated cubicle, harmonics, overcurrent, etc,
o The electrodynamics forces developed during a short-circuit
o The operating and lightning overvoltage,
o The 50 Hz return overvoltage, resulting from an insulation fault in MV.
o A combination of these primary causes
• Insulation fault can be either:
o Between the live conductors(for example phase to phase fault)
o Between live conductors and the exposed conductive parts or earth.

Dr. Imane Maatouk, Eng. Amani El Saied 4

 3. Hazards linked to insulation faults-Electric
Shock

• Risk of electric shock

An electric shock is the patho-
physiological effect of an electric
• how an electric shock occurs?
An electric shock is the result of you
becoming part of a circuit

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 3. Hazards linked to insulation faults-Electric
Shock
• Direct contact and indirect contact

Dr. Imane Maatouk, Eng. Amani El Saied 6

 3. Hazards linked to insulation faults-Electric
Shock
• Contact voltage UC

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Effect of AC current when passing in a human body

Dr. Imane Maatouk, Eng. Amani El Saied 8

 3. Hazards linked to insulation faults-Electric
Shock
• Fault current paths

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3. Hazards linked to insulation faults-Electric
Shock

Dr. Imane Maatouk, Eng. Amani El Saied 10

3. Hazards linked to insulation faults-Electric
Shock

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 3. Hazards linked to insulation faults-Fire
hazards

• Large number of fires is caused by high temperatures or by an electric

arc generated by an insulation fault.

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 3. Hazards linked to insulation faults-
Unavailability of electrical power
• If the part in fault is automatically disconnected to eliminate the fault,
it can result in a risk for persons, for example:
o Sudden absence of lighting,
o Placing the equipment required for safety purposes out of service,
o Economic Impact due to production loss.
o Damage, in the installations or the loads, which can lead to tardiness and
maintenance costs
o It can disturb sensitive equipment in case of a phase to earth faults, especially
if they are part of a low current system
o Malfunctioning or even the damage of some sensitive equipment.

Dr. Imane Maatouk, Eng. Amani El Saied 13

 4. Managing the electrical hazard-Direct
contact protection measures
• Two complementary measures are used as protection against the
dangers of direct contact:
o The physical prevention of contact with live parts by barriers, insulation,
inaccessibility,
o Residual-current operating device with a high sensitivity (IΔn ≤ 30 mA) and a
low operating time

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4. Managing the electrical hazard-Direct
contact protection measures

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 4. Managing the electrical hazard-Indirect
contact protection measures
• Two levels of protective measures exist for this case:
o First level: The earthing of all exposed-conductive-parts of electrical
equipment in the installation and the constitution of an equipotential
bonding network.
o Second level: Automatic disconnection of the supply of the section of the
installation concerned,

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 4. Managing the electrical hazard-Indirect
contact protection measures
Uc = Ud
• Ud is the fault voltage, with respect to the deep earth, of the frame of an electrical device with an insulation
fault,
• Uc the contact voltage, depending on the potential Uc and the potential reference of the person exposed to the
hazard, generally the ground.

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