EARTHING SYSTEMS

The link for the video below can be explored to succinctly/briefly explain what the different types

of earthing systems are and how they are practically applied. Also earthing and grounding. Is

there a difference?

https://youtu.be/LeRpS6nza-E

https://www.platinumelectricians.com.au/blog/importance-grounding-electrical-currents/

In order to understand the concept of EARTHING, it is of utmost importance that you do

understand the subtle and slight differences between GROUNDING and EARTHING. If you

don’t, there may be elements of confusion which may lead to a false or faulty understanding of

the concept.

GROUNDING

The purpose of grounding in the first instance is for SAFETY. Secondly, the ground or grounding

of a circuit is a misleading term. For most purposes the term means earthing or connecting the

circuit to earth. In actuality, it’s connecting the circuit to a common point of reference; for most

systems, that is the earth.

Electrical grounding or “Grounding” originally began as a safety measure used to help prevent

people from accidentally coming in contact with electrical hazards. Think of your refrigerator. It

is a metal box standing on rubber feet with electricity running in and out of it. The electricity

running from the outlet and through the power cord to the electrical components inside the

refrigerator are electrically isolated from the metal exterior or chassis of the refrigerator.

If for some reason the electricity came in contact with the chassis, the rubber feet would prevent

the electricity from going anywhere and it would sit waiting for someone to walk up and touch

the refrigerator. Once someone touched the refrigerator the electricity would flow from the

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chassis/frame of the refrigerator and through the unlucky person possibly causing injury or even

death.

Grounding is therefore used to protect that person. By connecting a green ground wire from the

metal frame of the refrigerator the unwanted electricity will travel through the wire back to your

electrical panel, and tripping the circuit-breaker stopping the flow of electricity, if the chassis

inadvertently becomes charged for any reason. Additionally, that wire must be connected to

something that is in turn connected to the earth or ground outside. Normally, this connection is a

grounding electrode, such as a ground rod.

EARTHING

Earthing of electrical equipment is typically achieved by inserting an electrode (copper rod) into

a solid mass of earth and connecting this electrode to the equipment using a conductor. The

main assumption that can be made about any earthing system is:

1. The Earth’s potential voltage acts as a fixed reference (i.e. zero volts) for connected

systems. As such, any conductor which is connected to the earthing electrode (rod) will

also possess that reference potential of zero volts.

2. Earthing conductors and the earth stake (rod) provide a low-resistance path to ground.

NOTE. Having read the above, then the following must be taken into consideration:

Protective earthing is the installation of earthing conductors arranged to reduce the likelihood

of injury from electrical fault within the system. In the event of a fault, the non-current carrying

metal parts of the system such as frames, fencing and enclosures etc. can achieve high

voltage with respect to earth if they are not earthed. If a person makes contact with the

equipment under such conditions, they will receive an electric shock or electrocution.
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If the metallic parts are connected to the protective earth, the fault current will flow through the

earth conductor and be sensed by safety devices, which then safely isolate the circuit.

Protective earthing can be achieved by:

1. Installing a protective earthing system where conductive parts are connected to the

earthed neutral of the distribution system via conductors.

2. Installing overcurrent or earth leakage current protective devices (such as fuses) which

operate to disconnect the affected part of the installation within specified time and touch

voltage limits.

3. The protective earthing conductor should be able to carry the potential (possible) fault

current for a duration which is equal to or greater than the operating time of the

associated protective device.

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 The handout you received basically describes the characteristics of the various types of

earthing systems. What follows from here, is a basic description and the associated

diagrams of the different electrical earth systems. Hopefully you will have a better

understanding.

Firstly, it is important, if not critical, that you understand the meaning of the language or

terminology used to describe the various earthed electrical systems.

The International standard IEC 60364 makes mention of five (5) applications for earthing

but for this purpose we distinguish or consider 4 families of earthing arrangements, using

the two-letter codes TT, IT, TN and TN-C.

The first letter indicates to you, information about the connection between earth

connection and the power-supply equipment or source (generator or transformer i.e.

GEBE)

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 T: indicates that there is a direct connection of a point (conductor) with earth or the
ground/dirt. (for your information the T is from the French word Terre which means

land)

I: indicates that there is no point (cable/conductor) connected with or connected to a rod

driven into the earth/ground (so there is isolation

The second letters indicate the connection between earth/ground and the electrical

device/s being supplied, which means the load such as your house, factory etc.) In

other words, whether or not the place (your house, factory etc.) receiving the power

from the power supplier whether it may be a supplier such as GEBE, a generator, a

transformer etc. has its own ground/earth connection)

T: indicates the direct connection with earth, independent of any other earth connection
in the supply system. This means there is no sharing of the same earthing systems by

both supplier and load (house, factory etc.).

N: indicates the connection to earth via (by way of) the supply network (GEBE). In other
words, the earthing system of the load is connected to the earthing system of the

supplier (GEBE).

TT earthing system (TT- independent earth connections on supplier and load sides)

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 In the TT configuration, the consumers (load side) employ their own earth connection

within the premises, which is independent (not connected to) of any earth connection on

the source power-supplier side (GEBE). This type of earthing is typically used in

situations where a distribution network service provider (DNSP) cannot guarantee a

low-voltage connection back to the power supply.

This system is generally used for consumer power supply (load). No earthing system is

provided by the power distributor/supplier (GEBE). The owner must install the earthing

protection by their own connection to the earth. The load must have a suitable electrode

(copper rod) installed independently and safe arrangement for which they, the consumer

(load side), are responsible.

The earthing conductor connections on the load and supplier sides must be installed

separately because the power distributor/supplier (GEBE) only provides the supply

neutral for power connection to the consumer (load). (See diagram)

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 NOTE:

You should read the advantages and disadvantages of each system arrangement

as per your handout you received, as that might be a point of discussion.

IT earthing system (IT- no earth connection on supplier side, earth connection on

consumer/load side)

In an IT earthing system, that arrangement either has no connection to earth at the

supply side, or earthing is done by means of a high impedance connection. Hence, it has

a different earthing supply than the TT earthing system. This type of earthing is not used

for distribution networks such as those used for power delivery to consumers but is

frequently used in substations and for independent generator-supplied systems. These

systems are able to offer good continuity of supply during operation. Because of this

design, an insulation monitoring device (IMD) is used to monitor the impedance.

TN-S system earthing

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 A TN-S system shown below has the neutral at the source of power generation

connected with the earthing at one point only, and that is, at or as near as is reasonably

practicable to the source. The consumer’s earthing terminal (load side) is typically

connected to the metallic sheath or armor of the distributor’s (GEBE) service cable into

the premises.

(basically the earthing at the consumer side is attached to a part of the power

supplier’s cable which is directly connected to the earthing system back at the

power source (GEBE))

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TN-C-S system earthing

The TN-C-S system, shown below, depicts an arrangement where the supply neutral

conductor of a distribution main is connected with earth at source and at intervals along

its run. This is usually referred to as protective multiple earthing (PME). With this

arrangement the distributor’s (GEBE) neutral conductor is also used to return earth fault

currents arising in the consumer’s (load) installation safely to the source. To achieve

this, the distributor will provide the consumer with a consumer’s earthing terminal which

is linked to the incoming neutral conductor.

Sources:
https://www.esgroundingsolutions.com/about-electrical-grounding/

https://www.gses.com.au/technical-articles/getting-down-to-earth-earthing-explained/

http://www.electricneutron.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tncs-sys.jpg

http://www.pfeiffereng.com/Principals%20of%20Electrical%20Grounding.pdf

https://www.ee.iitb.ac.in/course/~emlab/assets/earthing.pdf

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