YP. MAZORODZE.

BULAWYO POLY2018

EARTHING
EARTHING AND EARTH LEAKAGE PROTECTION.

PROTECTION AGAINST ELECTRIC SHOCK.

IEE regulations identify two ways of getting electric shock namely; direct contact and
indirect contact.

Protection Against Direct Contact

Direct contact refers to contact of persons or life stock with metal work that is live under
normal service; which may result in shock.
The IEE regulations recommend 5 methods of protection:

1) Use of insulation.
This involves covering the live parts with insulation that can only be removed
by destruction e.g. cable insulation.

2) Protection by barriers.
The live parts are placed behind a barrier. The barrier is intended to prevent
contact with live parts from any usual direction of access e.g. a barrier need
not have a top if access from above the barrier is unlikely.

3) Protection by enclosures.
The live parts are placed inside an enclosure. An enclosure prevents access
from any direction. The enclosure should be such that it can only be removed
or opened by use of a key or a tool such as a screw driver. Alternatively
means should be provided such that it can only be removed when the live
parts are disconnected.

4) Protection by obstacles.
These are not designed to prevent intentional contact with live parts. The
purpose is a precaution against accidental contact.

5) Protection by placing out of reach.

Live parts are paced out of arms reach. E.g. conductors of cranes and
transmission lines.

Protection against indirect contact.

Indirect contact refers to contact of persons or life stock with exposed conductive parts
made live by a fault.
The IEE regulations recommend 7 methods of protection:

1) Earthing
This is achieved by earthed equi-potential bonding i.e. joining all exposed
conductive parts and connecting them earth. This method ensures that all
exposed conductive parts are at the same potential as earth. Earth is generally
assumed to be at zero potential.

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2) Protection by double insulation.

Also referred to as protection by class II equipment or equivalent insulation.
The equipment is either totally covered with insulation such that there are no
exposed conductive parts; also known as all insulation. Alternatively there is
reinforced insulation or a separate layer of supplementary insulation such that
faults to exposed conductive parts don’t occur. Such equipment has no
provision for a c.p.c.

Symbol

3) Protection By non-conducting location.

This is an area where the walls floors and ceiling are all insulated. No
protective conductors are provided and socket outlets do not have earth
terminals. It should not be possible to touch two exposed conductive parts in
this area. This method is rarely used.

4) Protection by earth free local equipotential bonding.

It has a limited application and can only be used under close supervision by an
engineer. It is essentially a faraday cage, with all metallic parts bonded
together but not earthed. It prevents the appearance of any dangerous voltage
between simultaneously accessible parts within the location.

5) Protection by electrical separation.

This can be achieved by means of an isolation transformer, with the secondary
side with no earth connection. If a fault between a live conductor and the
exposed conductive part occurs, there is no return path for shock current to
flow.

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6) Protection by separate extra low voltage (SELV)

This involves the use of e.l..v. that is voltages below 50V.These voltage levels
are not high enough to cause lethal electric shock. Live or exposed conductive
parts of SELV circuits should not be connected to earth or c.p.c. of other
circuits.

7) Reduced voltage systems.

Voltage levels of 65V and 55V for three phase and single phase respectively
will give protection against serve shock. Portable appliances used in
construction sites should be fromm110V centre tapped to earth transformers.

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EARTHING ARRANGEMENT

1) Earthing - This is the connection of all exposed metallic parts of an

installation to the general mass of earth, so as to ensure that all conductive
parts are at the same potential as earth i.e. zero potential.

2) Exposed conductive parts (M) – All metal work associated with the
electrical apparatus which can be touched and is not live but can become live
under fault conditions. e.g metallic conduit, trunking, metal casing of
electrical equipment.

3) Extraneous conductive parts (C, P) – conductive parts that do not form part
of the electrical installation, but are liable to introduce a potential, e.g. main
water pipes, ducting of central heating systems and air conditioners, metallic
sinks etc.

4) Main earthing terminal (B) – This is a terminal where all protective

conductors of the installation are connected.

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5) Protective conductors (1,2,3,4) – This refers to all conductors not necessarily

cable conductors, which are used for protection against indirect contact. These
include:
(i) Circuit protective conductors C.P.C. (1) – these are conductors that
connect exposed conductive parts to the main earthing terminal.
(ii) Main equipotential bonding conductors (2) – these are conductors
that connect extraneous conductive parts to the main earthing terminal.
(iii) Supplementary equipotential bonding conductors (4) – these are
conductors that connect exposed conductive parts to other exposed
conductive parts or extraneous conductive parts.
(iv) Earthing conductor (3) – this is the conductor that connects the main
earthing terminal to the means of earthing which may be an earth
electrode.

6) Earth electrode (T) – a conductor or group of conductors in intimate contact

with the general mass of the earth providing an electrical connection with the
earth

7) Earth fault current – a fault current which flows to earth.

8) Earth leakage current – a current which flows to earth or extraneous

conductive parts in a circuit that is electrically sound.

EARTHING SYSTEMS
Earthing system are designed to provide a path of low impedance for earth fault
currents, to enable protective devices to operate. Classifications of earthing systems
are given in appendix 3 of the IEE regulations. Earthing systems are named according
to a sequence of letters. Where;

T - Terre (French for earth) represents a direct connection to earth.

N - Neutral
C - Combined
S - Separate.
A sequence of the above letters denotes the type of earthing system.

1st - denotes how the supply is connected to earth.

2nd - denotes how the metal work of the installation is connected
to the earthed neutral point.
3rd & 4th - indicates the function of the neutral and protective
Conductor.

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a) TNC System

T - supply is directly earthed.

N - installation is metal work directly connected to the earthed neutral
point.
C - protective conductor and neutral conductor are combined in a PEN
(Protective Earth & Neutral) conductor.

This system is restricted to use in installations not connected directly to the

public supply. The neutral conductor also acts as a Protective conductor.

b) TNS System
T - supply is directly earthed.
N - installation metal work is directly connected to the earthed neutral
point.
S - the protective conductor and the neutral are separate through out
the whole installation.

In this system the exposed conductive parts are connected to the Protective
Earth (PE) conductor via the main earthing terminal.

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c) TNC-S System

T - supply is directly earthed.

N - installation metal work is directly connected to the earthed neutral
point.
C - protective conductor and neutral conductor are combined in a PEN
(Protective Earth & Neutral) conductor.
S - the neutral and protective conductor are separate inside the
Installation.

This earthing system is also called Protective Multiple Earthing (PME),

because the protective conductor is earthed at several points towards the
supply.

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d) TT System

T - supply is directly earthed.

T - the installation metal work is directly earthed at the consumer’s
installation.

All exposed conductive parts are connected to the consumer’s earth electrode
which is not connected electrically to the source. The earth fault path is
completed by the general mass of earth.

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e) IT System

I - the supply is earthed through some impedance.

T - the installation metal work is directly earthed. At the consumer’s
installation.

This method cannot be used for public supplies.

THE PRINCIPLE OF EARTHING

Earthing should be carried out such that; no fault of negligible impedance to earthed
metal work, shall be sustained so as to cause danger.

For a fuse to blow the impedance of the earth circuit must be sufficiently low to pass the
necessary current.

Example
Consider a 2KW electric heater connected to a 220V supply. A fault to earth occurs
through the earthed metal casing of the appliance at a point ¼ along the length of the
heating element from the line terminal as shown below.

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The fuse is rated 15A and is designed to blow a to current of 47A in 1 sec, 33A in 10
seconds, or 28A 1 minute. Assuming that the resistance R1 of the earth continuity path
between the heater and the main earthing terminal is 1ohm and R2 between the earth
terminal and earth electrode is 1ohm and, that of the wiring and the point of the fault is
negligible. Calculate;
(i) the fault current.
(ii) Voltage between the casing of the heater and the earth electrode at the
supply substation.
(iii) State which in your opinion would burn first the fuse or element.

Answer

a)

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V 2
P =
R

V 2 240 2
R = = = 28.8Ω
P 2000

28 . 8
¼R = 4
= 7.2Ω

21 . 6 X 2
Total resistance = 7.2 + 21 . 6  2 = 9.03Ω

V 250
I = R = 9 . 03 = 26.58Ω
T

21 . 6 21 . 6
Ie = 21 . 6  2 I = 21 . 6  2 26.58 = 24.3A

b) Vd = IR = 24.3 X 2 = 48.7V
c) Heater is rated at 2KW 240V therefore has a current rating of
2000
240
=8.32A. Current flow through shorter portion is 26,6A hence
would burn the element.

CIRCUIT PROTECTIVE CONDUCTOR

For every installation operating at above e.l.v. circuit protective conductors (C.P.C.)
must be provided. A C.P.C. connected exposed conductive parts of electrical equipment
to the main earthing terminal. It may be part of the metallic conduits, trunking, duct or
metal sheath of a cable. The IEE regulations require that minimum c.s.a. of protective
conductors in relation to the area of the largest phase conductors comply with table 54F.
Reg 543-1
TABLE 54F
C.S.A. of phase conductor. Minimum C.S.A. of corresponding
(S) mm2 protective conductor.
(Sp ) mm2

S ≤ 16 S

16 ‹ S ≤ 35 16

S › 35 S
2

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However according to regulation 543 -2 the c.s.a. may be calculated using the formula
below, this being applicable for disconnection times not exceeding 5 seconds.

I2 t
S = mm2 (adiabatic equation).
k

Where S – is the c.s.a. of the c.p.c.

I - the r.m.s. value of fault current.
t - operating time of the disconnecting device corresponding to the
fault current.
0.4s for circuits feeding socket out lets.
5s for circuits feeding fixed equipment.
k – a factor depending on the type of protective conductor, its
insulation. Values of k are obtained in tables 54B to 54E.

Protective conductors may comprise any of the following;

(i) Cables in their own right.
(ii) Metallic armour of cables.
(iii) Metal sheath of cables.
(iv) Metallic conduits.
(v) Metallic Trunking.
(vi) Metallic ducting.
(vii) Parts of metallic enclosures of electrical equipment.

Where the protective conductor is separate from the cable and is not part of the cable
enclosure, the minimum size should be 4mm2 if no mechanical protection is provided.
And 2,5mm2 if mechanical protection is provided.

BONDING

This term applies to metal work of an installation which does not form part of the
electrical equipment
It is a low resistance connection between two metallic surfaces, so as to prevent a
difference in potential between the two parts, and hence preventing the flow of earth
leakage currents.
Bonding leads must be at list half the size of earth leads with a minimum of 6mm2.
However it need not exceed 25mm2 if PME applies.

BATHROOM INSTALLATIONS.
Due to the increased risk of serve electric shock in bathrooms special conditions have to
be met, these include:
(i) Use of totally enclosed lighting fittings.
(ii) Switches and other means of control must be inaccessible to a person
using the bath. OR The switch should be of the cord operated type. OR
should be situated outside the room.

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(iii) Socket outlets are not to be installed in bathrooms, except for shaver
sockets to BS3052 which incorporates double wound transformers with
the secondary earthed.

EARTH ELECTRODES.

Three methods of earthing are employed:

1) The supply authority earth point may be directly connected to the consumers
main earthing terminal by means of a protective earth conductor. This is
usually achieved by connecting the consumer’s main earthing terminal to the
service cable metal sheath hence providing a low impedance return path. In
rural areas an overhead continuous earth conductor may be provided.

2) The consumers main earthing terminal may be connected to an earth electrode

buried underground. The earth return path is through the general mass of the
earth.

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3) Protective Multiple Earthing (PME) may be employed. In this method the

neutral distributor line is connected to an earth electrode at various intervals;
which could be at every 3rd pole and/or at every installation. In this system the
earth fault current flows back to the source by means of the neutral in parallel
to the earth, hence ensuring a low resistance path. In this system the resistance
between distributor neutral and earth must not exceed 10Ω. The consumers
earthing conductor must have a resistance of less than 0,5Ω.

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EARTH ELECTRODE RESISTANCE

This is the resistance of the earth electrode to earth. The effective earth electrode
resistance means the resistance from the earth electrode to a point sufficiently far away
for current to produce a vanishingly small potential gradient.
The earth electrode resistance area is the area around the earth electrode where resistance
varies with distance from the electrode. Inside the earth electrode resistance area an earth
fault current will cause a significant voltage gradient, the voltage gradient being greatest
closest to the electrode and diminishes as you move away from the electrode.
A point where the voltage gradient is negligible is said to be outside the electrode
resistance area.

The steep voltage gradient in the vicinity of the electrode can shock a person standing
nearby with his feet oriented in a direction radial from the electrode and will possible
electrocute cattle.
NB
Electrode resistance area can be defined as the area around an earth electrode where
current causes no further voltage drop.

Most of the earth electrode resistance lies on the top soil, hence an electrode driven
deeper into the ground has less electrode resistance. However after a depth of 3m further
depth has little effect on electrode resistance.

FACTORS AFFECTING EARTH ELECTODE RESISTANCE.

1) Nature Of Soil.
Typical values are shown below:

COMPOSITION OF SOIL RESISTIVITY Ω/cm3

Clay 2000 – 6000
Sandy clay 8000 – 20000
Marsh, peat 15000 – 30000
Sand 25000 – 50000
Rock Up to 1MΩ

2) Extent Of Moisture Content.

Resistivity varies inversely with moisture content, hence dry periods may
have high resistance as compared to wet seasons.

3) Presence Of Salts.
In order to reduce the resistance of top soil common rock salt (Sodium
Chloride), Copper Sulphate, or Magnesium Sulphate maybe added to the soil.

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TYPES OF EARTH ELECTRODES.

They are constructed such that they can resist corrosion for long periods of time.
Materials usually used include; copper, copper-clad iron and galvanized steel.
Earth electrodes fall into three groups:

1) Rod and Pipe Electrodes.

Rod electrodes should be at list 16mm and 12mm diameter for steel and
copper electrodes respectively. Pipe electrodes should be at list 38mm and
100mm internal diameter for galvanized iron/steel and cast iron respectively.
Rods shall be driven to a depth of no less than 2,5m, but not much gain is
achieved by depth in excess of 3m. Where rocks are present the rod can be
driven in, at an angle of no more than 30o from the vertical.
When the rod is driven in, moderate blows are made to the rod, which is
protected by a diving cap. The rod is usually made of pieces of extension
which are added successively as the rod is driven into the soil. The rods are
usually made with hardened tips. Rod and pipe electrodes are usually used
where the soil is reasonably free from rocks.

2) Strips, tapes and Wires.

They should have a cross sectional area of not less than 25mm X 1.6mm for
copper and 25mm X 4mm for galvanized iron/steel. If round conductors are
used the cross sectional area should have a minimum of 3mm2 for copper and
6mm2 for iron/steel. The length of the strip should be greater than 15m, laid in
trenches not less than 0,5m in deep. If more than one strip is used they should
be placed in widely spaced trenches which are radial or parallel. The length of
the wire affects the resistance of the electrode.

3) Plate Electrodes.
Copper plate should be greater than 60cm X 60cm X 3mm. Iron and steel
plates should be greater than 60cm X 60cm X 4mm. The top edge of the plate
shall be at a depth of no less than 1,5m from the surface. If the resistance of
the electrode is not satisfactory they can be placed in parallel such that they
are no less than 8m apart. The size of the plate also affects the resistance of
the electrode; however there is not much gain after an area of 1,75cm3. They
are usually used in generation power stations and substations where the
current carrying capacity is of importance.

Types of electrodes recognized by the IEE regulations are:

- Earth rods/pipes.
- Earth plates.
- Earth tapes or wires.
- Lead sheath and covering of cables.
- Earth electrodes embedded in foundations.
- Underground pipes.
- Metallic reinforcement of concrete structures.

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EARTHING CONDUCTOR.

This is the final conductor from the consumer’s main earthing terminal to the earth
electrode. The following regulations apply:
(i) It should have a minimum size of 16mm2 if protected angst corrosion and a
minimum of 25mm2 if such protection is not provided for copper conductors.
A minimum of 50mm2 is used for steel conductors.
(ii) Aluminum and copper clad conductors are not to be used as earthing
conductors.
(iii) All earthing joints shall be tight mechanically sound and protected against
mechanical damage and corrosion.
(iv) A label should be permanently attached to the point of connection with the
words “SAFETY ELECTRICAL EARTH – DO NOT REMOVE” in legible
lettering not less than 5mm high.

A typical earth electrode installation is shown below:

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THE EARTH LOOP PATH

This is the path followed by the earth fault current, If. It consists of; the phase
conductor up to the point of the fault, the protective conductor, the earth electrode at
the consumer’s premises, the return path to the supply substation, the secondary
transformer winding at the local substation transformer, and the phase conductor to
the consumer’s unit.

The resistance of the earth loop path is called the earth loop impedance Zs. It is
referred to as impedance because it opposes the flow of the earth fault current which
is alternating and not direct.

For a radial circuit the earth loop impedance is calculated by:

ZS = ZE + (R1 + R2)
Where ZS - total earth loop impedance.
ZE - impedance of the earth loop external to the consumer’s
installation.
R1 - impedance of the phase conductor up to the furthest point
of utilization.
R2 - impedance of the C.P.C. up to the furthest point
of utilization.

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For a parallel/ring circuit:

R1  R2
ZS = ZE +
4
Having obtained the earth loop impedance Zs the earth fault current If may be
calculated as follows:

Uo
If = Z
s

Where If - Earth fault current.

Uo - Nominal voltage to earth.

Under fault conditions If should be able to operate the circuit protective device within
a time specified by reg 413-4
(i) 0,4s for socket outlets, lighting outlets or equipment in bathrooms.
(ii) 5s for fixed equipment.

This type of protection is called Earthed Equipotential Bonding and Automatic

Disconnection (EEBAD).

Hence for a complete cable size selection one should:

(i) Verify volt drop.
(ii) Determine that shock protection is afforded. This is done by checking for the
value of permissible Zs in table 41A1 and ensuring that the calculated Zs does
not exceed the tabulated value.
(iii) Ensure that thermal constraints are met( Reg 543-2)
- First calculate the fault current If.
- From the time – current characteristic of the protective device
obtain the operating time of the device under such If conditions.
- Using the adiabatic equation calculate the minimum size of c.p.c.

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THE RESIDUAL CURRENT DEVICE (RCD)

Also known as the Earth Leakage circuit Breaker (ELCB). This device is used for earth
leakage protection in situations where it may not be possible to have a path of low
impedance for earth fault currents to flow. Under such conditions the earth fault current
may be too small to operate the protective device.

In construction the RCD consists basically of two coils wound with the same number of
turns and such that the produce opposing magnetic fields. Under healthy conditions the
current in the phase conductor is equal to the current in the neutral conductor; hence the
fluxes produced by the two coils cancel, leaving no resultant flux in the core. When an
earth fault occurs some of the current will flow throw the CPC, hence the phase current
will be greater than the neutral current and a resultant flux will be set up in the core. This
alternating flux will induce an e.m.f. in the search coil; also known as the core coil of
fault detector coil. The induced e.m.f. will energise the trip coil causing the circuit
breaker to trip, hence isolating the circuit.
NB
The operating current must not exceed 2% of the nominal current.
Overload protection may also be in cooperated into the unit.
The voltage rise of the earthed metal work should not exceed a limit of 40V.

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THE EARTH MONITORING UNIT (EMU)

When earthing is used as a means of protection against indirect contact, a break in the
c.p.c. may go unnoticed until an earth fault occurs and someone is shocked. This hazard
is common in portable equipment with trailing cables e.g. hand drills. The EMU is used
to ensure that the c.p.c. is always connected.

During healthy conditions the transformer energises the relay, hence closing the contacts
and allowing supply to the appliance. The relay is kept energized by the current that
flows through the c.p.c. and pilot conductor. When there is a break in the c.p.c. the relay
is de-energised, the contacts open hence cutting supply to the appliance.

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