SYSTEM NEUTRAL EARTHING
PURPOSE:
TO LIMIT THE DIFFERENCE OF ELECTRIC POTENTIAL BETWEEN UNINSULATED
CONDUCTING OBJECTS IN AN AREA
TO PROVIDE FOR ISOLATION OF FAULTY EQPTS. & CKTS.
TO LIMIT OVERVOLTAGE UNDER VARIOUS CONDITIONS
VARIETIES OF SYSTEM EARTHING:
(IEEE STD. 142)
SOLIDLY EARTHED
EFFECTIVELY EARTHED ( Ro < X1 ) ( Xo < 3X1)
REACTANCE EARTHED ( Xo < 10X1)
MEDIUM RESISTANCE EARTHED (Ro < 2Xo)
HIGH RESISTANCE EARTHED (Ro < XCo3)
UNEARTHED
FAULT CURRENTS:
SOLIDLY EARTHED ( THREE PHASE S-C; 5 TO 40 kA)
LOW RESISTANCE EARTHED ( 25A TO 1500A)
HIGH RESISTANCE EARTHED ( 0A TO 10A)
NORMAL APPLICATION:
SOLIDLY EARTHED FOR 415V. NEUTRALS
LOW RESISTANCE EARTHED FOR 3.3 kV & 6.6 kV SYSTEMS WHERE GENERATORS
AND MOTORS ARE INVOLVED.
HIGH RESISTANCE EARTHED FOR UTILITY GENERATORS OF LARGE SIZES
MERITS AND DEMERITS
SOLID EARTHING:
MERITS
FAST RELAYING
NO OVERVOLTAGE
DEMERITS
MORE DAMAGE AT THE POINT OF FAULT
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SYSTEM NEUTRAL EARTHING
LOW RESISTANCE EARTHING :
MERITS
GRADED PROTECTION POSSIBLE.
LESS DAMAGE AT THE POINT OF FAULT.
DEMERITS
OVERVOLTAGE ON HEALTHY PHASES
HIGHER COST
HIGH RESISTANCE EARTHING :
MERITS
NO DAMAGE TO THE EQUIPMENT
CONTINUITY OF SUPPLY POSSIBLE WITH FAULT HANGING IN THE SYSTEM
DEMERITS
HIGH OVERVOLTAGES ON HEALTHY PHASES
GRADED PROTECTION NOT POSSIBLE
PROTECTION SYSTEM IS COSTLY
COEFFICIENT OF EARTHING
= ELG (ON HEALTHY PHASE WITH FAULT ON SOME OTHER PHASE)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ELL (NORMAL)
THIS IS USED FOR THE SELECTION OF LIGHTNING ARRESTOR FOR A PARTICULAR
SYSTEM
RECOMMENDED PRACTICE:
SYSTEM NEUTRAL SHALL BE EARTHED AT EACH VOLTAGE LEVEL.
REFER TABLE –I FOR RECOMMENDED TYPE OF EARTHING FOR VARIOUS
SYSTEMS.
REFER TABLE-II FOR RECOMMENDED TYPE OF EARTHING FOR GENERATORS.
SAILENT FEATURES
EARTHING SHALL BE DONE ALWAYS AT SOURCE
FOR GENERATORS, IMPEDANCE EARTHING IS DONE TO LIMIT THE FAULT
CURRENT TO SAFE VALUES FOR WINDINGS / LAMINATIONS
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SYSTEM NEUTRAL EARTHING
WHEN MULTIPLE POWER SOURCES ARE USED IT IS COMMON TO PROVIDE A
NEUTRAL BUS AND SINGLE NEUTRAL EARTHING RESISTOR. ONLY ONE
GENERATOR NEUTRAL IS KEPT CLOSED AT A TIME TO ELIMINATE ANY
CIRCULATING HARMONIC OR ZERO SEQUENCE CURRENTS.
ZIG ZAG OR Y – DELTA TRANSFORMER IS USED ON GENERATOR BUS WHEN
UNDER CERTAIN OPERATING CONDITIONS SYSTEM NEUTRAL BECOMES
UNAVAILABLE.
WHEN STAR / STAR / DELTA TRANSFORMERS ARE OPERATED IN PARALLEL, THE
RATING OF TERTIARY WINDING SHALL BE CHECKED FOR ADEQUACY TO CARRY
ZERO SEQUENCE CURRENTS UNDER FAULT CONDITIONS.
EQUIPMENT SIZING
1.0 HIGH RESISTANCE EARTHING (TRANFORMER / RESISTOR COMBINATION)
1.1 EARTHING TRANSFORMER:
VOLTAGE = VLL
IMPEDANCE (Xep) = (Xo / X1) ( VLL KV)2
---------------------------------
3 PHASE FAULT MVA
CURRENT (Ie) = 3E / X1 + X2 +X0 + 3 Xep
(E = VLG Xep = REACTANCE OF EARTH RETURN PATH)
DURATION = 10 SEC OR 60 SEC
= CONTINUOUS (FOR HIGH RESISTANCE EARTH ONLY)
1.2 EARTHING RESISTOR
R = 706
-------
CN2
C = CAPACITANCE TO EARTH IN µF / PH
N = TRANSFORMATION RATIO OF EARTHING TRANSFORMER
VOLTAGE = TRANFORMER SEC VOLTAGE
TIME = 10 SEC OR 60 SEC
MEDIUM RESISTANCE EARTHING
2.0 R = VPH
---------
FAULT CURRENT
FAULT CURRENT IS GENERALLY LIMITED TO 200 TO 1000 A.
DURATION = 10 SEC OR 60 SEC.
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SYSTEM NEUTRAL EARTHING
REACTANCE EARTHING
REACTANCE Xn = X1 – X0
3
X1 = GENERATOR POSITIVE SEQUENCE SUB TRANSIENT REACTANCE
X0 = GENERATOR ZERO SEQUENCE REACTANCE
THERMAL CURRENT RATING
3E
Ie = ------------------------------------------------------
X1 + X2 + Xo + 3 (X n + X ep )
NOTE 1.
FOR X1 OF GENERATORS AND SYNCHRONOUS MOTORS USE TRANSIENT REACTANCE
FOR X2 OF GENERATORS, SYNCHRONOUS AND INDUCTION MOTORS USE SUB TRANSIENT
REACTANCE ( X1, X2, X0 ETC REFER TO - SOURCE TO POINT TO FAULT REACTANCE)
TIME - 10 SECONDS
60 SECONDS
GROUNDING OF DELTA CONNECTED POWER SOURCES
THREE OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE
1. ZIG-ZAG TRANSFORMER WITH NEUTRAL RESISTOR
2. STAR-DELTA DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMER WITH NEUTRAL RESISTOR
3. STAR-OPEN DELTA TRANSFORMER WITH RESISTOR CONNECTED ACROSS OPEN
DELTA
A COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS HAS TO BE CARRIED OUT BEFORE DECIDING
THE GROUNDING SYTEM.
FOR 3.3 KV & 6.6KV OPTION-2 IS OPTIMUM & THE DESIGN BASIS IS GIVEN BELOW
TRANSFORMER RATING = IPVP
-------
T
WHERE VP = EL VOLTAGE
IP = PHASE CURRENT (GROUND CURRENT / 3)
T = OVERLOAD FACTOR CORRESPONDING TO TIME 10 SEC OR 60 SEC
(REFER CURVE)
RESISTANCE R IS CALCULATED FROM THE QUADRATIC EQUATION:
AR2 + BR + C =0
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SYSTEM NEUTRAL EARTHING
WHERE
A = 1 + [tan (cos-1p)] 2
B = 6 [RS + XStan (cos-1p)]
C = 9 (RS2 + XS2) – [3VS2 x 106 / VP2 IP2 ]
IR = VP IP
-------
VS
P= POWER FACTOR OF THE RESISTOR
VS = RATED SECONDARY VOLTAGE DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMER
RS = RESISTANCE OF THE SECONDARY DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMER
XS =REACTANCE OF THE SECONDARY DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMER
IR = RESISTOR CURRENT RATING IN AMPERES
RESISTOR RATING 10 SEC OR 60 SEC.
GENERAL APPLICATIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
TN-S 240 V SINGLE PHASE DOMESTIC / COMMERCIAL SUPPLY
INDIAN TN-S 415 V THREE PHASE DOMESTIC / COMMERCIAL SUPPLY
INDIAN TN-C -DO-
TN-C-S -DO-
T-T-N-S FOR BULK SUPPLY AT 6.6 KV & 11 KV
TT 415 V THREE PHASE INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY
IT 415 V THREE PHASE INDUSTRIAL
Sl. System Recommended Method of Ref. Remarks
# Earthing Fig
1 Industrial Plants
a) Up to 415V Solidly Earthed 1 Earth connector should be of
adequate capacity
b) Above 415V up to Medium Resistance 2 Limit Earth fault current to
11kV Earthed largest feeder current &
permit tripping of circuit.
c) Above 11kV Solidly earthed Earth Connector should be of
adequate capacity
2 Auxiliary Systems of i) Medium Resistance 2 Resistance to limit earth fault
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SYSTEM NEUTRAL EARTHING
Power Plants Earthed current to transformer full
load current & permit tripping
of circuits.
ii) High Resistance 3 When continued operation
Earthed (until it is convenient to locate
and correct the fault) is
desired.
3 Synchronous
Generators
a) Unit System i) High Resistance 3 Current limited to 1.5 times
Earthed capacitive charging current
(usually distribution
transformer and secondary
resistor)
b) Several machines ii) Reactor Earthed 4 Earth fault current to be
and/or feeders on limited to 25% -60% of three
the bus phase fault current to prevent
serious transient over voltages
( XO 10X1 ) and permit
selective relaying.
4 Transmission System a) Effectively earthed 1
b) Earth fault neutralizer 3 When it is desired to limit the
earth fault current and to
reduce switching surges to
safe values.
TABLE-I
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SYSTEM NEUTRAL EARTHING
TABLE-II
Isolated
Neutral
Solid Reactor Resistor NGT + NGR Remarks
and Zig-
Zag NGT
LV BUS SM P S@ P@ NS Note 1@ @ With
NO LV CEIG
FEEDER MM P S@ P@ NS Note 2@ Approval
LV BUS SM P NS P@ NS Note 1@
WITH
FEEDER MM P P@ P@ NS Note 2@
SM NS P P NS NS
HV BUS
NO HV P
FEEDER MM NS P (With NS NS
Neutral Bus)
* If
SM NS P P NS S*
HV BUS sufficient
WITH HV P cable
FEEDER MM NS P (With NS S* capacitance
Neutral Bus) is available
UNIT P (For utility P (For utility
NS P NS
SYSTEM Generators only) Generators only)
NOTE1 FOR FAULT LEVEL GREATER THAN 40 KA FOR EXISTING SYSTEMS
NOTE 2 FOR FAULT LEVEL GREATER THAN 70 KA FOR NEW SYSTEMS
S - SATISFACTORY
P- PREFERRED
NS- NOT SUITABLE
SM - SINGLE MACHINE
MM - MULTIPLE MACHINES
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SYSTEM NEUTRAL EARTHING
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