Chapter Four: Earthing, bonding, and lightening protection

Earthing and bonding

Earthing electrodes
Location of system earthing
Earthing arrangements
Protection of buildings and structures against lightning

Definitions
Solid Earth: A conductor is said to be solidly earthed when it is electrically connected to
an earth electrode without a fuse, switch, circuit-breaker or resistance in the earth
connection.

Earth Wire: A conductor connected to earth and usually situated in proximity to the
associated line conductors.

Earth Electrode: A metal plate, pipe or other conductor, or an array of conductors

electrically connected to the general mass of earth.

Earthing conductor: is a conductor which connects part of an electrical installation to an

earthing electrode.

Leakage: The passage of electricity in path, other than that desired, due to imperfect
insulation.

Earth Continuity Conductor: The conductor, including any clamp connecting to the
earthing lead or to each other, those parts of an installation which are required to be
earthed. It may be in whole or in part the metal conduit or metal sheath or the armor of
the cables or a special continuity conductor, cable or flexible cord incorporating such a
conductor.

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Introduction

Protection in electrical installation design means:

• Protection of human beings from electric shock and hazards in case of
occurrence of contact with a powered circuit or any part thereof.
• Protection of equipment and devices from over currents and also some faults.
• Protection against fire that may be caused by overheating of cables, accessories
and devices.
Electrical protection against the above risks is provided by two methods.
1. By provision of automatic devices (fuses, circuit breakers, overload
relays,…) which immediately cutoff the supply. These devices work in
case of over-currents.
2. By provision of a separate and direct path to earth using grounding
systems.

Earthing and bonding

(Bonding – reading assignment)

Earthing or grounding is the term used for electrical connection to general mass of
earth. It is classified as:
• System earthing and
• Equipment earthing
Earthing of neutral in power-houses and sub-stations belongs to the first category. It is
employed to restrict the voltage of live conductors with respect to the potential of the
general mass of earth to a value consistent with the insulation level.

Equipment earthing signifies earthing of non-current-carrying metal parts of electrical

equipment.

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It is important that all non-current carrying metal parts must be earthed with two
separate and distinct earth continuity conductors to an efficient earth electrode.

Earthing provides protection to personnel and equipment by ensuring operation of the

protective control gear and isolation of the faulty circuit in the following cases:
• Insulation puncture or failure: in case of a ground developing on one of the
phase conductors, as a result of insulation failure, electric current will flow
through the ground path as indicated below.

If the impedance of this path is low, current sufficient to operate the overload
protective device will flow, which will isolate the faulty circuit. Otherwise, the
non current carrying parts will acquire the potential of the apparatus, with
consequent danger to personnel.

• Accidental contact between wires of high and low voltage lines: in this case,
current will flow through the secondary of the transformer, earth connection of
the transformer, and back to the high voltage system which will result in
operation of the protective device on the high voltage side. The path of the fault
current is indicated by arrows. The transformer fuses will blow only in the case
of accidental contact taking place within the transformer itself.

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 • Breakdown of insulation between primary and secondary windings of a
transformer
• Lightening strokes

Earth Electrodes

An earth electrode should be able to resist corrosion for a long time. The recommended
materials are copper, copper-clad iron, cast iron and galvanized steel.
The various type of earth electrodes in use are:
a) Rod and pipe electrodes
b) Strip electrodes
c) Plate electrodes

Rod and pipe electrodes

Rod electrodes shall be at least 16mm in diameter if of steel, and 12.5 mm in diameter if
of copper. Pipe electrodes shall not be smaller than 38 mm internal diameter, if of
galvanized iron or steel, and 100 mm internal diameter if made of cast iron.

The length of rod and pipe electrodes shall not be less than 2.5 m, which shall be driven
to a minimum depth of 2.5 m. where rock is encountered at a depth of less than 2.5m,
the electrode may be buried inclined to the vertical with inclination not more than 300
from the vertical. Very little gain is achieved by installing electrodes longer than 3 m.

The recommended method of installing a pipe electrode is illustrated in the following

figure. If one electrode fails to give the required low resistance, a number of such
electrodes may be installed and connected in parallel. The distance between two
adjacent electrodes should not be less than twice the length of the electrodes.

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 Typical installation of a pipe electrode

Strip Electrodes

Strip electrodes shall not be smaller in cross-section than 25 mm * 1.60mm if of copper,

and 25 mm* 4mm if of galvanized iron and steel. If round conductors are used, their
cross-sectional area shall not be smaller than 3.0mm2 in case of copper and 6.00 ×mm2
in case of galvanized iron and steel.

The length of the buried conductor shall not be less than 15 m laid in a trench not less
than 0.5 m deep.

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If the conditions necessitate more than one strip, they should be laid in widely spaced
parallel or radical trenches.

The size of wire and the depth of burial have little effect on earth resistance. It is the
length that matters.

Plate Electrodes

Plate electrode may be made of copper, galvanized iron or steel. The size of cooper
plate shall not be less than 60 cm×60cm× 3.15mm and that of iron and steel plates not
less than 60cm×60cm×6.30mm. The installation of a plate electrode is show below. The
top edge of the plate shall be at a depth not less than 1.5 m from the surface of ground.

Typical installation of plate electrode

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Where the resistance of one plate electrode is not satisfactory two or more plates may
be used in parallel with a minimum distance of 8 meters between the two plates. The
size of the plate too has an effect on the resistance but there is little gain with plate area
more than 1.75m2 per side.

The use of plate electrodes is recommended in generating stations and sub-stations

where current-carrying capacity is the prime consideration.

Type of connections

Welded, bolted and clamped joints are permissible. All bolted and screwed connections
shall be protected against corrosion. Special care should be taken to protect
connections of dissimilar metals against corrosion. All surfaces where connections are
made should be free of grease, paint, dirt or any other foreign material.

Prohibited connections

Water and gas pipes and members of structural steel-work shall not be used as earth
continuity conductor.

Flexible conduit shall not be used as E.C.C. A separate earth wire should be provided
either inside or outside the flexible conduit which should be connected by means of
earth clips to the earth system at one end, and to the equipment at the other end.

Earthing of domestic fittings and appliances

Earthing of all domestic appliances excepting those provided with double insulation is
obligatory. All plugs and sockets shall be a three-pin type, the earth pins being
connected to the earth wire.

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Radio sets should be earthed preferably through an electrode different from that of the
main earth system for better reception. Where it is not possible to have a separate
earth electrode, they may be earthed through the main earth system.

Earthing of machine tools

Irrespective of the size and type of a machine tool, its bed plate shall be earthed by
means of a strip of conductor of not less than 6.5mm2 cross-sectional area if of copper,
and 16 mm2 if of galvanized iron. The strip should be securely fastened by means of a
bolt.

Location of system earthing (Adapted from EBCS-10)

• An internal wiring system that is supplied by an AC service and which is to be

earthed shall have at each service, an earthing conductor to an earth electrode.
• The earthing conductor shall be connected to the earthed service conductor at any
accessible point from the load end of service drop or service lateral.
• Where the transformer supplying the services is located outside the building, at least
one additional earthing connection shall be made from the earthed service
conductor to an earth electrode, either at the transformer or elsewhere outside the
building.
• An earthing connection shall not be made to any earthed circuit conductor on the
load side of the service disconnecting means.
• For circuits that are supplied from two sources in a common enclosure or grouped
together in separate enclosure and employing a tie, a single earthing electrode
connection to the tie point of the earthed circuit conductors from each power
supply source shall be permitted.

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Earthing arrangement
There are three types of earthing arrangements. These being:
• TT
• IT and
• TN
The TN arrangement is further divided into TN-S, TN-C, and TN-C-S. The most common
are TT, TN-C-S, and TN-S. The systems are designated by the initials used and these
initials relate to the method of earthing provided by the supply authority, the
relationship between exposed conductive parts and earth, and the arrangement of
neutral and protective conductors.

1st letter: Source

T = Earthed
I = Isolated

2nd letter: Connection of exposed – conductive – parts to earth

N = Via neutral
T = Independently earthed
3rd and 4th letters (for TN systems only): Defines the combination of neutral and earth
conductors.
S = Separate
C = Combined
CS = Combined in supply, separate in installation

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Earthing arrangement lettering code

Earthing arrangement lettering code

TT system

The supply will have the neutral connected to earth at the supply transformer together
with the metalwork of all casing or enclosures of the electrical equipment. Therefore,
the first letter, T, signifies that the supply has been earthed (T = terra firma = earth).
And the second letter, T, indicates that the installation has its own earth electrode. This
system is commonly met in rural districts where the incoming supply is by overhead
cables supported on insulators mounted on poles.

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 TT Earthing system

IT systems

As in TT systems, the exposed conductive parts of electrical equipment in IT systems are

connected to ground (grounded equipment grounding conductors) individually, in
groups, or altogether.

IT Earthing system

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In IT systems, the following requirements must be satisfied.
• The ground resistance of the exposed conductive parts must be sufficiently low.
• An insulation monitoring device is required which issues an acoustic and/or
visual signal to indicate the first fault between a live part and an exposed
conductive part or with respect to ground.
• Once the first fault has occurred, the requirement for automatic disconnection
of the power supply must be satisfied in the event of a second fault.

TN systems

Here we have TN-S, TN-C, and TN-C-S systems

TN-C-S systems

Again the first letter indicates that the supply is earthed while the second and third
letters N and C show that the supply neutral and protective conductor is combined in
one. This conductor is referred to as a PEN (Protective earthed neutral) conductor. The
fourth letter S shows that neutrals and protective conductors are entirely separate from
one another within the consumer’s installation, all conductors being insulated.

This system uses the supply method which is now being installed in new installations.
The earthing conductor is connected to a nickel plated link which sticks out from the
side of the service head. This link is bolted directly onto the neutral of the incoming
supply cable, thus the supply neutral acts as the protective conductor as well, thereby
cutting the cost of distributor cables for the supply authority.

Under earth fault conditions now, as the consumer’s installation is earthed directly to
the incoming neutral, all such faults become phase to neutral faults which allow a much

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larger fault current to flow thus operating protective devices (fuses, CBs) much more
effectively.

TN-C-S Earthing system

TN-S systems

This is the system that has been commonly used since 1966 when the previous set of IEE
Regulations were published (14th edition). At this time the supply authorities agreed to
provide an earthing terminal to which the consumer may connect his/her earthing
conductor.

This was normally effected by a connection to the lead sheath of the supply cable that
was commonly used. However, as cable costs have escalated this particular cable type
is rarely used for such distribution networks, giving way to a PVC insulated aluminum
cable type.

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Again, the first letter T indicates that the supply is earthed, whilst the second and third
N-S show that the supply has a neutral which is separate from the protective conductor.
The neutral being insulated from the lead sheath of the cable.

TN-S Earthing system

TN-C systems

TN-C Earthing system

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Protection of buildings and structures against lightning

All buildings and structures, which are susceptible of getting lightning strokes by virtue
of their height or location in an exposed situation and the important buildings like
power houses, large warehouses, magazines, monuments, observatories, etc should be
protected against lightning strokes. This is done by installing lightning arrestors at the
top of the structures and connecting the same to the general mass of earth through a
system of connecting conductors and earth electrodes so that the structure is not
subjected to the dangerously high potential of the cloud discharges.

For a protective system to be effective, the system should be designed and maintained
with low ground resistance.

Interceptor or air terminations

The projecting wire which is intended to collect the lightning discharge from the
atmosphere is known as interceptor or air termination. It should project at least 30cm
above the object on which it is fixed. In case of more than one termination, the same
should be fixed 15-23m apart. Salient points, even if they are less than 15m apart,
should be provided with separate air terminations.

All metallic finials, chimneys, ducts, vent pipes, railing, gutters and the like on or above
the main surface of the roof of a structure should be bonded, and form part of the air
termination network.

Roof conductors: are conductors laid around a building near the top to interconnect the
various air terminations, in order to extend the zone of protection, are known as roof
conductors.

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Down conductors: conductors which connect the air termination with earth are known
as down conductors. The down conductors should follow shortest routes to earth
without any sharp bends, and should not be protected by metallic pipes.

Zone of protection: the zone of protection of a single vertical conductor is taken as the
cone with its apex at the highest point of the conductor and with a base of radius equal
to the height.

Conductor materials: copper is the most preferred material for use in the lightning
protection systems because of its mechanical strength, high conductivity, and resistance
to corrosion.

Earth terminations: the earth electrodes used for connection of down conductors to
mass of earth are known as earth terminations. The efficiency of a lightning protection
system depends on low earth resistance. For this, it is essential to fix electrodes in
ground with permanent sub-soil moisture.

The earth resistance, in no case, shall exceed 5 ohms and in case of rocky soils 8 ohms.
More than one electrode may be used if the requisite earth resistance is not achieved
with one electrode.

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