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Ground Fault Protection

Technology Overview

Potential ground faults often go unnoticed and can cause havoc on plant production processes. Shutting down power and equipment, ground faults disrupt the ow of products through manufacturing processes, leading to hours or even days of lost productivity. Undetected ground faults can also pose potential health and safety risks to personnel. Ground faults can lead to safety hazards such as equipment malfunctions, re and electric shock. Ground faults can cause serious damage to equipment and to your processes. During a fault condition, equipment can be damaged and processes shut down, seriously affecting your bottom line.

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The concern for ground fault protection is based on four factors:

1 2 3 4

The majority of electrical faults include ground.

The ground fault protective sensitivity can be relatively independent of continuous load current values and thereby have lower pickup settings than phase protective devices.

Since ground fault current are not transferred through system power transformers the ground fault protection for each system voltage level is independent This permits faster relaying that can be afforded by phase protective devices. Arcing ground faults that are not properly detected and cleared can be extremely destructive.

With over twenty years of both domestic and international experience, I-Gards full line of neutral grounding resistors, ground fault protection systems and power-resistor based solutions, provide world class power protection. I-Gard is acknowledged as the leader in the eld of ground fault protection and power-resistor based solutions. I-Gards long-standing relationships with a variety of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) including ABB, Eaton Yale, General Electric, Group Schneider and Siemens, attest to our exceptional level of quality and performance.

proactive protection

Working to improve the future of power protection, I-Gard invests extensive resources on research and product development, with the goal of proactively eliminating ground faults. Recent innovations such as improved fault nding capabilities and enhanced relay functionality have been developed with this goal in mind.

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product portfolio
With extensive experience in ground fault protection, detection and location systems, I-Gard understands how ground faults can seriously affect equipment and processes. An extensive line of ground fault application solutions assist in taking the appropriate actions to ensure electrical systems are safe and properly protected.

solution capability

Capable of supplying a full product range, I-Gard ensures that every customers unique combination of budget constraints and protection requirements can be accommodated. Solutions range in scope from fully engineered turnkey systems to replacement components for existing installations.

setting the standard

Helping to improve industrial safety standards, I-Gard is actively involved with all relevant standards agencies. Certication as an independent test facility ensures the highest level of safety without compromising delivery performance. For over twenty years I-Gard has been committed to quality. ISO registered since 1994, I-Gard is currently the only resistor company in North America registered to ISO 9001:2000. This acknowledges the high level of in-house design capabilities in addition to manufacturing expertise and customer focus. All products are CSA certied and UL recognized and listed.

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Over thirty years ago, it was reported in Power Magazine, July 1969, that the cost of arcing ground faults ranged between $1 billion and $3 billion annually for equipment loss, production downtime and personal liability. While a lot has changed in 30 years, losses due to ground faults remains a signicant issue for industry with one leading insurance company reporting that its clients alone reported 228 losses that were attributed to ground faults with a total cost of US $180 million over a seven year period. Perhaps of greater concern are the ve to 10 arc ash explosions that occur in electric equipment everyday resulting in medical treatment, according to statistics compiled by CapSchell Inc, a Chicago-based research and consulting rm that specializes in preventing workplace injuries and deaths. The US Labor Departments Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles the Census of Occupational Injuries from death certicates and other information for US workers killed on the job. The 1992-1998 database shows that 2,287 workers died and 32,807 workers sustained days away from work due to electrical shock or electrical burn injuries.

technology overview
An arc ash is a short circuit through the air that takes place when the insulation between electried conductors is breached or cant withstand the applied voltage. During an arc ash, an enormous amount of energy explodes out from the electrical equipment, sometimes causing death or severe radiation burns to employees working near energized conductors or circuits. The blast from the arc creates pressure waves that can damage hearing or brain function and a ash that can damage eyesight.

I-Gard has developed methods for effectively minimizing the dangers of arc ashes through the use of high resistance grounding. At the 2003 IEEE IAS Electrical Safety Workshop it was stated that high-resistance grounding for low voltage power distribution systems enhances reliability and uptime of power distribution equipment and is proven effective in signicantly reducing the frequency and severity of arc ash accidents. According to a recent study by John Nelson, high resistance grounding eliminates the hazard of arc ashes in 95% of all cases. The common cause of the losses and injuries are undetected arcing faults that occur within a facilities electrical distribution system. When an electrical system is grounded, there is an intentional connection of a phase or neutral conductor to earth for the purpose of controlling the voltage to earth, or ground, within predictable limits. It also provides for a ow of current that will allow detection of an unwanted connection between system conductors and ground (a ground fault). The root cause of this unwanted connection is often a result of insulation breakdown.

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The majority of industrial facilities that experience arcing ground faults continue to operate without adequate Ground Fault Protection. These establishments typically operate an ungrounded or solidly grounded electrical distribution system, both of which have inherent disadvantages. The reasoning behind the prevalence of ungrounded systems in many industrial facilities appears to be historical. Prior to the emergence of High Resistance Grounding in the late 1980s, the only choice when process continuity was required was an ungrounded system that allowed for the controlled shutdown for fault repairs at a convenient time, and this was of tremendous value to continuous manufacturing processes by reducing production losses, equipment damage and outages.

what does IEEE say about ungrounded systems?

Ungrounded systems offer no advantage over high-resistance grounded systems in terms of continuity of service, and have the disadvantages of transient overvoltages, locating the rst fault and burndowns from a second ground fault. For these reasons, they are being used less frequently today than high-resistance grounded systems, and existing ungrounded systems are often converted to high-resistance grounded systems by resistance grounding the neutral.

QA
over-voltages will not be solved.

Once the system is high-resistance grounded, overvoltages are reduced and modern highly sensitive groundfault protective equipment can identify the faulted feeder on rst fault and trip one or both feeders on the second fault before an arcing burn-down does serious damage. - IEEE Standard 242-1986

why consider grounding your system?

The intentional connection of the neutral points of transformers, generators and rotating machinery to the earth ground network provides a reference point of zero volts. This protective measure offers many advantages over an ungrounded system, including: Reduced magnitude of transient over-voltages Simplied ground fault location Improved system and equipment fault protection Reduced maintenance time and expense Greater safety for personnel Improved lightning protection Reduction in frequency of faults

what is a solidly grounded system?

A solidly grounded system is one in which the neutral points have been intentionally connected to earth ground with a conductor having no intentional impedance. This partially reduces the problem of transient over-voltages found on the ungrounded system, provided the ground fault current is in the range of 25% to 100% of the system three-phase fault current. However, if the reactance of the generator or transformer is too great, the problem of transient

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is solidly grounded safer than ungrounded?

While solidly grounded systems are an improvement over ungrounded systems and speed the location of faults, they lack the current limiting ability of resistance grounding and the extra protection this provides. The destructive nature of arcing ground faults in solidly grounded systems is well known and documented and are caused by the energy dissipated in the fault. A measure of this energy can be obtained from the estimate of Kilowatt-cycles dissipated in the arc: Kilowatt cycles = V x I x Time/1000

what does IEEE say about solidly grounded systems?

The solidly grounded system has the highest probability of escalating into a phase-to-phase or three-phase arcing fault, particularly for the 480 and 600V systems. A safety hazard exists for solidly grounded systems from the severe ash, arc burning and blast hazard from any phase-to-ground fault. - IEEE Standard 141-1993

what is a resistance grounded system?

There are two broad categories of resistance grounding; low resistance and high resistance. In both types of grounding, the resistor is connected between the neutral of the transformer secondary and the earth ground.

how do I determine what size of neutral grounding resistor is required?

The resistor must be sized to ensure that the ground fault current limit is greater than the system's total capacitance-to-ground charging current. If not, then transient over-voltages can occur. For more detailed information see the I-Gard Neutral Grounding Resistor Guide.

what is low resistance grounding?

Low resistance grounding of the neutral limits the ground fault current to a high level (typically 50 amps or more) in order to operate protective fault clearing relays and current transformers. These devices are then able to quickly clear the fault, usually within a few seconds. The importance of this fast response time is that it: Limits damage to equipment, prevents additional faults from occurring, provides safety for personnel and localizes the fault The limited fault current and fast response time also prevent overheating and mechanical stress on conductors. However, like the solidly grounded neutral system, the circuit must be shut down after the rst ground fault Low resistance grounding resistors are typically rated 400 amps for 10 seconds, and are commonly found on medium and high voltage systems

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what is high resistance grounding?

High resistance grounding of the neutral limits the ground fault current to a very low level (typically under 25 amps). It is used on low voltage systems of 600 volts or less, under 3000 amps.

why consider resistance grounding?

Resistance grounding is by far the most effective and preferred method. It solves the problem of transient over-voltages, thereby reducing equipment damage. It accomplishes this by allowing the magnitude of the fault current to be predetermined by a simple ohms law calculation. Thus the fault current can be limited, in order to prevent equipment damage. In addition, limiting fault currents to predetermined maximum values permits the designer to selectively coordinate the operation of protective devices, which minimizes system disruption and allows for quick location of the fault.

what does IEEE say about high resistance grounded systems?

High Resistance Grounding helps insure a ground-fault current of known magnitude, helpful for relaying purposes. This makes it possible to identify the faulted feeder with sensitive ground-fault relays. - IEEE Std 242-1986 7.2.4 High Resistance Grounding provides the same advantages as ungrounded systems yet limits the steady state and severe transient over-voltages associated with ungrounded systems. There is no arc ash hazard, as there is with a solidly grounded system, since the fault current is limited to approximately 5A. - IEEE Std 141-1993 7.2.2

why limit the current through resistance grounding?

To reduce burning/melting effects in faulted electric equipment, such as switchgear, transformers, cables and rotating machines. To reduce mechanical stresses in circuits and apparatus carrying fault currents To reduce electric-shock hazards to personnel caused by stray ground fault currents in the ground return path To reduce arc blast or ash hazard to personnel who may have accidentally caused or who happen to be in close proximity to the fault current To reduce the momentary line-voltage dip caused by the occurrence and clearing of a ground fault To secure control of transient over voltages while at the same time avoiding the shutdown of a faulty circuit on the occurrence of the rst ground fault Throughout the last fteen to twenty years High Resistance Grounding has become the standard in hazardous applications such as mining and petro-chemical, but until recently was limited in its application to industrial operations. In the last few years, High Resistance Grounding has increasingly been adopted as the method of choice by consultants designing commercial facilities in North America (e.g. banks, data centres, hospitals), and commercial facilities outnumber industrial facilities by at least a factor of twenty.

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Comparative Performance Rating For Various Conditions Using Different Grounding Methods

Method of Grounding
Condition or Characteristic
Immunity to Transient Overvoltages Ground Fault Protection Can Be Added Easily Equipment Protected Against Arc Fault Damage

Ungrounded

Solid Ground

Low Resistance

High Resistance

Worst

Good

Good

Best

Worst

Good

Better

Best

Worst

Poor

Better

Best

Safety to Personnel

Worst

Better

Good

Best

Service Reliability

Worst

Good

Better

Best

Maintenance Cost

Worst

Good

Better

Best

Continued Production After First Ground Fault Ease of Locating First Ground Fault

Better

Poor

Poor

Best

Worst

Good

Better

Best

Relay Co-ordination 73% Increase in Voltage Stress Under Line-To-Ground Fault Conditions

Not Possible

Good

Better

Best

Poor

Best

Good

Poor

Two Voltage Levels on the Same System

Reduction in Frequency of Faults First High Ground Fault Current Flows Over Grounding Circuit Potential Flashover To Ground

Not Possible

Best

Not Possible

Not Possible

Worst

Better

Good

Best

Worst

Better

Good

Best

Poor

Worst

Good

Best

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Our Application and Specication Guides, relied on by consultants, end users and contractors, are constantly updated and can be downloaded directly from our website at www.i-gard.com. Download the I-Gard Neutral Grounding Resistors Technical Information booklet from our website at www. I-Gard.com

the power to protect application guides

These Guides are available for download from the I-Gard website, www.i-gard.com. Select the Technical Library link and then select Application Guides.

Neutral Grounding Resistors Technical Information

Application Guide

Ground Fault Protection on Ungrounded and High Resistance Grounded Systems

Application Guide

Ground Fault Protection High Resistance Grounding Consultant

Specication Guide

Ground Fault Protection for Solidly Grounded Systems

Application Guide

Ground Fault Protection Ungrounded Systems to High Resistance Grounding

Conversion Guide

Ground Fault Protection

Technology Overview

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