1. What is earthing?

The whole of the world may be considered as a vast conductor which is at reference (zero)
potential. In the UK we refer to this as 'earth' whilst in the USA it is called 'ground'. People are
usually more or less in contact with earth, so if other parts which are open to touch become
charged at a different voltage from earth a shock hazard exists. The process of earthing is to
connect all these parts which could become charged to the general mass of earth, to provide a
path for fault currents and to hold the parts as close as possible to earth potential. In simple
theory this will prevent a potential difference between earth and earthed parts, as well as
permitting the flow of fault current which will cause the operation of the protective systems.

The standard method of tying the electrical supply system to earth is to make a direct connection
between the two. This is usually carried out at the supply transformer, where the neutral
conductor (often the star point of a three-phase supply) is connected to earth using an earth
electrode or the metal sheath and armouring of a buried cable. shows such a connection.
Lightning conductor systems must be bonded to the installation earth with a conductor no larger
in cross-sectional area than that of the earthing conductor.

2. The advantages of earthing

The practice of earthing is widespread, but not all countries in the world use it.

There is certainly a high cost involved, so there must be some advantages. In fact
there are two. They are:

1. - The whole electrical system is tied to the potential of the general mass of earth and cannot
'float' at another potential. For example, we can be fairly certain that the neutral of our supply is
at, or near, zero volts (earth potential) and that the phase conductors of our standard supply differ
from earth by 240 volts.

2. - By connecting earth to metalwork not intended to carry current (an extraneous conductive
part or a an exposed conductive part) by using a protective conductor, a path is provided for fault
current which can be detected and, if necessary, broken

3. The disadvantages of earthing

The two important disadvantages are:

1. - Cost: the provision of a complete system of protective conductors, earth electrodes, etc. is
very expensive.

2. - Possible safety hazard: It has been argued that complete isolation from earth will prevent
shock due to indirect contact because there is no path for the shock current to return to the circuit
if the supply earth connection is not made.This approach, however, ignores the presence of earth
leakage resistance (due to imperfect insulation) and phase-to-earth capacitance (the insulation
behaves as a dielectric). In many situations the combined impedance due to insulation
resistance and earth capacitive reactance is low enough to allow a significant shock current.

4. Why must we have earth electrodes?

The principle of earthing is to consider the general mass of earth as a reference (zero) potential.
Thus, everything connected directly to it will be at this zero potential, or above it by the amount
of the volt drop in the connection system (for example, the volt drop in a protective conductor
carrying fault current). The purpose of the earth electrode is to connect to the general mass of
earth.

With the increasing use of underground supplies and of protective multiple earthing (PME) it is
becoming more common for the consumer to be provided with an earth terminal rather than
having to make contact with earth using an earth electrode.

5. Earth electrode types

Acceptable electrodes are rods, pipes, mats, tapes, wires, plates and structural steelwork buried
or driven into the ground. The pipes of other services such as gas and water must not be used as
earth electrodes although they must be bonded to earth as described in. The sheath and armour of
a buried cable may be used with the approval of its owner and provided that arrangements can be
made for the person responsible for the installation to be told if the cable is changed, for
example, for a type without a metal sheath.

The effectiveness of an earth electrode in making good contact with the general mass of earth
depends on factors such as soil type, moisture content, and so on. A permanently-wet situation
may provide good contact with earth, but may also limit the life of the electrode since corrosion
is likely to be greater. If the ground in which the electrode is placed freezes, there is likely to be
an increase in earth resistance. In most parts of the UK an earth electrode resistance in the range
1 Ohm to 5 Ohms is considered to be acceptable.

6. What is protective multiple earthing?

If a continuous metallic earth conductor exists from the star point of the supply transformer to
the earthing terminal of the installation, it will run throughout in parallel with the installation
neutral, which will be at the same potential. It therefore seems logical that one of these
conductors should be removed, with that remaining acting as a combined protective and neutral
conductor (PEN). When this is done, we have a TN-C-S installation.The combined earth and
neutral system will apply only to the supply, and not to the installation.

Because of possible dangers with the system which will be explained in the following sub-
sections, PME can be installed by the Electricity Supply Company only after the supply system
and the installations it feeds have complied with certain requirements.
The great virtue of the PME system is that neutral is bonded to earth so that a phase to earth fault
is automatically a phase to neutral fault. The earth-fault loop impedance will then be low,
resulting in a high value of fault current which will operate the protective device quickly. It must
be stressed that the neutral and earth conductors are kept quite separate within the installation:
the main earthing terminal is bonded to the incoming combined earth and neutral conductor by
the Electricity Supply Company. The difficulty of ensuring that bonding requirements are met on
construction sites means that PME supplies must not be used. Electricity Supply Regulations
forbid the use of PME supplies to feed caravans and caravan sites.

7. Why do we need residual current devices?

There are cases where the impedance of the earth-fault loop, or the impedance of the fault itself,
are too high to enable enough fault current to flow. In such a case, either:

1. - current will continue to flow to earth, perhaps generating enough heat to start a fire, or

2. - metalwork which is open to touch may be at a high potential relative to earth, resulting in
severe shock danger.

Either or both of these possibilities can be removed by the installation of a residual current
device (RCD).

8. Combined functional and protective earthing

The previous section has made it clear that high earth leakage currents can cause difficulties in
protection. The increasing use of data processing equipment such as computers has led to the
need for filters to protect against transients in the installation which could otherwise result in the
loss of valuable data. Such filters usually include capacitors connected between live conductors
and earth. This has led to large increases in normal earth currents in such installations, and to the
need for special regulations for them.

Electrical disturbances on the earth system (known as 'earth noise') may cause
malfunctions of computer based systems, and 'clean' mains supplies and earth
systems may be necessary. A separate earthing system may be useful in such a case
provided that:

1. The computer system has all accessible conductive parts earthed,

2. The main earthing terminal of the computer earth system is connected directly to the main
earthing terminal,

3 All extraneous conductive parts within reach of the computer system are earthed to the main
earthing terminal and not to the separate computer earth.

Supplementary bonding between the computer earth system and extraneous conductive parts is
not necessary.