Ungrounded System

Definition: The system without neutral grounding is

known as the ungrounded system, or in other words, in the
ungrounded system, none of their conductors is connected
to the ground. The main feature of the ungrounded system
is its ability to remove the earth faults without
interruption. But the self-cleaning process of the
ungrounded system become disappear when the length of
the conductor becomes excessive.
The ungrounded three-phase system is shown in the
figure. The line conductors of the system have
capacitance between one another and the earth. The
former being delta connected and the next become star
connected as shown in the figure. The effect of the line
capacitance on the ground is less as compared to the
conductors. Therefore, they can be neglected.
If the line has same capacitance to ground, then the charging current for each line to earth capacitor lead the
phase voltage by 90º and are equal. The magnitude of the current is given by the ratio of the phase voltage
VP and the reactance due to capacitance XC.
The charging current ICR, ICY and ICB are balanced, and their resultant is zero and no current flows to the earth.
When the system is in the balanced condition, then the potential of their neutral is held at the ground due to
the presence of the shunt capacitance of the system. The phasor diagram of the balanced condition of the
system is shown in the figure below.
Ungrounded System with Fault on One Phase
Consider a phase to earth fault in line Y. In this condition,
the faulty line takes the earth potential, and the potential of
the remaining two lines arise from the phase potential to
the line value. The capacitance currents become
unbalanced and the fault current flow through the faulty
line into the earth and return through the capacitance
CR and CB.

The fault current IF has two components ICR and ICB,

which flow through capacitance CR and CB under the
potential difference of VRY and VBY respectively.The
current ICR and ICB leads from their respective voltage by
90º, and their phasor sum is equal to fault current IF.
The phase voltage of the line is equal to Vp, and From the figures shown the following points are
the capacitance of the line is also equal to the concluded.
XC. The fault current is equal to the phasor sum 1.There is no zero sequence current, and because of this,
of ICR and ICB as shown in the below there will be little interferences with the communication
lines.
2.In the case of the fault in one phase the remaining two
healthy phases of the line become raises from their phase
value to the full line value. This cause the stress on the
equipment of the three-phase ungrounded systems.
3.The capacitance currents in the two healthy phases
increase from √3 times to their normal values.
4.In the ungrounded system, the voltage due to lightning
surges does not find the path to the earth, thus raise the
voltage of the system.
For the above mention reason, the ungrounded or
isolated system is undesirable for the high voltage three
phase system.

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Solid Grounding
A power system is said to be effectively grounded or solidly grounded
when the neutral of a generator, power transformer or grounding
transformer are directly connected to the ground through a conductor
of negligible resistance and reactance. A part of a system or system is
said to be solidly grounded when the positive-sequence impedance of
the system is greater or equal to the zero sequence resistance, and
positive sequence reactance is three times greater than or equal to the
zero sequence reactance.

Consider a system having three phases a, b and c shown in the figure

above. If the single-ground-fault occur in phase a the voltage of the
phase becomes zero. However, the remaining two phases b and c will
still have the same voltages as before shown in the figure below. When
the fault occurs in the system, in addition to the charging current the
power source also feeds the fault current.

For the solidly neutral grounded system, it is necessary that the ground
fault current should not exceed 80% of the three-phase fault. It is
usually used for keeping the fault current within safe limits.

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Resistance & Reactance Grounding
Resistance grounding
In this type of neutral grounding, the neutral of the system is A very low resistance makes the system to the solidity grounded,
connected to ground through one or more resistance. Resistance whereas a very high resistance makes the system ungrounded. The value
grounding limits the fault currents. It protects the system from of resistance is chosen such that the ground-fault current is limited, but
transient overvoltages. Resistance grounding decreases the arcing still sufficient ground current flows permit the operation of ground
grounding risk and permits ground-fault protection. faults protections. In general, the ground fault may be limited up to 5%
to 20% of that which occur with a three-phase line.
The value of resistance used in the neutral grounding system should
neither be very high nor be very low shown in the figure below.
Reactance Grounding
In reactance grounded system, a reactance is inserted between
the neutral and ground to limit the fault current as shown in
the figure below.

To minimize transient overvoltages, the ground fault current in

a reactance grounded system should not be less than 25% of
the three phase fault current. This is considerably more than the
minimum current desirable in resistance grounded systems.
Peterson Coil Grounding Consider an LG fault in phase B at a point F as shown in the
Peterson coil is an iron core reactor connected between figure below. The line-to-ground voltage of phase B becomes
transformer neutral and ground. It is used for limiting the zero. The voltage of the phases R and Y increase from phase
capacitance earth fault current which is flowing when the values to line values.
line ground fault occurs in the line. The coil is provided
with the tapping so that it can be adjusted with the
capacitance of the system. The reactance is selected so
that the current through the reactor is equal to the small
line charging current which would flow into the line-to-
ground fault.
The resultant of ICR and ICY is IC.
From the phasor diagram

For balanced conditions

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If IC is equal to IL there will be no current through the ground, and
there will be no tendency of the arcing grounds to occur. With the
help of Peterson coil neutral grounding, arc resistance is reduced to
such a small value that it is usually self-extinguishing. Therefore,
Peterson coil is also known as a ground fault neutralizer or arc
suppression coil.
Peterson coil is rated for a short time of about 5 minutes, or it is
designed to carry its rated current continuously. It reduces the
transient fault which occur due to lightning and also minimized the
single line-to-ground voltage drops.
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What is Static Grounding?
Airports require special attention to grounding. They not only
handle fuel in close proximity to masses of people, but the
airport is usually on high ground and therefore subject to
lightning strikes. Static grounding is required whenever an
airplane is refueled. This is normally accomplished by positioning
a properly installed static grounding receptacle in the tarmac
near the location where the refueling takes place.

A static ground lead is attached to this receptacle from both

the refueling vehicle and from the aircraft before the fuel hoses
are attached to the aircraft. This equalizes any potential
difference between the two vehicles preventing a static spark.

Static grounding receptacles are installed flush with the finished

tarmac (Fig. 1). The receptacle is welded to either a ground rod
or ground grid or both. Receptacles that screw onto a threaded
(sectional) rod are also available but the threaded connection
may increase in resistance with time.
Fig: 1
Static grounding receptacles have an internally cast ball (also
available with a removable ball) for attaching the grounding
clamp and are supplied with an attached cover. Static
grounding receptacles can be welded directly to a ground rod.
A ground conductor can be welded to the static grounding
receptacle at the same time the receptacle is welded to a
ground rod.
Lightning protection also should be installed on the airport
structures. Lightning protection is discussed in detail in another
article.
Anchor rods are also available for static grounding and tie
downs. Installation requires augering a hole, inserting the
assembly and backfilling. A large washer or steel plate with
nuts are also required to secure the rod (Fig. 2).
Fig: 2
A combination static grounding receptacle / tie down is also
available. It may be welded to a rod and/or a conductor (Fig. 3).

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Fig: 3