High Voltage Grounding

By Dr. Oladokun Sulaiman

 Slide navigation
• Overview
• Types of grounding
• Fault interruption methods
• Marine system grounding
• Marine HV grounding
 Grounding
• The term grounding implies an intentional electrical connection to a reference
conducting body, which may be earth, but more generally consists of a specific
array of interconnected electrical conductors.
• The resulting circuit is often referred to by several terms, such as: ground plane,
• ground grid, mat or ground system.
• Grounding systems should be serviced as needed to ensure continued compliance
with electrical and safety codes, and to maintain overall reliability of the facility
electrical system.
• Action must be initiated and continued to remove, or reduce to a minimum, the
causes of recurrent problem areas.
• Maintenance inspections should be performed at times which have the least affect
on user activities
• The complexity of ground systems and the degree of performance expected from
such systems is growing all the time.
• Maintenance or shop personnel are encouraged to become familiar with Article 250
of the National Electrical Code (NEC), which deals with grounding requirements
and practices.
 Factors which influence the choice of selecting system
ground
• voltage level of the power system,
• transient over voltage possibilities,
• types of equipment on the system,
• cost of equipment,
• required continuity of service,
• quality of system operating personnel and
• safety consideration including fire hazards.
Method of resistance grounding in neutral of three
phase system

• 150-175 ohm ,
15A60secc on 4160v
system, 3w
• 0.55 ohm , 500A,for
10sec on 480v, 3
phase, 3w
• Derived neutral with
grounding resistor
Methods of solidly grounding the neutral of three-
phase systems
 Earthing for ship
• Distribution systems of ships are usually have
their neutral points earthed to the ship’s hull
through a resistor
• The resistor in neutral line limits earth faults
currents and protects equipment
- Insulated Neutral System
- Earthed Neutral System
- Resistance earth Neutral System
 Insulated Neutral to Earth
• This system is totally insulated from the ship’s hull
• This system maintains continuity of power supply to
the equipment even in the event of single phasing
fault.
• This ensure power supply to critical equipment
• The power supply to the equipment can disrupt only
if two single phase faults occur simultaneously in two
lines which is then equivalent to short circuiting
faults
• But such fault occur very rare
Insulated Earth Neutral

Gen
Load

Earth
Insulated Earth 3-Phase

Gen Load

Earth Single Earth Fault

no effect
Insulated Earth 3-Phase

Gen Load

Earth Double Earth

short Circuit
 Neutral Earthed System
• Earthed Neutral is done in 3-phase system for supply
voltage of 3.3-6.6 kV and above
• If a solidly earthed system is used for such high
voltage then magnitude of earthed current will be
extremely high which can damage the equipment
• The earth current is limited by connecting a resistor
in series between earth and neutral point
• The earth current due to single phasing is limited not
to exceed rated current at maximum load
Neutral Earth 1-Phase

Gen
Load

Earth Fault
Neutral Earth 3-Phase

Gen Load

Fault in
Earth Line
 High voltage grounding for ships
• The high voltage (e.g. 6.6 kV) installation covers the
generation, main supply cables, switchgear,
transformers, electric propulsion (if fitted) and a few
large motors e.g. for side-thrusters and air
conditioning compressors.
• For all electrical equipment the key indicator to High
Voltage Equipment voltage level which enhances the
current flow.
• Remember that an electric shock current as low as 15
mA can be fatal
 High voltage grounding for ships
• The risk to people working in HV areas is greatly minimized by the
diligent application of sensible general and company safety regulations and
procedures.
• Personnel who are required to routinely test and maintain HV equipment
should be trained in the necessary practical safety procedures and certified
as qualified for this duty.
• Approved safety clothing, footwear, eye protection and hard that should be
used where danger may arise from arcs, hot surfaces and high voltage etc.
• The access to HV switchboards and equipment must be strictly controlled
using a permit-to-work scheme and isolation procedures together with
live-line tests and earthing-down before any work is started.
• The electrical permit requirements and procedures are similar to permits
used to control access in any hot-work situation, e.g. welding, cutting,
burning etc. in a potentially hazardous area. All work to be carried out on
HV Equipment is subject to an Electrical Permit to Work (EPTW)
 EPTW
Guidelines for the necessary declarations and procedures are :

• Before work is commenced on HV equipment an EPTW must be issued.

• Planned maintenance task carried out by the responsible person.
EPTW Contains:

- Risk assessment
- Chief Electro technical Officer (CETO) or Chief Engineer
- Agreement on safety precautions and HV circuit has been isolated and
earthed.
- Suspension or completion of the designated work
- Cancellation of the permit with a signature from the authorizing officer.
 EPTW
- A Permit-to-Work is usually valid only for 24 hours.
Some marine and offshore companies will also
require an associated electrical isolation Certificate to
declare and record exactly where the circuit isolation
and ear thing has been applied before the EPTW can
be authorized.
• A Sanction to- Test safety certificate may also be
required when an electrical test (e.g. an electrical
insulation test) is to be applied.
 HV live-line testing components.
• This is necessary as the circuit earth generally has to be
removed during such testing. Before earthing-down the
particular circuit or equipment declared in the EPTW
• it must be tested and proved dead after disconnection and
isolation. This can only be carried out by using an approved
live- line tester as shown
• The tester itself must be proven before and after such a test.
• This is checked by connecting the tester to a known HV
source (supplied either as a separate battery operated unit or
included as an internal self-test facility).
• Two people should always be together when working on HV
equipment.
 Earthing down
• Before work can be allowed to commence on HV equipment it
must be earthed to the hull for operator safety.
• As an example, consider the earthing arrangements at an HV
switchboard.
• Here, the earthing-down method is of two types:
1- Circuit Earthing:
• After disconnection from the live supply, an incoming or
outgoing feeder cable is connected by a manually operated
switch to connect all three conductors to earth.
• This action then releases a permissive-key to allow the circuit
breaker to be withdrawn to the TEST position.
• The circuit breaker cannot be re-inserted until the earth has
been removed and the key restored to its normal position
 Earthing down
2- Bus-bar Earthing
• When it is necessary to work on a section of the HV switchboard bus-bars,
they must be isolated from all possible electrical sources.
• This will include generator incomers, section or bus-tie breakers and
transformers (which could back-feed) on that bus-bar section.
• Earthing down is carried out at a bus-section breaker compartment after
satisfying the permissive key exchanges.
• In some installations the application of a bus-bar earth is by a special
earthing circuit breaker which is temporarily inserted into the switchboard
solely for the bus-bar earthing duty.
• For extra confidence and operator safety, additional earthing can be
connected local to the work task with approved portable earthing straps
and an insulated extension tool, e.g. at the terminals of an HV motor
 Bus-bar Earthling
• Remember to always connect the common
wire to earth first before connecting the other
wires to the three phase connections.
• When removing the earthling straps, always
remove the earth connection last.