EARTHING

TRANSFORMER AND
ITS APPLICATION TO
THE POWER SYSTEM
By

G.PRIYADHARSHNI

What is earthing transformers?

Earthing transformers are used to create a neutral

point in a three-phase system, which provides

possibility for neutral earthing.

Purpose of earthing transformer:

An earthing transformer is usually associated with

three phase supply systems.

Earthing of any electrical system at the source is
considered by most countries to be the safer practice
with regard to personnel and equipment safety.

On a three phase system, the neutral would be

earthed either directly or through some limiting

impedance / resistance. When the neutral point is
not available or does not exist with a delta secondary
winding of the transformer, a neutral point needs to
be created.

Design Aspects:
1.Zig-Zag connection
2.Star/delta connection.

Zig-Zag connection:
The design can be a transformer with just one

winding, which is zigzag connected. The zero

sequence impedance of such a winding is normally
quite low, but it can be increased if the purpose is to
limit the current through the transformer in case of
an earth fault somewhere in the system.

During undisturbed system operation with balanced

(symmetrical) voltages the current through the

earthing transformer is small & of the same size as
the magnetizing current. Unbalanced voltages will
cause some higher currents flowing through the
earthing transformer, which it must be capable to
carry.

Star/delta connection:
An alternative connection to the zigzag is star/delta

connection where the delta connected winding will

compensate the zero sequence magnetic fields so it
will be confined to a leakage field between the star
and the delta winding and make the zero sequence
impedance of the transformer relatively small.

However, if it is desired to increase the zero

sequence impedance, this can be achieved by

opening the delta connection and insert a reactor or
resistor.

Earthing can be done through:

Arc supprestion reactor.
Neutral grounding reactors.
Current limiting reactors.

Arc suppression reactor:

When the earthing transformer is going to be used

together with an arc-suppression reactor, the rated

current (and its duration) of the earthing transformer
will be determined by the data for the arcsuppression reactor.

Neutral grounding reactors:

Neutral Grounding Reactors are single phase

reactors generally connected between ground and

neutral of transformers.Neutral Grounding Reactors
are used in order to limit maximum fault current to a
value which will not damage the equipment in the
power system, yet allow sufficient flow of fault
current to operate protective relays to clear the fault.

Current limiting reactor:

If the earthing transformer is used for directly

earthing or through a current limiting reactor, the

neutral current through the transformer will be high
but the duration is limited to a few seconds. Earthing
transformer must be designed to withstand the
thermal and mechanical effects of the rated neutral
current. The characteristic of earthing transformer
should be selected to match the property of the
system.

Functions of earthing transformers:

Apart from providing the easy path to ground current

during the earth fault,the following additional features

are also be achieved
Holding the neutral shift within the limits.
Permitting the circulation of unbalanced load current
in the neutral.
To limit the current during line to earth fault.

To earth the system.

To provide single phase line to ground load.
Can be used wit resistance, reactance and arc

suppresion coil.

Protection of earthing transformers:

The system earth fault protection relay may not be

effective at low currents. To prevent damage to

earthing transformer by such current, oil
thermometer with alarm/trip contacts is
recommended. Alternatively, the value of maximum
continuous earth fault current may be declared and
sensitive protection provided.

Application of earthing transformers:

Earthing transformers are used in utility distribution

networks and in some power electronic converters in

order to provide a neutral point in a three-wire
system.

An application example: occasionally engineers use

a combination of Y (wye or star), delta, and zigzag

windings to achieve a vector phase shift. For
example, an electrical network may have a
transmission network of 110 kV/33 kV star/star
transformers, with 33 kV/11 kV delta/star for the high
voltage distribution network.

If a transformation is required directly between the

110 kV/11 kV network the most obvious option is to

use 110 kV/11 kV star/delta. The problem is that the
11 kV delta no longer has an earth reference point.
Installing a zigzag transformer near the secondary
side of the 110 kV/11 kV transformer provides the
required earth reference point.

Uses of earthing transformer:

A earthing transformer is used to provide a ground

path to either an ungrounded "Y" or a delta

connected system
**Grounding transformers are typically used to:
Provide a relatively low impedance path to ground,
thereby maintaining the system neutral at or near
ground potential

Limit the magnitude of transient over voltages when

re-striking ground faults occur

Provide a source of ground fault current during lineto-ground faults
Permit the connection of phase to neutral loads
when desired

A typical example is the wind farm. They utlize

earthing transformers for fault protection on

ungrounded lines.
When ground fault occurs on a collector cable
causes the circuit breaker to open, the wind turbine
string becomes isolated.
Turbines do not detect the fault and the generators
continue to energise the cable.

Voltage between un-faulted cable and the ground

rise by 173%.
The transformer, placed on the turbine string,
provides the ground path.

THANK YOU