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Mains Earthing Systems
The Earth is an integral part of our power system. It can be used
to improve electrical safety, reduce energy losses or save on the
cost of a dedicated conductor. Here, we look at the different
Earthing systems used worldwide and how they work.
By Brandon Speedie
T
he Earth’s crust is moderately conductive thanks mainly to the salts
of sodium dissolved in water and, to
a lesser extent, elements such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium.
These charge carriers can move freely
through soil and rock as long as they
remain dissolved in water. The result
is a surprisingly conductive electrolyte – see Fig.1.
There are two broad reasons for
using the Earth as a conductor.
As a functional conductor
The most obvious use of the Earth
is to save on the cost of a dedicated
conductor. One example is the Single
Wire Earth Return (SWER) line, a common way to distribute power in rural
0.01
0.1
1
areas. In this case, a significant cost
saving can be achieved by only having a single overhead conductor on a
power line (see Figs.2 & 3).
The return current (for Neutral)
flows through the soil back to the substation or generator. This can sometimes be a distance of hundreds of
kilometres.
The Earth is also commonly used in
RF applications. A monopole antenna
relies on a ground plane to radiate
and receive effectively, a role very
commonly allocated to ‘terra firma’
(Latin for “firm land” or perhaps “solid
ground”).
Another application of Earth is on
grid-scale solar farms. Solar panels
are effectively three-terminal devices;
Resistivity (Ωm)
10
100
1000
10,000
(igneous rocks:
igneous and
metamorphic rocks
mafic
felsic) mottled duricrust
zone
saprolite
Safety
Perhaps the most prominent function of Earth is to provide electrical
100,000
massive sulfides
graphite
they have a positive output, a negative
output and a frame or chassis.
If the frame is left electrically unconnected, it can float to a different voltage
from its other two terminals. Charge
carriers will then begin to migrate out
of the substrate in a process known as
Potential Induced Degradation (PID).
This leads to reduced yield and eventually, early failure.
On commercial solar farms, care is
taken to ensure the panel mounting
solution is well bonded to Earth and
that the array DC voltage does not float
too far from the Earth’s potential.
shield
unweathered rocks
weathered layered
(metamorphic rocks)
clays
gravel and sand
glacial sediments
tills
shales
sandstone and conglomerate
sedimentary rocks
dolomite, limestone
lignite, coal
salt water
permafrost
fresh water
water, aquifers
sea ice
100,000
10,000
1000
100
10
1
0.1
0.01
Conductivity (mS/m)
Fig.1: resistivity figures for some common components of the Earth’s crust. Note
the different units on the top and bottom horizontal axes, which are inversely
equivalent; as S (siemens) is the inverse of W (ohms), 1mS is equivalent to 1kW.
Source: GeoSci Developers – siliconchip.au/link/abu7 (CCA 4.0).
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Silicon Chip
Australia's electronics magazine
Fig.2: SWER line in South Australia.
The unusual pole construction is
concrete sandwiched between two
steel beams, known as a “Stobie pole”.
siliconchip.com.au
safety. In normal operation of a single-
phase AC circuit, current flows into or
out of the Active conductor, through
the load, and returns via the Neutral
conductor. In a fault scenario, an Earth
connection gives a low impedance
path for current to flow, which will
usually trip a circuit breaker.
In some scenarios, the fault will not
draw enough current to trip the circuit
breaker, but it should be enough to trigger a Residual Current Device (RCD).
In an RCD, the Active and Neutral
conductors both pass through a current transformer (CT). In the absence
of a fault, the current flow is balanced
between Active and Neutral, so the
magnetic fields of these two currents
cancel, and no net current is detected
– see Fig.4.
In a fault scenario, current flows
through Active, but not all is returned
via the Neutral; some flows through
the Earth connection.
This imbalance is detected in the
RCD, which will typically trip once the
imbalance exceeds 30mA (although
more sensitive RCDs exist, eg, 15mA;
the trip current is a balance between
sensitivity and nuisance tripping).
The Earth can also be used to ensure
electrical safety during the normal
operation of a grid. The most prominent such application is lightning
suppression. If the potential difference between the Earth’s surface
and the power lines were left uncontrolled, a direct strike from a lightning
bolt would charge up the network to
a high voltage, leading to arc-over at
the insulators.
It is therefore critical that this energy
is shunted to Earth to maintain grid tolerances. Earth is also a logical place to
shunt this charge as the lightning originates from a static buildup between
the ground and the atmosphere.
Types of Earthing systems
Earthing schemes used in a mains
grid are commonly described by a
sequence of letters based on where the
circuit Earth originates from.
“T” (terra; Latin for “Earth”) refers
to a direct connection to the soil of
the Earth. This is typically achieved
by driving a conductive stake into the
ground, or perhaps multiple stakes
and/or bonding to buried metal pipes.
In larger installations, such as substations or generators, a dedicated buried
circuit or ‘Earthing ring’ made of bare
wire (usually copper) encircles the
installation.
“I” (insulatum; Latin for “insulated”) means no connection to Earth
or a high-impedance connection
through an Earthing resistor.
“N” (network) means the Earth connection is via the network or grid.
Network Earths will still connect to
the soil at some point, but this may
be some distance away, not at a local
Earth stake, as with terra (T).
Fig.4: a Residual Current Device
(RCD). Usually, current flows to or
from the Active conductor through the
load and is returned via Neutral. The
magnetic fields of the two conductors
are cancelled, so the CT detects no net
current. A small amount of leakage
between Active and Earth, shown as
a thin red line here, is enough to trip
the RCD.
“C” (combined) means the circuit
Neutral and Earth are combined into a
single conductor in the network.
“S” (separate) is where the circuit
Neutral and Earth are run as separate
conductors in the network.
The Earthing system can thus be
described by two letters, the first indicating the source Earth, and the other
the load Earth.
TT (Terra-Terra)
Terra-terra networks are physically
connected to Earth at both the generator and load (see Fig.5). Typically,
this will be at the low-voltage distribution transformer and the customer’s premises.
TT networks rely heavily on the
Earth connection’s integrity, so care is
taken to ensure a sufficiently low Earth
loop impedance. This can include
tight specifications around Earth stake
Terminology
Fig.3: the start of the SWER line shown
in Fig.2. The three conductors on the
right are 33kV phase-to-phase, or
19kV from phase to Neutral/Earth. The
SWER line taps off the middle phase
and extends to the left. The return
Neutral current flows via Earth.
Phrases such as Earth, Neutral, common and ground are sometimes used
somewhat interchangeably. They can be confusing terms, particularly from our
perspective as electronics enthusiasts.
Earth: a connection to terra firma, either directly through an Earthing stake,
or via a conductor that is bonded at some point with Earth.
Neutral: the return current of a single-phase AC supply. Typically, this will be the
centre point of a star-connected three-phase circuit. In regular operation, most
networks should have very little voltage difference between the Neutral and Earth.
Ground: a common node in a circuit, usually at 0V DC potential. Confusingly,
ground can be ‘grounded’ by tying to ‘Earth’, but it is uncommon in modern usage.
Floating circuits are generally considered to have a ‘ground’, but it could drift
relative to Earth; it is usually the negative end of a battery or similar and is used
as a local reference and/or current return. In a circuit running directly from the
mains, ‘ground’ may even be connected to (or very close to) the Active potential!
Some circuits can have multiple grounds (analog, digital etc).
Common: a node in a circuit shared by many components. It is sometimes used
interchangeably with ‘ground’ but can also be used where multiple signals are
tied together. Examples are a common bus in a multiplexed display or a common
signal tying multiple opto-isolators together.
siliconchip.com.au
Australia's electronics magazine
September 2024 49
construction and placement, as well
as considerations of soil conductivity.
This is particularly important in
cold areas, where frozen soil dramatically increases resistivity, or in high
rainfall regions, where soil electrolytes
are diluted, leaving few charge carriers
for conduction.
Even given these additional requirements, a standard overcurrent breaker
is not guaranteed to trip from an Earth
fault. As a result, TT customers will
almost always need Earth leakage protection in the form of an RCD.
Historically, TT networks were not
popular due to the difficulty of ensuring safety without Earth leakage protection. The advent of cheap RCD
breakers has led to its increasing use
worldwide, such that it is now the
most common scheme.
Many parts of Europe, including
France, Denmark, Belgium, Spain,
Italy, and Portugal, are now predominantly TT, as well as Japan, Malaysia,
Argentina and many others. Germany
extensively uses TT outside of metropolitan areas.
IT (Insula-Terra)
Insula-terra networks are connected
to Earth at the customer’s end but not
at the generator or distribution transformer (Fig.6). Therefore, the Active
and Neutral connections have no
reference to Earth, which minimises
shock hazards. The reader may recognise this advantage from using an
isolation transformer when working
on mains-powered electronics.
IT networks are often referred to as
“first fault free”, as any fault will convert the system into another scheme
(usually TN) while the fault is present,
and subsequent faults may be dangerous. This is why IT networks are not
common worldwide, except in specialised applications.
This includes hospitals, where
patients are at a higher risk of shock
when coupled to medical equipment,
and industrial areas where a flammable atmosphere may be present, so the
risk of sparking needs to be minimised.
Fig.5: the TT Earthing scheme.
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Silicon Chip
Scandinavia is an exception, where
frozen ground and rocky geology make
Earthing difficult. Norway in particular makes heavy use of IT Earthing.
In India, a variation of the IT network called Resistance Earthed Neutral (REN) is used in mining areas. A
Neutral grounding resistor limits the
Earth current to 750mA.
TN-C (Terra-Network-Combined)
Terra-network-combined systems
get their Earth from the network by
combining it with the Neutral conductor (Fig.7). This combined conductor
is commonly referred to as the Protective Earth Neutral (PEN).
In a TN-C network, the distribution
transformer is Earthed at the source
end, which is also connected to the
circuit Neutral. This PEN conductor
then runs along the poles and wires of
the grid to customer premises, where
it is used as the “Earth”.
TN-C networks do not require an
Earth stake at the customer premises
or RCD breakers as in a TT or IT network, but they are extremely reliant on
the integrity of the PEN. If there is a
break in this conductor, the customer
load will act like a pullup resistor,
raising the potential of Neutral/Earth
to mains voltage; a hazardous situation (see Fig.11).
TN-C networks also suffer from
conducted interference. As the circuit
Neutral is combined with the Earth,
coupled noise from heavy industrial
equipment can pass through the network and cause problems with sensitive equipment such as telecommunications broadcast infrastructure.
Fig.11: a Neutral fault with the
TN-C scheme. The customer load
acts like a pullup resistor, raising
the Earth to a high voltage and
creating a shock hazard.
conductor. TN-S is used extensively
in India.
TN-C-S (Terra-Network-Combined-Separate)
Terra-network-combined-separate
networks are a hybrid of the TN-C
and TN-S systems. The source transformer is Earthed, while a combined
PEN conductor emanates onto the
network (Fig.9). The PEN is split into
dedicated Neutral and Earth conductors at some agreed location (usually
the customer’s switchboard).
TN-C-S is widely used in the UK,
USA, Canada, Israel, Australia and
New Zealand – see Fig.14. Germany
also predominantly uses TN-C-S in
metropolitan areas.
MEN (Multiple-Earthed-Neutral)
Terra-network-separate networks
run a dedicated Earth on the network,
separate from the Neutral conductor
(Fig.8). The distribution transformer
is Earthed at the source end and connected to two conductors. One is the
Neutral, while the other is a dedicated
Earth – see Fig.13. TN-S networks are
the safest configuration but are also
more expensive, given the added
Australia and New Zealand use the
Multiple Earthed Neutral (MEN system) – see Fig.10. It is a TN-C-S system, though TT may be permitted in
some situations – usually rural areas.
Unusually for TN-C-S, an Earth stake is
mandatory at each customer premises.
In MEN networks, the source distribution transformer is Earthed, and
a combined PEN conductor runs in
the grid. The PEN is Earthed at multiple points throughout the network,
including at the customer stake.
This gives good immunity against
a broken Neutral; if the customer is
downstream of the fault, their PEN
will not rise to a dangerous potential
thanks to the Earth stake at their premises and any neighbouring premises or
network Earths.
Fig.6: the IT Earthing scheme.
Fig.7: the TN-C Earthing Scheme.
TN-S (Terra-Network-Separate)
Australia's electronics magazine
siliconchip.com.au
Fig.12: this configuration stops
the communications cable shield
from drifting too far from Earth. It
keeps it at a low AC impedance via
the capacitor but will not form an
‘Earth loop’.
At the customer premises, the combined PEN connects to the Neutral
bar in their switchboard. This busbar
then distributes the Neutrals to all of
the circuits within the installation.
Separately, a dedicated Earthing busbar connects to the “Earth” conductor
emanating throughout the property, as
well as the Earth stake.
The Earth busbar and the Neutral
busbar are joined by a single strap,
known as the “MEN link”. This link is
the separation point between the TN-C
scheme on the network and the TN-S
scheme within the customer premises.
Earth integrity
The Earth connection is convenient,
as it can be assumed to be the same
voltage across multiple installations,
even if they are geographically separated. But as the soil has a finite resistance, this is not always true.
This can create problems where two
circuits are bonded to mains Earth and
are also linked by conductors, similar
to a local ‘ground loop’ or ‘earth loop’
that can cause problems with audio
electronics.
This is particularly problematic
when large conductive structures
are located near high-power switching gear. This might be a steel fence
around a switchyard or a buried gas
pipeline adjacent to power lines. In a
fault, a large current might flow into
‘Earth’, raising the local voltage near
the Earthing stake/ring. If the metal
structure is close enough to this fault,
its voltage will rise.
Fig.8: the TN-S Earthing scheme.
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If someone touches this structure, they may receive a lethal voltage despite being far from the actual
fault. This is because the metal is a
better conductor than the Earth, so
the ground they are standing on is at a
different voltage than the ground near
the fault. This is known as a ‘touch
potential’ and is a major hazard in
high-power assets.
Editor’s Note: in extreme cases,
there can be enough potential between
workers’ feet to electrocute them. Electrical workers are trained to hop if they
suspect such a fault exists!
Similarly, industrial Ethernet networks can also suffer from ground
loops and unequal Earthing. Ethernet
uses differential signalling, so it is
commonly run over UTP (Unshielded
Twisted Pair) cabling. A high Common Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR)
amplifier cancels any coupled noise
or interference at the receiver. Thus,
shielded cable is not needed for noise
immunity.
Despite this, shielded or foiled Cat6
cabling is common in industrial settings. Often, the designer will reason
that shielded cable will be better than
unshielded, so it is worth the marginal
cost increase. However, it can often be
more trouble than it is worth.
Ethernet uses “magnetics” (signal transformers) at the receiver and
transmitter to galvanically isolate the
channel, preventing ground loops
from forming. Shielded cable effectively breaks this isolation by connecting a conductor directly between the
receiver and transmitter.
If there is any Earth imbalance
between this equipment, large currents
can flow, which can cause interference
or damage. For this reason, if shielded
Ethernet cable is used, it is often only
Earthed at one end of the cable, or
better still, connected through a parallel RC combination, perhaps 1MW ||
100nF (see Fig.12).
The resistor weakly holds the shield
at a known voltage, while the capacitor offers a low impedance path for AC
SC
voltages (coupled interference).
Fig.9: the TN-C-S Earthing scheme.
Australia's electronics magazine
Fig.13: the TN-S scheme in Namibia.
The five conductors (from bottom to
top) are Earth, Neutral & three Active
phases. Note how the Earth wire has a
smaller diameter than the others.
Fig.14: the TN-C-S scheme in
Melbourne. The distribution
transformer feeds the four horizontal
conductors directly above it. The
second conductor from the left is the
combined Neutral/Earth (PEN), while
the other three conductors are the
Active phases, 400V line-to-line or
230V line-to-Neutral. An Earth stake
(out of shot) connects to the conductor
running up the left of the pole,
partially covered by a white conduit.
The transformer is fed on the primary
side by the three conductors at the top
with 22kV between phases.
Fig.10: the MEN Earthing scheme.
September 2024 51
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