Dispersing Current by Earthing Can Save Lives!

What is an Earthing System?

This is the system used in household and industrial units that connects parts of the electricity system with the earth or ground. This helps in providing safety from hazards caused by electrical dispute by dissipating the static electrical charges on the conducting surface of the Earth. There are certain rules and recommendations imposed by special organizations concerned with electric supply. The primary objective of providing earthing in the household is to make people safe from electric shock often caused by fluctuating voltage while using electrical appliances at home. The earthing system components in industrial sectors are primarily used to provide electrical safety during operations of huge machinery used in industries. Earthing protects the machinery from short circuits and provides an easy pathway for the passage of leaked current from wire to earth.

Things to Keep in Mind While Designing Earthing System:

• One should properly and accurately measure the resistivity of the soil. This is becausethe soil generally functions as the dissipating surface for the easy distribution of static charges.

• The measurement of the step and touch potential to allow the proper design of the earthing system.

• Special attention should be there for lightning protection as lightning creates a bipolar region in the case of high-rise buildings, and therefore proper earthing distributing unequal charges across the building helps to make the building safe.

• Several types of equipment are used as the industrial earthing system components. Plate type earthing is the one with electricals rods, wires, bolts, etc., made of pure copper for proper electrical conductance. They are efficiently buried under the earth with a layer of salt and charcoal that dissipates the excess electrical charges through conductance. In another type of earthing system is called the pipe type, which is effective in dissipating current even in the presence of moisture in the soil. Current is carried along special conducting copper pipes that carry current through moisture-laden soil.

• There is rod earthing, in which galvanized copper rods are buried inside the surface of the earth to decrease the resistance when excess current flows through it. A similar method is followed in wire earthing that similarly uses galvanized copper wires to dissipate current safely.

• One should have proper knowledge about the location of the earthing, porosity, and moisture content of the soil. The resistivity of the earth is also an important factor to be kept in mind.

• The material used for the construction of the earthing system should be of superior quality.

Some Types of Earthing:

Earthing of Equipment- When earthing connects are made in between the metallic surface of the desired electrical appliance to the conducting surface of the earth, to prevent electrical shock due to excess flow of current is called equipment earthing. The motor boy connected to the earth’s surface is an example of equipment earthing.

Earthing of the System- This is the type of electrical earthing where the neutral point of the transformer is connected to the conducting surface of the earth to dissipate excess charge flow.

Benefits of Earthing Systems:

• The perfectly designed earthing system with proper installation technique helps to reduce or cut off the potential danger caused by touch and step potential.

• In the case of the protection circuit, the proper set up of the earthing system is called the reference point that dissipates the static charges efficiently, thus preventing sudden tripping of the electrical protection system, saving costly appliances, assets, living beings, and so on.

• The earthing system helps in the proper functioning of the intended equipment with the desired output.

• In the case of lightning, the earthing system helps in the safe dissipation of high voltage electromagnetic pulse, followed by an air termination system that helps in protecting high rise buildings from damage due to lightning. One good example is Burj Khalifa in Dubai that experiences about 2 high voltage lightning flashes/km2/year. Being 820 meters tall, it is a potential challenge to keep it safe during lightning discharge. The earthing system used in Burj Khalifa is buried and is usually unreachable by the common man. The earthing system in Burj Khalifa ensures an equal distribution of charges in the bipolar regions. This disseminates the unequal charges produced due to bipolarity and helps the charges to safely travel through the buried earthing system and reach the safe conductance region on the Earth’s surface.

• In situations with huge surges in the power supply. This is the easiest way to dissipate excess charge produced during a power surge and providing electrical safety to enormous electrical appliances.

• The earthing system often provides the universal point of the standard of power that is supplied between different voltage sources. This process, also called voltage stabilization, helps in making appliances safe by stabilizing the fluctuating voltages. They also prevent the overloading of the circuits.

• Electric shocks can pose serious threats to the lives of people. Short circuits often initiate fire break-out and cause damage to people and property on a large scale. An installed earthing system reduces the risks posed by shortcircuits or fires and also prevents large-scale casualties and death.

• The earthing system also serves the purpose of a conductor. In earlier times, the positive end in the DC transmission system was connected from the source center of the generation unit to the loading unit. With the help of the earthing system, acting as the negative end of the conductorhelps to dissipate the charges efficiently. If any fault appears in the neutral conductor, the properly installed earthing system can serve as the neutral conductor that can help in driving any desired load of voltage in between the conductor and the earth’s surface. It also helps in detecting neutral phase faults or faults in other phases.

• Excess voltage often produced during the lightning is easily dissipated by the earthing system thatwould otherwise cause considerable damage to the appliances or gadgets used.

• The earthing system helps in preventing electrical shocks due to any electrical fault. It also minimizes the risk of explosion or fire associated with the fault produced in the insulation mechanism.

Conclusion- To provide electrical safety to every piece of equipment in industries or appliances used in household, an efficient earthing solution is desirable that provides all-round protection to the important gadgets or machinery and also protects people and other assets from considerable damage due to electrical shock. The earthing system is an amalgamation of several parts used for providing electrical safety.