Earthing system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 5

Earthing system
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In electricity supply systems, an earthing system defines the electrical Contents

potential of the conductors relative to that of the Earth's conductive
surface. The choice of earthing system has implications for the safety 1 In household wiring
and electromagnetic compatibility of the power supply. Note that 2 IEC terminology
regulations for earthing (grounding) systems vary considerably between 2.1 TN network
different countries. 2.2 TT network
2.3 IT network
A protective earth (PE) connection ensures that all exposed conductive 3 Other terminologies
surfaces are at the same electrical potential as the surface of the Earth, 4 Properties
to avoid the risk of electrical shock if a person touches a device in 4.1 Cost
which an insulation fault has occurred. It ensures that in the case of an 4.2 Safety
insulation fault (a "short circuit"), a very high current flows, which will 4.3 Electromagnetic compatibility
trigger an overcurrent protection device (fuse, circuit breaker) that 5 Regulations
6 Application examples
disconnects the power supply.
7 See also
A functional earth connection serves a purpose other than providing 8 References
protection against electrical shock. In contrast to a protective earth
connection, a functional earth connection may carry a current during the normal operation of a device. Functional earth
connections may be required by devices such as surge suppression and electromagnetic interference filters, some types of
antennas and various measurement instruments. Generally the protective earth is also used as a functional earth, though
this requires care in some situations.

In household wiring
There are two main approaches to the problem of how to disconnect power when a live wire comes into contact with
metalwork attached to the earthing system: One way is to get the resistance through the fault path and back to the supply
very low by having a metallic connection from the earth back to the supply transformer (a TN system). Then when a fault
happens a very high current will flow rapidly blowing a fuse (or tripping a circuit breaker).

The second approach, where such a direct connection is not used (a TT system), the resistance of the fault path back to the
supply is too high for the branch circuit overcurrent protection to operate (blow a fuse or trip a circuit breaker). In such
case a residual current detector is installed to detect the current leaking to ground and interrupt the circuit.

IEC terminology
International standard IEC 60364 distinguishes three families of earthing arrangements, using the two-letter codes TN, TT,
and IT.

The first letter indicates the connection between earth and the power-supply equipment (generator or transformer):

T : direct connection of a point with earth (Latin: terra);

I : no point is connected with earth (isolation), except perhaps via a high impedance.

The second letter indicates the connection between earth and the electrical device being supplied:

T : direct connection with earth, independent of any other earth connection in the supply system;
N : connection to earth via the supply network.

TN network

In a TN earthing system, one of the points in the generator or transformer is connected with earth, usually the star point in
a three-phase system. The body of the electrical device is connected with earth via this earth connection at the transformer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system 19/03/2009
Earthing system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 2 of 5

The conductor that connects the exposed metallic parts of the consumer is called protective earth (PE). The conductor that
connects to the star point in a three-phase system, or that carries the return current in a single-phase system, is called
neutral (N). Three variants of TN systems are distinguished:

TN S : PE and N are separate conductors that are connected together only near the power source.
TN C : A combined PEN conductor fulfills the functions of both a PE and an N conductor.
TN C S : Part of the system uses a combined PEN conductor, which is at some point split up into separate PE and N
lines. The combined PEN conductor typically occurs between the substation and the entry point into the
building, whereas within the building separate PE and N conductors are used. In the UK, this system is also
known as protective multiple earthing (PME), because of the practice of connecting the combined neutral-
and-earth conductor to real earth at many locations, to reduce the risk of broken neutrals - with a similar
system in Australia being designated as multiple earthed neutral (MEN).

TN-S: separate protective earth (PE) TN-C: combined PE and N conductor TN-C-S earthing system: combined
and neutral (N) conductors from all the way from the transformer to the PEN conductor from transformer to
transformer to consuming device, consuming device. building distribution point, but
which are not connected together at separate PE and N conductors in fixed
any point after the building indoor wiring and flexible power
distribution point. cords.

It is possible to have both TN-S and TN-C-S supplies from the same transformer. For example, the sheaths on some
underground cables corrode and stop providing good earth connections, and so homes where "bad earths" are found get
converted to TN-C-S.

TT network

In a TT earthing system, the protective earth connection of the consumer is provided by a local connection to earth,
independent of any earth connection at the generator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system 19/03/2009
Earthing system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 3 of 5

IT network

In an IT network, the distribution system has no connection to earth at all, or it has only a high impedance connection. In
such systems, an insulation monitoring device is used to monitor the impedance.

Other terminologies
While the national wiring regulations for buildings of many countries follow the IEC 60364 terminology, this is not
currently the case in North America. In the United States, for example, the term ground is used instead of "earth".

Properties
Cost

TN networks save the cost of a low-impedance earth connection at the site of each consumer. Such a connection (a
buried metal structure) is required to provide protective earth in IT and TT systems.

TN-C networks save the cost of an additional conductor needed for separate N and PE connections. However, to
mitigate the risk of broken neutrals, special cable types and lots of connections to earth are needed.

TT networks require RCD protection, and often an expensive time-delay type is needed to provide discrimination
with an RCD downstream.

Safety

In TN, an insulation fault is very likely to lead to a high short-circuit current that will trigger an overcurrent circuit-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system 19/03/2009
Earthing system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 4 of 5

breaker or fuse and disconnect the L conductors. With TT systems, the earth fault loop impedance can be too high to
do this, or too high to do it quickly, so an RCD (or formerly ELCB) is usually employed. The provision of a
Residual-current_device (RCD) or ELCB to ensure safe disconnection makes these installations EEBAD (Earthed
Equipotential Bonding and Automatic Disconnection).

Many 1950s and earlier earlier TT installations in the UK may lack this important safety feature. Non-EEBAD
installations are capable of the whole installation CPC (Circuit Protective Conductor) remaining live for extended
periods under fault conditions, which is a real danger.

In TN-S and TT systems (and in TN-C-S beyond the point of the split), a residual-current device can be used as an
additional protection. In the absence of any insulation fault in the consumer device, the equation IL1+IL2+IL3+IN = 0
holds, and an RCD can disconnect the supply as soon as this sum reaches a threshold (typically 10-500 mA). An
insulation fault between either L or N and PE will trigger an RCD with high probability.

In IT and TN-C networks, residual current devices are far less likely to detect an insulation fault. In a TN-C system,
they would also be very vulnerable to unwanted triggering from contact between earth conductors of circuits on
different RCDs or with real ground, thus making their use impracticable. Also, RCDs usually isolate the neutral core.
Since it is unsafe to do this in a TN-C system, RCDs on TN-C should be wired to only interrupt the live conductor.

In single-ended single-phase systems where the Earth and neutral are combined (TN-C, and the part of TN-C-S
systems which uses a combined neutral and earth core), if there is a contact problem in the PEN conductor, then all
parts of the earthing system beyond the break will rise to the potential of the L conductor. In an unbalanced multi-
phase system, the potential of the earthing system will move towards that of the most loaded live conductor.
Therefore, TN-C connections must not go across plug/socket connections or flexible cables, where there is a higher
probability of contact problems than with fixed wiring. There is also a risk if a cable is damaged, which can be
mitigated by the use of concentric cable construction and/or multiple earth electrodes. Due to the (small) risks of the
lost neutral, use of TN-C-S supplies is banned for caravans and boats in the UK, and it is often recommended to
make outdoor wiring TT with a separate earth electrode.

In IT systems, a single insulation fault is unlikely to cause dangerous currents to flow through a human body in
contact with earth, because no low-impedance circuit exists for such a current to flow. However, a first insulation
fault can effectively turn an IT system into a TN system, and then a second insulation fault can lead to dangerous
body currents. Worse, in a multi-phase system, if one of the live conductors made contact with earth, it would cause
the other phase cores to rise to the phase-phase voltage relative to earth rather than the phase-neutral voltage. IT
systems also experience larger transient overvoltages than other systems.

In TN-C and TN-C-S systems, any connection between the combined neutral-and-earth core and the body of the
earth could end up carrying significant current under normal conditions, and could carry even more under a broken
neutral situation. Therefore, main equipotential bonding conductors must be sized with this in mind; use of TN-C-S
is inadvisable in situations such as petrol stations, where there is a combination of lots of buried metalwork and
explosive gases.

Electromagnetic compatibility

In TN-S and TT systems, the consumer has a low-noise connection to earth, which does not suffer from the voltage
that appears on the N conductor as a result of the return currents and the impedance of that conductor. This is of
particular importance with some types of telecommunication and measurement equipment.

In TT systems, each consumer has its own high-quality connection with earth, and will not notice any currents that
may be caused by other consumers on a shared PE line.

Regulations
In residential and commercial installations in the U. S. and Canada, the feed from the distribution transformer uses a
combined neutral and grounding conductor (two phase and one neutral, for three wires total), but within the structure
separate neutral and protective earth conductors are used (TN-C-S). The neutral must be connected to the earth
(ground) conductor only on the supply side of the customer's disconnecting switch. Additional connections of neutral
to ground within the customer's wiring are prohibited.

For wiring less than 1000 V, the United States National Electrical Code and Canadian electrical code forbid the use
of systems that combine the grounding conductor and neutral beyond the customer's disconnecting switch.
Exemptions are made for certain appliances, such as: electric clothes dryers, and electric stoves.

In Argentina, France (TT) and Australia (TN-C-S), the customer must provide their own ground connection.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system 19/03/2009
Earthing system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 5 of 5

Japan is governed by PSE law.

Application examples
Most modern homes in Europe have a TN-C-S earthing system. The combined neutral and earth occurs between the
nearest transformer substation and the service cut out (the fuse before the meter). After this, separate earth and
neutral cores are used in all the internal wiring.

Older urban and suburban homes in the UK tend to have TN-S supplies, with the earth connection delivered through
the lead sheath of the underground lead-and-paper cable.

Some older homes, especially those built before the invention of residual-current circuit breakers and wired home
area networks, use an in-house TN-C arrangement. This is no longer recommended practice.

Laboratory rooms, medical facilities, construction sites, repair workshops, mobile electrical installations, and other
environments that are supplied via engine-generators where there is an increased risk of insulation faults, often use
an IT earthing arrangement supplied from isolation transformers. To mitigate the two-fault issues with IT systems,
the isolation transformers should supply only a small number of loads each and/or should be protected with an
insulation monitoring device (generally used only by medical, railway or military IT systems, because of cost).

In remote areas, where the cost of an additional PE conductor outweighs the cost of a local earth connection, TT
networks are commonly used in some countries, especially in older properties. TT supplies to individual properties
are also seen in mostly TN-C-S systems where an individual property is considered unsuitable for TN-C-S supply.

In Australia, the TN-C-S system is in use; however, the wiring rules currently state that, in addition, each customer
must provide a separate connection to earth via both a water pipe bond (if metallic water pipes enter the consumer's
premises) and a dedicated earth electrode. In older installations, it is not uncommon to find only the water pipe bond,
and it is allowed to remain as such, but the additional earth electrode must be installed if any upgrade work is done.
The protective earth and neutral conductors are combined until the consumer's neutral link (located on the customer's
side of the electricity meter's neutral connection) - beyond this point, the protective earth and neutral conductors are
separate.

See also
Ground (electricity)
Ground and neutral Electronics portal
Electrical wiring

References
IEC 60364-1: Electrical installations of buildings — Part 1: Fundamental principles, assessment of general
characteristics, definitions. International Electrotechnical Commission, Geneva.
Geoff Cronshaw: Earthing: Your questions answered. IEE Wiring Matters, Autumn 2005.
Merlin Gerin Guide, Section 2.3: Characteristics of TT, TN and IT systems.
John Whitfield: The Electricians Guide to the 16th Edition IEE Regulations, Section 5.2: Earthing systems, 5th
edition.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system"

Categories: Electricity distribution | IEC standards | Electrical engineering | Electrical wiring | Electrical safety

This page was last modified on 9 March 2009, at 01:13.

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible
nonprofit charity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system 19/03/2009
Talk:Earthing system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 2

Talk:Earthing system
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents
1 Grounding current equation
2 Terre
3 Region?
4 IT diagram missing neutral
5 Questions

Grounding current equation

Should this: "the equation IL1+IL3+IL3+IN = 0 holds" be L1 L2 L3? --Jmeden2000 23:00, 29
November 2005 (UTC)

Yes. Now fixed. Markus Kuhn 23:14, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

Terre
French : terre, earth (is originally from from the Latin terra)194.83.51.64 11:09, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
John

Region?
There should be more info. about which regions prefer "earthing", "earthing system", as compared to
"ground", "grounding", "grounded", "grounding system"?

This does seem extremely dependent on dialect, region, neighborhood.

earth_ground;

ground_(electricity);

ground_(electrical);

ground_(power);

ground_and_neutral.

Then there is "earthling".

hopiakuta ; [[ <nowiki> </nowiki> { [[%c2%a1]] [[%c2%bf]] [[ %7e%7e%7e%7e ]] } ;]] 22:25, 24

October 2006 (UTC)

As the article says, it follows IEC 60364 terminology, on which the wiring regulations of
many countries are based, but which differs from the terminology most commonly used in
North America. You are welcome to append a section on U.S. terminology. Markus Kuhn
14:00, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Earthing_system 19/03/2009
Talk:Earthing system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 2 of 2

Why doesn't someone merge the two articles earthing system and ground_(electricity) then, and put
all variants and redirects in the same article? Doseiai2 (talk) 09:28, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

IT diagram missing neutral

The IT Network diagram is missing the neutral conductor.
142.59.176.154 19:56, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

As I understand it, there is no distinction between "live" and

"neutral" conductors possible in IT networks, because none
of the conductors has a connection to earth. Whether 3-phase
IT networks are commonly used, and whether these do
include a fourth neutral-like conductor connected to the
center-point of the generator-star, I don't know. (I would
appreciate references on this; the few IT networks that I have
encountered personally were all single-phase.) The figure that IT-network diagram
I uploaded was inspired by one shown in DIN VDE 0100-
300, the German version of IEC 60364-3:1993, which does
not show any N connection between generator and consumer. Markus Kuhn 13:53, 16
September 2007 (UTC)

Questions
"A protective earth (PE) connection ensures that all exposed conductive surfaces are at the same
electrical potential as the surface of the Earth,"

The UK uses a PE connection yet lots of exposed conductive surfaces are not connected to it.

"TN networks save the cost of a low-impedance earth connection at the site of each consumer. Such
a connection (a buried metal structure) is required to provide protective earth in IT and TT systems."

Portable generator IT systems routinely have no earth and no RCD. Tabby (talk) 00:55, 8 December
2007 (UTC)

Can any one tell why a capacitor is used in earthing circuit?

please mail at parshant90@gmail.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.115.103.71 (talk) 13:54, 26
December 2008 (UTC)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Earthing_system"

This page was last modified on 26 January 2009, at 14:55.

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See
Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501
(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Earthing_system 19/03/2009