MODULE 2

Earthing System
Fuse
MCB
MCCB
ELCB
Lightning protection
Earthing System
 Earthing systems, or grounding systems, are used to connect specific parts of a power system
to the earth or ground.
 These systems are used to protect personnel and electrical systems from shock or damage by
providing a direct path for electric currents to flow to the earth.
What Is Earthing?
 Earthing is the process involved in the transfer of electrical energy.
 Through the help of a low resistance wire, electrical energy is released down into the earth.
This is known as electrical earthing.
 Electrical earthing is achieved by connecting a neutral supply system to the ground.
Why Is Earthing Important?
 Earthing protects systems from high voltage surges as well as from any lightning discharge
received from a large storm.
 Earthing directs electrical current towards the ground, and electrical systems are protected
from costly and dangerous damage.
 Earthing System
Why Is Earthing Important?
 Earthing also serves to protect those who work in and around
the equipment.
 An earthing system stands to provide a fast path back to the
earth even when there are faults elsewhere.
 The earthing is essential because of the following reasons
 The earthing protects the personnel from the shortcircuit
current.
 The earthing provides the easiest path to the flow of
shortcircuit current even after the failure of the
insulation.
 The earthing protects the apparatus and personnel from
the high voltage surges and lightning discharge.
Earthing System
Faults Within Earthing Systems
 One noticeable fault in the installation is if one receives an electric shock when touching the
live metal part.
 This happens because your body is being used as a pathway from the system to the earth.
 Faults within the system can also cause protective devices, such as a circuit breaker or fuse, to
blow; as the device switches off it then cuts off the electrical supply.
 Faults can be dangerous and can lead to damage and injury.
Types Of Electrical Earthing
 There are two types of electrical earthing; EQUIPMENT and NEUTRAL.
 Equipment earthing is used for the equipment itself. The frame is affixed to the earth with a
conducting wire which directs currents towards the earth, away from the system should a fault
occur.
 Neutral earthing is used by connecting the earth directly with a code compliant conductor.
This is the type of earthing connection found in most earthing systems protecting
transformers, generators, etc
Earthing System
Types of earthing system
 The various codes used, are derived from the relationship of the distribution system to earth
and the relationship of the exposed conductive parts of the electrical installation to earth.
Codes used have the following meaning;
Earthing System
Types of earthing system
 TN System
 TN Distributor systems have one point directly earthed,
the exposed-conductive-parts of the installation being
connected to that point by protective conductors.
 There are distinct types of TN Systems in relation to the
arrangement of neutral and protective conductors. They
are as follows;
 TN-S system: throughout the system, a separate protective
conductor is used;
 TN-C-S system: neutral and protective functions are
combined in a single conductor in a part of the system;
 TN-C system: neutral and protective functions are combined
in a single conductor throughout the system.
Earthing System
Types of earthing system
 TT System
 The TT distributor system has one point directly
earthed, the exposed conductive-parts of the installation
being connected to earth electrodes electrically
independent of the earth electrodes of the power system.
 IT System
 The IT distribution system has all live parts isolated
from earth or one point connected to earth through an
impedance, the exposed-conductive-parts of the
electrical installation being earthed
 Independently, or
 Collectively, or
 To the earthing of the system
Fuse
 A fuse is an electrical safety device that protects an electric circuit from excessive electric
current.
 Fuses are destroyed during overload conditions.
 When reasonable to do so (and economically sensible), circuit breakers are used instead
because they are not destroyed during overload conditions.
 It's cheaper to install fuses than circuit breakers, but since fuses need to be replaced and
circuit breakers don't, fuses have a higher operational cost.
 The fuse is a device used in an electrical circuit for protecting electrical devices against
overloads and short circuit.
How fuses work
 Fuses are designed to allow current through the circuit, but in the event that the current
exceeds some maximum value it will burn out the wire, so that there is no longer a circuit.
 The current that will cause a fuse to blow is called the current rating.
 Fuses also have a voltage rating; this is the maximum voltage difference that the fuse can
block.
Fuse
Advantages of an Electrical Fuse
 It is the cheapest form of protection, and it does need any maintenance.
 Its operation is completely automatic and requires less time as compared to circuit breakers.
 The smaller sizes of fuse element impose a current limiting effect under short-circuit
conditions.
 Its inverse time-current characteristic enables its use for overload protection.
Disadvantages of an Electrical Fuse
 Considerable time is required in replacing a fuse after the operation.
 The current-time characteristic of a fuse cannot always be correlated with that of the
protective device.
Fuse
Types of fuse
Fuse
Types of fuse
MCB
 MCB, MCCB, RCCB, and ELCB are circuit breakers but all of
them are designed for serving a specific purpose.
 MCB stands for Miniature Circuit Breaker.
 It automatically switches OFF electrical circuit during any
abnormal condition in the electrical network such as overload
& short circuit conditions.
 Fuse may sense these conditions but it has to be replaced
though MCB can be reset.
 The MCB is an electromechanical device which guards the
electric wires &electrical load from over current so as to avoid
any kind of fire or electrical hazards.
 Handling MCB is quite safer and it quickly restores the supply.
 When it comes to house applications, MCB is the most
preferred choice for overload and short circuit protection.
MCB
Working Principle Miniature Circuit Breaker
 Mini circuit breakers are triggered by overcurrent - electrical current that exceeds a
designated safe current and makes use of a relatively robust mechanical mechanism designed
to minimise failures and false alarms.
 Excess current causes the bimetallic strip within the MCB to heat, bend, and trip.
 An MCB is designed to protect against both overloading and short-circuiting. These are
detected differently using separate processes.
 Overload protection is provided by the bimetallic strip using thermal operation, whereas
short-circuit protection is provided by the tripping coil via electro-magnetic operation.
 If the discharge is especially high, the MCB will trip (activate) very quickly – within one-
tenth of a second.
MCCB
 MCCB stands for Molded Case Circuit Breaker.
 It is another type of electrical protection device which is used
when load current exceeds the limit of a miniature circuit
breaker.
 The MCCB provides protection against overload, short circuit
faults and is also used for switching the circuits.
 It can be used for higher current rating and fault level even in
domestic applications.
 The wide current ratings and high breaking capacity in MCCB
find their use in industrial applications.
MCCB
 Functions of MCCB
 Protection against overload
 Electric fault protection
 Switching the circuits on and off
 The MCCB system uses a temperature-sensitive device also known as the thermal element
along with a current sensitive electromagnetic device which is also known as the magnetic
element in order to provide the overall trip mechanism which is relied for protection and
isolation purposes.
Difference between MCB and MCCB
RCCB
 RCCB stands for Residual Current Circuit Breaker.
 This residual current device is basically an electrical wiring device
that disconnects the circuit whenever there is leakage of current
flow through the Human body or the current is not balanced
between the phase conductor.
 It is the safest device to detect and trip against electrical leakage
currents, thus ensure protection against electric shock caused by
direct contacts.
 RCCB is generally used in series with an MCB which protects them
from over current and short circuit current.
 It will only break the circuit when there is a leakage current flowing
to the earth or also known as earth fault.
 RCCBs usually can handle a fault or residual current of 1kA on
their own if it is a fault to earth.
RCCB
 An ideal circuit is that currents flows through the circuit via the live wire should be the same
as the returning current via the neutral wire.
 When an earth fault happens, current enters the earth wire by accident such as accidental
contact with open wire.
 As a result, the current returning through then neutral wire is reduced.
 The difference in current between the live and neutral wire is called residual current.
 RCCB is designed such way that it continuously senses the residual current or the difference
in current values between the live and neutral wires.
 Therefore, unless the residual current does not surpass the limit, the RCCB will disconnect the
circuit.
ELCB
 ELCB stands for Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker.
 They have the same function as RCCB but are voltage sensor devise.
ELCB Operation
 An electrical circuit breaker is a particular kind of latching relay and it has a mains supply of
buildings that are connected throughout its switching contacts so that this circuit breaker will
disconnect the power once earth leakage is identified.
 By using this, the fault current can be detected from life to the ground wire in the fitting it
guards.
 If ample voltage comes out across the sense coil of the circuit breaker, then it will shut down
the power & remain off until physically reset.
 An ELCB which is used for voltage-sensing does not detect fault currents.
Difference between RCCB and ELCB
Lightning Protection
 The function of a lightning protection system is to protect structures from fire or mechanical
destruction and to prevent that persons in buildings are injured or even killed.
 An overall lightning protection system consists of external lightning protection (lightning
protection/earthing) and internal lightning protection (surge protection).

Functions of an external lightning protection system

 Interception of direct lightning strikes via an air-termination system
 Safe discharge of lightning current to earth via a down-conductor system
 Distribution of the lightning current in the ground via an earth-termination system

Functions of an internal lightning protection system

 Prevention of dangerous sparking in the structure by establishing equipotential bonding or
keeping a separation distance between the LPS components and other electrically conducting
elements
Lightning Protection

Capture system: Device for picking up

lightning.

Down conductors: Equipment needed to conduct

energy to ground in a controlled and safe
fashion.

Grounding systems: Equipment needed to

dissipate lightning currents. A grounding system
is essential for the proper operation of the
protection system, including surge protection.

Surge protection: Devices for protecting electrical and electronic equipment connected to
the facility's electrical network or low current networks (telecom and signalling networks)
against voltage surges.
Lightning Protection
What is Lightning Arrester?
 The circuit which is protected from the strokes of lightning with the help of
a protection device is known as lightning arrester.
 These devices are used to defend the power systems by forwarding the high
voltage surges in the direction of the ground.
 And these power systems and over headlines can also be protected by using
ground wire or the earthing from the direct strikes of lightning.

Working Principle
 Lightning arrestor working principle is, once the voltage surge travels throughout the
conductor then it reaches the location of the arrestor where it is installed.
 So it will break down the insulation of the lightning arrestor for a moment, so voltage surge can
be discharged toward the ground.
 Once the voltage of the system falls under the fixed value, then the insulation will be restored
among the ground & conductor. Further, the current flow toward the ground will be stopped.
Indian electricity rules
 The Indian Electricity Rules, 1956 was made under section 37 of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910
 Now redefined after enactment of The Electricity Act, 2003
 The Indian Electricity Act, 1910 deals with the provisions relating to supply and use of electrical
energy and the rights and obligations of persons licensed under part II of that act to supply
energy.
 IE Rules have been framed to
 Safe guard consumers of electrical energy from electrical shock
 Minimize fire risk
 Ensure as far as possible satisfactory operation of equipment and apparatus used
 Contains 11 Chapters and 143 Rules
Scope Of Rules
 Chapter 1: Contains the definitions of technical terms used and compliments the definitions
contained in IE Act 1910.
 Chapter 2: Covers qualifications and appointment of Electrical Inspectors and officers to assist
them.
Indian electricity rules
Scope Of Rules
 Chapter 3: It deals with granting of licence for supply of electricity.
 Chapter 4 & 5: Covers safety requirement
 Chapter 6: Specific safety provisions for LV and MV equipments.
 Chapter 7: Specific safety provisions for HV and EHV.
 Chapter 8: Provisions for overhead lines, UG cables and generating stations.
 Chapter 9: Specific safety provisions for electric traction.
 Chapter 10: Safety provisions for mines and oil fields.
 Chapter 11: Miscellaneous
The Electric Act 2003
 This act provides the statutory basis for the functioning of State Electricity Boards and lays
down the basic framework for the constitution, functions, financial performance and accounts of
State Electricity Boards.
Key Features of the act are as follows:
 Generation has been delicensed and captive generation freely permitted. i.e. Any generating
company may establish, operate and maintain a generating station without obtaining a licence
under this Act with only exception that it should comply with the technical standards relating to
connectivity with the grid. Hydro-projects would however need concurrence from Central
Electricity Authority
 No person shall
 (a)transmit electricity; or
 (b)distribute electricity; or
 (c)undertake trading in electricity, unless he is authorised to do so by a licence issued,
exceptions informed by authorised commissions through notifications
The Electric Act 2003
Key Features of the act are as follows:
 Central Government may, make region- wise demarcation of the country, and, from time to time,
make such modifications therein as it may consider necessary for the efficient, economical and
integrated transmission and supply of electricity. Transmission utility at the central and state
level to be a government company-with responsibility of planned and coordinated development
of transmission network
 Open access to the transmission lines to be provided to distribution licensees, generating
companies.
 Metering of electricity supplied made mandatory
 Provisions related to thefts of electricity made more stringent
 Trading as, a distinct activity is permitted with licensing
 For rural and remote areas stand alone license free system for generation and distribution
permitted
 Thrust to complete rural electrification and provide for management of rural distribution by
panchayat, cooperative societies, NGOs, franchises etc.
 Central government to prepare National Electricity Policy and tariff Policy
Indian electricity rules
Key Features of the act are as follows:
 Central electricity authority to prepare National electricity plan in consultation with state
governments
 An appellate tribunal to hear appeals against the decision of Central Electricity Regulatory
Councils and State Electricity Regulatory Councils