Scientific & industrial EMC
IEC 60617 - S00200 Symbol
Name: Alternative names: To be clear :
Earth, general symbol Ground (US), grounding (US), general symbol The earth electrode and its connections
Regardless of its resistance, an earth electrode is not functional Even for safety reasons, fortunately for medical implants, automotive electronics, aircrafts, helicopters, satellites
IEC 60617 - S00202 Symbol
Name: Alternative names:
To be clear :
Protective earthing Protective grounding (US), protective earthing conductor, protective earthing terminal, protective grounding conductor (US), protective grounding terminal (US) The earthing conductor role is to protect people (for safety), so why 2 different symbols?
IEC 60617 - S00201 Symbol
Name: Status level: To be clear :
Noiseless earth Obsolete - for reference only Stupid !
1) To cancel earth currents, just remove all earth conductors! 2) In voltage, any earth electrode is noiseless regarding itself! 3) In voltage, any earth electrode is noisy regarding any separate one!
IEC 60617 - S01408 Symbol
Name: Alternative names: To be clear :
Functional earthing, functional grounding (US) Functional earthing conductor, Functional earthing terminal There is no functional earthing in industry !
Only used for long distance DC links (mainly ancient telegraphy)
IEC 60617 - S00203 Symbol
Name: Alternative names: Status level: To be clear :
Frame Chassis Obsolete - for reference only (Why to cancel it?) We need a symbol for local common bonding network. Why not to use this one?
IEC 60617 - S01409 Symbol
Functional equipotential bonding Alternative names: Functional bonding conductor Functional bonding terminal
Name: To be clear : Exactly the same definition as S01410 ! ! ! No symbol any more for chassis or frame So, this new symbol (2005) be may confusing. Can we use it for Common Bonding Network?
IEC 60617 - S01410 Symbol
Name: Functional equipotential bonding Alternative names: Functional bonding conductor Functional bonding terminal To be clear : Signal ground (usually called 0 V). May be earthed (connected to frame), or floated (primary of SMPS for instance).
IEC 60617 - S00204 Symbol
Name: Protective equipotential bonding Alternative names: Protective bonding terminal To be clear : ??? The old meaning of this symbol was 0 V Does this symbol mean frame thereafter? If not, what is its new meaning?
IEC Definition: Reference Earth
Reference Earth: Part of the Earth considered as conductive, the electric potential of which is conventionally taken as zero, being outside the zone of influence of any earthing arrangement. The concept "Earth" means the planet and all its physical matter. (IEC 60050 - 195-01-01 - No symbol for this definition) Comments : No Reference Earth exist in the real world: it is just a fictive - purely imaginary - concept. Fortunately for safety, it is a useless concept! Fortunately for EMC, it is a useless concept! Equipotentiality is a necessary virtue.
IEC Definition: earth electrode
earth electrode (or ground electrode - US): conductive part, which may be embedded in a specific conductive medium, e.g. concrete or coke, in electric contact with the Earth (IEC 60050 - 195-02-01). Comments : No trouble with this definition, but What is the importance of an earth electrode? What is a correct earth electrode resistance? Both for safety and for EMC, equipotentiality is the most desirable virtue.
Maximum Earth Electrode Resistance
IEC 62305-3: Protection against lightning - Physical damage to structures & life hazard
78
125
56
490
Minimum length l1 of each earth electrode according to the class of LPS ( 2 electrodes required)
Soil resistivity
Copper Aluminium Iron
Excellent Average soil soil
Bad soil
10-8
10-7
10-6
10-5
10-4
10-3
10-2
10-1
10
100
103
104
Resistivity (in Silver Gold 1 billion
m)
Conclude by yourself
IEC Definition: Equipotentiality
Equipotentiality: state when conductive parts are at a substantially equal electric potential (IEC 60050 - 195-01-09)
Comments : Equipotentiality is necessary for safety at 50 Hz. This is obtained by CBN, including PE conductors. A correct equipotentiality is necessary for EMC at all frequencies, from DC to several GHz. This can be obtained up to several MHz by a mesh common bonding network.
IEC Definition: Protective conductor
Protective conductor (PE): conductor provided for purposes of safety, for example protection against electric shock. This is the green/yellow cable (IEC 60050 - 195-02-09)
Comments : PE conductors are sufficient for safety at 50 Hz. But in a noisy environment, a PE conductor is not sufficient for EMC : a mesh-CBN is needed. In a very noisy environment a metal plate is better. In an extreme EMC environment, a shielded room (or a shielded cabinet) may be necessary.
Summary of useful symbols
Earth (both for safety & for lightning protection)
Common Bonding Network (& frame)
0 V (may be floating or not)
PE conductor (a part of the CBN)
Correct use of symbols (example)
Star (single point) grounding principle
3 2
1
Voltage reference
The Theory
Single Point Grounding : reality
3 2
Actual conductors + pipes +
The real world ! The Theory
Star grounding = common impedance
50 V P. Supply 500 mA Pulses at 500 kHz
Variable Frequency Drive Control cabinet Isolated link cable Variable Frequency Drive
<1V
Control cabinet
500 mA Pulses at 500 kHz
500 mA 30 m long PE Z 100 at 500 kHz
<1m Bond 250 mA
250 mA
100
Single point grounding creates large common impedances between interconnected equipments
Star grounding = large ground loop
Equipment 5 kV
Isolated link cable
Equipment
Equipment
< 50 V Equipment
#1
#2
#1
< .5 m2 loop
#2
50 m2 Ground loop
80 Am-1 s-1
Lightning magnetic field (= 80 Am-1 s-1)
Single point grounding creates large area ground loops between interconnected equipments
Star grounding of added capacitors
Added capacitors (3 x 2,2 F) upstream side
Conducted noise with an EMC filter (without added capacitors)
EMC Filter
Star point
Noise with star grounded caps added at each side of the filter + 12 dB (degradation)
Mutual inductance
Added capacitors (3 x 2,2 F) downstream side
Star grounding = mutual inductance
Noise with star grounded caps
EMC Filter
EMI Filter M
Noise with separately grounded caps (Improvement = 31 dB)
EMI Filter
Better cabling (still perfectible: too long wires)
Poor power distribution
RIGHT: Single point grounding for the neutral bus.
WRONG: Single point grounding for the ground bus (i.e. the PE conductor): a mesh-CBN is should be specified.
Poor grounding distribution
Large ground loop
RIGHT:
Modems (with galvanic isolation) installed between unconnected earth terminals.
WRONG:
Single point grounding for all PE wires.
Isolated grounding networks
RIGHT: Nothing ! WRONG: Simultaneously accessible unconnected networks, so it is quite illegal (due to a safety issue).
Isolated grounding electrodes
For safety: 2 isolated grounding networks are illegal. For EMC: 2 isolated grounding networks are calamitous
The Ground Loop problem
A variable magnetic field (difficult to shield at LF) induces voltage across loops
Larger CM ground loop
Small DM loop
This ground loop area is unavoidable It should be reduced by:
A raised floor loop is not a ground loop Multiple loops are favourable:
- Laying the cables down over the (metallic) ground plane - They lower the common mode impedance - Using cable trays (in contact from one end to the other) - Using shielded cables with connection at both ends - They divide the common mode currents - They reduce the external EM fields effects
Tolerable noise between equipments
Maximum permanent rms voltage between equipments
1000 V
100 V
1s
10 V
1s
1V
0,1 V
10 mV IEC 61000-4-16 DC 10Hz 100Hz 1kHz 10kHz 100kHz 61000-4-6 1MHz 10MHz 100MHz
In case of trouble over the limit B , improve the equipotentiality of the installation. In case of trouble below the limit A , improve the immunity of sensitive equipments.
Impedance of a meshed network
B
Inductance : L (L 1 H/m)
LAB
A
C D
LCD
For a conductor, the impedance between the ends increases as its length. For a 2D grid, the impedance between 2 points does not depend on their distance. For a 3D grid, the impedance between 2 points decreases with the size of the structure !
Maximum current in a meshed network
Current for a 1 V maximum common mode noise
1000 A
100 A Zone of usual total leakage currents for 10 A a 10MW installation Zone of usual CM currents of a large variable speed drive (100kW inverter)
1A
100 mA
10 mA 100Hz 1kHz 10kHz 100kHz 1MHz 10MHz
Current in a 1 m x 1 m grid Current in a 2 m x 2 m grid Current in a 5 m x 5 m grid
Keeping EMC under control
All those cable trays are correctly cross-bonded together at every opportunity, including bonding them to the cabinets at both ends, to cost-effectively create the most closely-meshed three-dimensional CBN possible from the existing metalwork (Thank you, Keith, for reviewing).
Conclusions
- In scientific/industrial installations most EMC concerns appear over 1 MHz. - A single point grounding creates large common impedances between interconnected circuits or equipments. - A single point grounding creates large area ground loops between interconnected circuits or equipments. - A single point grounding creates a large mutual inductance coupling between parallel grounding wires of independent circuits. - A single point grounding is only good for the neutral conductor (to limit an homopolar current flow in the common bonding network). - A meshed common bonding network is efficient for EMC up to several megahertz (possibly > 10 MHz). Such a cost effective mesh-CBN allows grounding of shielded differential cables at both ends without any risk. - Properly connected shielded cables are effective from 1 MHz to > 1 GHz.
