System Grounding:

The process of connecting some electrical part of the power system (e.g. neutral point of a star-connected system, one conductor of the secondary of a transformer etc.) to earth (i.e. soil) is called System Grounding.

The system grounding has assumed considerable importance in the fast expanding power system. By adopting proper schemes of system grounding, we can achieve many advantages including protection, reliability and safety to the power system network. But before discussing the various aspects of neutral grounding, it is desirable to give two examples to appreciate the need of system grounding.

(i) Fig. 26.5 (i) shows the primary winding of a distribution transformer connected between the line and neutral of a 11 kV line. If the secondary conductors are ungrounded, it would appear that a person could touch either secondary conductor without harm because there is no ground return. However, this is not true. Referring to Fig. 26.5, there is capacitance C₁ between primary and secondary and capacitance C₂ between secondary and ground. This capacitance coupling can produce a high voltage between the secondary lines and the ground.

Depending upon the relative magnitudes of C₁ and C₂, it may be as high as 20% to 40% of the primary voltage. If a person touches either one of the secondary wires, the resulting capacitive current I_C flowing through the body could be dangerous even in case of small transformers [See Fig. 26.5(U)]. For example, if I_C is only 20 mA, the person may get a fatal electric shock.

If one of the secondary conductors is grounded, the capacitive coupling almost reduces to zero and so is the capacitive current I_C As a result, the person will experience no electric shock. This explains the importance of system grounding.

(ii) Let us now turn to a more serious situation. Fig. 26.6 (i) shows the primary winding of a distribution transformer connected between the line and neutral of a 11 kV line. The secondary conductors are ungrounded. Suppose that the high voltage line (11 kV in this case) touches the 230 V conductor as shown in Fig. 26.6 (i). This could be caused by an internal fault in the transformer or by a branch or tree falling across the 11 kV and 230 V lines. Under these circumstances, a very high voltage is imposed between the secondary conductors and ground. This would immediately puncture the 230 V insulation, causing a Massive flashover. This flashover could occur anywhere on the secondary network, possibly inside a home or factory. Therefore, ungrounded secondary in this case is a potential fire hazard and may produce grave accidents under abnormal conditions.

If one of the secondary lines is grounded as shown in Fig. 26.6(ii), the accidental contact between a 11 kV conductor and a 230 V conductor produces a dead short. The short-circuit current (Le. fault current) follows the dotted path shown in Fig. 26.6 (ii). This large current will blow the fuse on the 11 kV side, thus disconnecting the transformer and secondary distribution system from the 11 kV line. This explains the importance of system grounding in the line of the power system.