WhatisthedifferencebetweenBonding,GroundingandEarthing?

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WhatisthedifferencebetweenBonding,GroundingandEarthing?

Content
1.Introduction
2.Bonding
3.Earthing
4.Grounding
5.MicroDifferencebetweenEarthingandGrounding
6.IllegalPracticeofinterchangePurposeofGroundingandearthingwire
7.Conclusion

Introduction
OneofthemostmisunderstoodandconfusedconceptisdifferencebetweenBonding,GroundingandEarthing.Bonding
ismoreclearwordcomparetoGroundingandEarthing,butthereisamicrodifferencebetweenGroundingandEarhing.
EarthingandGroundingareactuallydifferenttermsforexpressingthesameconcept.
Groundorearthinamainselectricalwiringsystemisaconductorthatprovidesalowimpedancepathtotheearthto
preventhazardousvoltagesfromappearingonequipment.EarthingismorecommonlyusedinBritain,Europeanandmost
ofthecommonwealthcountriesstandards(IEC,IS),whileGroundingisthewordusedinNorthAmericanstandards(NEC,
IEEE,ANSI,UL).
WeunderstandthatEarthingandGroundingarenecessaryandhaveanideahowtodoitbutwedonthavecrystalclear
conceptforthat.Weneedtounderstandthattherearereallytwoseparatethingswearedoingforsamepurposethatwe
callGroundingorEarthing.TheEarthingistoreferenceourelectricalsourcetoearth(usuallyviaconnectiontosomekindof
roddrivenintotheearthorsomeothermetalthathasdirectcontactwiththeearth).

Thegroundedcircuitsofmachinesneedtohaveaneffective
returnpathfromthemachinestothepowersourceinorderto
functionproperly(HerebyNeutralCircuit).
Inaddition,noncurrentcarryingmetalliccomponentsinaSystem,
suchasequipmentcabinets,enclosures,andstructuralsteel,
needtobeelectricallyinterconnectedandearthedproperlyso
voltagepotentialcannotexistbetweenthem.However,troubles
canarisewhentermslikebonding,grounding,andearthing
areinterchangedorconfusedincertainsituations.
InTNTypePowerDistributionSystem,inUSNEC(andpossibly
other)usage:EquipmentisearthedtopassfaultCurrentandto
triptheprotectivedevicewithoutelectrifyingthedeviceenclosure.
Neutralisthecurrentreturnpathforphase.TheseEarthing
conductorandNeutralconductorareconnectedtogetherand
earthedatthedistributionpanelandalsoatthestreet,butthe
intentisthatnocurrentflowonearthedground,exceptduring
momentaryfaultconditions.

Theearthingconnectiontoswitchboardreardoor(metalparts)

HerewemaysaythatEarthingandgroundingarenearly
samebypractice.
ButIntheTTTypePowerDistributionSystem(inIndia)Neutralisonlyearthed(hereitisactuallycalledGrounding)at
distributionsource(atdistributiontransformer)andFourwires(NeutralandThreePhase)aredistributedtoconsumer.While
atconsumersideallelectricalequipmentbodyareconnectedandearthedatconsumerpremises(hereitiscalledEarthing).
ConsumerhasnoanypermissiontomixNeutralwithearthathispremiseshereearthingandgroundingisthedifferentby
practice.
InbothabovecaseEarthingandGroundingareusedforthesamePurpose.Letstrytounderstandthisterminologyoneby
one.
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Bonding
Bondingissimplytheactofjoiningtwoelectricalconductorstogether.Thesemaybetwowires,awireandapipe,or
thesemaybetwoEquipments.Bondinghastobedonebyconnectingofallthemetalpartsthatarenotsupposedtobe
carryingcurrentduringnormaloperationstobringingthemtothesameelectricalpotential.
Bondingensuresthatthesetwothingswhicharebondedwillbeatthesameelectricalpotential.Thatmeanswewouldnot
getelectricitybuildingupinoneequipmentorbetweentwodifferentequipment.Nocurrentflowcantakeplacebetweentwo
bondedbodiesbecausetheyhavethesamepotential.
Bondingitself,doesnotprotectanything.However,ifoneofthoseboxesisearthedtherecanbenoelectricalenergy
buildup.Ifthegroundedboxisbondedtotheotherbox,theotherboxisalsoatzeroelectricalpotential.
Itprotectsequipmentandpersonbyreducingcurrentflowbetweenpiecesofequipmentatdifferentpotentials.
Theprimaryreasonforbondingispersonnelsafety,sosomeonetouchingtwopiecesofequipmentatthesametimedoes
notreceiveashockbybecomingthepathofequalizationiftheyhappentobeatdifferentpotentials.TheSecondreason
hastodowithwhathappensifPhaseconductormaybetouchedanexternalmetalpart.
Thebondinghelpstocreatealowimpedancepathbacktothesource.Thiswillforcealargecurrenttoflow,whichinturnwill
causethebreakertotrip.
Inotherwords,bondingistheretoallowabreakertotripandtherebytoterminateafault.

Typicalbondingconnection

Bondingtoelectricalearthisusedextensivelytoensurethatallconductors(person,surfaceandproduct)areatthe
sameelectricalpotential.Whenallconductorsareatthesamepotentialnodischargecanoccur.
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Earthing
Earthingmeansconnectingthedeadpart(itmeansthepartwhichdoesnotcarriescurrentundernormalcondition)tothe
earthforexampleelectricalequipmentsframes,enclosures,supportsetc.
Thepurposeofearthingistominimizetheriskofreceivinganelectricshockiftouchingmetalpartswhenafaultis
present.Generallygreenwireisusedforthisasanomenclature.
Underfaultconditionsthenoncurrentcarryingmetalpartsofanelectricalinstallationsuchasframes,enclosures,
supports,fencingetc.mayattainhighpotentialwithrespecttogroundsothatanypersonorstrayanimaltouchingtheseor
approachingthesewillbesubjectedtopotentialdifferencewhichmayresultintheflowofacurrentthroughthebodyofthe
personortheanimalofsuchavalueasmayprovefatal.
Toavoidthisnoncurrentcarryingmetalpartsoftheelectricalsystemareconnectedtothegeneralmassofearthbymeans
ofanearthingsystemcomprisingofearthconductorstoconductthefaultcurrentssafelytotheground.
Earthinghasbeenaccomplishedthroughbondingofametallicsystemtoearth.Itisnormallyachievedbyinsertingground
rodsorotherelectrodesdeepinsideearth.
EarthingistoensuresafetyorProtectionofelectricalequipmentandHumanbydischargingtheelectricalenergy
totheearth.
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Grounding
Groundingmeansconnectingthelivepart(itmeansthepartwhichcarriescurrentundernormalcondition)totheearthfor
exampleneutralofpowertransformer.Itisdonefortheprotectionsofpowersystemequipmentandtoprovideaneffective
returnpathfromthemachinetothepowersource.

Forexamplegroundingofneutralpointofastarconnectedtransformer.
Groundingrefersthecurrentcarryingpartofthesystemsuchasneutral(ofthetransformerorgenerator).
Becauseoflightening,linesurgesorunintentionalcontactwithotherhighvoltagelines,dangerouslyhighvoltagescan
developintheelectricaldistributionsystemwires.Groundingprovidesasafe,alternatepatharoundtheelectricalsystemof
yourhousethusminimizingdamagefromsuchoccurrences.
GenerallyBlackwireisusedforthisasanomenclature.
Allelectrical/electroniccircuits(AC&DC)needareferencepotential(zerovolts)whichiscalledgroundinordertomake
possiblethecurrentflowfromgeneratortoload.GroundisMayorMaynotbeearthed.InElectricalPowerdistributionitis
eitherearthedatdistributionPointoratConsumerendbutitisnotearthedinAutomobile(forinstanceallvehicleselectrical
circuitshavegroundconnectedtothechassisandmetallicbodythatareinsulatedfromearththroughtires).
Theremayexistaneutraltogroundvoltageduetovoltagedropinthewiring,thusneutraldoesnotnecessarilyhaveto
beatgroundpotential.
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Inaproperlybalancedsystem,thephasecurrentsbalanceeachother,sothatthetotalneutralcurrentisalsozero.For
individualsystems,thisisnotcompletelypossible,butwestrivetocomecloseinaggregate.
Thisbalancingallowsmaximumefficiencyofthedistributiontransformerssecondarywinding.
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MicroDifferencebetweenearthingandGrounding
ThereisnomajordifferencebetweenearthingandGrounding,bothmeansConnectinganelectricalcircuitordeviceto
theEarth.Thisservesvariouspurposesliketodrainawayunwantedcurrents,toprovideareferencevoltageforcircuits
needingone,toleadlightningawayfromdelicateequipment.
Eventhoughthereisamicrodifferencebetweengroundingandearthing:

1.DifferenceinTerminology
InUSAtermGroundingisusedbutinUKtermEarthingisused.

2.BalancingtheLoadVsSafety
Groundisasourceforunwantedcurrentsandalsoasareturnpathformaincurrentsometimes.Whileearthingisdone
notforreturnpathbutonlyforprotectionofdelicateequipments.Itisanalternatelowresistancepathforcurrent.
Whenwetakeouttheneutralforathreephaseunbalancedconnectionandsendittoground,itiscalledgrounding.
Groundingisdonetobalanceunbalancedload.Whileearthingisusedbetweentheequipmentandearthpitsoastoavoid
electricalshockandequipmentdamage.

3.EquipmentProtectionVsHumanSafety
Earthingistoprotectthecircuitelementswheneverhighvoltageispassedbythundersorbyanyothersourceswhile
Groundingisthecommonpointinthecircuittomaintainthevoltagelevels.
EarthisusedforthesafetyofthehumanbodyinfaultconditionswhileGrounding(Asneutralearth)isusedforthe
protectionofequipment.EarthingisapreventivemeasurewhileGroundingisjustareturnpath.

Thegroundconductorprovidesareturnpathforfaultcurrentwhenaphaseconductoraccidentallycomesincontactwitha
groundedobject.Thisisasafetyfeatureofthewiringsystemandwewouldneverexpecttoseegroundingconductor
currentflowduringnormaloperation.
IMPORTANT:DonotGroundtheneutralsecondtimewhenItisgroundedeitheratDistributionTransformerorat
MainservicepanelofConsumerend.Groundingactasneutral.Butneutralcannotactasground.

4.SystemZeroPotentialVsCircuitZeroPotential
EarthingandGroundingbothisrefertozeropotential,butthesystemconnectedtozeropotentialisdifferthanEquipment
connectedtozeropotential.Ifaneutralpointofageneratorortransformerisconnectedtozeropotentialthenitisknownas
grounding.
Atthesametimeifthebodyofthetransformerorgeneratorisconnectedtozeropotentialthenitisknownasearthing.
ThetermEarthingmeansthatthecircuitisphysicallyconnectedtothegroundanditisZeroVoltPotentialtotheGround
(Earth)butincaseofGroundingthecircuitisnotphysicallyconnectedtoground,butitspotentialiszero(wherethe
currentsarealgebraicallyzero)withrespecttootherpoint,whichisalsoknownasVirtualGrounding.
Earthhavingzeropotentialwhereasneutralmayhavesomepotential.Thatmeansneutraldoesnotalwayshavezero
potentialwithrespecttoground.InearthingwehaveZeroVoltpotentialreferencestotheearthwhileingroundingwehave
localZeroVoltpotentialreferencetocircuit.WhenweconnecttwodifferentPowercircuitsinpowerdistributionsystem,
wewanttohavethesameZeroVoltreferencesoweconnectthemandgroundstogether.
Thiscommonreferencemightbedifferentfromtheearthpotential.
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IllegalPracticeofinterchangePurposeofGroundingandearthingwire
Neutralwireingridconnectionsismandatoryforsafety.Imagineapersonfrom4thfloorinabuildingusesEarthwire(which
isearthedinthebasementatBasement)asneutraltopowerhislights.AnotherPersonfrom2ndfloorhasanormalsetup
andusesneutralforthesamepurpose.Neutralwireisalsoearthedatthegroundlevel(asperUSApracticeNeutralis
Grounded(earthed)atBuildingandasperIndianPracticeitisGrounded(earthed)atDistributionTransformer).
However,groundwire(Neutralwire)hasamuchlowerelectricalresistancethanEarthWire(Earthing)whichresultsina
differenceofelectricalpotential(i.e.voltage)betweenthem.ThisvoltageisquiteahazardforanyonetouchingaEarthwire
(MetalBodyofEquipment)asitmayhaveseveraltensofvolts.
Thesecondissueislegality.Usinggroundwireinsteadofneutralmakesyouanenergythiefasthemeterusesonlythe
Phaseandneutralforrecordingyourenergyconsumption.ManyConsumersmakeenergytheftbyusingEarthingwireasa
NeutralwireinanEnergymeter.
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Conclusion
Groundisasourceforunwantedcurrentsandalsoasareturnpathformaincurrent.Whileearthingisdonenotforreturn
pathbutonlyforprotectionofdelicateequipments.Itisanalternatelowresistancepathforcurrent.
EarthisusedforthesafetyofthehumanbodyinfaultconditionswhileGrounding(Asneutralearth)isusedforthe
protectionofequipment.
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