Triconex Corporation

TRICON Hardware

System
Grounding
Electrical systems must be connected to ground
in order to:
™ Protect personnel from electric shock.
™ Protect equipment from damage.
™ Protect the site from lightning damage.
™ Ensure the reliability and electrical integrity of the
system.
™ To have interference free operation
What is Ground?
™ It is a connection to the earth, or to something used
in place of the earth.

Why do we require a ground?

™ The ground is required as it is used to establish and
maintain the potential of the earth.
TRICON System typically utilizes three (3)
separate ground references:
™ AC safety or chassis ground (protective earth
ground) - TRICON Chassis Ground
™ Signal or Instrument (or Master Reference) ground
- TRICON Signal Ground (TSG)
™ Field loop shield ground
™ AC Safety ground is applied to each chassis
™ Signal or Instrument (or Master Reference)
ground is the field loop power supply return
™ Field loop shield ground is for referencing
instrument loop wiring shields typically to
instrument or Master Reference ground
 TRICON TRICON
Main Expansion
Chassis Chassis

Each chassis MUST BE

connected to AC Safety
TRICON ground to ensure personnel
Expansion safety!
Chassis

AC Safety Ground Bar

 Each V5 - V8 Digital I/O
Term Panel MUST BE
TRICON connected to AC Safety
Chassis ground to ensure personnel
safety!

Digital Input Term

AC Safety Ground Bar

™ AC Safety Ground MUST be applied to each
chassis (Main, Expansion & RXM) regardless of
floating or non-floating systems.

™ AC Safety Ground MUST be applied to each V5 -

V8 DI/DO Term Panel. (floating/non-floating) as
the V5 - V8 I/O ELCO cables do not have a
connecting wire to chassis. Connection to AC
Safety Ground for V9 Terms are not required.

™ AC Safety Ground MUST NOT be applied to

AI/AO Term Panels and #3504E.
 AC Safety Ground Analog System
Isolated +24
Power Supply
TRICON
Chassis V+ V-

Once V- is connected to a
AI/AO Term Panel, it is
connected to the internal
TRICON Signal Ground
(TSG).
If the TRICON RC Clip is
installed, TSG is connected
to AC Safety Ground via a
parallel resistor/capacitor
circuit.
Analog Input Term
TSG V- is referenced to AC
Safety within millivolts
range.
AC Safety
 Dedicated Ground Analog System
Isolated +24
Power Supply
TRICON
Chassis V+ V-
If the TRICON RC Clip is
removed, TSG is
disconnected from AC
Safety Ground.
TSG MUST BE connected
to a dedicated ground.
One connection is required
and is completed at the
Main Chassis location & any
remote RXM locations.
Analog Input Terms
The dedicated ground is
Dedicated Ground typically considered a quiet
earth ground or DCS
AC Safety Master Reference Ground.
 Dedicated Ground Analog System
Isolated +24
Power Supply
TRICON
Chassis V+ V-
Field loop wiring shields
are typically connected to
TRICON Term Panels.
The TRICON Term Panel
shield ground screws
should be tied to
instrument ground or the
dedicated ground.

Analog Input Terms

Dedicated Ground
AC Safety
 TRIOCN RC network

V5 - V8 System

#8300/#8301/#8305/#8306 TRICON Power

Modules are equipped with a simple RC network
connected between the signal and chassis ground

#8300A/#8301A/#8305A/#8306A TRICON Power

Modules allows one to disconnect the internal RC
network and directly access the TRICON signal
ground.
 TRIOCN RC network

V9 System

The RC network is external to the TRICON Power

Modules.
 TRIOCN RC network

Stand-Alone Digital-Only System

Connecting the RC jumper will be sufficient

Stand-Alone Analog-Only or Mixed

Analog/Digital System

Connecting the RC jumper will be sufficient

 TRIOCN RC network

Integration with DCS

If TRICON is a stand-alone digital-only system, connection of the
RC jumper (at the power module for V5 to V8) is sufficient

If TRICON is a stand-alone analog-only or mixed analog/digital

system, a single connection must be made between TRICON signal
ground and the common tie point of the DCS signal ground

A TriStation Link with model #410x ICM/EICM may cause a

problem if the TriStation PC does not share the safety ground
connection as the TRICON.

Exercise caution especially if the TRICON and the DCS are

physically separated or reside in separate buildings. The same
problem could also occur with any RS232 connection including any
MODBUS connections.
™ Connecting two pieces of equipment located in
different buildings
™ TRICON I/O bus RS-485 connection
extended beyond the control room.
™ Current flow via the Shield ground which is
not held at a constant, non-varying voltage.
™ Implementing a “floating” ground system.

™ In most industrial control systems, the return side

of the field power supply is directly connected to
earth.
Emergency Shutdown (ESD) and Fire & Gas
detection applications very often require the
I/O system to be "floating".

In a floating ground system, the field power

supply is not directly connected to earth
ground , but is connected to an artificial
ground which can be created with a high-
impedance resistor voltage divider.
 24VDC
+
24VDC POWER - TO ETP POWER
SUPPLY UNIT
R1
0VDC

R2
+
24VDC POWER -
SUPPLY UNIT

EARTH GROUND
The main use of a floating ground system with a
suitable Ground Fault Detector allows for the
implementation of a "no-fail system".

A “no-fail system” is fault-tolerant of any single

field-wiring fault to earth ground.

These ground faults should be detectable by

the GFD, and if repaired in a timely manner, a
shutdown or disturbance to the application
should be avoided.
™ The main purpose of a GFD is to detect the
presence of an unintentional connection to
earth ground, other than that of the fixed
high-impedance connection.

™ A GFD should provide some means of alarming

upon detecting an ground fault.
The HOLEC GFD has a sensitivity of 20mA
minimum (between +ve and -ve), when used with
an external 1.2kΩ resistor divider in 24VDC
applications.
+ +
24VDC POWER -
SUPPLY UNIT HOLEC
R1
-

R2
+
24VDC POWER -
SUPPLY UNIT

EARTH GROUND
It is common to install multiple GFDs in a
system, either one per Marshalling
Cabinet or one per termination panel.
After a ground fault has been detected,
only the field wiring of the points
attached to the alarmed GFD needs to be
searched for the earth short.
 Ground Fault Detection with D.I. Module

DI ETP
24VDC PS+ +
PS- -
HOLEC
R1

DI MODULE

R2
0VDC

EARTH GROUND
 Ground Fault Detection with D.I. Module

The following limitations apply to the use

of GFDs with digital inputs:
™ A GFD always detects ground faults on
the positive side of the contact.
™ A GFD always detects ground faults on
the negative side of the contact when the
contact is closed. When the contact is
open, the GFD might not detect the fault.
 Ground Fault Detection with D.I. Module

™ When the contact is open, the impedance

of the input circuitry is in series with the
fault impedance.
™ If the sum of the impedances exceeds
the sensitivity of the GFD, then the GFD
might not detect the fault.
 Ground Fault Detection with D.O. Module

FROM DO
MODULE

DO ETP
24VDC PS+ +
PS- -
HOLEC
R1

R2
0VDC

EARTH GROUND
 Ground Fault Detection with D.O. Module

The following limitations apply to the use

of GFDs with digital outputs:
™ A GFD always detects ground faults on
the negative side of the load.
™ A GFD always detects ground faults on
the positive side of the load when the
load is energized. When de-energized, a
GFD might not detect the fault.
 Ground Fault Detection with D.O. Module

™ When de-energized, the impedance of the

load is in series with the fault impedance.
™ If the sum of the impedances exceeds
the sensitivity of the GFD, then the GFD
might not detect the fault.
 Ground Fault Detection with A.I. Module

AI ETP

180
24VDC PS+ +
PS- -
HOLEC Tx
R1
250

R2
0VDC

EARTH GROUND
Ground Fault Detection with A.I. Module

From test results and the electrical

circuit analysis, we confirmed that the
accuracy degradation in the presence of a
ground fault is inherent in any 4-20mA
instumentation loops.
TRICONEX
Your supplier for all
your Safety and Critical
Control Needs
Defects
Down Time
False Trips
 8-POINT ANALOG OUTPUT MODULE BACKPLANE CABLE TERMINATION
PANEL

A Loop powe r
P W RA (22A)

S elector
Logic
Curre nt
loopba ck P W RB (24A)

DAC
RTN (22E)

B RTN (24E)

S elector
Logic Curre nt
loopba ck

DAC
OUT1 (2A)

C RTN1 (2E)

S elector
Logic
Curre nt
loopba ck

DAC
 TERMINATION PANEL CABLE BACKPLANE 32-POINT ANALOG INPUT MODULES

to
s pa re Mux
Is ola tion/filte ring

1 Amp ADC

180 ohms
32
Hi-Re f
Low-Re f

to Mux
othe r
points
Note 3
1 Amp ADC
PS1

PS2
32
PS1 Hi-Re f

PS2 Low-Re f

Mux

1 Amp ADC

32
Hi-Re f
Low-Re f
Types of Power Types of Earth Connection Basically on two types of
Utility Power Clean Earth Ground :-
Mains Power Dirty Earth a) AC - dirty
UPS Utility Earth b) DC - clean
Clean Low noise System earth
Floating System Instrument earth
AC / DC Computer
EMC
Electromagnetic Compatibility
-> Started by the military application 15 yrs ago

Use 3 core power cables for optimal line filtering

Power source is reference to earth
Floating power contains much more noise than earth reference
Floating power needs isolation transformer
Floating power may drift to any common mode potential

Line filtering requires earth connection

Impedance if 3 core power is 100 ohms

I/A designed by National Electrical Code

Normal and Common mode signals by :
potential equalisation
Galvanic isolation
Shielding
Enclosures

Signal to noise ratio

GROUNDING the TRICON

Expansion Chassis

1/4" Bolt on left side

of each chassis

Main Chassis

Expansion Chassis

AC Safety Ground
Bus Bar AC
SAFETY
GROUND
(Protective Earth)