Earthing System

Earthing Calculation & CAD
Drawing
Creating safety measures against various faults that can be fatal for a human is
a critical task that electrical designers and site engineers must consider in any
project. Furthermore, instability of the electrical system and equipment damage
can result from these faults.
Earthing system for a complex project: Analysis, calculation and installation

(XLSX, DWG)
Therefore, a safe Earthing or Grounding system MUST be designed and
installed properly to safely guide these potentially dangerous faults to the
ground by attaching the ground to the non-conductive part of the equipment or
the neutral of the power system.
This article covers the major principle of the earthing system implemented in
complex and simple project.
There are different types of earthing systems, and designers and engineers
must select the suitable one that is applicable for the project. Once you are
familiar with the each type, you will understand how to size earthing
conductors. In this article, you will learn how to create a very low impedance
path for ground fault current by applying the related formulas to reach a low
resistance level of less than 1 ohm.
In addition, you will be provided with an Excel spreadsheet you can use to
easily calculate the resistance of earthing system. This sheet will also be
explained by watching the relevant videos in this article. Testing the earthing
system is just as important as the design.
For that reason, you will learn about the most common method used to test the
soil and electrode resistivity practically on-site.
This article is also enhanced with an AutoCAD drawing that shows how an
earthing system is designed for different systems.
Table of Contents:
1. Earthing System Concept
2. Types of Earthing Systems You MUST Know:
1. TT System Directly Connected To the Earth
2. TN-S System With Separate Ground & Neutral Conductor
3. TN-C System With Combined Ground & Neutral Conductor
4. TN-C-S Multiple Protective Earthing System
5. IT Earthing System For Critical Applications
3. How to Calculate Earthing Cable Size?
4. How to Calculate Earthing System?
1. BONUS! 🔗 MS Excel Spreadsheet for Earthing Calculation (XLSX)
5. Components of Earthing System
6. How to Test Earthing System?
1. Soil Resistance Testing
2. Electrode Resistance Testing
1. Fall of Potential Method (Main Concept)
2. Earth Electrode Resistance FOP Test (Practical Test)
7. BONUS! 🔗 Earthing System AutoCAD Drawing (DWG)
1. Earthing System Concept
We can say that electrical earthing is the process of transferring the immediate
discharge of the electrical flow directly to the earth. Simple as that! This
transfer is achieved with the help of the low-resistance conductor implemented
for this purpose. It is an arrangement by which an electrical installation is
connected to a means of earthing.
All equipment and appliances must have an earthing terminal to discharge
currents to earth during faults. If there is no earthing system, a person in direct
contact with any appliance or device will get shocked by the current in case of
fault because it does not have a way to be discharged to earth.
Let us assume that someone wants to use the washing machine; the machine is
experiencing an internal fault which causes a breakdown in the insulation
of the internal wires allowing a current to flow through the body of the washing
machine, which in turn, if touched, the current will flow through that person’s
body causing severe consequences and may lead to death.
This scenario will likely happen if the machine’s body is not earthed; in other
words, it is not connected to a lower resistive pathway (earth wire) than the
body of the person touching the washing machine’s outer body.
Figure 1 – Earthing System Concept

Fi
gure 1 – Earthing System Concept
Such single-phase appliances’ plugs should have three pins: live, neutral and
earth. You will find that the bigger pin – meant to be bigger to decrease the
resistivity – of the wire plug is located at the upper center to allow the fault
current to be discharged to the earth.
This can also be called grounding.
Figure 2 – Fault current passing through human body (non-earthed equipment)
Figure 2 – Fault current passing through human body (non-earthed equipment)
Moreover, earthing can also be installed independently for some of the
equipment and metallic pipes and is called Equipotential Bonding. Bonding
involves joining all exposed metalwork and conductive items to the earthing
system so that they all have the same potential energy (voltage).
When two objects hold different potential energy, it can be hazardous if anyone
touches both objects simultaneously. This is because when a circuit is created
between two points of varying potential energy/voltage, the energy will flow from
the higher potential point to the lower potential point as fast as possible.
Figure 3 – Electrical equipment connected to earth

Figure 3 –
Electrical equipment connected to earth
This flow will result in a current that will travel through the person in direct
contact, which can be fatal if it is large enough. Examples of equipotential
bonding include connecting water and gas metal pipes to earth.
Also, it could be done in bathrooms and wet areas by connecting exposed

metals to the earth to ensure they are always at the same potential.
Considering the washing machine example mentioned earlier, if the person
touches the casing of the faulty earthed washing machine, the current will not
pass through the body and will be considered a safe situation.
However, when the same person touches a metal pipe at the same time
touching the faulty machine, a difference in the potential energy may happen to
lead to an electric shock.
In a nutshell, bonding is a technique used to minimize the danger of equipment
damage and personal injury by connecting all metals and conductive parts
to an earthing system so that all of them have the same potential energy
(voltage).
Whereas earthing connects a particular equipment to the earth. Therefore,
earthing must be included in any project’s design to protect people and devices
from potential faults.
Figure 4 – Equipotential bonding for metallic pipes

Fig
ure 4 – Equipotential bonding for metallic pipes
Go back to the Contents Table ↑
2. Types of Earthing Systems (You

MUST Know)
According to the British Standard and IEC 60364 standard, there are five main
types of earthing connections represented by two letters: T or N. The first letter
indicates whether the supply source equipment (Transformer or Generator) is
connected to a separate earthing.
The second letter indicates whether the load is directly earthed or not. There
could be a third and fourth letter to describe the neutral, whether separated or
connected, using the letters S, C, or both.
Figure 5 – House earthing system

Figure 5 – House earthing system
2.1 TT System Directly Connected To the

Earth
In this type of Earthing System, connection to the supply source is directly
connected to the earth, denoted by the first T. The consumer has solidly
earthed independently of the source earthing method, donated by the second
T.
The neutral and earthing conductors must be separated through the installation
because the power supply authority only provides the neutral or protective
conductor for the connection to the consumer. This method is the standard
arrangement for most installations fed from an overhead supply.
Figure 6 – TT Earthing System

Figure 6 – TT Earthing System
2.2 TN-S System With Separate Ground &

Neutral
In this system, the Ground Conductor & Neutral Conductor are separate
throughout the distribution system. The protective conductor is the metallic
covering of the cable supplying the installation.
All the exposed conductive parts of the installation are connected to this
protective conductor or via the main earthing terminal of the
installation. S indicates that the working neutral line and the protection line are
strictly separated, so the PE line is called a dedicated protection line.
The customer may have an earth terminal connected to the sheath of the
service cable or a separate earth conductor. Most installations with an
underground supply will likely be of this type of earthing.
Figure 7 – TN-S earthing system

Figure 7 – TN-S earthing system
2.3 TN-C System With Combined Ground &

Neutral
The Neutral and the protective earth are combined into a single conductor
throughout the system. All the exposed and conductive parts of the installation
are connected to the PEN conductor.
The third letter in this type of earthing, C, indicates that the working neutral and
protection lines are one. Therefore, in TN-C (Terra Neutral – Combined)
method, the earth and neutral share the same conductor (two-wire single-
phase).
The neutral conductor is also a protective conductor referred to as a PEN
(Protective Earth and Neutral) conductor.

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Earthing Calculation & CAD

Earthing system for a complex project: Analysis, calculation and installation

Figure 1 – Earthing System Concept

Figure 3 – Electrical equipment connected to earth

Also, it could be done in bathrooms and wet areas by connecting exposed

Figure 4 – Equipotential bonding for metallic pipes

Go back to the Contents Table ↑

2. Types of Earthing Systems (You

Figure 5 – House earthing system

Go back to the Contents Table ↑

2.1 TT System Directly Connected To the

Figure 6 – TT Earthing System

Go back to the Contents Table ↑

2.2 TN-S System With Separate Ground &

Figure 7 – TN-S earthing system

Go back to the Contents Table ↑

2.3 TN-C System With Combined Ground &

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