15 ARC 5.

3 – BUILDING SERVICES – 2
( Electrical Services & Illumination )

EARTHING & LIGHTNING

PROTECTION SYSTEM
DATE : 27/09/19
BGSSAP, VA

Presented By : Ar.Chetan Tippa – Asst Prof BGSSAP

EARTHING

Earthing : According to Indian Electricity rules, the earthed or connected with earth means connected
with the general mass of the earth in such manner as to ensure at all time an immediate discharge of
energy without danger.
The meaning of the term earthing or grounding is to connect the electrical equipment to the general
mass of the earth by wire of negligible resistance. This brings the body of the electrical equipment to
zero potential and thus will avoid the shock to the operator.

Purpose of Earthing :
1. To save human life from danger or shock or death by blowing fuse of any apparatus which becomes
leaky.
2. To protect large buildings from atmospheric lightning.
3. To protect all machines fed from O.H lines from lightning arrestors.
4. To maintain line voltage constant ( neutral of every alternator, transformer is earthed )

Presented by Ar.Chetan Tippa – Asst Prof - BGSSAP

TYPES OF EARTHING

1. Plate earthing &

2. Pipe earthing

• PLATE EARTHING :
1. In plate earthing, the looping earth wire is bolted effectively with the earth plate made up of copper
size 60cmX60cmX3.18mm ( 2’X2’X1/4”) and embedded 3 meters in the ground.
2. Copper plates are found to be most effective earth electrodes and are not affected by the soil
moisture i.e they do not get rusted. But on account of its high material cost, galvanized iron plates
are preferred and usually used for normal work.
3. In case the soil resistivity is high, the plate should be placed vertically in ground at a higher depth.
4. The plate is kept with its face vertical and is so arranged that is embed in an alternate layer of coke
and salt for a minimum thickness of about 15cm. The coke salt decreases the earth resistance.
5. It should be remembered that the nuts and bolts must be of copper for copper plate and should be
of G.I for G.I plates.
6. Usually, the earth wire is drawn through a G.I pipe fitted with a tunnel on the top through which
salty water is poured in the pit of the earth plate from time to time in summer season when the
Presented by Ar. Chetan Tippa – Asst Prof - BGSSAP
TYPES OF EARTHING

moisture of the soil will decrease to a larger extent which will increase the earth resistance.
7. The conductivity i.e earthing efficiency , increases with the increase of plate area and depth of embedding. Its only
disadvantage is that discontinuity of earth wire and plate below the earth cannot be observed physically; hence
sometimes it is misleading and sometimes results in heavy loss in case of any fault.

Plate Earthing
Source : Basic Electrical Engineering, M.L.Anwani , Page no 273

Presented by Ar. Chetan Tippa – Asst Prof - BGSSAP

TYPES OF EARTHING

PIPE EARTHING :
1. In pipe earthing, a G.I pipe of 38mm dia and 2 meters ( 7 feet ) length is embedded vertically in
ground to work as earth electrode but the depth depends upon the soil conditions, there is no hard
and fast rule for this.
2. The earth wires are fastened to the top section of the pipe with nut bolts.
3. The pit area around the G.I pipes is filled with salt and coal mixture for improving the soil condition
and efficiency of the earthing system.
4. The contact surface area of G.I . Pipe with soil is more in comparison to the plate because of its
circular section and hence can take up heavy leakage current for the same electrode size.
5. The earth wire connection with the G.I pipe being above the ground level can be checked for carrying
out continuity tests as and when desired while in plate earthing it is difficult.

Presented by Ar. Chetan Tippa – Asst Prof - BGSSAP

TYPES OF EARTHING

Pipe Earthing
Source : Basic Electrical Engineering, M.L.Anwani , Page no 274

Presented by Ar. Chetan Tippa – Asst Prof - BGSSAP

LIGHTNING SYSTEM DESIGN

LIGHTNING SYSTEM DESIGN :

The 3 types of lightning protection system :-
1. The lightning rod (simple rod or with triggering system)
2. The lightning rod with taut wires
3. The lightning conductor with meshed cage (Faraday cage)

The system consists of:

1. The capture device: the lightning protection system;
2. Down-conductors designed to convey the lightning current to earth;
3. "crow's foot" earth leads connected together;
4. links between all metallic frames (equipotential bonding) and the earth leads.

When the lightning current flows in a conductor, if potential differences appear between it and the
frames connected to earth that are located in the vicinity, the latter can cause destructive flashovers.

Pipe Earthing
Source : Basic Electrical Engineering, M.L.Anwani , Page no 274

Presented by Ar. Chetan Tippa – Asst Prof - BGSSAP

LIGHTNING SYSTEM DESIGN

LIGHTNING SYSTEM DESIGN :

1. The lightning rod (simple rod or with triggering system) :
The lightning rod is a metallic capture tip placed at the top of the building. It is earthed by one or more
conductors (often copper strips) (see Fig. J12).

Source : http://www.electrical-installation.org/enwiki/Building_protection_system

Presented by Ar. Chetan Tippa – Asst Prof - BGSSAP

LIGHTNING SYSTEM DESIGN

LIGHTNING SYSTEM DESIGN :

2. The lightning rod with taut wires :
These wires are stretched above the structure to be protected. They are used to protect special
structures: rocket launching areas, military applications and protection of high-voltage overhead lines
(see Fig. J13).

Source : http://www.electrical-installation.org/enwiki/Building_protection_system

Presented by Ar. Chetan Tippa – Asst Prof - BGSSAP

LIGHTNING SYSTEM DESIGN

LIGHTNING SYSTEM DESIGN :

3. The lightning conductor with mesh cage :
• This protection involves placing numerous down conductors/tapes symmetrically all around the
building. (see Fig. J14).
• This type of lightning protection system is used for highly exposed buildings housing very sensitive
installations such as computer rooms.

Source : http://www.electrical-installation.org/enwiki/Building_protection_system

Presented by Ar. Chetan Tippa – Asst Prof - BGSSAP