A graphical method for safety assessment of grounding systems

Author

Lee, Chien-Hsing ; MelioPoulos, A. P Sakis ; James, Rowland I.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., I-Shou Univ., Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Volume

3

fYear

2000

fDate

23-27 Jan 2000

Firstpage

2016

Abstract

This paper presents a graphical method for safety assessment of grounding systems. For a grounding system to be safe, the maximum touch and step voltages should not exceed postulated safety criteria. The method presented in this paper is applicable to the safety criteria of the IEEE Standard 80 as well as the IEC-479-1. Both standards define safety criteria in terms of allowable body current. The allowable body current is then translated into the allowable touch and step voltages. Thus, safety assessment of a grounding system is referred to a procedure by which the actual maximum touch and step voltages are computed and compared to the maximum allowable (safe) touch and step voltages. Since the IEC-479-1 safety criteria are nonlinear, a graphical method is presented for safety assessment

Keywords

IEC standards; IEEE standards; earthing; electric shocks; safety; IEC-479-1; IEEE Standard 80; allowable body current; electric shock model; graphical method; grounding systems; maximum allowable step voltage; maximum allowable touch voltage; maximum step voltage; maximum touch voltage; safety assessment; safety criteria; Circuit faults; Current; Electric shock; Electrical safety; Fibrillation; Grounding; Humans; Personnel; Power system interconnection; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Power Engineering Society Winter Meeting, 2000. IEEE

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5935-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PESW.2000.847663

Filename

847663