Earthing is an essential process for connecting electrical systems to the ground to prevent people from suffering electrical shock. In the process of earthing, the dead part of an electrical system (i.e., parts that carry no current under ordinary conditions like electrical panels, transformer body, and motor body) is connected to the earth. While earthing is a completely safe procedure, there are times when faults are inevitable.
An earth fault is an open-circuit ground fault in which a power-carrying earth cable or live conductor breaks or falls on the surface of the earth or becomes detached from its place. To learn more about earth faults and why they may occur, this article provides a brief overview of the possible causes of earth faults and their essential effect.
Understanding an Earth Fault and Its Possible Causes
As mentioned earlier, an earth fault is an open-circuit ground fault that occurs when an electrical earth cable or live conductor falls on the surface of the earth or gets detached from its place. To put it simply, when an earth fault happens, a current-carrying conductor comes in direct contact with the earth’s surface. Due to this direct contact between the live conductor and the surface of the earth, a large amount of current begins to flow to the earth as a consequence of the earth’s conducting nature.
Earth faults may occur because of several reasons. However, puncture or failure of the insulator is considered the primary cause of earth fault in an overhead line. Insulators are utilised in overhead lines to facilitate insulation between live conductors and metallic towers already connected with the surface of the earth. If the insulator is punctured or if the insulation of the insulator fails, the fault current will flow through the live conductor as well as the metallic tower to the earth, thereby creating an earth fault.
Another possible reason why an earth fault may occur is that, sometimes, unusual loads on line cause overhead lines to break and fall to the ground. In this case, the live conductor becomes directly in contact with the ground, which then creates a huge earth fault in the electrical system. When it comes to underground PV cabling systems, earth faults could arise because of insulation damage during installation, damage to the module back sheet during installation, or abrasion damage to the cable sheath.
Effect of an Earth Fault
When an earth fault takes place, it most often results in the electrical system becoming short-circuited. The short-circuited current then flows through the electrical system to the surface of the earth. When the fault current returns through any electrical equipment or the earth, it interrupts the continuity of the supply and potentially causes damage to the equipment.
A huge amount of current flowing to the earth can also cause a drop in the voltage, which can impact the other loads and may cause the burning of the line or phase. When this occurs, the electrical system user may also suffer from an electric shock, which can sometimes become fatal to one’s life. For this reason, it is very important to detect any earth leakage fault before it turns into a more serious and damaging electrical issue.
Conclusion
The occurrence of an earth fault is not unusual in an electrical system. There are several possible reasons why an earth fault may happen, but the most common one is the failure of the insulator. When an earth fault is not prevented or resolved right away, it could result in potentially disastrous effects, including causing an electric shock. Hence, be sure to prevent earth faults by adopting some preventive measures, such as consulting with professionals in installing and operating an electrical system.
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