An Introduction to Safety Grounding

Safety or protective grounding is of vital importance for the protection of individuals from electric shock and structures and industrial concerns from potentially damaging lightning and electrostatic discharges. To many electrical engineers the notion of grounding is nebulous and safety grounding is quite often confused with neutral grounding of the power supply. The main objective of this book is to give the reader a better understanding of safety grounding, why it is needed, where it is needed, and what are the requirements which must be met in order to have an effective grounding system. The text as a whole serves to provide the reader with the necessary background for a better appreciation of the various National and International Standards concerned with safety grounding.

This book gives the reader a good understanding of the fundamentals of safety grounding. It is a practical guide that provides a comprehensive coverage of all types of grounding requirements and is intended for students and practicing electrical engineers alike.

• Summarizes the physiological effects of current on the human body and the effect of current duration
• Gives the various methods of measuring soil resistivity and measuring the resistance to ground of an electrode or grounding system
• Reviews different types of ground electrodes and the effect of their geometry and numbers on the resistance to ground
• Presents the components of a ground system, methods of improving soil resistivity, the types of welds and joints, the criteria for determining conductor cross-sections, galvanic corrosion, and a survey of the different grounding practices used at substations and the different types of grounding systems used for the protection of consumers
• Deals with electrostatic and lightning hazards that can cause serious damage and the measures used to protect against such damage
• Throughout the text frequent reference is made to various National and International Standards and their requirements as compliance with these standards is highly advised

Asser A. Zaky, Ph.D., FIET, F.Inst.P., FIEEE, is Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering at University of Alexandria, Egypt.