2/18/2016

ElectricalIsolationRequirementandNeutralWire|FarazMirzaaghaMIEAustCPEngNER|LinkedIn

FarazMirzaaghaMIEAustCPEngNER
PowerSystemEngineeratSMECInternational

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ElectricalIsolationRequirementandNeutralWire
Jan6,2016

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Thecontroversialtopicofisolationrequirementandallthosequestionsthat
comeswithit:
IsitsufficienttoisolatetheactiveconductorsonlyinAlternatingCurrent
(AC)system?
DoesneutralrequiretobeisolatedinACsingleorthreephasesystems?
DoyouhavetoisolatebothnegativeandpositiveinDCsystem?
Regardlessofinwhichcountrywepractice,usaselectricalengineersmusttake
thismatterseriously.TheanswerisnotasimpleYesorNo.Assessmentmustbe
donecasebycase.IwilltakeyouthroughnumberofNationalandinternational
standardstofurtherclarifythematter.Hopefullythiswillshedsomelighton
isolationimplicationinourindustry.
InthisarticleIwillmainlyfocusonroleofNeutralconductorforisolation
purposes.Ingeneraltheintentof"neutral"conductoristoprovideareturnpath
fortheunbalancedportionofthecircuitcurrentandalsoinsomecasesa
protectiveearthlingsystem.

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ACSystem
Toisolateadevice/plantitisstatedinAustralianStandard(AS3000)andIEC
60364,allactiveconductorsofanACshallbecapableofbeingisolated.
Nowthequestionisthis:WhatisanActiveconductor?
TheactiveconductorisdefinedasAnyconductorthatismaintainedata
differenceofpotentialfromtheneutralorearthedconductor.Inasystemthat
doesnotincludeaneutralorearthedconductor,allconductorsshallbe
consideredtobeactiveconductors.ThisisquiteclearbutwhataboutNeutral?
Weallseenneutralbecomeactive(figurativelyspeaking).
Nowtherearetwoscenarios,oneisyoudonotswitchtheneutralduringisolation
andtheotherwhenyoumay.Notewhenitcomestoswitchingitislefttoyou
decideasperyoursystemconfiguration.
A)NotswitchingtheNeutral
1.Iftheconductorsuppliesthemain(distributiontransformerorsimilar)
2.Iftheneutralactasprotectiveearthandneutral(PEN),someofyoumay
knowitasTNC.ThisalsoappliestoTNCSsystemwherepartofthesystem
usesacombinedPENconductor,whichatsomepointwillsplitupinto
separatePEandNlines.ThissystemalsoknownasProtectiveMultipleEarth
(PME)inUKandMultipleEarthedNeutral(MEN)inAU,seefigurebelow.

OneofthereasonweusePME/MEN
systemistoreducetheriskofelectric
shockintheeventofabrokenPEN
conductor.Lookingattheleftschematic,if
yourisolationdevice(e.g.CB)isonthered
lineyoucanarguetheprotectiveearthis
notbrokenduringisolationalthoughyou
isolatedtheneutral.

Soaslongasthatneutralisgroundedatonepointanditisusedasaprotective
earthlingattheloadend,wearenotpermittedtoswitchit.
B)SwitchingtheNeutral

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ElectricalIsolationRequirementandNeutralWire|FarazMirzaaghaMIEAustCPEngNER|LinkedIn

IfyouhavenotsatisfiedtheconditionsaboveinsectionA,youmaynow
operateyourNeutralconsideringbelowfactorsapply:
1.Iftheneutralconductorisconnectedtoamultipoleswitch/breakeralong
withotheractiveconductors.Thatswitchshallhaveappropriateshortcircuit
breakingandmakingcapacity.Allpolesarelinkedtogetherintheswitch
whereallactiveandtheneutralconductorareoperatedatthesametime.
2.Iftherearemultipleswitcheswithoneneutralswitchortheneutralswitchis
physicallyseparatetoitscorrespondingactiveswitch.Youmayoperatethat
neutralswitchaslongasneutralcontactcannotremainopenwhentheactive
contactsareclosed.
Youmayoperatetheneutralpoleiftheneutralisoperatedatthesametimewith
othercorrespondingactiveconductorsoriftheneutralpoledoesnotopenbefore
anddoesnotcloseaftertheactivepole.Youcannowstarttoseethereasoning
behindoperatingandnotoperatingtheNeutral.
TheAustralianstandardstatesWhereanitemofswitchgearisrequiredto
disconnectallliveconductorsofacircuit,itshallbeofatypesuchthattheneutral
conductorcannotbedisconnectedorreconnectedwithouttherespectiveactive
conductorsalsobeingdisconnectedorreconnected
Floatingneutral
TheneutralshouldonlybeconnectedtogroundatonepointsuchasMEN.This
willcreateapathforcurrenttoreturntoserviceviaground.Ina3phasesystem
thegroundedneutralwillstabilizeallthreephases.Incaseofgroundbreakage
voltagepotentialwillbepresent.Similarlyifduringisolationweonlybreakthe
neutral,wewillhavefloatingneutral.Duringthisprocesswearedisturbingthe
currentpathwhichwouldreturnfromeachphasevianeutral.Inthisscenario
usuallythecurrentwillreturnviatheothertwophaseswhichresultsinvoltage
imbalance.Thisiswhenyouwillreadunexpectedhighvoltage(~100vinathree
phase415Vsystem)acrossyourEarthandNeutral,whichisquitedangerousand
unsafe.
Therearemanyreasonforfloatingneutralthemostcommonone,Iwouldsayis
sharedneutralwiring.Whereelectriciantrytosavetimeandmoney.Inbuildings
thesedaysmostelectricalequipmentarenonlinearwithcertainlevelof
harmonic(digitalworld!).Nothavingdedicatedneutralwirewillmeansallthese
currentwilladdupandreturnonsingleline.Alinethatisnotadequatelyrated
andwillleadtooverheatingandhighneutraltogroundvoltageandultimately
limitingyoursupplyvoltage.
Seebelowexampletofurtherclarifythematter.Letssaythetechnicianwould
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liketoperformmaintenanceonLoadA,i.e.singlephasesupplywithNeutralwire
andlocalearth.

ThetechnicianwillisolateplantAbyopeningSwitchA.Itispossibleforthe
techniciantobeelectrocutedviaNeutralconductor.Thatcanoccurdueto
existingpotentialdifferenceorafaultatloadBwhichcreatesapotential
differencebetweendistributionboard,LoadAorLoadB.Therearemanyother
scenarioswherethereissystemvulnerability.Thesesituationsusuallywill
happeninplaceswitholdwiringandbadpracticeswheretheelectriciantryto
savetimeandmoney!
Forthesamereasonnofuseshallbeinsertedinaneutralconductor.Soincaseof
faultyouwontloseyourneutralandmaintaincontinuity.Protectivedevicesthat
incorporateaswitchingfunctionintheneutralconductorshallcomplywiththe
requirementsofsectionB.
Whataboutatransferswitch?
Neutralswitchingwouldbe'required'(bycodessuchasNECandAS),ifthetwo
sourcesareindependentlygroundedi.e.separatelyderivedsystems.Thisisto
avoidmultipleneutralgroundingandproperfunctioningofgroundfaultcurrent
sensing/protection.

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AsperBS60947andAS,toisolatewemustswitchallliveandneutral

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ElectricalIsolationRequirement
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conductors.

Publishapost

DCsystem
GenerallyspeakingboththenegativeandpositiveinDCcircuitshallbecapableof
beingisolated.Inthefollowingscenariosyoumayonlyoperateonepolefor
isolation:

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Conversation
MarshallGoldsmith

ExtralowvoltageDCsystem
Whereoneofthepolesisconnectedtoearth.E.g.someUPSsystem,earthed

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D.C.negativeinbatterybanksandmidpointofPVstring.
Note:earthingonepolewillincreasepossibleearthfaultpaths,andpossible
problemswithcommonlyavailableEuropeaninvertertypesandinternalearth
faultdetectioncircuitry.

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