ITU-T K.

27 Bonding configurations and earthing inside a

telecommunication building
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
(ETS 300253) Earthing and bonding of telecommunication
equipment in telecommunication centres
EN 50310 Application of equipotential bonding and earthing
in buildings with information technology equipment
MAINTENANCE HANDBOOK ON EARTHING & SURGE
PROTECTION FOR S&T INSTALLATIONS-Indian Railways
Indian Standard 3043 CODE OF PRACTICE FOR EARTHING
Fourth Reprint JUNE 2007
 EARTHING

Functional Protective
Earthing(FE) Earthing(PE)

Protection Protection
Provides Earth Protection
EMC Protection from electric from Power
return path from lightning
shock (Safety) system failures
 Functional earth connection will act as an
electromagnetic interference filter (reducing the
effects of electrical noise and harmonics)

Telecommunication techniques sometimes use

circuits for signaling (E&M signaling) with earth
return, e.g., lines with ground start, three wire
inter-exchange connection, etc. Equipment
interconnected by these circuits needs functional
earthing. The signaling range is normally
determined by the resistance of the current path.
Most of this resistance is contributed by the earth
electrodes
 Protective earth (PE) connections ensure that all exposed
conductive surfaces are at the same electrical potential as the
surface of the Earth, to avoid the risk of electrical shock if a
person touches a device or containment system in which a
fault has occurred

Protection against electric shock (Safety)

Protection against Power system failures
Protection against lightning
 protection of personnel and property from
hazards require thorough grounding of
equipment and structures.
Proper grounding results in less likelihood of
accidents to personnel
hazards of shock and fire may result from
inadequate grounding of equipment in
unearthed and earthed systems
 Common Power
system failures

Contact with a
Short Circuit in high voltage
Lightning Surges
Equipment system, Line-to-
ground fault,

Fuse, ELCB &

Fuse & ELCB Class B SPD at Class C SPD at
Class C SPD
Protection EB Panel Power Plant
Protection
 EQUI POTENTIAL BONDING
Low Impedance path to Earth
Improving Soil Resistivity

Lightning strike duration will be in the range

of 10 to 300 Secs. Hence the frequency will
be in the range of Mega Hz.
Providing Low impedance path is more
important & relevant than its Resistance
 Electrical connection putting various exposed
conductive parts and extraneous conductive
parts at a substantially equal potential same
as the surface of the Earth.
 Telecommunications Main Grounding Busbar
(TMGB) is typically located in the
telecommunications entrance facility where
the telecommunications cables enter the
building.
This busbar is pre-drilled and made of copper
with a minimum of 4-in.-wide by -in. thick
material of varying length. It is to be connected
to the main electrical ground with an
appropriately sized copper conductor.
 In all other telecommunications rooms, there
is to be a telecommunications grounding
busbar (TGB), to be made of copper with pre-
drilled holes and minimum dimensions of 2-
in.-wide by -in.-thick material of varying
length. These are to be connected back to the
TMGB through appropriately sized copper
conductors that form the telecommunications
bonding backbone (TBB)
 Frames & Racks inside cabinet must be
interconnected using 4 sq.mm multi strand
copper cable.
Cabinet must be connected to TGB using 16
sq.mm multi strand copper cable. If length is
morethan 4mtr, use 25 sq.mm cable/copper
strip.
All TGBs are to be connected to MTGB using
35 sq.mm multi strand copper cable/Copper
strip/GI strip/GI Pipe.
 The use of flat tape rather than circular conductors. For
a given cross-section of conductor, this increases the
surface area, and reduces the high frequency resistance
due to skin effects. Flat tape also tends to have a lower
inductance per metre than a circular conductor of
equivalent cross-sectional area.
Using large bending radii when changing the direction
of conductors. Sharp bends tend to increase the
inductance.
Avoid TGB looping, it will tend to increase the
inductance
 The resistance of a conductor at
DC (0 Hz) depends on its cross-
sectional area. A conductor with a
larger area has a lower resistance.
The resistance also depends on
frequency because the effective
cross-sectional area changes with
frequency. For alternating
currents (AC), the skin effect
causes the resistance to increase
with increasing frequency.
For low frequencies, the effect is
negligible. For AC at frequencies
high enough that the skin depth is
small compared to the conductor
size, the skin effect causes most Skin depth is due to the
of the current to flow near the circulatingeddy
conductor's surface. At high
enough frequencies, the interior currents (arising from a
of a large conductor does not changing H field) cancelling
carry much current. the current flow in the center
of a conductor and reinforcing
it in the skin.
 The soil resistivity depends on

Moisture content in the soil

Chemical composition of soil and
Concentration of salts dissolved in the moisture.

Earth electrode can be Copper Plate or Hot

Galvanized GI Plate. GI Plate will degrade 2% during
10 years, whereas Copper Plate will degrade only
0.2%. Copper coated Iron plate is the cost effective
solution.
 The most commonly used substances are
sodium chloride ( N a C l ) , also known as
common salt, calcium chloride (CaCl2 ) ,
sodium carbonate (Na2CO3 ), copper
sulphate (CuSO4 ) , salt and soft coke, and
salt and charcoal in suitable proportions.
 approximate resistance R of the single
electrode in ohms:

R=2/L
where L = length of conductor in metres
= resistivity of the soil in ohm-metres
 approximate resistance R ohms:

R=1/nL
where L = length of conductor in metres
= resistivity of the soil in ohm-metres
 approximate resistance R of the single
electrode in ohms:

R=0.8/L
where L = the perimeter of the plate in
metres
= resistivity of the soil in ohm-metres
 This polarity is chosen to minimize corrosion
in the outside cable plant

If the current flows in that direction

which necessitates the metal acting as
anode, then corrosion results. If the
current flows in the opposite direction,
i.e., from the electrolyte into the metal,
the latter receives protection from
corrosion. For external plant, Metal
and the soil act as electrodes and the
moisture present will act as electrolyte.