CO-ORDINATED EARTHING FOR PROTECTION OF

RAILWAY SIGNALING AND COMMUNICATION

SYSTEMS

Matthew Caie – Vice President ERICO

Co-ordinated earthing for protection of railway signaling and

PENTAIR communication systems 1 PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
 Why is an Earthing System Important?

No single technology or step can

eliminate the harmful
effects of lightning or
system event induced surges.

In response, ERICO had developed the Six Point

Plan of protection to provide a holistic and
coordinated approach that embraces all aspects of
effective facility electrical protection.

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 Co-ordinated Approach to Earthing
1. Capture the lightning strike to a known and preferred
attachment point.
2. Safely convey this energy to ground.

3. Dissipate the energy into a low impedance

grounding system.
4. Bond all ground points together to eliminate
ground loops and create an equipotential plane.

5. Protect incoming AC power feeders

6. Protect low voltage data/telecommunication circuits.

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 The foundation of a reliable
protection system

PROTECTION

BONDING

EARTHING
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 Elements of an Effective Earthing System
• Technology to transfer energy to ground
– Lightning Strike Systems
– Surge Protection
– Busbars and Conductors

• Reliable bonds within the system

– Connections (above and below grade)
– Physical System Layout

• Reliable earthing conductors

– Earth Rods
– Conductors (above and below grade)

• Material to improve grounding resistance (as necessary)

– Earth Enhancement Materials

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 SHOWS CABLE CONNECTION
EXPOSED TO WEATHER

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 10 Years in the Same Soil Conditions

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 Earth Electrodes

Comparison of life expectancy

50
45 50
40
35 45
30 35
Years 25
20
15
10 15
5
0
Zinc Copperbonded Copperbonded Stainless Steel
Galvanized Steel (250um) Steel (330um)

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Lowering Earth Resistance

Earthing Enhancement Materials

Available in Several Forms

Including Powders, Granules,
Pellets, Gels and Cementitious
Mixtures

Ground Rod and Conductor with

Earthing Enhancement Material

Copyright 2014 ERICO International Corporation. All rights reserved.

 Long Term Grounding System Study commissioned by NFPA

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IEC 62561-7

Lightning Protection
System Components
(LPSC), Part 7:
Requirements for Earthing
Enhancing Compounds

Published November, 2011

– Leaching
– Sulfur
– Resistivity
– Corrosion
– Marking / Indications
– Test Report
Copyright 2014 ERICO International Corporation. All rights reserved.
 Bond (Connect) Grounds Together

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 BondGrounding
(Connect)Design
Earth Systems
The layout of the
bonding system
matters.

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 Bond (Connect) Earth Systems
When normal operating conditions dictate
that equipment grounds remain isolated, a
Potential Equalization Clamp (PEC) can be
used for this purpose.

PEC PEC

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 Equipotential Bonding
Integration of electronic systems
into the bonding network

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 Equipotential Bonding

Star configuration
• All metal components (e.g. cabinets, enclosures,
racks) of the internal systems shall be isolated
from inherent paths to earth..
• Shall be integrated into the earthing system only by
a single bonding bar acting as the earth reference
point (ERP)
• Can be used where internal systems are located in
relatively small zones and all lines enter the zone
at one point only (at the ERP)
• Achieves Equipotential by keeping surge currents
out of the equipment earthing lines

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 Equipotential Bonding

Achieves
Equipotential by SPD
keeping surge
currents out of
the equipment
earthing lines

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Star configuration example PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
 Equipotential Bonding

Meshed configuration
• All metal components (e.g. cabinets, enclosures,
racks) of the internal systems are not to be isolated
from the earthing system, but shall be integrated
into it by multiple bonding points
• Is preferred for internal systems extended over
relatively wide zones or over a whole structure,
where many lines run between the individual
pieces of equipment, and where the lines enter the
structure at several points
• Achieves Equipotential by having many parallel
low-impedance paths

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 Equipotential Bonding

SPD

Achieves reasonable
Equipotential by having
many parallel low-
impedance paths

Meshed configuration example

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 Surge Protection
How surges enter facilities

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 Surge Protection

How surges enter facilities

Earth Potential Rise

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 SURGE AND TRANSIENT
PROTECTION
Surge Protection needs:
A suitable Surge Rating
• Handles Lightning surges
• Provides a good lifetime

A suitable Let-through Voltage

• Protects the equipment

To be installed correctly

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 Surge Protection Compliance
Safety
What ratings are required

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 Surge Current Ratings

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 Surge Current Ratings

Partial Direct Lightning Currents Attenuated Surge Currents

(Outgoing surges) (Incoming surges)
IEC Test Class I (10/350us) IEC Test Class II (8/20us)
IEEE Scenario II IEEE Scenario I

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Product specification is equally as important as design
layout and installation

Separation of “clean”
and “dirty” wiring

Low Impedance
Ground Plane

SPD features:
- Surge rating
- Let-through
- Modes of
protection
 There may easily be over
100 conductors to
terminate.

Each conductor entering

a bungalow from the
outside will be terminated
and have a lightning
arrestor, surge
suppressor, or a
combination of
arrestor/equalizer at the
entry point.

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 SPD Installation – Wiring

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SPD Installation – Wiring
Approximately 4
metres of wiring
length
 Surge Arrestor brought right into middle of control room

Risk of induction onto other adjacent circuits

• as it comes upto this arrestor
• as earth lead carries the surge back to the earth.

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PENTAIR PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
 CO-ORDINATED EARTHING FOR PROTECTION OF
RAILWAY SIGNALING AND COMMUNICATION
SYSTEMS

Matthew Caie – Vice President ERICO

Co-ordinated earthing for protection of railway signaling and

PENTAIR communication systems 33 PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL