WHY NEUTRAL GROUNDING

RESISTORS NEED
CONTINUOUS MONITORING.

CMK
B.E(EEE)

Neutral Grounding Resistors.

It is a grounding device
for non isolated
system, which is used
to connect neutral
point of transformer to
earth through
resistance.
Used to limit the fault
current in a generator
or a transformer during
earth faults.

Neutral grounding resistor.

Advantages Of NGR.
Reduces

over voltages.

Reduced

equipment damage.

Isolation

of faulted circuit.

Reduced

operation/maintenance expense.

Increase

safety.

Increased

lightning protection.

NGRs Failure Modes, Causes

And Consequences.
Failure

mode is usually open circuit.

NGR

a)
b)

Desired fault current cannot flow.

Ungrounded system.

Conti
NGR in short circuited mode.

NGR

a)

Undesired fault current can flow.

b)

Solidly grounded system.

Need For NGR

Monitoring.
Properly

designed resistance

grounding can avoid.

a) Eliminate transient over voltages.
b) Reduce the risk of an arc flash.
c) Provide continuity of service.
d) Provide accurate current for ground fault

detection.

NGR Failure Detection Methods.

Event discovery.
NGR checking during
maintenance doesnt
guarantee its
working.
Response to injected
current only ensures
the working of relay
only.
NGR disconnected for
testing and do not
reconnect.

A primary current injection testing

..this ensures the need of CONTINUOUS NGR

MONITORING

Over voltage and over current

measurement as NGR monitor
(51N)- Over current
measurement
(59N)- Over voltage
measurement

Resistance measurement as
an NGR monitor

But an ohmmeter is

Possibility of
measuring
continuity through
ground fault

Resistance
measurement
through the
faulted phase and
ground

Continuity through
a faultthrough a ground
Continuity

fault

So the effective method is to

include

An over current
protection

An over voltage
protection

An resistance
measuring
instrument

Continuous Monitoring
Requirements
Should

detect NGR failure in spite of

ground fault
Should work in tripping and alarm
only systems
Monitoring neutral and ground
connections
Monitoring shouldnt be
capacitively/inductively coupled to
NGR
Monitor should not be exposed to

Role of sensing resistor in

NGR monitoring

NGR MONITOR

Case studies
Soft
a)
b)
c)

d)

e)

starter failure
Soft starter operated in unexpected manner.
When the neutral properly grounded, all three
voltage signals are balanced.
Failure of the NGR allows the neutral voltage to float
and the three voltage signals to become
unbalanced.
studying the situation the manufacturer concluded
that the problem was due to unbalanced reference
voltages.
further study and customer interviews it was
determined that an open NGR was responsible for
the unbalanced reference voltages.

Conti
Loose
a)

b)
c)

d)

connection of an NGR
The following incident occurred at a
mine in Eastern Canada on a 200 A,
4160 V NGR.
NGR monitoring relay tripped on a
resistor fault.
Upon inspection, electricians
noticed a loose connection on the
NGR
Eight other loose connections were
found and repaired.

CONCLUSION
The

information presented here has shown that an

open NGR is an undesirable situation and currentsensing ground-fault protection will not indicate the
presence of a ground fault. A well-designed NGR
monitor provides continuous protection against failures
that previously rendered ground fault protection, NGR ,
as well as leaving the system exposed to damaging
transient over voltages. An NGR monitor provides
confidence that current-sensing ground-fault protection
will operate as designed on the next ground fault. A
continuous NGR monitor is active when control power is
applied and indicates NGR health whether or not the
system is energized, with or without a ground fault.

Thank you