Abstract
The neutral grounding in power distribution system is an important
aspect for earth fault protection, power supply reliability and safety.
The performance varies greatly with different grounding methods by which
the protective effect presents various results with identical impedance
of single phase earth fault. Arguments for better neutral protection has
been continued in the distribution field for decades, unfortunately,
there is still not a conclusion due to the discussions lacking of a
unified modelling or theory of neutral groundings. Thus, the
understanding of neutral grounding in most countries differs
considerably. Surprisingly solid/isolated grounding in some countries is
still considered as a mainstream grounding method in today’s
distribution grids, likewise, some utilities are still persisting on
adopting resistance grounding to pursue to improve detection sensitivity
and reliability, and so on. In this paper, a unified theory is proposed
to shed light on the neutral groundings within one unprecedented
modelling by which neutral groundings can be compared and evaluated
quantitatively for the first time in the history of power distribution
field perhaps.