A Unified Theory of Neutral Grounding Methods in Power Distribution Systems

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.