Investigation on the earthing system installation for buildings and structures in Sarawak

Abstract

In electrical engineering, grounding or earthing may be defined as the act of connecting general mass of earth with electrically conducting materials of an installation which under normal conditions do not carry a voltage or charge. Flash protection and earthing systems around the world are now governed by national and international standards that emphasize comprehensive solution requirements. In other words, the structure of lightning protection system cannot and will not protect electronics systems over lightning and transient over voltages. For this reason, a good earthing system is required to provide effective life security and reliable long-term protection and electronics systems. In this study, the safety aspect, type of protection and functionality of earthing system for selected buildings and structures in Sarawak especially in Kuching was identified and discussed. It covers a wide range of earthing system requirements for at home residences, commercial buildings, power systems and telecommunications structures, datacentres, healthcare centres and others. Earthing resistance value of selected buildings and structures was measured, validate and analysed. The analysis of the earthing resistance system was done using AutoGroundandDesign software by Safe Engineering Services & technologies ltd. (SES). The simulation-based result was compared with the measurement-based value. From the result, the conditions of the soil that have a low earth resistivity had a good earthing system and high safety protection for the electrical equipment and the human life eventhough the design is just one earthing copper rod being installed vertically into the soil. The implications to buildings and structures in Kuching, Sarawak from the measurement-based result and simulation-based result are the venue of sites for development of buildings and structures need to consider also the soils condition as long as the sites is still having a huge area to develop. If not, needs to design the earthing system with the design that have the lowest earthing resistance value that is Hemispherical Electrode design.