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An earth-leakage protection device is a safety device used in electrical installations to prevent shock. It consists of either a current sensing mechanism, or a voltage sensing mechanism. Such devices may be found in the form of either a circuit breaker, known as an earth-leakage circuit breaker (ELCB), or built into a socket (aka receptacle).
A residual-current device (RCD), residual-current circuit breaker (RCCB) or ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) [a] is an electrical safety device, more specifically a form of Earth-leakage circuit breaker, that interrupts an electrical circuit when the current passing through line and neutral conductors of a circuit is not equal (the term residual relating to the imbalance), therefore ...
Single-wire earth return (SWER) or single-wire ground return is a single-wire transmission line which supplies single-phase electric power from an electrical grid to remote areas at lowest cost. The earth (or sometimes a body of water) is used as the return path for the current, to avoid the need for a second wire (or neutral wire ) to act as a ...
Earth fault protection also requires current transformers and senses an imbalance in a three-phase circuit. Normally the three phase currents are in balance, i.e. roughly equal in magnitude. If one or two phases become connected to earth via a low impedance path, their magnitudes will increase dramatically, as will current imbalance.
The diagram shows leakage current from an appliance such as an electric motor A flowing through the building's ground system G to the neutral wire at the utility ground bonding point at the service panel. The ground loop between components C1 and C2 creates a second parallel path for the current. [8]
Electromechanical protective relays operate by either magnetic attraction, or magnetic induction. [9]: 14 Unlike switching type electromechanical relays with fixed and usually ill-defined operating voltage thresholds and operating times, protective relays have well-established, selectable, and adjustable time and current (or other operating parameter) operating characteristics.
A normal relay uses a wire coil and the mechanical movement of the metal contacts to switch the load on and off. The metal contacts may weld shut after repeated operation cycles. If this happens, the machine would continue running if the operator pressed the emergency stop pushbutton. This would be hazardous for the operator.
A solid state relay (SSR) is an electronic switching device that switches on or off when an external voltage (AC or DC) is applied across its control terminals. They serve the same function as an electromechanical relay , but solid-state electronics contain no moving parts and have a longer operational lifetime.