Difference between Earthing and Grounding

The main difference between earthing and grounding is that in earthing, the circuit connects directly to the ground to let the fault current flow safely and protect the system. In grounding, the circuit connects to the ground to release excess electrical energy and protect people and devices.

What is Earthing?

Earthing is used for the connection of the neutral wire to the ground in AC circuit. By earthing of neutral, it can protect the system during the phase to the earth fault condition.

As shown in the figure, during the phase to earth fault condition, the fault current can pass to the earthing of neutral. By detecting the fault current in the protection relay, the system can be isolated. Earthing plays a very important role in power system protection and stability.  The connection of earthing is designed in a way that can handle the maximum fault current of the system to identify and isolation of the fault.

What is Grounding?

People use grounding in all electrical and electronic devices. They connect the frame or outer body of each device to the ground to release extra electrical energy. When the device faces high voltage or an internal fault, the voltage may reach the outer body and create a danger for people. Grounding helps the voltage or surge flow safely to the ground and protects the operators.

The key difference between Earthing and Grounding | Earthing vs Grounding

1. Earthing protects the AC system during a phase-to-ground fault, and grounding discharges surge voltage from electrical or electronic devices to protect the operator.
2. The color code for earthing is black, and the color code for grounding is green.
3. People use a heavy-duty earth pit for earthing and a normal pipe setup for grounding.
4. Engineers mainly use neutral earthing in generators and transformers, while they use grounding for all electrical and electronic devices.