Grounding remains one of those areas of mystery in the power quality world. It seems to be nearly impossible to learn about grounding in a single seminar or text - there are too many unknowns, too many improbable situations, too many odd conjunctions of equipment sensitivities, facility wiring issues, and other unknowns. Grounding issues are best learned in the classroom of the real world, with eyes, with a screwdriver, with voltmeters, ammeters, and impedance meters. Often, you need to see it to believe it, and step through the problem yourself to truly understand it. The true grounding experts are the ones who have seen a lot, done a lot, and listened a lot. There is always something new to learn.

In this session, three experienced power quality engineers will tell their real world stories of dealing with grounding issues - from a facility standpoint, a utility standpoint, and a global standpoint. There is much acquired wisdom here, and those in attendance will walk away with new insights into the variety of grounding problems that can be encountered, as well as the problems solving techniques and problem resolution paths each veteran has used. I'm excited to sit in on this session, and I think you will be too.

Speaker: Judith Russell PowerLines

Paper Presentations

Protecting Power Grids Against Ground Transients

Unexpected Consequences of a Poor Utility Ground

Case Studies on How Improper Grounding Affects Healthcare Facilities Worldwide