IEE Transactions on Power ApparatusandSystems,Vol.

PAS-95, no. 1, JanuaryfFebruary 1976

TECHNIQUE

SPACING OPTIMIZED GROUNDING GRID DESIGN USING VARIABLE

J. G. Sverak, Member IEEE

United Engineers & Constructors Inc. Philadelphia,Pennsylvania

ABSTRACT

The envelope of e a r t hs u r f a c ep o t e n t i a lc u r v e s i s dist i n c t l y convex f o r grounding mats with many meshes. Such a condition i s d i f f i c u l t t o a n a l y z e w i t h t h e e s t ablishedmethods,whichareprimarilydevisedforcala culating .the corner mesh voltage. For this reason, large, equally spaced grid may be overdesigned toward t h e c e n t e r and underdesignedtoward the perimeter. Aiming to remedy such problems, this paper analyzes and modifiestheexisting method of IEEE Guide No. 80, t o allow a r e c u r s i v e p o i n t by point integration of surface progradients through consecutive meshes. A computer i s described and t h e gram for optimized grid design i s documented . b y computer e f f e c t of spacing geometry plotted voltage profiles.
INTRODUCTION

and K i l i s an i r r e g u l a r i t yc o r r e c t i o nf a c t o rt oa l l o w fornon-uniformityofgroundcurrentflowfrom d i f f e r e n t p a r t s ofthegrid,determinedempiri c a l l y as:

K i l = 0.65

+ 0.172

(3)

L i s the t o t al e n g t h meters;

of buried conductors, in

I i s the m a x m iu m t o t a l rms

current, flowing between ground g r i d and e a r t h , as a d j u s t e d by t h e a possible dc f i b r i l l a t i o n decrement factor for currentoffset,in amperes; of the ground, in

0 is

Following i t s p u b l i c a t i o ni n 1961, IEEE Guide No. 801 a very popular guide for substation has proved to be groundingapplications. The a b i l i t y t o p r o v i d e a simple, yet conceptually solid approach t o grounding system analysis, and even more a reasonable solimportantly, a method forobtaining u t i o n by p e n c i l and .paper, have been undoubtedly the I t s procedures for determost appreciated features. miningthesaferangeofstep,touch and mesh v o l t a g e s are generally accepted by the industry. However, i f compared with more rigorous methods, an unr e s t r a i n e d a p p l i c a t i o n of t h e p r e s e n t IEEE method occaa large s i o n a l l y may p r o d u c ei n c o n s i s t e n tr e s u l t sf o r groundinggrid. I np a r t i c u l a r ,t h ee q u a t i o nf o rt h e mesh voltageof rectangular,equallyspacedgrid,concerningthefirst mesh from t h e p e r i m e t e r i s : hsh(1) = K m l Kil ? I / L

the average resistivity meter-ohms.

Thisequation(1)gives somewhat lower values for grids with more than four meshes, i n comparison with the values obtained from e x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l t s o r c a l c u l a t e d by o t h e r a n a l y t i c a l m e t h 0 d s ? , ~ * 7 design requirement may Also, a contradicting from t h e u s e o f t h e e q u a t i o n f o r s t e p v o l t a g e , g i v e n result as

where Ksl i s t h e s t e p p o t e n t i a l c o e f f i c i e n t , c a l c u l a t e d i n s i m p l i f i e d form, as

a
when a t t e m p t i n g t o s a t i s f y b o t h t h e s t e p and mesh v o l t age limits i n a r e c t a n g u l a r a r e a which i s not too wide, i s high. For instance, and i tfh e s o irl e s i s t i v i t y i s i n c r e a s e di no r d e r to when t h e number ofconductors lower mesh p o t e n t i a l s , t h e combined e f f e c t of h i g h e r K i and Ks c a n o f f s e t t h e i n f l u e n c e o f t h e i n c r e a s e d l e n g t h L i n ( 4 ) , so t h a t an increase, rather than the expected simultaneous decrease of calculated step voltageasults. For c l a r i t y , l e t
i t be notedthat:
I

(1)

where K m l i s a surface potential coeffident taking into account the effect of number n,spacing D , diameter d, and depth of b u r i ah lo ,t fh e grid conductors, which a r e m u t u a l l y p a r a l l e l , c a l c u l a t e d as:

1. Touch v o l t a n e i s the Dotential difference between t h e ground e l e c t r o d e p o t e n t i a l rise and t h e earth surface potential at the point where a man i s standing on his feet, while simultaneously having a grounded s t r u c t u r e , h i s hands i nc o n t a c tw i t h during a f a u l t ; 2. Mesh v o l t a g e i s the worst possible value of touch v o l t a g e t o be found w i t h i n a mesh of a grounding a t , or near the cengridu , sually if standing t e r of the mesh; Paper F 75 526-4, recommended and approved by the IEEE Substations Cornmittee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society for presentation at the IEEE PES Summer Meeting, San Francisco, Calif., July 20-25, 1975. Manwript submitted February 5,1975; made available for printing May 5,1975.
3. Stepvoltage i s t h e d i f f e r e n c e i n s u r f a c e p o t e n t i a l s of two p o i n t s a t one meter distance, exthis distance with perienced by a man b r i d g i n g hisfeet,withoutcontactinganythingeise.

362

SCOPE
The i n t e n t o f t h i s p a p e r i s t o shopr that the p r i n c i p a l I E E No. 80 can be easilyextended and procedures of more accurate, improved t o compare f a v o r a b l yw i t ht h e b u t a l s o more e l a b o r a t e methods, based on a non-uniform current density principle. Therefore,the well-known fundamentalequationsofthe iruniform current density method and t h e r o l e o f t h e r e g u l a r i tcy o r r e c t i ofn actor are b r i e f ld yi s c u s s e d first. Subsequently, a fornula i s developed t o allow a recursive, p o i n t by p o i n ti n t e g r a t i o no fs u r f a c eg r a d i e n t s contbctors, for' both the through a l l parallel grid equal and unequalspacings. The r e l a t i o n between the envelope of surface touch potand spacing geometry i s demonstrated by e n t i a lc u r v e s computer p l o t t e d p o t e n t i a l p r o f i l e s o f g r o u n d i n g electrodes,usingvariousdegreesofprogressivelyreduced spacing toward perimeter. F i n a l l y ,t h e computer program i s described and several p a r t s of t h e program are l i s t e d t o show i q l e m e n t i n g o f t h e method i n F o r t r a n , APPLICABILITY O F EXISTING EQUATIONS R e f e r r i n gt ot h e Appendix I o f t h e Guide', t h e a n a l y t ZEE g r a d i e n t i c a l l y most s i g n i f i c a n t e q u a t i o n s o f t h e a n a l y s i s method, are:

equidistant position of such

a plane w i t hr e s p e c tt o

images. Sincehhis c o n s t i t u t e s a geometricindependenceforeachconductoq t h e CJt term can be set equal t o zero, and t h er i g h t Fig. la. s i d eo f (6) i s p e r f e c t l yv a l i d .

any o t h e r real c o n d u c t o r so rt h e i r

A'

B'
Dab,h.d j h
FIG. l a b below left,

However, thisindependence-canneither be declared fol Cx when analyzing ( 7 ) , nor for the equation (11, i n which t h ef a c t o r Km i s a directoutgrowthofusing (6) and ( 7 ) together. Since the irregularity factor K i is f u r t h e r added a s a s i m p l e m u l t i p l i e r a f t e r i n t e g r a t i o n , X1 = 0, t o i . e . a f t e r computing P ( x ) from thedistance the t h ec e n t e ro ft h ef i r s t mesh inward, t o X2 = -D/2, o r i g i n a l components of (1) can no longer be r e t r e i v e d f o r c o r r e c t i o n s on t h e i n d i v i d u a l b a s i s o f r e l a t i v e d i s tance.Considering (l), thenextquestionthen, is : Can the mutual influence of the individual grid elements be sufficiently covered by t h e f a c t o r K i , as simply as a p p l i e di n( l ) ,e l i m i n a t i n gt h e need f o r non-zero term Cx e n t i r e l y ? N o is t h e answer. For i n s t a n c e , if the opposite were true, then, following the principle of superposition, it s h o u l db ep o s s i b l e :1 )t oc a l c u l a t et h ev o l t a g ei n the center of the first mesh by ( 1 ) ; 2) t o continue by p o i n t toward from t h i sv a l u e by P n t e g r a t i n gp o i n t 3) t o stop a t the point exthe center of the grid; 4 ) t o estimate a c t l y a b o v e , t h e most c e n t r a lc o n d u c t o r ; t h ev o l t a g e a t t h i sp o i n td i r e c t l y as E y by (6); and a 5) t og e tf a i r agreement of results, since, in such symnetrical or almost synmetrical configuration, all t h e superimposed Ex terms canceleachother.(Fig.lb.)

and

where, i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e
Ey

symbols already mentioned, bethe

it;

i s t h ev o l t a g ed i f f e r e n c ei nv e r t i c a lp l a n e
buried conductor and tween a horizontally p o i n t on the earth surface inmediately above

Ex i s t h e relative v o l t a g e d i f f e r e n c e i n h o r i z o n t a l
p l a n e between any two p o i n t s on t h ee a r t hs u r XI, X 2 from t h e f a c e ,d e n o t i n gt h e i rd i s t a n c e s perimeter with a p l u s s i g n i n an outward d i r e c t i o n from t h e g r i d , and w i t h a minus s i g n f o r t h e area; points inside the grid
i

A substantial disagreement results in practice.

somi

i s t hceu r r e n fl t o w i nig nto length of conductor.

ground

pe urn i t

Interestingly, Sctwartz3 has been very much aware of d i f f i c u l t i e s as e a r l y as 1957, mentioning i t a l s o in h i s d i s c u s s i o n on t h e AIEE ConmitteeReport?Paper 58-98, which had preceeded the publication of Guide No. 80.

at

For a r e c t a n g u l a r g r i d , c o n s i s t i n g o f n x m conductors, least a set of n p a r a l l ec l onductorh s at so be considered.

Therefore, i t i s u s e f u l t o a n t i c i p a t e t h a t t h e i n t e g r a l (6) and (7) can formally be expected as solutions of Ey = F(y) + C y and E x = P(x) + Cx, where Cy, Q are unterms, which may f u r t h e r e f l e c t determined integral some f a c t o r ofn-conductor gemtry. Examined, Cy does not represent any problem. The l e f t (6) e x p l i c i t l y r e f l e c t s t h e a s s u m p t i o n side of equation from a c o n d u c t o rt o t h a tw i t h i nt h ei n t e g r a t i o np a t h i t s image, p r o c e e d i n gi n vertical p l a n e ,t h ee f f e c to f other conductors can be neglected due to the nearly

Withoutelaboratingfurther,theequation (1) had best not be interpreted as giving the corner mesh v o l t a g e w i l l follow, the estimate. Instead, for reasons which equation may serve as a f a i r estimate f o r t h e p e r i p h e r a l meshes i n c e n t r a l axis, providedthegriddoesnot c o n s i s t o f many meshes, o r t o p r o v i d e a reasonable avep ifanoptimized,-ally ageestimateforanygrid spaced p a t t e r n of conductors i s a n t i c i p a t e d .

DISCUSSION Simple rectangular g r i d s i n u n i f o r m s o i l were rigorousl y examined by E. T. B . Gross e t al., duringtheyears

3 63

1953-56.Using Maxwells method of subareas, the ground e l e c t r o d e was d i v i d e d i n t o a g r e a t number of elementary sub-conductors, to obtain a simultaneous solution for theindividualelementswithlinearchargeden~ity.~,s
s9 better Recently,Dawalibiand Mukhedkar reportedlY8 than 90% agreementwithexperimentalresultsfortheir i n t e g r a t i o n mekhod, whichcombines t h e p r i n c i p l e o f i n finitesimal subdividing with a family of sinple corrective coefficients to simulate the effect of non-uniform from t h e g r i d c e n t e r toward currentdensity,increasing perimeter. I n comparisonwithothermethods,theyconcluded that:

TABLE

I11 (1904m2 g r i d area, 0.03m cable dia.; 10

k A )

MESH S U M

SPACING

C O m MESH
(v)

VOLTAGE
(v)

6
21.82 10.91 7.27 5.45 4.36 3.64 3.12 2.73 2.42 2.18 1.98

STEP (v)

1. I f only uniform current density i s assumed, an i n t e g r a t i o n method g i v e s s a t i s f a c t o r y r e s u l t s f o r p e r i p h e r a l meshes, but an o v e r l y s t e e p p o t e n t i a l pyramid r e s u l t s i n t h e area of inner meshes.
2. I f t h e c o m e r mesh voltage i s c a l c u l a t e d by t h e IEEE method, e i t h e r w i t h o r w i t h o u t some correct i o nf o rc u r r e n ti r r e g u l a r i t y ,t h eo b t a i n e dv a l ues are increasingly optimistic for grids with more than four meshes, and the calculated voltage may erroneously f a l l t oz e r of o rt h eg r i d sw i t h more than 40 meshes. Both these points have merit, d e s p i t e t h e f a c t that t h e second conclusion i s r a t h e r m i s l e a d i n g and require6 the following qualification: The Dawalibi and Mukhedkar c a l c u l a t i o n s a p p e a r t o b e based on thedimensionsof a scaled-down l a b o r a t o r y d e l , c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a 1 6 mx 1 6 m g r i d frame, burasi e d 0.6m below earthsurface,with100amperes sumed t o flow i n t o 200 ohm-meter e a r t h . And, i f t h e model data a r e b e l i e v e d , c o n d u c t o r s o f a relatively O.lm (i.e. 3.937 inclj monstrous s i z e were used, with diameter.
A check with the simplified equations of IEEE method a p p l i e di n camputer series, Table I, seems t o conf i r m t h i s d a t a , though.

4 16 36 64 100 144 196 256 324 400 484

7865.52* 3513.37* 1886.61* 1121.85* 698.0W 438.34* 268.18* 151.17* 67.77* 6.66* -39.07*

5305.18 2465.83 1774.32 1265.06 866.23 540.29 265.52 28.40 -179.97

2553.84 2245.79 2240.44 2339.70 2489.36 2668.19 2866.05 3077.38 3298.86 3528.32 3764.31

9171.19 3497.77

*)indicates values for the irregularity factor K i = 1. See a l s o Appendix f o r aFortranformulationofthe applied equaticms. Obviously, not the ultimate number ofmeshes,butspacing and depth of buriallcoductor ratio are the factors undermining a p p l i c a b i l i t y o f t h e method. Fora m a j o r i t y of p r a c t i c a l c a s e s , t y p i c a l l y w i t h i n t h e 0.25m lm depthrangeandconductorsizesusuallynot exceeding 500 M a , i.e. with nominal a diameter of 0 . 0 2 5 ~ 1o rl e s s ,t h ec r i t i c a ld e c l i n e of t h e mesh wlta g e so c c u r sf o rt h er a t h e ri m p r a c t i c a ls p a c i n gv a l u e s between 1 2.5 meters.

F u r t h e ra n a l y s i s of t h e s e and similarcomputerseries, as w e l la s c o m p a r i s o nw i t ht h ea l t e r n a t er e s u l t s from j t h e rs o u r c e s ,s u p p o r tt h ef o l l o v i n g resume: a. The simplified equations (11, (2), (31, (41, (5) of IEE method p r o v i d e s a t i s f a c t o r y means o f e s t sysirmting the grounding performance of smaller tems, t y p i c a l l y up t o 138 kV c l a s s , i f t h e ground gridcanbeapproximated by arectangularsystem of several parallel conductors, equally spaced more than4 5m (15 f t . ) a p a r t .

Were t h e model c o n s i d e r e d a s a 1 1 3 r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f a p r a c t i c a l i n s t a l l a t i o n , a 0.01111 a l u e of conductor diameter i s more appropriate. Comparative results f o r such a r e p r e s e n t a t i o n and f o r a 48m x 48m, f u l l size grid carrying 10 k A , a r e shown i n Tables I1 and 1 1 1 .

b. For p h y s i c a l l y l a r g e g r i d s w i t h many meshes,typi c a l of many o u t d o o r i n s t a l l a t i o n s i n t h e 230 t o 765 kV c l a s s e s , the equations (l), (2), (3) may 40% l o i r e r values for the corner mesh give 10 voltage.

C.

TBBLE I (256m2 g r i d a r e a , 0.lm c a b l e d i a . ;

0.1 l d )

The step voltage equations (4) and (5) t e n d to producepessimisticvalues.Sincethestepvoltage i s c a l c u l a t e d by e x t r a p o l a t i n g the maxiaum gradient over one m e t e r distance in , s t e ao df finding the voltage difference between two p o i n t s by i n t e g r a t i o n of the surface gradients vithin some c a s e st h ee r r o rc a nb ea s t h ed i s t a n c e ,i n 0 0 9 . . highas 1

8.00 4.00 2.67 2.00

TABLE I1 (256m2 g r i d a r e a ,

108.07* 31.95* 5.83* -4.88*

126.01 48.25 10.82 10.74

78.25 79.39 88.68 100.90

0.01m cable dia.;

(v)

SUM
4 16 36 64 100 144 196 256

( 9
215.02 117.41 71.47 45.19 27.52 14.45 4.18 -4.25

2.00 1.60 1.33 1.14

184.41* 77.76* 38.55* 20.56* 10.83* 5.01* 1.29 -1.19

0.1 U)
STEP (v)

d. A l l t h es i m p l i f i e de q u a t i o n sa r e ill s u i t e df o r treatment of dense umts, p a r t i c u l a r l y when t h e numerical value of spacing between the conductors approachesthe order of the conductor diameter and of the burial depth values. However, in c o n s i d e r i n gt h el a r g eg r i d s ,a na d d i t i o n a l point should b e emphasized: e. A s t h ed i f f e r e n c ei nc u r r e n td e n s i t yv a l u e s between t h e i n n e r and t h e p e r i p h e r a l meshes i n c r e a s s w i t h an i n c r e a s e i n t h e number ofmeshes,anysingle calculation of the comer mesh v o l t a g e becomes i r r e l e v a n tt o a p r a c t i c a ld e s i g n . Economizing by a separate subdivision of few p e r i p h e r a l meshes i s arule.Furtherevaluationofinner mesh v o l t a g e s becomes then necessary.
3 64

78.25 79.39 88.68 100.90 114.62 129.30 144.66 160.55

MODIFIED METHOD

in" compensation for current irregularities. Using an e q u a ls p a c i n gf i r s t , i t i s p o s s i b l et o :

R e f e r r i n gt ot h e experimental evidence' s 8 s 9 i t i s assumed that the envelope of ground surface potential curves i s rather convex f o re q u a l l ys p a c e dg r i d sw i t h many meshes. ability to evaluate the entire For t h i s reason, t h e mesh v o l t a g e p r o f i l e o f a l a r g e g r i d , from p e r i m e t e r t o perimeter, becanes a design necessity.
And, f o r t h e ~ame reason,anunequallyspacedgriddes i g n p r d s e s t o b e t h e s u p e r i o r alternative t o t h a t o f e q u a l s p a c i n g ,t oa v o i dt h e c m problem of overdesigningtowardthecenter, when t h e number of g r i d subd i v i i i o n s i s high.

1. c a l c u l a t e t h e e n t i r e v o l t a g e p r o f i l e , u s i n g a n arb i t r a r y v o l t a g e level as t h e i n t e g r a t i o n c o n s t a n t ,
2. f i n d t h e p r o f i l e maxlmun)which usually corresponds tothepointdirectly above theconductorlocated close to the geometric center of the grid,
3. assume t h e true v o l t a g eo ft h i sp a r t i c u l a rp o i n t rise minus t h e v o l t a g e equal to the grid potential d r o p i n vertical p l a n e , c a l c u l a t e d b y (6),

4 . recursively recalculate the entire voltage profile

3, o b t a i n i n g a s o l u t i o n t o match the assumption which c o r r e l a t e s well w i t ho t h e r , more s o p h i s t i c a t e d methods, f o rt h ep e r i p h e r a l mesh rows.
Fig. 2 i l l u s t r a t e s t h i s c o n c e p t , andthefollowing part of computer program l i s t i n g , w r i t t e n i n t h e Kronos versionof F O R T R A N , Fig. 3, providesdetailedinformation on the procedure, as implemented i n the sub-program PROFIL ( J N ) , where s

Similar to the equation (7), t h e g r a d i e n t G(x) ofnx m conductor grid with unequal spacings in the longitudid D(n-l),canbe exd i r e c t i o n ,D ( l ) , D(2), D(3) pressed as

,......,
+

L)+X D(

D(l)+D(2)+x

+.

(8)

x2+h2 (D(1)+x)2+h2 (D(1)+D(2)+x)*+h2 Assigning formally D(0) = 0, t h e e q u a t i o n f o r t h e v o l t age difference between two p o i n t s on g r o u n d s u r f a c e , i n is h o r i z o n t a ld i r e c t i o n ,i n s i d et h eg r i d ,

JN
P(1) P(3) P(8)

i s a number of consecutive meshes which t h e v o l t a g e p r o f i l e i s taken, i s a s o i lr e s i s t i v i t y ,i n

through

kohm-meters,

i s a ground ' f a u l t c u r r e n t , i n i s a d e p t ho fb u r i a l ,i n

k A ,

meters,
rise, i n kV,

P(17) i s a t o t a l g r i d p o t e n t i a l S(1)
S(8)

i s the p e r i m e t e r - t o - p e r i m e t e dri s t a n c ie n meters, the given profile plane, in

i s a totalength of buried c o n d u c t o r si ,n meters,

wheren i s t h e d e r ofparallelconductorswhich perpendicular to the plane of the calculated voltage profile.

are

Q(15) i s a d i a m e t eo rtfhg er ic do n d u c t o r i ,n meters. Both t h e t r a p e z o i d aa l nd Siqson's integration rules were t e s t e dg , iving practically i d e n t i c ar lesults (a 0.3% d i f f e r e n c o le rss). However, Simpson's rule has b e e n r e t a i n e d f o r t h e method as b e i n g t h e o r e t i c a l l y more a d a p t a b l e t o t h e character of calculated curves. A 0 . b (10cm) i n t e g r a t i o n s t e p i s used.

Thus, on t h e b a s i s o f e q u a l c u r r e n td e n s i t y ,t h ee q u a tions f o rs t e p and t o u c h potentials of the unequally spaced grid can easily be defined and computerized. When t h e e f f e c t o f c u r r b n t i r r e g u l a r i t y e n t e r s t h e p i c ture, a problem arises. I m p l i c i t l ya , ny irregularity f a c t o r s i m i l a r t o K i o f ( I ) , i s a two-coordinate affair, nothwithstanding that t h p eresent IEEE Guide No. 80 recognizesonlyn-conductors from ,the n x rn g r i d conductor set, n e g l e c t i n g t h e e f f e c t of cross-connections %ere i s l i t t l e exto the remaining m-conductors. perimental evidence 1, a v a i l a b l f eoa rn y attempt t o develop a s u i t a b l e f o n u u l a f o r t h e i r r e g u l a r i t y e f f e c t s i n i n n e r meshes. Nevertheless, a s u b s t i t u t e s o l u t i o n is possible. meth-

kV

As i t h a s b e e n a l r e a d y i n d i c a t e d , t h e i n t e g r a t i o n
ods t e n d t o p i l e e x c e s s i v e l y t h e v o l t a g e d i f f e r e n t i a l s

I
TLegend:
-1
I .

W17)

total potential rise

i n t h e area of inner meshes, i f a uniform current dens i t y i s assumed. The Author has found that, i nt h ep a r t i c u l a r case of I E E method, t h i s phenomenon c a n b e u t i l i z e d t o a g r e a t advantage i ne l i m i n a t i n gt h e need f o r a n ys p e c i a l irregularity factor. Without sacrificing the conceptual sinplicity o t fh e E E method, the following sequence of computexisting I e r i z e dc a l c u l a t i o n s will r e s u l ti n a g r a d u a l ," b u i l t 365
0
dist.-

meter

ADJV = a n a d j u s b e n t v a l u e
W R T = a voltage drop i n v e r t i c a l p l a n e , p e r theEquation(6)

Fig. 2

I ~ ( I ~ P . G T . I ) G O T Oe IFCIKP.EP.0)LOOP-I
WTO 34

IF(IKP.Ee.2)KOX: IP(IKP.EP.3)KOX:2

FIG. 3 Depending on t h ei n p u t data sequence, i.e. i n whatord e rt h eg r i dl e n g t h andwidthparameters are entered, t h ep o t e n t i a lp r o f i l ec a n be taken through the first ray of meshes, e i t h e r in t h e l o n g e r , o r i n t h e s h o r t e r
cuds.

A spacing function can-be deterndned for

obtaining a

patternofgridconductors, which vi11 a s s u r e a f a i r l y uniform level of maxinnnn mesh p o t e n t i a l s t h r o u g h o u t t h e g r i d , ncwhere exceeding the allowable step and touch voltages. Forinstance,the Fig. 4b i l l u s t r a t e s the e f f e c t o f optimized unequal spacing, in comparison with t h e e q u a l l y s p a c e da l t e r n a t i v e of t h e same griddesign. Hg.

Generally,theuse of unequal spacing techniques does notguarantee a r e d u c t i o ni nt h e number of g r i d cond u c t o r s ,b u tr a t h e ra s s u r e st h e i rb e t t e ru t i l i z a t i o n . The b e s t p r a c t i c a l s o l u t i o n i s usually achieved by progranming t h eo p t i m i z i n gc r i t e r i o nt oe x i tt h eu n e q u a l spacing build-up loop, as soon as the nearly optimal balance i s achieved for a l l b u t t h e c o r n e r meshes.
In thosecaseswherethecorner mesh voltageexceeds economs i g n i f i c a n t l y t h e p e r m i t t e d limits, i t i s more i c a lt os u b d i v i d es u c h meshes by additionalconductors make a programon an i n d i v i d u a l b a s i s , r a t h e r t h a n t o ming allayance f o r more conductors.

4 a .

366

the difference between the rrvurimum surface potentials calculated for individual meshes along the longitudinal 8 Uniform soil 30 ohm-meters, equally spaced grid of profile, as obtained for the equally and the unequally 8 8 x 3 conductors, 161.4m x 32.5111 grid area, indiv-spaced grids, in three typical examples. mesh size 23.05m x 16.275111, depth of burial i 7 idual .5m, 25 k4 grid current, 0.3 sec. fault duration Fig. 5, further documents the effect of a gradually time, size4/0 (211.6 MU4) copper conductors. intensified spacing function. As shown, the function base is one for equal spacing, and 'greater than one for unequal spacings. IEEE Method Modified Method Unequal Spacing; Equal Spacing Mesh COMPUTER P R O G R A M DESCRIPTION OF No MESH MESH MESH SPACING SPACING Given the grid area dhnsions, magnitude and duration METER Kv Kv Kv METER of ground fault current, plus other design parameters of burial, average length of ground rods, 15.91 1.902 like the depth 1.601 2.099 23.06 1Y7 soil and surface layer resistivity data, etc., the pro1.398 1.626 21.23 23.06 2,6 gram first evaluates size of the main grid conductors. 1.371 27.04 1.377 23.06 395 32.96 1.427 1.298 4 23.06 Since a ground grid should withstand any thermo-mechanSafely tolerable touch voltage l i m i t . . . . . . . 1 . 6 5 7 kV ical abuse resulting from the prolonged flows of fault Station grid potential rise calculated.....4.522 kV current, possibly caused by malfunction of the primary No. 80 recorrmended valueof 4'secondd Station grid total resistance.............0.181 ohm relays, a Guide is automatically applied in the calculation. However, the program has a provision to override such a nominal time setting, if the effect of back-up relaying, or a MESH VOLTAGE COMPARISONCHART CASE I1 deliberate change of the conductor size, are required. w uniform soil 165 ohm-meters, equally spaced grid of VJ 2 9 x 7 conductors, 252.h x 22Cm grid area, indiv- Then, the lknits for tolerable step and touch voltages idual mesh size 31.495mx 36.667~1, depth of burial during a ground fault are calculated, following the A grid current, 0-15 sec. fault duration .5m, 30 k well-known fonuuli of IEEE Guide, transcribed below as time, 500 MCMcopper conductors.

MESH VOLTAGE

COMPARISON CHART CASE I

The comparison charts at right,CASES I, 11, 111, show

'

IEEE Method

I
3.186 2.480 2.072 1.880

Mesh No 1,8 2,7 3Y6 4Y5

Equal Spacing MECHMECH SPACING METER Kv KV

Modified Method Unequal Spacing

MESH Kv

Etouch= (1+1.5xP(2))xO.l65/W) (kV;kohm-m,A,sec) (11) where P ( 2 )

,

SPACING
METER

P ( 4 )

is the surface layer resistivity parameter, and is the anticipated time for clearing the fault

2.298 31.49 2.002 Within a certain range of conductor total length, a 1.938 series of consecutive grid designs is generated, re31.49 1.989 31.49 flecting the constraints of approximate grid width and length, individual mesh side ratio, minimum permissible Safely tolerable touch voltage l i m i t . . . . . . . 2 . 3 4 3 kV distance between grounding rods, etc. Station grid potential rise calculated....10.835kV Station grid total resistance.............O.361 ohm The first, equally spaced grid pattern is determined semi-empirically, combining a computer selected total tolength of horizontally buried conductors with the MESH VOLTAGE CWARISON CHART CASE I11 tal length of grounding rods, as required by the input data, Consequently, the step and touch potentials are Uniform soil 165 ohm-meters, equally spaced of gridcalculated for the corner mesh, using fhe equations (1) 15 x8 conductors, 290.5~1 x 139m grid area, indiv- to (5), and the results are compared with the permisidual mesh size 20.747~1 x 19.857111, depth of burial iible limits. Thenceforth, corrections in the total Irl .5m, 30 k A grid current, 0.15 sec. fault duration length estimates are made until the solution is found time, 500 MCM copper conductors. for a match between the calculated and limiting voltage values. IEEE Method Modified Method Although these simplified calculations are not accurate Unequal Spacing Mesh Equal Spacing enough, it is expedient to determine the basic design pattern, resistance and potential rise of an equally MESH SPACING MESH MESH SPACING No spaced grid in that stage, and then to proceed with the , Kv KV METER KV METER more accurate, second part of calculations, PROFIL(JN), 10.73 2.069 3.720 2.393 20.75 to improve the grid design by means of unequal spacing 1,14 13.70 1.700 2.930 2,13 20.75 technique, ' 3,12 17.06 1.521 2.366 20.75 1.453 20.66 1.952 20.75 Such an optimized design is characterized by a gradually 4,11 24.31 1.457 20.75 1.660 5,lO decreasing spacing toward the perimeter, under the con27.80 1.503 20.75 1.472 6,9 straint of nraintaining thesame number of conductors as 30.97 1.562 1.379 20.75 1 798 determined by the estimating routine. 2.848
L

20.33 31.49 27.34 35.17 43.14

1
~ ~

Safely tolerable touch voltage l i m i t . . . . . . . 2 . 3 4 3 kV Station grid potential rise calculated...,11.008kV Station grid total resistance..........,..O,367 ohm

An example of complete computer run is shown in Fig. 5. The printout, corresponding to the already tabulated and plotted results of CASE I, is self-explanatory to a large degree.

367

1.657 kV limit
0
I

.***+**+*
~ 1 m O u R O A D mlm71&

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FIG.

ii$*

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*++* +*** +*++ +++* +*++ *+** **++

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0 0 0

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SPACIIS In1

W.lOucI( MX.SIU IIVI IKVl

0
TOUCR-YOLTASE CRlTfRIOI DLSIQI

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LWGTH APPLIED I ~ ~ R S I LEI6TH USED WLIAGE CALCUL. IKVI
2.23 2.92 I.I3 I .q2 1.60

1 0 .

umms1

0 0

c
0
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A R U IflX III.................. 161.4 (RID amEnT SIDE RATIO USED I W I D SPACIIICS LLEnElT SIZE lfl X RI........ 23.159 TOTAL ORIDC O ~ D U C T O R L E ~ G T W 1111 IOIU LEIQTH or ROO ELECTRODCS In) TOTAL LERGTH OF BURIED COIDUCTORS I R I . . . . . . . . . . . . . luREER OF R O D S V S E D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G?ID CFVDED

............... ................... ................

X 16.215 144.~4~
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I902 I .61 1
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S A m Y TOLRABLF TOUCW-MLTAQE IKVI......................... ADJ. C U R U ? , BY D E C R D ( U 1OF 1.10, IKAI

S A m Y mLDABLE STP-WKTAGE

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.......................... ...................

5.124 1.651 21.10

0
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3 69

The programincludes an o p t i o n t o bypass t h e i t e r a t i v e subroutine foi: determiningthetotalconductorlength, and such a l e n g t hc a nb ee n t e r e dd i r e c t l y . %is provision, together with other input data, p e r m i t s a check of .the final engineering design, which often differs frau t h eo r i g i n a l l yc a l c u l a t e d one. The t o t a lr e s i s t i s c a l c u l a t e d by Schwartz's ance of the ground grid method.3 A l s o , the effect of additional subdivisions, a si n d i v i d u a l l ya p p l i e df o rt h ec o r n e r meshes, can be estimated. The program f i e l dl e n g t h i s 0.043 KPR u n i t s . For comGRD 2, as parison, the field length of the program l i s t e d i n t h e Appendix, i s 0.004 KPR u n i t s .

Gross, B.V. Chitnis, L.J. S t r a t t o n , ttGround4. E.T.B. ingGridsforHigh-VoltageStations,"Ibid.,Vol.72, pp. 799-810,August1953. Gross, R.B. Wise, "Grounding Grids for High5. E.T.B. VoltageStations I1 Resistance of Large Rectangu l aP r lates," Ibid., Vol. 74, pp. 801-809 October 1955.

Gross, R.S. H o l l i t c h , "Grounding Grids for 6. E.T.B. High-Voltage S t a t i o n s I 1 1 Resistance of Rectangular Grids," Ibid., Vol. 75, pp. 926-935, October 1956.

KRONOS of Utilizing the computer time sharing system the Control Data Corporation, we use the memorg assignment of MA = 60,000 o c t a lu n i t s . The average running time i s approximately15-20systemseconds.
CONCLUSIONS

O p t i m u m Design of Sub7. F. Dawalibi, D. Mukhedkar, " Earth Structure, s t a t i o n Grounding i n a -0 Layer P a r t 1 -.-AnalyticalStudy," IEE Trans., Vol. PAS-94 (to be printed).

"Discussion of the above paper, 7a J. G. Sverak, Trans., V O l . PAS 94, pp. p ( btre o inted). The described method f o rs u b s t a t i o ng r o u n d i n ga n a l y s i s combines a number o f p r a c t i c a l a d v a n t a g e s :

IEEE

O p t i m u m Design of Sub8. F. Dawalibi, D. Mukhedkar, " s t a t i o n Grounding i n a Two Layer Earth Structure, P a r t I1 Comparison between t h e o r e t i c a l and experimentalresults,"Ibid.,bl. PAS-94, ( t o be printed).

1 . It extends the presently well established concept of IEE methodof calculatingthedangerousstep a computerizedevaluaandtouchvoltages,using t i o n of t h e s u b s t a t i o n p o t e n t i a l p r o f i l e t h r o u g h out the entire grounding grid.
2. It r e c t i f i e s t h o s e s h o r t c o m i n g s o f t h e s i m p l i f i e d approach,which a r e no l o n g e r t o l e r a b l e f o r l a r g e grid calculations. concept of optimized grounding grid 3. An advanced d e s i g n ,u t i l i z i n gt h et e c h n i q u e of p r o g r e s s i v e l y unequalspacings, i s implemented. 4. The modest memory requirements make thecomputer application suitable for t i m e sharing facilities. A(XNOWLEDGEMWT The Authorwould l i k e t o thank E.F. Jones,Chairman Group 70.1, of t h e IEE Task-Force P468.17 of Working Groundingof Gas Insulated Substations," and Manager of the Substation Engineering Department, United Engineers 6 Constructors, Philadelphia, for encouragement and s u p p o r t o f t h i s work. Permission i s granted to reproduce or quote from t h e l i s t e d p a r t s of the computer programs RENA 2 and GRD 2. However, credit should be given to United Engineers, as thesource.
REFERENCES

O p t i m u m Design of Sub9. F. Dawalibi, D. Mukhedkar, " Earth Structure, s t a t i o n Grounding i n a Two Layer P a r t 111 Studyofgroundinggridsperformance and new electrodes configuration," Ibid., Vol. PAS-94, (to be printed).

L i s t e d below i s t h e program GRD 2,which hasbeenused f o re v a l u a t i o n of IEEE s i m p l i f i e d method. However, the Fortranformulationofequations(l), (2), (3), (4) and ( 5 ) , included in the subroutines MESHC and STEPC, i s generally usable for any computerized application of t h e e x i s t i n g IEEE method.
m O G R A M CJ(D2CINPUT OUTPUT) PRINT,*AREA,SOIL,D~PTH,DIAMETER,CURRENT+,

READ,~R_EA_,S_O_fL,PP_TH,CDIA,C_UURR

M r .

1. LeEE No. 80fMarch 1961/71, "Guide f o r S a f e t y i n A l t e r n a t i n g C u r r e n t S u b s t a t i o n Grounding,"byAmerican I n s t i t u t e of Electrical Engineers, New York, 1961, reaf finned 1971.
Report, "Voltage Gradients through 2. AIEE Camittee t h e Ground Under Fault Conditions,"AIEETransactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. 79, pp. 669 692,October1958.

SIDE-SQRT(AREA) PRINT,*LOOP*, S READ,NN PRINT 1 8 PRINT 19 in: [m2,0hm-m,m~m,A] W 1 1 I=l,AN N S Z 2* I NS is n&nber spacings of N C : (NS+1)*2 N M : NS**2 CTL=ROAT(NC)*SIDE SPACZSIDE/FLOAT(IS) C I : .SS+. I?L*FLOAT(HS+O CALL MESHC(CM, NS,SPAC, DPTH, CDIA) WESH~CM*CI*SOIL*CUR~/CTL CALL STEPCCCS HS SPAC DPTH,CDIA) ESTEP:CS*CI*S~IL;CURR~CTL Er(FS@=EmFSH/CI PRINT 20,N?l,SPAC,~ESO,EW~H,ESTEP 1 I CONTINUE 21 FCRWAT(/23X 3H*) *INDICATES VALUE*/26X *FOR KIRREG.: ,2(F8.2,2h) etc.2 E FORMAT(I4,4~,F5.2:2X.FR.2,2H* 19 FORMAT(* NO.*,3X,*[W1*,3(7X,*tVI*)/) 18 FORMAT(//* MEsH*,2X,*SPACING*,2X,*CORNER MESH VOLTAGE* etc.- A PRINT 21 PRINT,//// STOP S END SUBROUTINE STEPCCCS, NS,SPAC,DPTH,CDIA) R:(1./(2*DPTH))+(l./(SPAC+DPTH)) Do 2 IZ2,NS, 1 R=fS+(I./ (FLOAT(I)*SPAC)) 2 CONTINUE CS:FS/3.142

RETURN f END SUBROUTINE MESHC(CM,NS,SPAC,DPTH,CDIA) NF:2*NS- I DO 1 115 NF 2 F~:~*~~AT~I)/FLoAT(I+I) 1 COHTInUE CMZ(ALOG(SPAC**~./(I~.*DPTH*CDIA)))/~.~~~+ALOG(F~~)/~.I~~

F m : 0.

Fs=0.

Expressions for the Re3. S. J. Schwarz, "Analytical s i s t a n c e of Grounding Systems," Ibid., Vol. 73, pp. 1011-1016,August 1954.

F m : .

15

RETURN S END
3 70

Discussion

1 :

F. D a w a i (The Shawinigan Engineering Co., Montreal, Quebec) and

D. Mukhedkar (Ecole Polytechnique Montreal, Quebec): Mr. Sverak is to be congratulated for a very timely paper. His efforts to improve and update the IEEE Guide No 80 are welcome.It is unfortunate that in our
days where power systems are studied in increasingly greater detail by use of sophisticated computer programs,grounding is still looked at by semi-empirical methods. We agree with most of the conclusions of the paper. However a number of points in thepaper are misleading and need to be clarified: - In his abstract and in the text the author states that "The envelope of earth surface potentialcurves is distinctly convex for grounding mats with manymeshes. This is true when uniform current distribution is assumed in the conductors of the mat. The use of an exact currentdistributioninthemat will flatten the envelopeand make it practically horizontal. In order to illustrate t h i s point we have studied with our comuuter urogram case I11 of Mr. Sverak's uauer. The mid is shown in Figuk I of t h e discussion. We have calculated b e earth &face potentials for the three directions shown and for both conditions of uniform current distribution and exact current distribution. However only the results for direction 3 are shown in Figure 2 and 3. These last figures c o n f m that the convexity of the potential envelope is caused n the grid, such a hypothesis is only by a uniform current assumption i justified forgrids with small number of meshes, Mr. Sverak refers to our publication (7) in order to justify his above statement. The curves of our experimental measurements which were reported in the mentioned paper show clearly flat envelopes for the experimental curves. Perhaps our labeling of the curves plotted was not clear enough or misleading.
Direc, Direc. Dlret. 3 2 1
13

10

+ x axis
Fig. 1. Grid configuration
Manuscript received August 29,1975.

3 71

The concentration and varying depth of ground rods at critical - Mr. Sverak is right about the model data used in reference 7of could not have extremely mall locations in the substationare not described at any length in the paper. his paper. The reducedmodelused conductor radius for obvious minimum mechanical rigidity needed for I would appreciate the authors comments regarding the use of long handling and installation. Our opinion is that the results and conclusionsground rods in soil layers with varying degrees of resistivity, also, with given in (7) are notinfluenced by the radius size selection. However we groundmg material installed in deep wells or in adjacent lakes and also how this could affect the step, touch, andmeshvoltages in his calemphasize again that the conclusions given in our paper were peculiar for the case studied. Much more work is still needed in order to deter- culations. Finally, I would appreciate the authors comments concerning his mine the influenceof all the parameters. - In page 3 of the discussed paper, paragraph d we find the state- feeling about not connecting the substation ground to the substation to reduce faultvoltage on the fence to the general ment in contradiction with the text content. Can the author elaborate fence ground in order public. more on this? - Attempts to develop methods for the calculations of current In reply to Mr. A. B. Purdy; we are in agreement with most of his distribution in grounding electrodes have been carried out recently. A concise comments. With regard to the profde printout, the suggestion number of publications are available (Reference (1) and (2) of the dis- to adjust all theconductors to one voltagelevelwouldmean to cussion). neglect theirregularity problem entirely and to align all theprofde - The method of compensation for current irregularities seems peaks to the P(1O)UVERT voltage level. If this is what Mr.Purdy had very interesting. Is it possible with this method to take into account the in mind, the result would be as follows: presence, in close proximity of the main grid, of return grounds and/or With the exception of peripheral meshes, such a rectified profie buried metallic structures? Such close structures will obviously distort should come close to a true representationof the centralvoltage profie the voltage profie. in Direction 4, Fig. 7. Thus, from the practical point ofview, one would be able to obtain two limiting profdes fromeach computer run. REFERENCES The best one, correspondingto the central row line, and the worst one, asumed tobe taken through the peripheral mesh rows,as described T. N. Ciao, M. P. Sarma Effect of two layer earth on the electric before. fieldsnear HVDC electrodes IEEE Transactions, PAS,Vol. 91 The remark that the final computer printout should show the surNovember 1972 pp 2356-65. face potentials outside the grid, is valid. In fact, we neglected to show F. Dawalibi,D. Mukhedkar. MultiStep Analysis ofInterconnected this part of the curve only for the rather petty technical reason that the electrodes IEEE Summer Power Meeting, San Francisco, 1975 potential profie reduces very sharply outside the perimeter, and so the paper No F75 522-3. scale of the computer plot would have to be drastically compressed. But, we agree that it is essential to show the outside surface potential data, and we intend to accomplish that with an additional, separate A. B. Purdy (AppalachianPower Company, Roanoke, Virginia): Mr. printout. Sverakand his company are to becommended for theireffortsin presenting a paper that is both educational and useful. The author has developed a needed computer program for solving the longexisting problem of calculating surface potentialsand gradients in electric power J. G . S v d : First, I would like to thank all discussers for theirvaluable comments and for their interest in this paper. stations when the system is faulted. The described program represents nothing more than an adequate The basic principlesin IEEE Guide No.80 for Safety in Alternating and have been, Current Substation Grounding are modified and further developed and engineering tool for specific design purposes. There are, some of the simplifying assumptions are analyzed. Many of the short- several other methods which may offer solutions analytically superior to thatof RENA 2. In Mis respect, our goals weremore utilitarian. comings of the Guide result from the simplifications. For instance, we looked into the earlier work done by Professor Equation (2) of this paper is Equation (66)in IEEE Guide No.80 simplified for X=D/2 and D>>h. As the numberof meshes is increased Gross andhis students, and tried to benefit fromsome of their advanced calculations. Yet, it soon became obvious that for large grids, the reneither of the assumptions is valid and calculations may show mesh quirements on the computer memory tend to skyrocket. voltages lessthan zero. The final worth of any grounding calculation depends largely on Equation (3) is of dubious value except forsquare grids with square mesh. Guide No. 80 states that Ki is the Non-Uniformity Factor to the quality of soil sampling in the field. In practice, this fact acts as a Very take into account the higher gradients at corners. The empirical equa- deterrent against the use of more-precise, but elaborate methods. often the mean value of soil resistivity readings has such a wide margin tion is based only on ground conductor distribution. The above facts justify statements a, b and d in theDiscussion sec- of confidence limitsthat its statistical value is only a bit better than an arbitrary guess. So, we felt that if there is any positive way to extend tion of this paper.The latter partof statement cis not so evident. Equation ( 8 ) is valid only for conductors of infrnite length.When the relativelysimpleIEEE method, that this would be of a general the distance from the conductor to the point under investigation a p advantage. proaches the length of the conductor the value obtained is very pessimistic. The final computerprintoutshould be made to adjust all the conductors to one voltage level and the surface potential outside the grid shown for at least one half the spacing of the two outside conductors. This paper shows the great importance of IEEE Guide No. 80 and at the same time makes parts of the Guide obsolete.
Manuscript received August 14,1975.

George L. Finley (Duke Power Company, Charlotte, N.C.): Mr. Sverak is t o be congratulated for his fine contribution to the state of the art of substation grounding. This paper shows that by the use of modem tools, such as the computer, one can accomplish safer andbetter grounding grid results in large substations than could possibly have been achieved in the earlier years of our industry,and with less grounding material. It would be interesting to makeacomparison of thecost of grounding two identical substations by using the former uniform grid method and the method outlined in this paper, as well as the safety comparison described in the paper. Also, I believe it would be valuable to make field voltage readings of step, touch, and mesh voltages with typical fault current values introduced into these grids at realistic fault transformers, and grounding entry locations, such as at breakers, switches.
Manuscript received September5,1975.

Fg 6.
Manuscript received September26,1975.

3 72

Of course, certain problems result from the uniform current concept. If, starting at the perimeter, an integration process is applied throughout the grid, the natural result is that the voltage differentials are piled excessively towards the center of the grid, i.ei in comparison to what would be the cumulative value of voltage differentials proportional to the true, non-uniform current distribution. In terms of the voltage profile, any additional attempt to correct the resulting curve by adjusting all the grid conductors to one voltage level would not help much. In order to compensate for the effects of uneven currentdistribution, either the inner or the peripheral mesh voltages would have to be obtained with the help of some corrective factor-in fact, much in the same way as in the original IEEE method. However, the Authors method retains the shape of voltage profile curve exactly as it results from the equal current distribution. Instead of trying to adjust the profile voltage at the perimeter, the whole curve is floated toward a predetermined voltage level, which applies only to the innermost, single peak. The point to be made is that by adjusting the profile to the value of minimum touch voltage at this least dangerous spot, a different effect, that of averaged unequal distribution, is achieved Figure 6 shows a comparison of.the typical charge density curves of a single quare loop6, and of the center and outermost profiles of a square plate , versus an estimated segment of averaged density curves resulting from the analysis of computer runs for square grids with from 9 to 64 meshes. Since these last curveshavesomewhatless than ideal characteristics for perfect simulation, the final outcome is a small mesh voltage bias inthe central area of the grid, reducing gradually into a fair approximation of mesh voltages, in the critical parts close to the perimeter. With most errors on the conservative side, the approximationleans toward pessimistic values, as pointed out by Mr. Purdy, but the errom become significant only for very large grids with many meshes. In t h i s respect, the use of theunequal spacing technique acts as a partial countermeasure. This result is rather logical, considering that the total sum of all conductor currents has to be the same for any distribution. Thus, for a grid consisting of n-elements, the total ground current I=I]+Iz+ ... +In and the grid potential rise Vo are known, once the grid design and the total grid resistance are determined. All the individual conductor currents 11, I2 ...,In must satisfy the equations v o = r 1 1 1 1 + r 1 2 1 2 + . . . +r l n I n

Profile directions *\ 4,3

.
E

v t t t
D # *

where rij represents the mutual resistance between elements i and j for i # j, rd = rji; or the self-resistance for i = j. Smilarly, once a certain potential level is predetermined correctly for some point at the earth surface, it follows from the super-position principle that an alternative set of equations can be defined for t h i s or any other potential on the earth surface, and for the related current flows. Therefore, the individual currents, their mutual ratios and the relative current distribution can be determined by simultaneous solutions of such equationsets, step by step. Dr. Mukhedkar and Mr. Dawalibi have indicated that the introductorystatements concerning the convexity of thepotential curve envelope can be misleading since the convexity results from the particular method used - that is, from a ufiform current assumption. It is further suggested that the use of an exact current distribution in the mat would flatten the envelope and make it practically horizontal. If the Discussers mean only the envelope of the profile peaks, they are right. However, if the envelope of valleys is concerned, as originally shown in Fig. 4a, b, the problem is more complex. In large grids, thegeometry of the gradient field produces a relatively sharp increaseof current density within the last two or three peripheral mesh rows, while the large area of inner meshes remains at a much lower density level. Using a 1 to 5 intensity scale, Figure 7 illustrates the usual spatial pattern of grid segments with high current densities. The grid configuration refers to Case I11 in particular. It is apparent that at least six peripheral meshes in Direction 1, and two meshes in Direction 3, arebound to have their valleys more pronounced than the othermeshes, even with the exact current distribution. From this point of view, it is somewhat unfortunate that the Discussers opted to show the profile curvein Direction 3, instead of 1 . Nevertheless,Figure 3 of this discussionstillseems to offer enough evidence of the existing convexity. For the samereason, the voitageprofilesproducedbyRENA2 should alwaysbeviewed as taken through the peripheral rows. This decision results more from the characterof averaged distribution curves, as shown in Fig. 6, than from the method. The basic concept of the

Fg 7.

IEEE method makes the terms like central profile or peripheral profile irrelevant to the calculation. To the other points: - Paragraph d relates more to the equations (1) to ( 5 ) and less to the equations ( 6 ) to (9). Yet, as this is a matter of degree, there is hardly any contradiction. - The addition of recent references is welcomed. - The problem of separate conductive objects buried near the grid is the intricate one, as they disturb the ground field and alter the path of ground currents emanating from the grid. Without going into detail, the m e b d cannot take into account such effects, and no modification short of writing a new program would do. In reply to Mr. A. B. Purdy; we are in agreement with most of his concise comments. With regard to the profile printout, the suggestion to adjust all the conductors to one voltage level would mean to neglect the irregularity problem entirely and to align all the profile peaks to the P(I0)-UVERTvoltagelevel.If this is whatMr.Purdyhad in mind, the result would be as follows: With the exception of peripheral meshes, such a rectified profile should come close to a true representation of the central voltage profile in Direction 4, Fig. 7. Thus, fromthe practical point of view, one would be able to obtain two limiting profiles from each computer run. The best one, corresponding to the central row line, and the worst one, assumed to be taken through the peripheral meshrows, as described before. The remark thatthe final computerprintout should show the surface potentials outside the grid, isvalid. In fact, weneglected to show this part of the curve only for the rather petty technical reason that the potential profile reduces very sharply outside the perimeter,

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and so the scale of the computer plotwould have to be drastically compressed. But, we agree that it is essential to show the outside surface potential data, and we intend to accomplish that with an additional, separate printout. Responding to Mr. George L. Finleys questions concerning the use of ground rods in the computerized design: The program can handle only ground rods of uniformly prescribed length. The other parameter which can be prescribed is the minimum spacing between the individual rods. Depending on the final grid design selected by the computer, the rods are placed either at each crossing point, or if the grid spacing is is smaller than the required rod distance, then the rods are placed in a sort of checker board pattern. Concerning the use of deep wells, or adjacent ground electrodes tied over some distance to the grounding grid, such an application is generally useful in conditions where the soil resistivity is high, but one may encounter the problem of transferred potentials. However, t h i s particular program is not equipped for this type of consideration. As a matter of fact, we have developed another program, named PUGY, for that purpose. The program provides modelingof a distributed parameter lattice network system to evaluate the transfer of ground potentials along buried long metallic electrodes, like cable shielding sheaths, counterpoise, water pipes, etc. We hope to describe the specific model

representations used in PUGY, and the experience gained with its application, on some other occasion. Finally, to the question about connecting or not connecting the substation ground to the substation fence, the choice depends mostly on local circumstances. When the fence is not connected to the grounding grid, the arrangement will be safe for all ground faults within the station except when there is a direct feeding of the fault current into the fence. In such a case, there might be extremely steep voltage gradients around the fence which may constitute a danger for bothstep and touch. For other faults, the fence remains at the same potential as the surrounding soil. On the other hand,when the fence is connected to the ground grid, then during every fault within the substation, the ground grid potential rise will be transferred to the fence and therefore it is rather mandatory to provide some kind of potential ramp in the vicinity of the fence, by burying one or two loopsof ground conductor outside the perimeter. So, in summary, the separately grounded fence mght be advantageous in cases where the danger of a fallen overhead wire is low. The tied-in fence seems to be the preferable arrangement for substations with many incoming overhead lines, or where the outer loops outside the fence may favorably contribute in lowering the total resistance of the system.

CORRECTION TO ASIMULATIONTECHNIQUEFORSTUDYING REAL ANDREACTIVE POWERFLOW PAITERNSI AND AN APPROACH FOR PREVENTING SYSTEM INSECURITIES ARISING FROM LINE AND TRANSFORMER OUTAGES~

M. S. Sachdev and S. A. Ibrahim

Power Systems ResearchGroup University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon. Canada

In the above papers the first pages and corresponding discussions were interchanged. The correct order for A Simulation Technique for Studying Real andReactivePowerFlow An Approach for Preventing Patterns1 is page 2092,2102-2109,2100. The correct order for System Insecurities Arising from Line and Transformer Outages2 is page 2101, 2093-2099, 21 I@-2114.

lM.S. Sachdev and S. A. Ibrahim, IEEE T m c t i o n s on Power Appmafur and Systems, vol. PAS-94, November/December 1975, p. 2092. 2M. S. Sachdev and S. A. IbrahimJEEE Tmnracrions onPowerAppamtusand Systems, vol. PAS-94, November/ 1975,p.2101.

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