ModernPracticesofEarthing

SonjibBanerjee(B.E)TechnicalDirectorDM MemberIEEE,NFPAContact:Sonjib.banerjee@gmail.com

Synopsis:
BeforewegettoModernpracticesofearthing,thispaperrevisitscertainbasicconcepts.Important concernsoftheindustryareaddressedwithenergyasperspective.Polarmethodtoincreasethe computationalaccuracyofsoilresistivityisexplained.Thevariationofgridparameteralongwith variationofsoilresistivityinhorizontalplaneisdetailed.UsageofpermanentEarthingcompound asperIEEE802000clause14.5disexplained.Cautionrequiredwhilehandlinghighfrequency signalduringearthingiselaborated.Scienceofmobileearthishinted.Earthcommandandcontrol centerisconceptualized.ProtectionfromLEMPandGICisinvestigated.

WhatisAlternatingCurrent?
Itiscommonlyunderstood;currentis signifyingamplitudeofthesinusoidalAC waveform. +veCycle veCycle

movementofchargeorholes.InAlternating
Current,thechargeactuallydoesnottravelat all.Itonlyvibratesinitsmeanposition.The positivecyclemarksdisplacementofcharge fromthemeanpositiontowardstheloadand thenegativecyclesignifiesitsdisplacement towardsthesource.AcrossaCrossectionarea, thevibrationbeginswithonechargeand increasestothemaximumnumberofcharges

WhatisTension?
Theextentofmovementoftheparticlefrom themeanpositionisduetoprevailingTension (similartoforce)exertedduringpositiveor negativecycle.Morethetension,morethe displacementoftheparticlefromthemean positionandviceversa.Thechargeoscillates, hencethenetdisplacementofthecharge acrosstheCrossectionareaofconductoris ZERO.

LowTension

HighTension

WhatisFrequency?
Thenumberoftimesthechargeoscillatesacrossitsmeanpositionisfrequency.

WhatMOVES?
ItistheENERGYthatistransferred.TheEnergy istransferredthruvibratingchargesacrossa CrossectiontothenextadjoiningCrossection. Hencecurrentisthemovementofthe disturbanceandnotthecharge.TheEnergy transferredisproportionalto thenumberchargesvibrating, thedisplacementofthechargesfrom themeanpositionand thenumberofvibrationspersecond

SeriesCircuit
Inaseriescircuit,theNumberofcharges vibratingacrosstheCrossectionofthe conductorandfrequencyneverchanges.The currentisconstant.Theextentofdisplacement ofthechargefromthemeanpositionchanges, witheverypassingofimpedances.Thisin normalwordsiscalledvoltagedrop. IMPEDANCE

ParallelCircuit
Inaparallelcircuit,theextentofdisplacement ofchargefromitsmeanpositionacrossthe Crossectionoftheconductor,andfrequency doesnotchange.Thetensionisconstant.The numberofchargesvibratingineachparallel pathchangesandisinverselyproportionalto theimpedanceofferedbythatpath. HIGH IMPEDANCE

LOW IMPEDANCE

Whatisearth?
Earthisahugemasswithenormousamountof charges.Whenenergyisappliedtoearth,the energyspreads,thenumberofcharges vibratingincreases,thedisplacementofcharge fromthemeanpositionprogressivelyreduces. FinallytheTensionbecomesinfinitesimal.Ina birdseyeview,thechargesappearstatic.The energyistransferredthruhugeamountof chargesdilutingtension. InnormalconditionchargesinEARTHarestable withhardlyanytension.

WhatisLoad?
Energycanneitherbecreatednorbedestroyed.Theenergytransferredintheconductorcanbe divertedimpedingthechargevibration. Thelossofenergyinaconductordueto reluctanceofchargetovibratecauses Impedanceduetoresistance. Thelossofenergyduetoinertiato maintainingthenumberofcharges vibrating(current)thruatimedomain inaloopcausesimpedancedueto inductance. Thelossofenergythruadielectricfor maintainingthedisplacementofcharge fromitsmeanposition(voltage)across atimedomaincausesimpedancedue tocapacitance. Theimpedancesaredeliberatelyused tohindertheenergytransferinthe conductorandconvertthisenergyinto usableform.Theseimpedancesare termedload.

WhatisFault?
Anyelectricalsignalcanbecharacterizedby Amplitude(numberofcharges vibrating), Frequency(numberofoscillations acrossmeanpositionpersecond), Voltage(displacementofchargefrom itsmeanposition), Symmetry, Shapeofwave.

Alltheabovedefinitionshaveminimumandmaximumacceptablelimits.Anysignalfallingoutside acceptablelimitsistermedafault.Faultcanbeclassifiedascontinuousandinstantaneous.Few examplesoffaultareasfollows

Continu uous:
Unbalance Harmonics Noise

Instantane eous
Shortcircuit Surg ge(Switching g,Lightning) LEM MPetc..

Howto ouseEarthorground? ?
Intheea arth,thecha argesexistna aturallywith minimum mvibratorydisplacemen d nt.Thus,charges ongroundexperienc celeasttension.Tension n ncedbychar rgesonanycurrent c carry ying experien pathcan nbeevaluate edwrt.totensionofthe chargesontheground.Thusear rthisusedas s ce. referenc Infinitenumber n ofchargesofthe evastearthcan diluteim mmenseamo ountoftensionandactasan infiniteload l tripping gthecircuitincaseofa fault,asearlyaspos ssible.Thusearth e isalso rprotection. usedfor Tomakeaneffectiveearth,itisimperativeto haracterof: knowthech Sign naltobeeart thed Con nductorthatwilltransferthefaultto theearth And dSoilconditio on

Variousrela aysidentifyafaultcondit tionand intentionally yroutethef faulttotheEarth. E In manyinstan ncesEarthac ctsaselectric cal seweragesy ystem.Discussingoperat tionofrelay andtheirco oordinationis soutsidethe epreviewof thispaper.

IsTma assuggestedintable1 1ofIEEE80 02000forundergrou undbareco onductor,sa afe?

(37) Totrans sferfaulttot theearth,thecalculation nof Crossect tionareaisvery v important.Weneed da carefullookatthisfo ormulaforabare c The T material l undergroundearthconductor. tinTable1o ofIEEE8020 000mentionsTm constant asfusing gtemperatureofmateria al,whereas equation n37ofthesamestandar rdrightfully mention nsitasMaxim mumallowable tempera ature.Havealookattheenthalpyof vaporiza ationofwate er.

After6400Cwaterturnstovaporalmost instantaneously.IncasethecopperorGI conductorisallowedtorisetoTmsuggestedin Table1IEEE802000,themoistureroundthe conductorwouldescapeconvertingthesoilin theimmediatevicinityofconductorintoan insulator.TheEarthgridwouldfail. Respitecomesfromthefactthatthereare multiplepathsthruwhichtheGridCurrent

divides.Whenanabovegroundearth conductorisconnectedtothegrid,inworst casescenarioIGcandivideinminimum2paths atthepointofentry.Crossectionareaof undergroundgridconductorcanthusbe calculatedtakingthefaultcurrentasIG/2,and Tmas950C.Necessarycorrectionscanbealso madeforambienttemperatureTaaroundthe conductorwhichisappx.600mmunderthe ground.

WhatisSoilResistivity?
Whentheenergyisdissipatedintotheground mass,thetensiondilutes3dimensionally.The energyfacesvariableresistanceinevery infinitesimalconehavingheightof1mt.The resultantresistanceencounteredbytheenergy tospread1mtinalldirectionsfrompointof Thestepsfollowedinthepolarmethodareasfollows. Takethesoilresistivitybyanymethod asprescribedinIEEE811983inas manydirectionsaspossible Interpolatethereadingsto7.50 DrawaPolarcurveconnectingeach point injectionistermedassoilresistivity.Thereare manyprovenwaysofcollectingthedataofsoil resistivity.ThePolarmethodenhancesthe accuracyofcomputationtofindthenetsoil resistivityfromapointonagivensurface.

ComputetheareaofthePolarcurve Drawacircleofanareaequaltothe polarcurve TheRadiusofthecircleistheaverage resistivity

CaseSt tudy
Project:SteelIndu ustry

Interpolationofdatato7.50

VariationofSoilresistivityonhorizontalplane
InalargeAreainvolvingSubstation,Switchyard orGeneratingStationthesoilresistivityina horizontalplanevaries.Incasethevarianceof Soilresistivityishuge,thenanearthgridwith samespacingbetweenconductorsis dangerous.Weshalllookattheabovecase study.

Problem
TheSoilresistivityisseentovarybetween 480mto1018minaspanof175mX150m.If wehaveagridwithequalconductorspacing, thentheenergywoulddissipatemoreeasilyin thelowsoilresistivityareaandhardlyinhigh soilresistivityarea.Thisunequalenergy distributioncompletelydistortstheempirical valuesoftensionsateachpoint.Theactualstep potentialandactualmeshpotentialisdifferent fromcalculatedvalue.Itsafetyisfully compromised.

Solution
Thelayoutisdividedintomultiplezonessuch thattherangeofsoilresistivityvariationineach regioniswithin30%.SeparateEarthgridis designedforeachzone.Thespacingbetween conductorsineachzoneisdifferentinthiscase. Asecondsplitfactorisintroducedtocaterto thecurrentdistributionineachcomponentgrid. Manyothergridparameterscanalsobevaried inthiscasetoachievesafepotentials.

Result
Actualpotentialareclosetoempiricalpotentialsisachieved. Gridiscostefficient.

AParticleEarthgridisshownbelow. 10EP 20EarthPits 26EarthPits 20EarthPits

HowtotacklevariationofResistivitywithMoisture,Saltandtemperature?
IEEE802000clause14.5dfullyexplainstheaboveproblem.Theabstractoftheclauseismentioned below: Groundenhancementmaterialssomewitha resistivityoflessthan0.12m(about5%ofthe resistivityofBentonite),aretypicallyplaced aroundtherodinanauguredholeoraround groundconductorinatrenchineitheradry formorpremixedinslurry.Someofthese enhancementmaterialsarepermanentandwill notleachanychemicalsintotheground.

WhatisIEEE80200014.5dmaterial
Theingredientscompriseofthefollowingcompoundsinaspecificgrainsizeandpurity. Ioniccompoundsensuresfreeions Dispersioncompoundsstopthe reversalofionstosalt Hygroscopiccompoundscandraw waterfromthesurroundingsoil Superabsorptioncompoundtostore andmaintaingroundhumidity Expansioncompoundforinternal compaction Diffusioncompoundforgrowing conductiverootsinthemicroscopic poresofsurroundingsoil.

Application
Anexampleofapplicationisshownbelowtolowersoilresistivityandaboveallachievepermanency.

Howto ocorrectan nEarthingo ofLiveOldSwitchyar rdorSubst tation?

Problem ms sofearthgri idareavailab ble. Nodrawings Noknowledgeofearthgrid g isavailab ble ntenance withOperationandmain personal y orthesubstation Theswitchyard shutdownis simpossible Thegridearthp pitsofthesubstation wvariedrea adingsshowingislanding show ofth hegridduet tocorrosion. . Spaceavailabilit tyisabigcon nstraint. ChangeinSourc cecapacity,Number N of dersanddist tributorswhichchanges feed theIGvaluescom mpletely

SolutionTierEar rth

Doadequacy ystudyofth heearth Findtheleng gthofcondu uctorrequire ed tocorrectth heearthcondition DomultiorsingleTierperipheral a insertingthe t conducto ors connectionat atvariablespacing s anddepth d Connectionoftheoldgr ridtothenew w peripheralg gridevery30meters

Con nnectingtheLPSearthpit tstothe maingridusinganEarthBon nd. Exot thermicallyw weldingallnecessary jointstoachieve epermanenc cy. Che eckingifallgr ridearthpits shavecome toalmost a thesa amevalue

Applica ation

Result
AllEarthPitvaluesstarte edshowing tancewithou utindividual similarresist correction Gridresistan ncedropped Stre esssufferedb bytheequip pments redu ucedsignificantlyreducin ng ope erationandm maintenancecost.

HowtoachieveverylowresistanceforreferenceEarthorElectronicearthinHighsoil resistivearea?
IEEE1421991Chapter4beautifullyexplainsthe extentofresistanceexperiencedbythecharge asthedistancefromtheconductorincreases. ThesenumbersarevitaltocreatesigmaEarth wherethereflectionoftheEnergytowardsthe conductorisminimized.Thisinvolvessome detailedcalculationusingonionpealmethodof applyingartificialtreatmentcompoundto enablefreeflowofdisplacementcurrent(so called).Thedissipatedenergyisthusquickly diluted,immediatelyreducingthetension aroundthevicinityofthepit.Discussingthe detailedconstructionandmathematicsofsigma Earthisoutsidethepreviewofthispaper.

Application
Thedrawingshownaboveisonly representative.TheSigmaEarthneedsdetailed calculationlookingintoSoilresistivityandspace available.Incaseoftheabovecase,theSigma Earthisgiving0.2ohmsinasoilresistivityof 630m.

DoesEfficiencyofearthingdependonFrequency?
TheResistivityandPermittivityofsoildependsonfrequency.Watchthegraphcarefully

InOrdertotakecareofLowfrequencyandHigh frequencysignalsinthesameearthpit,one needstodesignitverycarefully.Highfrequency signalslikelightningdonotenterdeepearth.It needsaidofcapacitanceofthepit.Asthe currentmovesintotheDielectricsoil,the Displacementcurrentiskepthighbyapplying Platesormeshattheupperendoftheearth pit.Strayrodscanbeusedalongtheplateto increasethedissipationarea.Detailed calculationandapplicationtechniquesare availableforspecificsolutions.

ApplicationIAFCriticalCommandCenter(Undisclosedlocation) ThispitEarthsVHF,UHFsignalalongwithveterminalofDC.The22mtdeepboresingleearthgives 0.17continuouslyforlast3yearsinaharshsoilresistivityof830mrockysoil.

CanMo obileEarthbecreated d?
Yes,itisusedfordef fenseapplica ations.The anearthmas ssheldina Energyisdilutedina containe er.Theconta aineristrans sportedwith Equipme entsandarm maments.Atsitethe containerisplacedonth hegroundan ndits edsidesareflangedopentomake doublewalle contactwith htheground d.Afteranex xercise,itis replacedbackintothev vehicle.

Whatis sIRISEarth h?
IRISEart thisthecrea ationofEarth hcommandand controlcenter. c Itinv volves Sensor Peripheralcommandcen nters CentralCom mmandcente ers ThePCCcanbelocallyconnectedtoa alLaptopand daremoteServer S on loca LAN NorGSM.

Usage perationofMobile M Inapracticalop eratorswithi innumerable eremote ope stat tions,thenumbersofear rthpitsto bemaintained m are a huge.The eIRISearth cansignificantly yreducethe udgetbyshowingthe maintenancebu eearthpitson o screen. conditionofthe ltiplelevelof falarmcanpriorities p the e Mul maintenancean ndallocatebudgetfor theneedy. Care eobservationoftrendca anpredict failu urestotakepreemptivemeasure. Asinglescreenc conceptgive esimmense eftotheope erationandmaintenance m e relie team m.

Applicat tion ensorisputinsideanold dor Oneearthse newpit. Variouspara ameterslikedate,locatio on, valueetcare eloggedinevery e sensor. . Thesensorisprogrammedtoalarmon fewcriterias. ltiplelevelof falarm. Thereismul Aperipheralcommandcenter c (PCC)can oximately10 00earthpits. talktoappro Ahandheldtesterispro ovidedtoche eck tconditionsremotely theearthpit

S Server

PCC1 1

PCC36

LAPTOP

sen nsor1

sensor32

senso or1

se ensor100
W WirelessRem mote

WirelessR Remote

HowtoTackleGroundInducedCurrentsandEMP?
Earthingisthemosteffectivewayofhandling surgesproducedduringahighaltitudenuclear blastofSolarflare.ThreeTypesofEMPare produced: E1Pulseveryfastcomponentof nuclearEMP.Itistoofastforordinary lightningprotectorsanddestroys computersandcommunications equipment. E2Pulsemanysimilaritiestopulses producedbylightning.Leastdangerous typeofEMPbecauseofthewidespread useoflightningprotection. E3Pulsemuchslowerpulsecausedby theEarthsmagneticfieldbeingpushed outofthewaybythenuclearexplosion orsolarstormfollowedbythefield beingrestoredtoitsnaturalplace.This processcanproducegeomagnetically inducedcurrentsinlongelectrical conductors(likepowerlines)whichcan damageordestroypowerline transformers. commandandcontrolcenter,staticcommand controlcenterandGroundswitchwithautore closurecanprotectthepowersystem. USAhasover2000largetransformers,which aresupposedtobeeffecteddrasticallytaking outthewholepowergridincaseofHigh altitudenucleardetonationorSolarflare exceeding5000Nt.Theworldscapacityto manufacturesuchtransformersisonly142per year. InareportregardingthreattoUnited States,theEMPCommissionsassessed thatfunctionalcollapseoftheelectrical powersystemregionwithintheprimary areaofassaultisvirtuallycertain Shouldtheelectricalpowersystembe lostforanysubstantialperiodoftime theconsequencesarelikelytobe catastrophicmachineswillstop; transportationandcommunicationwill beseverelyrestricted;heating,cooling andlightingwillcease;foodandwater supplieswillbeinterrupted;andmany peoplemaydie

Themosteffectivewayofhandlingthesesurges inthelongtransmissionlinesistocreateislands andgroundthesurgeeffectively.Earth

Thecheapest,viableandmosteffectivesolution liesinearthingtechniques.

Bibilica
IEEE802000 IEEEguideforsafetyinACSubstationGrounding

IEEE1421991 IEEErecommendedPracticesforgroundingofindustrialandcommercialpowerstations IEEE6651995 IEEEguideforgeneratingstationGrounding IEEE811983 IEEEguideformeasuringearthresistivity,GroundImpedance,andEarthsurface Potentialsofagroundsystem.

ReportofthecommissiontoassessthethreattoUnitedStatesfromElectromagneticPulse(EMP)Attack GroundforgroundingacircuittosystemhandbookbyElayB.JoffeandKaiSangLockIEEEPress AN345(ApplicationNote)GroundingforLowandHighfrequencycircuitsbyPaulBrokawandJeff Barrow