Digitally signed by Anwesh Kumar

Anwesh DN: C=IN, OU=R&D, O=JEF TECHNO

SOLUTIONS P.LTD, CN=Anwesh
Kumar, E=anveshkmr150@ieee.org
Reason: I am the author of this

Kumar document
Location: Bangalore
Date: 2018-10-29 10:06:11

HEALTH ASSESSMENT OF AN EHV

EARTHING SYSTEM.
Anwesh Kumar Maddikunta MIEEE,

Deputy Manager R&D at JEF Techno Solutions Pvt.Ltd, Bangalore, India

Anveshkmr150@ieee.org

Abstract: Earthing is the important criteria in an EHV substation for the safety of personnel and equipment for the timely
operation of the protective devices without causing any fire or potential hazard to the personnel. It plays a vital role in limiting
the safe parameters like touch and step potentials. The aim of this paper is to discuss on how to verify the earthing system of a
live EHV substation for the integrity along with the safe parameters without actual shutting down of substation for the testing
and validating the same with software modelling.

Key Words: CDEGS (Current Distribution Electromagnetic Fields Grounding and Soil Structure Analysis) software, Grid
integrity, Off-grid frequency current injection kit, Riser integrity, Soil resistivity, Step potential, Touch potential, Tuned volt
meter.

I. INTRODUCTION
The earthing is done at the time of construction of substation
with input parameters of soil resistivity and fault current of
the design. In course of time, the system fault level increases
with the demand by addition of transformers and the
extension of bays but the earth grid will remain the same or
sometimes extended with an addition of extra grid for the
bay. During the erection works of the new bays or any other
works by vendors the existing earth grid may get damaged
and is left unseen for the rectification. This leads to the
islanding of the earth grid and will not be known to the
engineer in-charge of the substation. Due to the fact that the
grid is laid below the finished ground level at a normal
depth of 600mm, it becomes a scenario “out of sight out of
mind” and left unchecked periodically.
Normally the earth grid design is done in accordance to
fulfil the requirements of at-least 25 years of life with a
tolerance for any additional fault level in the system. It is
deemed that, the earth grid resistance is sufficient for the
safety and left unchecked to verify whether the earth grid is
sufficient for the safe parameters of touch and step
potentials. Audit of all the equipment will be done time to
time by specific testing instruments in order to ensure the
proper and timely operation of the devices. Whereas, the
audit of earthing system is done by measuring the earth
grid/pit resistance and check whether they are in limits of
1ohm for the lower rating switchyards and 0.5ohm for the
high voltage switchyards. However, as per the IEEE 80
2013[1] by having low grid resistance will not be considered
as safe and the earthing system needs to be checked for the
safe touch & step potentials, Condition of pits, integrity of
risers connecting the equipment to grid and ground grid
integrity from corner to corner.
The soil erosion takes place normally for every four to five
years and the same values of measured resistance may not
be validated all through. As per the recommended practices
adopted from the different standards of the different
countries, it is advised to have checked the integrity of the
1
earthing system for all the substation for every four years
and for the substations which have periodic verification and
maintenance every year may go for earthing audit once in
five years. It is also advisable that the earth grids laid in the
low soil resistivity to be undergone for the audit every four
years, as the condition of soil may lead to faster rate of
corrosion. The switchyards which are older than 20 years are
recommended for the audit of earthing system and in India,
the PGCIL(Power Grid Corporation Of India Limited) had
passed the circular that all the substations which are older
than 20 years are to be audited for the earthing system and
implement the audit recommendations to ensure the safety
parameters. The other state electricity boards have also
started implementation of the same to ensure the redundancy
of the earthing system.
II. METHODOLOGY
The process of the earthing audit involves different activities
and are interrelated to verify the safety parameters in the
switchyard. The following are the activities carried during
the health assessment of an earthing system [2]
a) Soil Resistivity
b) Grid impedance
c) Riser integrity
d) Grid integrity
e) Measurement of touch and step potential
f) Effect of corrosion on the buried metal
A) SOIL RESISTIVITY:
Measurement of soil resistivity is important in evaluating the
earthing system of a switchyard. Soil erosion takes place
with course of time and the earthing resistance values
measured every year may not be in line with the existing soil
resistivity at that instant of time. Selection of the right
location for measuring the soil resistivity is important while
evaluating for the grid impedance and safety parameters. It
is recommended to do soil resistivity during the audit at
different locations all through the periphery of the substation
for every 100 Mt and away from the substation such that
there is no interference of grid conductor in the measured
values. The distance for the measurement of soil resistivity
from the grid should be at-least half the distance between the
spikes. Please see below figure for the interference of the
grid conductor on the measured values when taken in
parallel to the grid conductor and the values taken in
perpendicular to the grid conductor. The variation in the
measured values vary up to 40 percent of the actual when
taken in parallel without proper separation distance from the
grid and leads to error in the calculations[6].

Figure.2

B) GRID IMPEDANCE:

Measurement of grid resistance/impedance can be done by

Figure.1
Soil Resistivity should be carried as prescribed in IEEE 81
2012 [2]by using ‘Four Point Wenner’ method as shown in
the below figure with equal spacing of the spikes for the
depths of 0.5Mt, 1Mt, 2Mt, 5Mt, 10Mt, 20Mt, 30Mt, 50Mt
etc., subject to the available space. The meter used for
measuring the resistance should be capable of injecting the
current at off-grid frequency to filter out the interference and
nuisance signals from the vicinity of the measurement and
for the error free calculations. So the selection of meter for
testing is also an important criteria to avoid any short-comes
in the design and recommended for off grid frequency
meters for taking measurements. The measured resistance
values shall be used in calculating resistivity by using the
formula prescribed in the standards as
fall of potential using three point method. There is a
limitation for using three point method for measuring grid
resistance as the distance required to drive the current spike
should be at least 5 times the length of the diagonal of the
grid and away from the grid. The same can be measured
with the current spike at a distance of three times the length
of the diagonal accounting to some error of 8 to 15 percent.
The potential spike to be driven at different locations
starting from the location of current spike to 20 percent of
the current spike length from the grid and the values of the
resistance to be noted. Now the noted values to be plotted on
the graph with respect to the potential spike distance and the
curve in the graph where saturated/linear is deemed to be the
grid resistance of the switchyard. The above method of
measurement is called Taggslope method [2] and is
applicable where the soil is uniform in nature. If the soil is
non uniform in nature then the above is invalid and the
impedance can be drawn from the software simulation. The
below Figure 3 shows the Taggs slope fall of potential
method and software evaluation for grid impedance.

Depth of driving the rod is insignificant when compared to

spacing between the spikes and in the calculations ‘b’ can be
neglected and the simplified formula for measuring the earth
pit resistance is Fall of potential graph

2
Software simulation for grid impedance
Figure.3
C) RISER INTEGRITY:
Integrity is verified to ensure the electrical connectivity
between bonding connections/joints. If the two metals are
bonded by nut bolt connections / welding / riveted / brazing/
soldering the same cannot be considered as integral unless
verified for the electrical continuity by the current injection.
The risers are the conductors which raises from the grid and
either connects to the earth pit or to the equipment and are
physically seen above the ground. The integrity of the
connection can be verified by current injection of low
amplitude of upto 30 A at low voltages and at off-grid
frequency in the live substation [2] [5]. If the current is
injected at the grid frequency for the low amplitudes then
the same cannot be identified whether it is the one injected
or leakage current due to the fact that there is always
presence of the leakage currents in the grid. To differentiate
the current injected at grid frequency, the amplitude should
be as high as 100 A or more which may cause potential
hazard to the personnel working in the environment and may
lead to the nuisance tripping in a live substation and such
high amplitudes of currents are advisable for a substation in
the shutdown stage. In order to avoid the above short back in
the testing of a live substation, the current at off-grid
frequency is injected closest to the grid frequency as an
example for a 50Hz grid, the off-grid frequency should be
60Hz and vice versa.
A reference riser to be identified from the grid, example any
earth pit in the bay and should be verified for its integrity by
trial and error method. One probe from the secondary of the
current injection kit to be connected to the reference riser
and the other to be connected to the riser under test in the
bay and a constant current of up to 10 A to be injected in the
loop formed by bridging the reference riser and riser under
test. Ideally each equipment will have two riser connections
to the grid for redundancy and when verified for the
integrity of each riser under test, the split of current should
be divided in equal proportionate. The difference in the ratio
will indicate the condition of the bonding towards
equipment/grid.
3
Figure.4
If the division of current is draining to less than 20 percent
then it indicates immediate action is required for
rectification and if the current is less than 5 percent of the
injected current then it is considered to be openness to the
grid connection or the equipment towards the direction of
lesser current flow.
Before the test had been conducted, the test risers were
presumed to be in good and healthy condition for above and
below ground connections and when the actual test was
carried by current injection. The anomalies were observed
and verified by excavation wherever required and found that
the integrity of risers were missing. Thus it is important to
perform the riser integrity test to ensure that each equipment
is integral with the earth grid to avoid the development of
hazard potentials during the fault scenario and to safely
discharge the currents to grid offering the least resistance
path, otherwise leading to the fatal of the personnel coming
in contact with the equipment.
D) GRID INTEGRITY:
The earth grid is laid beneath the finished ground level at a
depth of 600mm and deemed to be integral without
verification as it is below ground. In the course of time due
to the activities of vendors like excavation and erection of
any new installations, the grid may be damaged and as the
grid is laid below ground will not be known forever. With
the presence of moisture content in soil, the grid may be
corroded and the joints may be eroded and the same can be
verified only when checked for the integrity of the grid by
current injection method.
A reference point in the grid to be considered for the
verification of the grid integrity and the resistance is
measured at various points from the reference point to the
diagonal corner of the grid by using Earth Continuity Tester
which is capable of measuring in the order of micro ohms.
The measurements are carried by kelvins bridge method for
minimizing the errors by considering the voltage drop across
the reference riser and riser under test only. The measured
resistance for the risers at a similar distances from the
reference riser should be in close proximity and if any
abnormalities in the values are observed, same can be
verified by voltage drop for the current injected across the
bridging risers [4] [5] [7]. The measured values can also be
verified by comparing with the theoretical values by
considering the length of conductor, area of cross section of
the conductor, resistivity of the material. As per the
international standards the resistance of the grid from corner
to corner should be in the order of 10milli ohms and the
bonding resistance across the joints should be in the order of
100micro ohms. The limits are mentioned in BS 7430[3]
table 14 for the different joints in the substation.
The integrity of the grid will be checked by measuring the
resistance across the various points and by changing the
reference point where ever required. Thus by the above
method the islanding points in the grid can be identified and
the same can be verified by excavation to locate and rectify
the anomalies to avoid the development of any potential
hazards in the grid.
Figure.5
E) MEASUREMENT OF TOUCH AND STEP
POTENTIAL:
The safety in a substation is achieved by limiting the Ground
Potential Rise, Touch and Step Potentials. The measurement
of touch and step potential is difficult for the actual fault
scenario but the same can be determined from the
extrapolation of values measured with the remote fault for a
low currents by using an off-grid frequency current injection
kit in conjunction with the tuned voltmeter. The kit should
be capable for injecting the off-grid frequency currents from
the remote location (approximately 5 to 7 times the diagonal
length of the grid) to simulate the real time fault at the
remote location. Standard equipment are available which
can operate at different frequency ranges for the current
injection with variable option from 45 Hz to 70 Hz [1] [2].
One end of the secondary terminals of the kit to be
connected to the grid and the other to the remote electrode.
A current of low magnitude up to 10 A to be injected in the
loop through the soil from the remote location to the grid in
4
order to simulate the fault scenario. The current injected
should be at off-grid frequency so as to avoid interference
with the grid frequency and leakage currents. The GPR will
raise due to the current injected, the touch and step
potentials should be measured at different locations in the
vicinity of the probe connected in the grid by using a tuned
volt meter which can filter out the other frequencies. The
above procedure should be repeated at different location of
the grid or at-least four corners and centre of the grid. The
measured values are extrapolated to the station fault current
and the safety parameters of design for touch and step
potentials can be verified whether in the safe limits or not.
Figure.6
F) EFFECT OF CORROSION:
The grid conductor should be excavated randomly at few
locations and the surface should be scrubbed to remove the
mud and corrosion layer if any and the effective area of
cross section to be measured using a standard vernier
callipers. By having the measured effective area of the
conductor it can be ascertained whether the left out material
is sufficient enough to carry the fault current as per the
design.
III. SOFTWARE MODELLING
INTERPRETATION WITHOUT THE AUDIT OF
EARTHING SYSTEM
If the audit is not carried and the grid is simulated to
evaluate the safety parameters by considering only the soil
resistivity, grid dimensions and inputs of the design then it
may show the result that the gird is safe.
The myths are that there is no change in the soil resistivity
as the soil is not changed or uniform in nature, construction
of grid as per the design, riser connection/ grid conductor
are the same as there was no disturbance and were lying
beneath the ground, and in its place. The facts are that in the
course of time, soil erosion takes place due to wind and
floods and there may be change in the resistivity and soil
may not be uniform in nature, the grid construction may not
be in line to the design due to site feasibility constraints,
external agencies may do some erection works which may
damage the earth grid below the ground, corrosion would
have happened and poor workmanship would lead to the
missing of integrity for the risers and grid conductors. But,
in the software simulation the inputs taken are dimensions of
the grid, soil resistivity, area of cross section of the grid
conductor and thus grid shows safe as in below Figure 7
even after several years of the grid had been laid.
 in the grid design for the software simulation and the results
will give the actual parameters pertaining to the grid like
touch and step potentials whether in the safe limits.

For the above grid in Figure 7, the audit had been carried out
and the findings were incorporated in the software
simulation and the results of safety will be represented as
below Figure 8 in which the grid was found to be islanding
at many locations and the touch voltage was found to be
unsafe (coloured area representing the different potentials)
and the step potential was found to be safe.

Representation of grid as per design

Actual representation of the earth grid on post audit findings

Software simulation showing the touch voltages are safe

Software simulation showing the touch voltages are unsafe

Software simulation showing the step voltages are safe

Figure.7

INTERPRETATION AFTER THE ACTUAL AUDIT OF

EARTHING SYSTEM.

To have the correct assessment of the earthing system at a

particular period, the audit has to be carried as per the
methodology mentioned in section-II and the corresponding
measured values like soil resistivity at the time of audit,
resistance values obtained in the riser integrity, islanding Software simulation showing the step voltages are safe
locations obtained in the grid integrity are to be incorporated
Figure.8
5
 IV. TABLES OF INPUT DATA TO BE f) The person near the remote electrode should be
COLLECTED IN THE AUDIT communicated and kept away from the electrode
while testing

VI. CONCLUSION

Comprehensive earthing adequacy audit of an EHV earthing

system is required for all the substations (mainly older
substations) to ascertain the safety parameters. By
conducting the audit of earthing system, we will be able to
bring down the potential hazards to the equipment failures
and to the human life by identifying the anomalies like exact
location of missing of integrity of the existing earth
connections to the equipment or to the grid, islanding
locations of the grid, condition of the existing earth grid
conductor for the design fault current rating, measured touch
Table.1 Soil Resistivity and step potentials whether in the safe limits. The anomalies
observed in the audit will be proposed for rectification and
the same can be verified by the test methods mentioned in
the section-II.

Now the grid after rectification of audit findings should be

evaluated with the software simulation for the safety
parameters as mentioned in section-III and if required any
modifications to bring the grid to safe, the same should be
implemented. The audit of earthing system not only
beneficial for the old EHV substation but can be
implemented for the new substations before commissioning
to ensure the safety parameters as per the design and to
ascertain the quality of workmanship.

Table.2 Riser integrity

VII. REFERENCES

[1] IEEE 80 Guide for safety in AC substation Grounding

[2] IEEE 81 Guide for measuring earth resistivity, ground

impedance, and earth surface potentials of grounding
system.

[3] BS 7430-Code of practice for protective earthing of

electrical installations

[4] Ground Grid integrity testing by Riley E Moore Virginia

power
Table.3 Grid integrity (values in milli ohms) [5] Effective use of continuity testing to assess grounding
system integrity by Dr.Darren Woodhouse, Mr. Ian
V. PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN:
McLagan and Mr.Stephen palmer
The tests mentioned in the Section II are to be carried in the
[6] IEEE Transaction on New method and instrument for
live substation and the following cares must be taken while
touch and step voltage measurements.
doing
[7] Grounding system testing and assessment by Moritz
a) Engaging the trained engineers to carry out the
Pikisch, Sirko Bohme.
audit
b) All the persons working in the environment should
be equipped with PPE (Personal Protective
Equipment)
c) All the test equipment should be provided with the
earth leakage circuit breaker/Protective device for
the safety of personnel.
d) All the test instruments should be of calibrated
e) Tests should not be carried on a monsoon day.
6