Abstract: Earthing or grounding is any connection with the earth, which is ideally at zero potential.

Earthing serves as a reference for the functioning of electronic equipments and also dissipates any
accidental ground fault current to the earth. An earthing system is that part of any substation which
is invisible but inevitable. It incorporates both system earthing, in which case any large entity, such
as a power house or substation is grounded, & equipment earthing, in which all individual
equipments, both large & small, are grounded to protect the most important element of all, the
human life. Various standards define the design of an efficient earthing system, which is to be
installed taking into consideration the needs of the future. This paper uses references from two such
documents, namely IS 3043-1987 & ANSI/IEEE 80-2000. Soil characteristics are one of the main
factors which affect practical design aspects. Thus, soil modelling is of innate value when it comes to
designing a system which is fool proof & reliable. Apart from these, fault current plays an important
role & determines the sizing of earth conductors. Calculations are based on tolerable & achieved
values of Touch & Step Potentials & the maximum value of Ground Potential Rise, which are most
important parameters to evaluate an efficient earthing system. New advancements, such as Ground-
enhancement materials, new grid designs, & better earthmat conductors have led to greater
feasibility & increased performance of earthing components.

What is Earth/ Ground?

A conducting connection, whether intentional or accidental, by which an electric circuit or

equipment is connected to the earth or to some conducting body of relatively large extent that
serves in place of the earth, is known as earth.

In U.S. Context, an “earth” is referred to as “ground”.

Requirement:

Earthing is quite essential at every stage of electricity generation, transmission & utilization. A well
designed earthing system is necessary to ensure safety of personnel & equipment.

Earthing is required for two purposes:

Safety Earthing- In case of any unintentional contact with any live part in the station, the voltages
induced in the body of a person should be within permissible range so as not to cause any harm.
Equipment safety is the other major concern. If any earth fault occurs anywhere in the system,
currents should be safely discharged to the ground and equipment insulation should not be
damaged in the process.

Functional Earthing- For correct operation of various control devices a reference earth is required.

Proper functioning of protective devices during i) earth faults in electric systems, ii) lightning strikes
on equipment/ structures & iii) occurrence of induced voltages & currents on equipments,
conductors, cables, structures etc of an electric system is ensured with efficient earthing system
design.
According to ANSI/IEEE 80:2000, a safe grounding design has two objectives:

1. To provide means to carry electric currents into the earth under normal & fault conditions
without exceeding any operating & equipment limits or adversely affecting continuity of
service.
2. To assure that a person in the vicinity of grounded facilities is not exposed to the danger of
critical electric shock.

Thus two typical scenarios are possible:

1. An intentional ground which consists of earth electrodes buried at some depth below the
surface of the earth.
2. An accidental ground which occurs when a person is temporarily exposed to potential
gradients in the vicinity of a grounded facility.

Potential gradients are created due to the flow of fault currents to the earth during ground fault
conditions.

Design Aspects:

Earthing systems typically consist of a buried ground grid/mat under the soil surface, earth
electrodes & risers which are connected to the equipment, connecting links to connect different
areas along with protective buses. A horizontal buried earth mat, either square or rectangular or L
shaped, consisting of conductors (in the shape of rods or plates) are interconnected to earth
electrodes which are buried deep vertically downwards. Risers from this horizontal grid connect to
the equipments above the soil surface & conduct the fault current to the earth mat.

An earthing system must be designed in such a manner so as to limit the effect of potential gradient
due to fault currents during fault conditions, without compromising on the safety of both equipment
& human life and continuity of service.

According to prevailing standards, design of an efficient earthing system is a function of three

factors, namely:

1. Soil characteristics.
2. Area to be grounded.
3. Maximum fault current & level of voltages.

Different voltages which a person can be subjected to, while working in a station, are defined in the
context of earthing:

1. Step Voltage: The difference in surface potential experienced by a person bridging a distance
of 1m with the feet without contacting any grounded object.
 2. Touch Voltage: The potential difference between surface potential at the point where a
person is standing while at the same time having a hand in contact with a grounded
structure/equipment.
3. Mesh Voltage: The maximum touch voltage within a mesh of a ground grid.
4. Ground Potential Rise (GPR): It is the maximum potential that an earthing grid may attain
relative to some distant point which is assumed to be at the potential of remote earth (i.e
zero potential).

GPR = Maximum Grid Current x Grid Resistance

For design of a safe & reliable preliminary earthing system, a step wise procedure can be defined as:

1. Measurement of Soil Resistivity of the area where grid is to be installed. Soil Resistivity can
be measured with Wenner’s four point method. Based on the values of resistivity, soil is
modelled as uniform soil or two layer soil.
2. Determination of the conductor size based on soil resistivity, maximum fault current & its
duration & type of conductor material.
3. An initial grid conductor spacing is randomly selected based on total area to be grounded as
well as easy access of all equipments.
4. Grid Current is calculated taking into consideration only the part of fault current that flows
through the grid to remote earth. It should, however reflect the worst possible fault
conditions.
5. The tolerable touch & step voltages are determined using respective equations for a
particular human body weight as mentioned in the standards.
6. Preliminary grid resistance of the earthing system is calculated with respective equations.
7. The GPR is determined by the product of maximum Grid Current & the Grid resistance. If
GPR is below the tolerable Touch Voltage, no further analysis is necessary.
8. The calculation of achieved Mesh & Step Voltages for the grid as designed is taken up.
9. If the calculated Mesh Voltage/ Step Voltages are below the tolerable Touch
Voltage/Tolerable step voltage, the design may be complete; else preliminary design needs
to be revised.
10. If the Touch & Step Voltages are exceeded, options like smaller conductor spacing,
additional ground rods, etc can be explored to improve the initial design.
11. Even after satisfying the Step & Touch Voltage criteria, additional earth rods may be
required & Transferred Voltage may need to be taken into consideration if it poses any
hazard to the system. Detailed design is then taken up to install an efficient earthing system.

Based on above mentioned inputs & methodology, a sample calculation has been worked out
hereunder:

Let us assume a power station with the following given parameters which are to be considered in
the calculation of tolerable & achieved Step & Touch Voltages for preliminary earthing design:
 Parameter Symbol Value Units
Soil Resistivity ρ 652 Ω-metre
Surface Layer Thickness hs 0.5 Metre
Number of Electrodes Nr 65
Length of Electrode Lr 3 Metre
Resistivity of Surface Layer ρs 50000 Ω-metre
Depth of Ground Grid h 0.5 Metre
Length of Grid X 140 Metre
Width of Grid Y 225 Metre
Total Area A 31500 Sq. metres
Fault Current If 31.27 kilo-amperes
Fault Current in Mat Ig 20.95 kilo-amperes
Fault Current Duration (for tc 3 Seconds
Conductor Sizing)
Fault Current Duration (for ts 0.5 Seconds
Step/Touch Voltages)
Note: Number of Electrodes is selected based on number of equipments which are to be grounded.

The material constants with steel conductors, according to IS 3043 – 1987 are as follows:

Parameter Symbol Value Units

Thermal Capacity Qc 3.8 x 10-3 J/0C mm3
0
Reciprocal of Temperature Co- B 202 C
efficient of resistivity at 00C
0
Final Temperature of Conductor Ti 40 C
0
Initial Temperature of Conductor Tf 500 C
Electrical Resistivity of Conductor δ20 138 x 10-6 Ω-mm
Material at 200C

For evaluating the values of Tolerable Step & Touch Potentials:

The k-Factor, dependent on the material of the protective conductor, is determined as

( )
𝑘= ln 1 + = 80.69

The size of the conductor can be determined from the formula

𝐴= = 702.81 mm2

A 20% margin above the original area gives us a value of A = 843.37 mm2

Diameter of Grid Conductor for Horizontal Earthmat, 2a = 0.034 m

The value of Surface Layer Derating Factor is given by the formula

.
𝐶 = 1− = 0.92
∗ .

Thus the values of Permissible Step & Touch Voltages can be found from the formulae

( ∗ ∗ )∗ .
𝐸 = = 61403.34 V

( . ∗ ∗ )∗ .
𝐸 = = 15517.36 V

Now, for calculating the values of achieved Step & Touch Potentials, we have:

Longitudinal Spacing between Conductors, Dx = 10 m

Horizontal Spacing between Conductors, Dy = 10 m

Therefore, number of Conductors along the x-axis

𝑁 = + 1 = 15

And number of Conductors along the y-axis

𝑁 = + 1 = 24

The total length of conductors is

𝐿 = 𝑁 ∗ 𝑌 + 𝑁 ∗ 𝑋 = 6665 m

Total buried length of conductors is

𝐿 = 𝐿 + 𝑁 ∗ 𝐿 = 6860 m

Thus, the resistance of the grid can be found out from

𝑅 =𝜌∗ + ∗
∗ 1+ = 1.72771 Ω
√
∗

Subsequently the total resistance can be determined from the formula

𝑅 = = 0.18371 Ω

Where RGIB = Resistance of Interconnecting Area between PH & Switchyard

RTY = Resistance of the Transformer Yard

RTRT = Resistance of Tail Race Tunnel

 RPS = Resistance of Penstock

RSW = Resistance of Switchyard

The Fault Current Division Factor & Decrement Factor are assumed to be

Sf = 0.67 & Df = 1

Hence, the Ground Potential Rise can be determined from the following formula

𝐺𝑃𝑅 = 𝑅 ∗ 𝐷 ∗ 𝑆 ∗ 𝐼 = 3.848644 kV

Geometric Factor for Horizontal Grid

∗
𝑁 = = 19.4833

Where 𝐿 = 2 ∗ (𝑋 + 𝑌) = 684 m

Geometric Factor for Square Grid, Nb = 1

Geometric Factor for Square & Rectangular Grid, Nc = 1

Geometric Factor for Square, Rectangular & L-shaped Grid, Nd = 1

Therefore, Geometric Factor for the complete Grid is given by

𝑁 = 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 = 19.4833

The spacing factor for step voltage is given by

𝐾 = ∗ + + (1 − 0.5 ) = 0.380649
∗

Correction Factor for Grid Geometry is applied

𝐾 = 0.644 + 0.148 ∗ 𝑁 = 3.528269

The total length of Ground Rods is derived from the formula

𝐿 = 𝑁 ∗ 𝐿 = 195

Therefore the values of Attainable Step & Touch Voltages are given by
∗ ∗ ∗
𝐸 = . ∗ . ∗
= 3552.136 V

We assume the Corrective Factor that adjusts for the effects of inner conductor on the corner mesh,
to be 1.

i.e. Kii = 1

The Corrective Factor that emphasizes the effects of the Grid depth can be written as
 𝐾 = 1+ = 1.224745

Where ho = Grid Reference Depth = 1

The spacing factor for mesh voltage can be calculated from the formula

( )
𝐾 = ∗ ln ∗ ∗
+ ∗ ∗
− + ∗ ln ( )
= 0.617271

As a result, the touch voltage is calculated as

∗ ∗ ∗
𝐸 = = 4268.15
. .

Inference: The Grounding System Design with respect to attainable & tolerable Step & Touch
Potential is satisfactory & further detailed designing can be carried out. Additional number of ground
rods may be required & can be installed without any changes in the calculations made. The effect of
Transferred voltages should be evaluated during detailed designing stage.

Conclusion: Earthing System design is an integral part of any successful venture making use of
electrical energy. Although very few resources are spent on this aspect, engineers the world over are
realizing the value of a sound & realistic earthing system and its role in mitigating faults & damages
to equipments & human life alike. New developments have marked a renewed interest in design,
some of them being chemical treatment of soil in grounded area, of earthing materials with better
composition for earth enhancement, like bentonite & marconite, & other ground enhancement
materials from other manufacturers’ which are used wherever soil with moderate to extremely
adverse characteristics are encountered, along with better conductor material. However, it should
be noted that grounding is a one-time investment with no possibility for future overhauling or
trouble-shooting. Hence, at the design stage itself, care should be taken to consider all the factors in
their most severe forms affecting grounding, and corrosion of material buried underground must
also be considered to achieve the best performance throughout the life of the project.

References:

1. IEEE 80, IEEE 81.