NEEC National Electrical Engineering Consultancy

Design 6 14 Bringelly Road Kingswood, Australia NSW, 2747 ACN: 132586675 Management Construction www.NeecGroup.com Info@neecgroup.com Phone: 0415 77 55 75 ABN: 86132586675

Substation Earthing Design

One of the main reasons behind the earthing design is to achieve a safe environment in the vicinity of HV for people and workers. The hazard can jeopardise two categories of people: The public that can be affected by the step and touch voltage. Workers who can be affected by the step and touch voltage as well as the earth potential rise (EPR) zone. The step and touch voltage can be determined from the two equations 1 and 2, these two equations are calculated using the resistance from a 50 Kg person That is used when assessing the public access area. Equations 3 and 4 calculate step and touch voltage using 70Kg body weight, this calculation can be used in restricted areas within the site. V touch= 116 + 0.174Cs s t (1)

V step=

116 + 0.696Cs s t

(2)

V touch=

157 + 0.236Cs s t V touch= 157 + 0.942Cs s t

(3)

(4)

0.091 s Cs = 1 2hs + 0.09 Where Cs is the derating factor relating to surface layer thickness and resistivity s is the top surface layer t is the primary clearance time

(5)

The EPR can be calculated by applying Ohms law and using the grid resistance and the maximum fault current of the supplied system.

NEEC National Electrical Engineering Consultancy

Design 6 14 Bringelly Road Kingswood, Australia NSW, 2747 ACN: 132586675 Management Construction www.NeecGroup.com Info@neecgroup.com Phone: 0415 77 55 75 ABN: 86132586675

Earthing design Earthing design is divided into several sections, first is the gathering of informations. In order for an earthing design to be effective and to address all the required areas including the financial aspect of the project, it is important to make sure all the following informations are available and not limited to:
A.

Site layout Maximum fault current Clearance time Back up time Location of the feeding station Near-by utility Communication network in the area Feeding characteristics Any special considerations

Using the measured soil resistivity, it is now possible to determine the safety level by using equations 1to 4. Designing the grid using the site layout drawing is to avoid the clashes with the foundation of the building. The grid is usually composed of a few vertical electrodes connected together through a mesh of horizontal conductors. The layout of the grid is completed by computing the grid resistance and the maximum fault current to determine the maximum EPR and mesh voltage (the mesh voltage will be the maximum possible touch voltage onsite). If the result is within the safety limit, the earthing design is considered acceptable; otherwise it needs some modifications for the designed system. These modifications can be achieved by dropping the resistance of the grid to an acceptable value where the drop voltage is less than the safety limit. The feeder characteristics can also be taken into consideration. The earth wire and the cable screen can be very effective in the fault current return path. If the cable bonded at both end it will create a return path to the source for the fault current, usually around 80% of the fault current will find its way back to the source using the earth wire or the screen of the cable. Thus using this method is a must to study the impact under any fault at the supply station. A separate study must be undertaken to calculate the fault current into the ground and into the earth system. Earth Grid Calculation After the determination of the soil resistivity test it is possible to determine the grid resistance using hand calculations or computer simulation using software such CDEGS. The grid can be
B.

NEEC National Electrical Engineering Consultancy

Design 6 14 Bringelly Road Kingswood, Australia NSW, 2747 ACN: 132586675 Management Construction www.NeecGroup.com Info@neecgroup.com Phone: 0415 77 55 75 ABN: 86132586675

varied in shape and contents depending on the job nature; the aim of the grid design is to achieve a low resistance path to accompany the fault current without exceeding the drop voltage safe limit. The grid can consist of a vertical electrode in the ground; the resistance of this electrode can be calculated using equation 6: Rg = Where L is the buried length of the electrode in meters D the diameter of the electrode in meters If one electrode could not achieve the required resistance level, placing few electrodes in parallel will help in reducing the grid resistance, equation 7 shows the resistance for the grid formed with few electrodes in parallel. R= Where L is the buried length of the electrode b equivalent radius off the electrode at the surface
b = (dhsS )
0.25

8L ln 1 2L d

(6)

2L ln 1 L b

(7)

S = (4h2 + s 2 ) 0.5 Where: d is the diameter of the electrode h buried depth s distance between 2 parallel electrode S distance from one electrode to the image of the other in meters

(8)

The earth grid could also consist of mesh grid buried at a depth of 0.5 meters or more, the mesh could consist of multiple horizontal conductors buried at the required depth. Equation 9 shows the resistance of this mesh:

R=
Where h is the buried depth

4L ln 1 L (dh) 0.5

(9)

NEEC National Electrical Engineering Consultancy

Design 6 14 Bringelly Road Kingswood, Australia NSW, 2747 ACN: 132586675 L length of the electrode d diameter of the electrode Management Construction www.NeecGroup.com Info@neecgroup.com Phone: 0415 77 55 75 ABN: 86132586675

The paper is supported by the following publication:

M Nassereddine 'How to design an effective earthing system to ensure the safety of the people JulyACTEA 2009