WOLAITA SODO UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT: ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER
ENGINEERING

STREAM: POWER ENGINEERING

SEMISTOR PROJECT TITLE: DESIGN AND
ANALYSIS OF EARTH RESISTIVITY METER
NAME OF STUDENT ID NO
1 MESELU AZENE ENG/R/870/10

2 DEBASU ALEBACHEW ENG/R/721/10

3 ENDANCHYELEM TEMESGEN ENG/R/430/10

4 BILGIE GETACHEW ENG/R/015/10

5 YETSEDEW ZEMEYIBELU ENG/R/889/10

MARCH 17, 2022

WOLAITA SODO, ETHIOPIA
 Declaration
We, declare that this project titled,' Design and analysis of earth resistivity meter
using Multism software are our original work done under the guidance of Mr.
Meberate
S/No. Student Name ID signature
1. Meselu Azene Eng/R/870/10 ………..
2. Endanchyelem Temesgen Eng/R/430/10 ………..
3. Debasu Alebachew Eng/R/721/10 ………..
4. Bilgie Getachew Eng/R/015/10 ………..
5. Yetsedaw Zimyibelu Eng/R/889/10 ………..
This project has been submitted for examination with my approval as a
university advisor.
Mr. Meberate ………………………..
Project Advisor Signature
Mr.sirak ……………………….
Department of head signature

Place: ……………..
March 17, 2022

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 Acknowledgement
We are extremely grateful to the faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, for giving
us the opportunity to carry out this project, which is taken and considered as one course in the
curriculum.
We would like to express our earnest gratitude and regards to our project advisor, Mr.
Meberate lecturer in Electrical and Computer Engineering, for being the corner stone of our
project to reach this simulation result.
It has his continuous encouragement, invaluable supervision, perpetual motivation, guidance
and basic comments from the beginning of the project to reached up to last simulation result,
and successful documentation preparation as well as readiness of us for this project
presentation.
Finally, we extend our gratefulness to one and all who are directly or indirectly involved in
the successful completion of this project work to this simulation.

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 Abstract
This project aims to design, and analysis of earth resistivity meter using Multism
software.
Since during installation of substation, construction of buildings the earth is not
suitable. Therefore, our design is used to measure the resistance, voltage, and
current flow of the earth. A simple resistivity meter was designed and
constructed using cheap and locally available electronic components which
included two reversing switches (DPDT), 500W “modified” sine wave inverter,
a bridge rectifier, 2.2uf capacitor and a 12V DC car battery used as the power
source. The data/result obtained using the constructed resistivity meter was quite
comparable with that of the IGIS Resistivity Meter (model SSR –MP-ATS) data.
Efforts are being made to improve on the performance of the simple resistivity
meter. In general earth resistivity meter plays a great role in making safe
environment and in finding valuable and precious things.

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 Table of Contents
Declaration ............................................................................................................................................................. i
Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................................................ ii
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................ iii
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................. iv
List of Figure........................................................................................................................................................ vi
Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................................................... 1
1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Background Of The Study .................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Objectives Of The Study ....................................................................................................................... 3
1.3.1 General Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 3
1.3.2 Specific Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Significance Of The Study .................................................................................................................... 4
1.5 Scope Of The Project ............................................................................................................................ 4
1.6 Organization Of The Study ................................................................................................................... 4
1.7 Features Of Earth Resistivity Meter ...................................................................................................... 4
1.8 Advantages Of The Study ..................................................................................................................... 4
1.9 Disadvantages Of The Study ................................................................................................................. 5
CHAPTER TWO .................................................................................................................................................. 6
2. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................. 6
2.1 Basic Points In Earth Resistance And Resistivity Measurement .......................................................... 7
2.1.1 Ground Measurement Principles ................................................................................................... 7
2.1.2 The Earth Electrode....................................................................................................................... 9
2.1.3 Other Elements............................................................................................................................ 10
2.2 Soil Resistivity .................................................................................................................................... 10
2.3 Why Soil Resistivity Measurement Is Useful:- ................................................................................... 11
2.4 Methods For Measuring Soil Resistivity............................................................................................. 11
CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................................................ 16
3 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................................... 16
3.1 Materials Required .............................................................................................................................. 16
3.2 Block Diagram .................................................................................................................................. 16
3.3 Block Diagram Description................................................................................................................. 17
3.4 Circuit Diagram .................................................................................................................................. 32
3.5 Operating Principle ............................................................................................................................. 33

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 3.6 Mathematical Analysis........................................................................................................................ 33
3.7 Working Operation Of The Project ..................................................................................................... 34
3.7.1 Software Description................................................................................................................... 34
CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................................................... 35
4 SIMULATION RESULT AND DISCUSSION .......................................................................................... 35
4.1 Simulation Result ................................................................................................................................ 35
4.2 Discussion ........................................................................................................................................... 35
CHAPTER FIVE ................................................................................................................................................ 38
5. CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION AND LIMITATION ................................................................ 38
5.1 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 38
5.2 Recommendation ................................................................................................................................ 38
5.3 Limitation............................................................................................................................................ 38
REFERENCE ...................................................................................................................................................... 39
APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................................... 40

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 List of Figure
Figure 1-1: The Wenner Beta Array Arrangement ............................................................................................... 3
Figure 2-1: Equivalent Resistance Circuit of an Earth electrode System ............................................................. 7
Figure 2-2: Concentric Earth Shells around an Earth electrode ............................................................................ 8
Figure 2-3: the flow of current from a point current source and the resulting potential Distribution. .................. 8
Figure 2-4: the seasonal variation of earth resistance ......................................................................................... 10
Figure 2-5: Resistivity according to type of terrain ............................................................................................ 11
Figure 2-6: Wenner method ................................................................................................................................ 12
Figure 2-7: the measurement principle of Wenner method ................................................................................ 13
Figure 2-8: Schlumberger method ...................................................................................................................... 13
Figure 2-9: the measurement principle of schlumberger method ....................................................................... 14
Figure 3-1: The basic block diagram of earth resistivity meter .......................................................................... 16
Figure 3-2: Dry cell ............................................................................................................................................. 19
Figure 3-3: the schematic diagram of boost converter ........................................................................................ 21
Figure 3-4: Square wave ..................................................................................................................................... 24
Figure 3-5: Sine wave ......................................................................................................................................... 24
Figure 3-6: modified sine wave .......................................................................................................................... 25
Figure 3-7: Constant current diode circuit .......................................................................................................... 26
Figure 3-8: Typical BJT constant current source with negative feedback .......................................................... 27
Figure 3-9: typical constant current source (CCS) using LED instead of Zener diode ...................................... 28
Figure 3-10: typical constant current source (CCS) with diode compensation................................................... 29
Figure 3-11: typical op-amp current source. ....................................................................................................... 31
Figure 3-12: Constant current source using the LM317 voltage regulator ......................................................... 31
Figure 3-13: circuit diagram of the simple resistivity meter. .............................................................................. 32
Figure 3-14: Circuit diagram of measuring resistance ........................................................................................ 32
Figure 3-15: Circuit diagram of measuring voltage ............................................................................................ 32
Figure 4-1: circuit diagram of the simple resistivity meter. ................................................................................ 35
Figure 4-2: Simulation result of measuring resistance ........................................................................................ 35
Figure 4-3: Simulation result of measuring voltage ............................................................................................ 35

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 List of Table
Table 2-1: Approximate Soil Resistivity .............................................................................................. 14
Table 2-2: Soil Characteristics ............................................................................................................. 15

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 Abbreviations
AC………………………………………………Alternative Current
AGM……………………………………………Absorbed Glass Mat
BJT………………………………………….….Bipolar Junction Transistor
CCS……………………………………….……Constant Current Source
DC……………….……………………….…….Direct Current
ES ………………………………………….…..Electrical Survey
HEV…………………………………………...Hybrid Electric Vehicles
LSD…………………………………………….Low self-discharge
PWM…………………………………………..Pulse Width Modulation
RMS …………………………………………..Root Mean Square
SMPS …………………………………………Switched Mode Power Supply
VRLA battery ……………………………..The sealed valve regulated lead–acid battery

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 CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Of The Study
The first attempt to measure electrical resistivity of soils was made at the end of 19th century
with the two electrode technique. The two electrode method measures the sum of both soil
resistivity and the contact resistivity between the electrode and soil. The latter is very erratic
and unpredictable.
The 4-point resistivity method has its origin in the 1920‟s due to the work of the
Schlumberger brothers. For approximately the next 60 years, for quantitative interpretation,
Conventional sounding surveys (Koefoed 1979) were normally used. In this method, the
Centre point of the electrode array remains fixed, but the spacing between the electrodes is
increased to obtain more information about the deeper sections of the subsurface.
Wenner (1915) based on the work of Schlumberger suggested that a linear array of four
equally spaced electrodes would minimize soil electrode contact problems if potential-
measuring and current-induced electrodes are separated in space. Since then all the electrical
resistivity methods applied in geophysics and soil science are still based on the standard four-
electrode principle.
Frank Wenner published a paper “a method of measuring earth resistivity” in a National
Bureau of Standards, Scientific Paper, July 15, 1915. He suggested the following method.
Place four holes in the earth approximately uniformly spaced in a straight line. The diameter
of the holes is not more than 10% of the distance between them and the depth of the holes are
approximately equal. An electrode is placed in each hole which makes electrical contact with
the earth only nearthe bottom. The resistance depends on the distance between the electrodes.
But it does not depend appreciably upon the size of the electrodes nor the kind of the
electrical connection they make with the earth.
Why Wenner array?
This is a robust array that was popularized by the pioneering work carried by The University
of Birmingham research group (Griffiths and Turnbull 1985; Griffiths, Turnbull and Olayinka
1990). Many of the early 2-D surveys were carried out with this array. The "normal" Wenner
array is technically the Wenner Alpha array. For a four-electrode array, there are three
possible permutations of the positions of the electrodes (Carpenter and Habberjam 1956). The

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sensitivity plot for the Wenner Alpha array has almost horizontal contours beneath the center
of the array. Because of this property, the Wenner array is relatively sensitive to vertical
changes in the subsurface resistivity below the center of the array. However, it is less sensitive
to horizontal changes in the subsurface resistivity. In general, the Wenner is good in resolving
vertical changes (i.e. horizontal structures), but relatively poor in detecting horizontal changes
(i.e. narrow vertical structures). The median depth of investigation for the Wenner Alpha
array is approximately 0.5 times the spacing used. Compared to other arrays, the Wenner
Alpha array has a moderate depth of investigation. The signal strength is inversely
proportional to the geometric factor used to calculate the apparent resistivity value for the
array. The geometric factor for the Wenner array is 2πa. This is smaller than the geometric
factor for other arrays. Among the common arrays, the Wenner array has the strongest signal
strength. This can be an important factor if the survey is carried in areas with high background
noise. One disadvantage of this arrayfor 2-D surveys is the relatively poor horizontal coverage
as the electrode spacing is increased. This could be a problem if you use a system with a
relatively small number of electrodes.
Note that the sensitivity section shows large negative values near the surface between the C1
and P1 electrodes, as well as between the C2 and P2 electrodes. This means that if a small
body with a higher resistivity than the background medium is placed in these negative zones,
the measured apparent resistivity value will decrease. This phenomenon is also known as an
"anomaly inversion". In comparison, if the high resistivity body is placed between the P1 and
P2 electrodes where there are large positive sensitivity values, the measured apparent
resistivity will increase. This is the basis of the offset Wenner method by Barker (1992) to
reduce the effects of lateral variations in resistivity sounding surveys. The other two
permutations of the Wenner array are the Wenner Beta and the Wenner Gamma arrays. The
Wenner Beta array is in fact a special case of the dipole-dipole array where the spacing
between the electrodes is the same. The Wenner Gamma array has a relatively unusual
arrangement where the current and potential electrodes are interleaved. The inner probes are
voltage (potential) probes.

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 Figure 1-1: The Wenner Beta Array Arrangement

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The problems we had before the existence of the earth resistivity meter are listed below. Our
project solves the drawbacks of traditional methods and other resistivity meters specially two
array method and schlumberger method.
 Very high cost
 It takes a long time to find the desired object and to know about the behavior of the soil.
 Requires a lot of materials and labour
 Relatively poor horizontal coverage as the electrode spacing is increased
 Very erratic and unpredictable.
1.3 Objectives Of The Study
1.3.1 General Objectives
The main and primary objectives of this specific project work are
 To design and implement(analysis) earth resistivity meter
1.3.2 Specific Objectives
The specific objectives are
 To design earth resistivity meter.
 To measure resistance of earth.
 To measure voltage and current flow level of earth.

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1.4 Significance Of The Study
Eventually earth has different objects inside it, In order to find what material is found we need
tocome up with some kind of measurement mechanism. Studying about earth resistivity meter
enables us to figure out the resistivity of the specific ground. Specially in measuring the earth
resistivity of the areas like for water mains and power generation this meter plays a great role.
The others significance of this study is it help us to know about voltage and current level of
earth. Since we all are electrical engineers we would like to give our attention to the electrical
application rather than geological application. So this allows us to take our technical
knowledge to the next level.
1.5 Scope Of The Project
This project is mainly able to conduct on the design and analysis of earth resistivity meter. At
least to analyze the system, to design the circuit, to run the circuit using Multism software and
if there is time and resource available to demonstrate practically. After finishing the assembly
there is field study and measuring the earth resistance.
1.6 Organization Of The Study
This final project consists five chapters. The first chapter deals about the introductory
portion.The second chapter is about review related Literature used by the researcher. The third
has the methodology, block diagram, circuit diagram, operating principles with some
mathematical analysis and the software description, the fourth chapter deals about the result
and discussion and the last chapter is about the conclusion, recommendation and limitation of
the project.
1.7 Features Of Earth Resistivity Meter
The device has the following features
 Portable
 Digital
 Light weight
 Use 12Vdc with 70A as input
1.8 Advantages Of The Study
The device that we are going to design and implement (earth resistivity meter) has the
following advantages:
 The equipment is light, portable and inexpensive

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 Qualitative interpretation of the data is rapid and straightforward
 Field expenses are minimal
 It is flexible and can be used for various purposes and depths of investigation
1.9 Disadvantages Of The Study
 Deep investigations require long cables and consume much field time.
 Interpretation of complex geologic structures is difficult and ambiguous.
 Presence of metal pipes, cables, fences and electrical grounds can complicate
interpretation.
 Accuracy of depth determination is lower than with seismic techniques.

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 CHAPTER TWO
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
The purpose of electrical surveys is to determine the subsurface resistivity distribution by
making measurements on the ground surface. From these measurements, the true resistivity of
the subsurface can be estimated. The ground resistivity is related to various geological
parameters such as the mineral and fluid content, porosity and degree of water Saturation in
the rock. Electrical resistivity surveys have been used for many decades in Hydro geological,
mining and geotechnical investigations. More recently, it has been used for
environmental surveys chemicals (Keller and Frischknecht 1966, Daniels and Alberty 1966,
Telford et al. 1990).
The Electrical Survey, also known as the ES Log, measures resistivity with direct current
(DC)or low frequency alternating current (AC) using the principles of Ohm‟s Law. The basic
measuring system has two current electrodes, C1 and C2, and two voltage measuring
electrodes, P1 and P2. A current is passed between C1 and C2, and the resulting voltage is
measured at P1 and P2.
Current generator: - is a device that produces constant current. The input is ac source from
the inverter. Transistor, diodes and resistors are the components of the constant current
generator.
There are several methods of measuring soil resistivity, mostly variations of the original
method devised by Wenner. This consists of driving four metal spikes (commonly called
electrodes), into the ground, at equal intervals along a straight line as shown in Figure1. A
current is passed through the outer electrodes C1 and C2 and the resulting voltage drop across
the earth resistance is measured across the inner pair P1 and P2. If the ground has a uniform
resistivity p then p = 2πa V/I = 2πa R where „R‟ is the apparent resistance measured between
the inner potential electrodes.
Generally the current will flow in an arc between the electrodes and hence the depth
penetrated will increase as the electrode separation is increased. The effective depth at which
R is measured is usually taken as 0.6 times the separation „a‟. For the greatest accuracy in
determining the ratio V/I it is desirable that the current flow I be maximized and hence in dry
surface conditions it is common to moisten the soil about the electrodes to reduce the
contact resistance. The depth to which the electrodes are inserted must not exceed one-

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twentieth and not less than one-third of their separation. This is important if standard curves
are to be used for the interpretation of the experimental data. Having inserted the four
electrodes an average value for both V and I must be determined for both polarities of the
battery. Reversing the polarity removes the possibility that the earth may have its own
potential due to galvanic reactions underground.
2.1 Basic Points In Earth Resistance And Resistivity Measurement
2.1.1 Ground Measurement Principles
The object of an earth electrode system is to provide a low resistance to foreign currents that
may cause injury or damage or disrupt equipment. The currents will dissipate safely when
properly conducted to earth via the electrode. There are three components to the resistance
(Fig. 2-1):
 Resistance of the electrode materials and connections to them
 Contact resistance between the electrode and the soil surrounding it
 Resistance of the surrounding earth.

Figure 2-1: Equivalent Resistance Circuit of an Earth electrode System

The resistance of the electrode materials is purposely made small so their contribution to the total
resistance is negligible. Generally, copper materials are used throughout. Ground rods usually
are copper-coated steel for strength, although galvanized steel ground rods are found in
applications where corrosion is a problem.

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 Figure 2-2: Concentric Earth Shells around an Earth electrode

Figure 2-3: the flow of current from a point current source and the resulting potential Distribution.
The contact resistance between the electrode and soil is negligible if the electrode materials
are clean and unpainted when installed and the earth is packed firmly. Even rusted steel
ground rods have little contact resistance because the iron oxide readily soaks up water and has
less resistancethan most soils (however, rusted ground rods may eventually rust apart in which
case their effectiveness is greatly reduced).
Generally, the resistance of the surrounding earth will be the largest of the three components
(fig: 2-1). An earth electrode system buried in the earth radiates current in all directions and
eventually dissipates some distance away depending on the soil‟s resistance to current flow, as
indicated byits resistivity.
An earth electrode system consists of all interconnected buried metallic components including

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ground rods, ground grids, buried metal plates, radial ground systems and buried horizontal
wires, water well casings and buried metallic water lines, concrete encased electrodes (Ufer
grounds), and building structural steel.
The earth electrode can be thought of as being surrounding by shells of earth, each of the same
thickness. The shell closest to the electrode has the smallest surface area and offers the
greatest resistance. The next shell has larger area and lower resistance, and so on. A distance
eventually will be reached where the additional earth shells do not add significantly to the
resistance. Earth electrode resistance is measured to remote earth, which is the earth outside
the electrode‟s influence. A larger electrode system requires greater distance before its
influence decreases to a negligible level.
Another way of thinking about the earth shells is as parallel resistances. The closest shell has
some unit resistance. The next larger shell has more surface area so it is equivalent to several
unit resistances in parallel. Each larger shell has smaller equivalent resistance due to more
parallel resistances.
The resistance of the surrounding earth depends on the soil resistivity. Soil resistivity is
measured in ohm-meters (ohm-m) or ohm-centimeters (ohm-cm) and is the resistance
between two opposite faces of a 1 meter or 1 centimeter cube of the soil material. The soil
resistivity depends on the type of soil, salt concentration and its moisture content and
temperature. Frozen and very dry soils are a good insulators (have high resistivity) and are
ineffective with earth electrodes.
2.1.2 The Earth Electrode
There are various methods for setting up an earth electrode, depending on the country,
thebuilding regulations and the applicable standards. In France, the following types are used:
 Underground earth loop
 Metal strip or cable sunk into the blinding concrete
 Plates
 Stakes or tubes
 Ribbons or wires. Etc.
Whatever the type of earth electrode chosen, its purpose is to remain in close contact with
thesoil so that it can provide a connection with the earth to drain any leakage currents.
The quality of an earth electrode depends on three key characteristics:

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 The type of earth electrode
 The earth conductor
 The type and resistivity of the terrain, which is why it is important to measure the
soilresistivity before installing new earth electrodes.
2.1.3 Other Elements
The entire earthing system of the building is set up around the earth electrode. The
earthing system usually comprises the following elements: the earth conductor, the main
earth terminal, the measurement bar, the protective conductor, the main equipotential bond
and the local equipotential bond.
2.2 Soil Resistivity
Is expressed in Ohm meters (Ohm).By measuring it, you can find out how well the soil
conducts electric currents. So the lower the resistivity, the lower the earth electrode resistance
required at that location. Resistivity varies significantly according to the region andthe type
of soil because it depends on the level of humidity and the temperature (frost or drought
increase it). This is why earth resistance may vary according to the season or the measurement
conditions. As temperature and humidity levels become more stable the further you go from
the ground surface, the deeper the earthing system, the less sensitive it is to environmental
variations. It is advisable to bury your earth electrode as deep as possible.
Seasonal variation of earth resistance

Figure 2-4: the seasonal variation of earth resistance

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 Figure 2-5: Resistivity according to type of terrain
2.3 Why Soil Resistivity Measurement Is Useful:-
Soil resistivity measurements help you to:
 Choose the locations and types of the earth electrodes and earth networks before building
them
 Define the electrical specifications of the earth electrodes and earth networks
 Optimize the construction costs for the earth electrodes and earth networks (the required
earth resistance is obtained more quickly).
As a result, they are used on construction sites or for large scale tertiary buildings (or power
distribution substations) where it is important to choose the best positions for the earth
electrodes.
2.4 Methods For Measuring Soil Resistivity
Several processes are used to determine soil resistivity.
The most widely used involves "4 electrodes", with two possible methods:
1, Wenner: method suitable for measurements at a single depth.
2, Schlumberger: method suitable for measurements at different depths, as required for
geological soil profiles.
N.B:- the other methods are 2-D and 3-D array.
1,Wenner method (most common) Measurement principle
Four electrodes are set up in line in the ground, equally spaced at a distance "a" from one
another. A generator is used to inject a measurement current "I” between the two outer

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electrodes(E and H).
The potential V is then measured with a voltmeter between the two central electrodes (S and
ES).The measurement instrument used is a traditional earth ohmmeter capable of injecting the
currentand measuring the ∆V value.
The resistance value R read on the ohmmeter can be used to calculate the resistivity by
applying the following simplified formula:

Where
ρ: is the resistivity in Ohm at the point located under point 0, at a depth of h = 3a/4ρ = 2 pi (π)
aR
a: is the measurement base in m
R: is the value (in O) of the resistance read on the earth ohmmeter
For these measurements, EDF recommends that distance "a" should be at least 4 m.

Figure 2-6: Wenner method

The Wenner four-pin method, as shown in figure above, is the most commonly used
technique for soil resistivity measurements. Using the Wenner method, the apparent soil
resistivity value is:

Where
ρE = measured apparent soil resistivity (Ωm)
a = electrode spacing (m)
b = depth of the electrodes (m)
RW = Wenner resistance measured as "V/I" in Figure (Ω) If b is small compared to a, as is the

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case of probes penetrating the ground only for a short distance (as normally happens), the
previous equation can be reduced to:

Figure 2-7: the measurement principle of Wenner method

2, Schlumberger method

Figure 2-8: Schlumberger method

In the Schlumberger method the distance between the voltages probe is a and the distances
fromvoltages probe and currents probe are c (see figure above).
Using the Schlumberger method, if b is small compared to a and c, and c>2a, the apparent soil
resistivity value is:
Where
ρE = measured apparent soil resistivity (Ωm)
a = electrode spacing (m)
b = depth of the electrodes (m)
c = electrode spacing (m)

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RS = Schlumberger resistance measured as "V/I" in Figure (Ω)Measurement principle
The Schlumberger method is based on the same measurement principle. The only
differenceconcerns positioning of the electrodes:
The distance between the 2 outer stakes is 2d
The distance between the 2 inner stakes is A and the resistance value R read on the
ohmmetercan be used to calculate the resistivity with the formula:
ρS = (p. (d²-A²/4).RS-ES) / 4
This method saves considerable time in the field, particularly when you want to carry out
several soil resistivity measurements for a profile of the terrain. The extra time saved is due to
the fact that only the 2 outer electrodes need to be moved, whereas all 4 electrodes need to be
moved at the same time with the Wenner method.

Figure 2-9: the measurement principle of schlumberger method

Although the Schlumberger method saves time, the Wenner method is better known and
morewidely used. The mathematical formula necessary is also much simpler.
Nevertheless, many Chauvin Arnoux measurement instruments include both formulae for
instantcalculation of the resistivity values with either method.
Approximate Soil Resistivity
Soil Type (Ohm-m) Resistivity
Wet organic soil 10
Moist soil 100
Dry soil 1000
Bed rock 10000

Table 2-1: Approximate Soil Resistivity

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Detailed Soil Resistivity
Soil Type Resistivity (ohm-m)
Minimum Average Maximum
Surface soils, 1 500
loam
Clay 2 100
Sand and gravel 50 1,000
Surface limestone 100 10,000
Limestone’s 5 400
Shales 5 100
Sandstone 20 2,000
Granites, basalts 10,000
Slates 10 100
Fresh water lakes 200
Tap water 10 50
Sea water 0.2 1 2
City, industrial 1,000 10,000
areas
Clay, shale, 3 40 200
gumbo, loam

Table 2-2: Soil Characteristics

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 CHAPTER THREE
3 METHODOLOGY
The project will be carried out in
Software simulation: - this part takes place before the hardware work i.e. the whole design
circuit will possess this simulation the reason for this is the functionality of the circuit must be
tested.
The software that is expected to help us:-Multism
3.1 Materials Required
The materials that are we used in the design and implementing of the earth resistivity meter:-
 Digital multimeter
 Inductor
 Capacitors:- ceramic
 Power Diode:- silicon
 Resistors
 Car battery(12V DC) with 70amps
 Power Mosfet(n- channel)
 PWM circuit:- such as function generator
 Power bipolar Transistors:- pnp, npn,
 Pulse voltage
 Probes:- Metal pipes or welding rods
 Wires
 Other accessories: - connectors and hammer.
3.2 Block Diagram

Figure 3-1: The basic block diagram of earth resistivity meter

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3.3 Block Diagram Description
Car battery: - An electric battery is a device consisting of one or more electrochemical cells
that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Each cell contains a positive
terminal, or cathode, and a negative terminal, or anode. Electrolytes allow ions to move
between the electrodes and terminals, which allows current to flow out of the battery to
perform work.
Batteries are classified into primary and secondary forms.
 Primary batteries irreversibly transform chemical energy to electrical energy. When the
supply of reactants is exhausted, energy cannot be readily restored to the battery.
 Secondary batteries can be recharged; that is, they can have their chemical reactions
reversed by supplying electrical energy to the cell, approximately restoring their original
composition.
Primary (single-use or "disposable") batteries are used once and discarded; the electrode
materials are irreversibly changed during discharge. Common examples are the alkaline
battery used for flashlights and a multitude of portable devices. Secondary (rechargeable
batteries) can be discharged and recharged multiple times; the original composition of the
electrodes can be restored by reverse current. Examples include the lead-acid batteries used in
vehicles and lithium ion batteries used for portable electronics. Batteries come in many shapes
and sizes, from miniature cells used to power hearing aids and wristwatches to battery banks
the size of rooms that provide standby power for telephone exchanges and computer data
centers.
Batteries have much lower specific energy (energy per unit mass) than common fuels such as
gasoline. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that batteries deliver their energy as
electricity (which can be converted efficiently to mechanical work), whereas using fuels in
engines entails alow efficiency of conversion to work.
Some types of primary batteries used, for example, for telegraph circuits, were restored to
operation by replacing the electrodes. Secondary batteries are not indefinitely rechargeable
dueto dissipation of the active materials, loss of electrolyte and internal corrosion.
Primary batteries
Primary batteries, or primary cells, can produce current immediately on assembly. These are
most commonly used in portable devices that have low current drain, are used only
intermittently, or are used well away from an alternative power source, such as in alarm and

17
communication circuits where other electric power is only intermittently available. Disposable
primary cells cannot be reliably recharged, since the chemical reactions are not easily
reversible and active materials may not return to their original forms. Battery manufacturers
recommend against attempting recharging primary cells.
In general, these have higher energy densities than rechargeable batteries, but disposable
batteries do not fare well under high-drain applications with loads under 75 ohms (75
Ω).Common types of disposable batteries include zinc–carbon batteries and alkaline batteries.
Secondary batteries
Secondary batteries, also known as secondary cells, or rechargeable batteries, must be charged
before first use; they are usually assembled with active materials in the discharged state.
Rechargeable batteries are (re)charged by applying electric current, which reverses the
chemical reactions that occur during discharge/use. Devices to supply the appropriate current
are called chargers.
The oldest form of rechargeable battery is the lead–acid battery. This technology contains
liquid electrolyte in an unsealed container, requiring that the battery be kept upright and
the area be well ventilated to ensure safe dispersal of the hydrogen gas it produces during
overcharging. The lead–acid battery is relatively heavy for the amount of electrical energy it
can supply.
The sealed valve regulated lead–acid battery (VRLA battery) is popular in the automotive
industry as a replacement for the lead–acid wet cell. The VRLA battery uses an immobilized
sulfuric acid electrolyte, reducing the chance of leakage and extending shelf life. VRLA
batteriesimmobilize the electrolyte. The two types are:
 Gel batteries (or "gel cell") use a semi-solid electrolyte.
 Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries absorb the electrolyte in special fiberglass matting.
Other portable rechargeable batteries include several sealed "dry cell" types that are useful in
applications such as mobile phones and laptop computers. Cells of this type (in order of
increasing power density and cost) include nickel–cadmium (NiCad), nickel–zinc (NiZn),
nickel metal hydride (NiMH), and lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells. Li-ion has by far the highest
share of the dry cell rechargeable market. NiMH has replaced NiCad in most applications due
to its higher capacity, but NiCad remains in use in power tools, two-way radios, and medical
equipment.
Recent developments include batteries with embedded electronics such as USBCELL, which

18
allows charging an AA battery through a USB connector, and smart battery packs with state-
of- charge monitors and battery protection circuits that prevent damage on over-discharge.
Low self-discharge (LSD) allows secondary cells to be charged prior to shipping.
Battery cell types
Many types of electrochemical cells have been produced, with varying chemical processes
anddesigns, including galvanic cells, electrolytic cells, fuel cells, flow cells and voltaic piles.
Wet cell
A wet cell battery has a liquid electrolyte. Other names are flooded cell, since the liquid
covers all internal parts, or vented cell, since gases produced during operation can escape to
the air. Wet cells were a precursor to dry cells and are commonly used as a learning tool for
electrochemistry. They can be built with common laboratory supplies, such as beakers, for
demonstrations of how electrochemical cells work. A particular type of wet cell known as a
concentration cell is important in understanding corrosion. Wet cells may be primary cells
(non-rechargeable) or secondary cells (rechargeable). Originally, all practical primary
batteries such as the Daniell cell were built as open-top glass jar wet cells. Other primary wet
cells are the Leclanche cell, Grove cell, Bunsen cell, Chromic acid cell, Clark cell, and
Weston cell. The Leclanche cell chemistry was adapted to the first dry cells. Wet cells are still
used in automobile batteries and in industry for standby power for switchgear,
telecommunication or large.
Dry cell

Figure 3-2: Dry cell

1. Brass cap,
2. Plastic seal,
3. Expansion space,
4. Porous cardboard,
5. Zinc can,
6. Carbon rod,

19
7. Chemical mixture.
A dry cell uses a paste electrolyte, with only enough moisture to allow current to flow. Unlike
a wet cell, a dry cell can operate in any orientation without spilling, as it contains no free
liquid, making it suitable for portable equipment. By comparison, the first wet cells were
typically fragile glass containers with lead rods hanging from the open top and needed careful
handling to avoid spillage. Lead–acid batteries did not achieve the safety and portability of the
dry cell until the development of the gel battery.
A common dry cell is the zinc–carbon battery, sometimes called the dry Leclanché cell, with a
nominal voltage of 1.5 volts, the same as the alkaline battery (since both use the same zinc–
manganese dioxide combination).
A standard dry cell comprises a zinc anode, usually in the form of a cylindrical pot,
with a carbon cathode in the form of a central rod. The electrolyte is ammonium chloride in
the form of a paste next to the zinc anode. The remaining space between the electrolyte and
carbon cathode is taken up by a second paste consisting of ammonium chloride and
manganese dioxide, the latter acting as a depolarizer. In some designs, the ammonium chloride
is replaced by zinc chloride.
Reserve
A reserve battery can be stored unassembled (inactivated and supplying no power) for a long
period (perhaps years). When the battery is needed, then it is assembled (e.g., by adding
electrolyte); once assembled, the battery is charged and ready to work. For example, a battery
for an electronic artillery fuze might be activated by the impact of firing a gun: The
acceleration breaks a capsule of electrolyte that activates the battery and powers the fuze's
circuits. Reserve batteries are usually designed for a short service life (seconds or minutes)
after long storage (years). A water-activated battery for oceanographic instruments or military
applications becomes activated on immersion in water.
Dc to Dc Converter (Boost Converter):-
A boost converter (step-up converter) is a DC-to-DC power converter with an output voltage
greater than its input voltage. It is a class of switched-mode power supply (SMPS) containing
at least two semiconductors (a diode and a transistor) and at least one energy storage element,
a capacitor, inductor, or the two in combination. Filters made of capacitors (sometimes in
combination with inductors) are normally added to the output of the converter to reduce
output voltage ripple.

20
The basic schematic diagram of a boost converter. The switch is typically a MOSFET, IGBT,
or BJT.

Figure 3-3: the schematic diagram of boost converter

Overview:-
Power for the boost converter can come from any suitable DC sources, such as batteries, solar
panels, rectifiers and DC generators. A process that changes one DC voltage to a different DC
voltage is called DC to DC conversion. A boost converter is a DC to DC converter with an
output voltage greater than the source voltage. A boost converter is sometimes called a step-
up converter since it “steps up” the source voltage. Since power must be conserved, the output
current is lower than the source current.
History:-
For high efficiency, the SMPS switch must turn on and off quickly and have low losses. The
advent of a commercial semiconductor switch in the 1950s represented a major milestone that
made SMPSs such as the boost converter possible. The major DC to DC converters
were developed in the early 1960s when semiconductor switches had become available. The
aerospace industry‟s need for small, lightweight, and efficient power converters led to the
converter‟s rapiddevelopment.
Switched systems such as SMPS are a challenge to design since its model depends on whether
a switch is opened or closed. R. D. Middlebrooks from Caltech in 1977 published the models
for DC to DC converters used today. Middlebrooks averaged the circuit configurations for
each switch state in a technique called state-space averaging. This simplification reduced two
systems into one. The new model led to insightful design equations which helped SMPS
growth.
Applications:-

21
Battery power systems often stack cells in series to achieve higher voltage. However,
sufficient stacking of cells is not possible in many high voltage applications due to lack of
space. Boost converters can increase the voltage and reduce the number of cells. Two battery-
powered applications that use boost converters are hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and lighting
systems.
A boost converter is used as the voltage increase mechanism in the circuit known as the 'Joule
thief'. This circuit topology is used with low power battery applications, and is aimed at the
ability of a boost converter to 'steal' the remaining energy in a battery. This energy would
otherwise be wasted since the low voltage of a nearly depleted battery makes it unusable for a
normal load. This energy would otherwise remain untapped because many applications do not
allow enough current to flow through a load when voltage decreases. This voltage decrease
occurs as batteries become depleted, and is a characteristic of the ubiquitous alkaline battery.
Circuit analysis (Operating principle):-
Key principle that drives the boost converter is the tendency of an inductor to resist changes in
current by creating and destroying a magnetic field. In a boost converter, the output voltage is
always higher than the input voltage. A schematic of a boost power stage is shown in Figure
3-5.
 When the switch is closed, current flows through the inductor in clockwise direction and
the inductor stores some energy by generating a magnetic field. Polarity of the left side of
the inductor is positive.
 When the switch is opened, current will be reduced as the impedance is higher. The
magnetic field previously created will be destroyed to maintain the current flow towards
the load. Thus the polarity will be reversed (means left side of inductor will be negative
now). As a result two sources will be in series causing a higher voltage to charge the
capacitor through the diode D.
Power Inverter (Dc to Ac Converter):-
The reason why we need to convert DC source into AC is in order to initialize the gate of the
n- channel MOSFET.
A power inverter, or inverter, is an electronic device or circuitry that changes direct current
(DC) to alternating current (AC). The input voltage, output voltage and frequency, and overall
power handling, are dependent on the design of the specific device or circuitry.
A power inverter can be entirely electronic or may be a combination of mechanical effects

22
(such as a rotary apparatus) and electronic circuitry. Static inverters do not use moving parts
in the conversion process.
Applications:-
Typical applications for power inverters include:
 Portable consumer devices that allow the user to connect a battery, or set of batteries, to
the device to produce AC power to run various electrical items such as lights, televisions,
kitchen appliances, and power tools.
 Use in power generation systems such as electric utility companies or solar generating
systems to convert DC power to AC power.
 Use within any larger electronic system where engineering need exists for deriving an
AC source from a DC source.
Input and Output
Input voltage
A typical power inverter device or circuit will require a relatively stable DC power source
capable of supplying enough current for the intended overall power handling of the inverter.
Possible DC power sources include: rechargeable batteries, DC power supplies operating off
of the power company line, and solar cells. The inverter does not produce any power, the
power is provided by the DC source. The inverter translates the form of the power from
direct current toan alternating current waveform.
The level of the needed input voltage depends entirely on the design and purpose of the
inverter. In many smaller consumer and commercial inverters a 12V DC input is popular
because of the wide availability of powerful rechargeable 12V lead acid batteries which can
be used as the DC power source.
Output waveform
An inverter can produce square wave, modified sine wave, pulsed sine wave, or sine wave
depending on circuit design. The two dominant commercialized waveform types of inverters
as of 2007 are modified sine wave and sine wave.
There are two basic designs for producing household plug-in voltage from a lower-voltage
DC source, the first of which uses a switching boost converter to produce a higher-voltage DC
and then converts to AC. The second method converts DC to AC at battery level and uses a
line- frequency transformer to create the output voltage.
Square wave

23
This is one of the simplest waveforms an inverter design can produce and is useful for
some applications.

Figure 3-4: Square wave

Sine wave
A power inverter device which produces a smooth sinusoidal AC waveform is referred to as a
sine wave inverter. To more clearly distinguish from "modified sine wave" or other creative
terminology, the phrase pure sine wave inverter is sometimes used.
In situations involving power inverter devices which substitute for standard line power, a sine
wave output is extremely desirable because the vast majority of electric plug in products and
appliances are engineered to work well with the standard electric utility power which is a true
sine wave. At present, sine wave inverters tend to be more complex and have significantly
higher cost than amodified sine wave type of the same power handling.

Figure 3-5: Sine wave

Modified sine wave
The terminology "modified sine wave" has come into use and refers to an output waveform
thatis a useful rough approximation of a sine wave for power translation purposes.
The waveform in commercially available modified-sine-wave inverters is a square wave with
a pause before the polarity transition, which only needs to cycle through a three-position
switch that outputs forward, off, and reverse output at the pre-determined frequency.
Switching states are developed for positive, negative and zero voltages as per the patterns
given in the switching. The peak voltage to RMS voltage does not maintain the same
relationship as for a sine wave. The DC bus voltage may be actively regulated or the "on" and
"off" times can be modified to maintain the same RMS value output up to the DC bus voltage

24
to compensate for DC bus voltagevariation.
The ratio of on to off time can be adjusted to vary the RMS voltage while maintaining a
constant frequency with a technique called PWM. The generated gate pulses are given to each
switch in accordance with the developed pattern and thus the output is obtained. Thus the
Simulink model and output voltage waveform of Asymmetric multilevel inverter circuit uses
asymmetric voltages sources to produce 27 levels. Harmonic spectrum in the output depends
on the width of the pulses and the modulation frequency. When operating induction motors,
voltage harmonics is not of great concern, however harmonic distortion in the current
waveform introduces additional heating, and can produce pulsating torques. Numerous
electric equipment will operate quite well on modified sine wave power inverter devices,
especially any load that is resistive in nature such as a traditional incandescent light bulb.

Figure 3-6: modified sine wave

Other waveforms
By definition there is no restriction on the type of AC waveform an inverter might produce
thatwould find use in a specific or special application.
Output frequency
The AC output frequency of a power inverter device is often the same as the standard power
linefrequency, for example 60 or 50 cycles per second.
If the output of the device or circuit is to be further conditioned (say stepped up by a follow
ontransformer) then the frequency may be much higher for good transformer efficiency.
Output voltage
The AC output voltage of a power inverter device is often the same as the standard power line
voltage, such as household 120VAC or 240VAC. This allows the inverter to power numerous
types of equipment designed to operate off the standard line power.
The designed for output voltage is often provided as a regulated output. That is, changes in the
load the inverter is driving will not result in output voltage change from the inverter.
In a sophisticated inverter, the output voltage may be selectable or even continuously variable.

25
Output power
A power inverter will often have an overall power rating expressed in watts or kilowatts. This
describes the power that will be available to the device the inverter is driving and, indirectly,
the power that will be needed from the DC source. Smaller popular consumer and commercial
devices designed to mimic line power typically range from 150 to 3000 watts. Not all inverter
applications are primarily concerned with brute power delivery, in some casesthe frequency
and or waveform properties are used by the follow on circuit or device. For our project work
we designed an inverter using four MOSFETs. The MOSFETs are n-channel MOSFETs.
N-channel MOSFET
They are used in switching regulators, switching converters; relay drivers etc. The reason for
using them in the inverter circuit is because of its high switch transistor can work in very
lowgate drive power and have high input impendence.
Constant Current Generator:-
This device generates a current with some ripples in the output by using transistors, diodes
andresistors by using Ac voltage sources as input.
Methods of current generation
Simple transistor current sources

Figure 3-7: Constant current diode circuit

The simplest constant-current source or sink is formed from one component: a JFET with its
gateattached to its source. Once the drain-source voltage reaches a certain minimum value, the
JFET enters saturation where current is approximately constant. This configuration is known
as a constant-current diode, as it behaves much like a dual to the constant voltage diode
(Zener diode)used in simple voltage sources.
Due to the large variability in saturation current of JFETs, it is common to also include a
source resistor (shown in the image to the right) which allows the current to be tuned down to
a desired value.

26
Zener diode current source

Figure 3-8: Typical BJT constant current source with negative feedback
In this bipolar junction transistor (BJT) implementation (figure 21) of the general idea above,
a Zener voltage stabilizer (R1 and DZ1) drives an emitter follower (Q1) loaded by a constant
emitter resistor (R2) sensing the load current. The external (floating) load of this current
source is connected to the collector so that almost the same current flows through it and the
emitter resistor (they can be thought of as connected in series). The transistor Q1 adjusts the
output (collector) current so as to keep the voltage drop across the constant emitter resistor R2
almost equal to the relatively constant voltage drop across the Zener diode DZ1. As a result,
the output current is almost constant even if the load resistance and/or voltage vary. The
operation of the circuit is considered in details below.
A Zener diode, when reverse biased (as shown in the circuit) has a constant voltage drop
across itirrespective of the current flowing through it. Thus, as long as the Zener current (IZ) is
above a certain level (called holding current), the voltage across the Zener diode (VZ) will be
constant. Resistor R1 supplies the Zener current and the base current (IB) of NPN transistor
(Q1). The constant Zener voltage is applied across the base of Q1 and emitter resistor R2.

Or

,
Since VBE is typically 0.65 V for a silicon device.
(IR2 is also the emitter current and is assumed to be the same as the collector or required load

27
current, provided hFE is sufficiently large). Resistance R1 at resistor R1 is calculated as

Where K = 1.2 to 2 (so that R1 is low enough to ensure adequate IB),

And hFE (min) is the lowest acceptable current gain for the particular transistor type being used.
LED current source.

Figure 3-9: typical constant current source (CCS) using LED instead of Zener diode
The Zener diode can be replaced by any other diode, e.g. a light-emitting diode LED1 as
shown in Figure 22. The LED voltage drop (VD) is now used to derive the constant voltage
and also has the additional advantage of tracking (compensating) VBE changes due to
temperature. R2 is calculated as

And R1 as

,
Where ID is the LED current.
Transistor current source with diode compensation

28
 Figure 3-10: typical constant current source (CCS) with diode compensation
Temperature changes will change the output current delivered by the circuit of Figure 23
because VBE is sensitive to temperature. Temperature dependence can be compensated using
the circuit of Figure 23 that includes a standard diode D (of the same semiconductor material
as the transistor) in series with the Zener diode as shown in the image on the left. The diode
drop (VD) tracks the VBE changes due to temperature and thus significantly counteracts
temperature dependence of the CCS. Resistance R2 is now calculated as

Since VD = VBE = 0.65 V,

(In practice VD is never exactly equal to VBE and hence it only suppresses the change in VBE
rather than nulling it out.)
R1 is calculated as

(The compensating diode's forward voltage drop VD appears in the equation and is typically
0.65 V for silicon devices.)
This method is most effective for Zener diodes rated at 5.6 V or more. For breakdown diodes
of less than 5.6 V, the compensating diode is usually not required because the breakdown
mechanism is not as temperature dependent as it is in breakdown diodes above this voltage.
Current mirror with emitter degeneration

29
Series negative feedback is also used in the two-transistor current mirror with emitter
degeneration. Negative feedback is a basic feature in some current mirrors using multiple
transistors, such as the Widlar current source and the Wilson current source.
Constant current source with thermal compensation
One limitation with the circuits in the above two figures is that the thermal compensation is
imperfect. In bipolar transistors, as the junction temperature increases the Vbe drop (voltage
dropfrom base to emitter) decreases. In the two previous circuits, a decrease in Vbe will cause
an increase in voltage across the emitter resistor, which in turn will cause an increase in
collector current drawn through the load. The end result is that the amount of 'constant'
current supplied is at least somewhat dependent on temperature. This effect is mitigated to a
large extent, but not completely, by corresponding voltage drops for the diode D1 in figure 23,
and the LED, LED1 in figure 23. If the power dissipation in the active device of the CCS is
not small and/or insufficientemitter degeneration is used, this can become a non-trivial issue.
Imagine in figure 23, at power up, that the LED has 1V across it driving the base of
thetransistor. At room temperature there is about 0.6V drop across the Vbe junction and hence
0.4V across the emitter resistor, giving an approximate collector (load) current of 0.4/Re
amps. Now imagine that the power dissipation in the transistor causes it to heat up. This
causes the Vbe drop (which was 0.6V at room temperature) to drop to, say, and 0.2V. Now
the voltage across the emitter resistor is 0.8V, twice what it was before the warmup. This
means that the collector (load) current is now twice the design value! This is an extreme
example of course, but serves to illustrate the issue. The circuit above overcomes the
thermal problem. (See Also: Current limiting, which has the same circuit except with the load
on the low-side.) To see how the circuit works, assume Q1 and Q2 are NPN, and voltage has
just been applied at V+. Current runs through R to the base of Q1, turning it on and causing
current to begin to flow through the load into the collector of Q1. This same load current then
flows out of Q1's emitter and consequently through Re to ground. When this current through
Re to ground is sufficient to cause a voltage drop that is equal to the Vbe drop of Q2, Q2
begins to turn on. As Q2 turns on it pulls more current through its collector resistor R, which
lowers the voltage at the base of Q1, causing Q1 to conduct less current through the load.
This creates a negative feedback loop within the circuit, which keeps the voltage at Q1's
emitter almost exactly equal to the Vbe drop of Q2. Since Q2 is dissipating very little power
compared to Q1 (since all the load current goes through Q1, not Q2), Q2 will not heat up any

30
significant amount and the reference (current setting) voltage across Re will remain rock
steady at ~0.6V, or one diode drop above ground, regardless of the thermal changes in the
Vbe drop of Q1. The circuit is still sensitive to changes in the ambient temperature in which
the device operates as the BE voltage drop in Q2 varies slightly with temperature.
Op-amp current sources

Figure 3-11: typical op-amp current source.

The simple transistor current source from Figure 3-4 can be improved by inserting the base-
emitter junction of the transistor in the feedback loop of an op-amp (Figure 3-15). Now the
op-amp increases its output voltage so that to compensate VBE. The circuit is actually a
buffered non- inverting amplifier driven by a constant input voltage. It keeps up this constant
voltage across the constant sense resistor. As a result, the current flowing through the load is
constant as well; it is exactly the Zener voltage divided by the sense resistor. The load can be
connected either in the emitter or in the collector but in both the cases it is floating as in all the
circuits above. The transistor is not needed if the required current doesn't exceed the sourcing
ability of the op-amp. The article on current mirror discusses another example of these so-
called gain-boosted current mirrors.

Figure 3-12: Constant current source using the LM317 voltage regulator
Voltage regulator current sources
The general negative feedback arrangement can be implemented by an IC voltage regulator
(LM317 voltage regulator on Figure 25). As with the bare emitter follower and the precise op-
amp follower above, it keeps up a constant voltage drop (1.25 V) across a constant resistor
(1.25 Ω); so, a constant current (1 A) flows through the resistor and the load. The LED is on

31
when the voltage across the load exceeds 1.8 V (the indicator circuit introduces some error).
The groundedload is an important advantage of this solution.
From the above methods we implement in the design circuit the current generation method by
using bipolar transistors and diodes with combination of resistors.
Probes:-it can be metal pipes or welding rods.
The diameter of the holes (probes) is not more than 10% of the distance between their
separationand the depth of the holes (probes) are approximately equal.
Comparative measurements were taken for lengths of 5‟, 10‟, 15‟, and 20‟ at low to medium
soil resistivity environments.
Digital Multimeter:-
We can use any digital multimeter for measuring the potential of the earth at different
positionsand in different depths.

3.4 Circuit Diagram

Figure 3-13: circuit diagram of the simple resistivity meter.

Figure 3-14: Circuit diagram of measuring resistance

Figure 3-15: Circuit diagram of measuring voltage

32
3.5 Operating Principle
When the battery is on the power MOSFET will get enough pulse voltage from the function
generator in this case the inductor will charge some voltage the current cannot pass through
the diode. When the pulse is at low state the MOSFET become disfunctional and the inductor
discharges and the current pass through the diode and stores some voltage in the capacitor.
This voltage will go to the inverter circuit and the power MOSFETs give the voltage in Ac
form. The main reason of the inverter is to give it as the input to the gate of the power
MOSFETs. This Ac voltage helps in generating constant current. The constant current
generator circuit generates a current by using two power BJTs. But in the current generator
circuit there are resistors and diodes for limiting the current and current flow respectively.
And finally we can get the current and it can be measured by using ammeter.
3.6 Mathematical Analysis
For the boost converter: - the input is 12Vdc and the output (the desired one) is 400V in order
toget high voltage like 400Vdc the duty cycle should be
D= 1-Vi/ Vo
where Vo is the desired output voltage
Vi is the input voltage
D is the duty cycle
So, D= 1-12/400
=1-0.03
=97%
The amount of capacitor and inductor
Inductor ripple current
∆IL= Vin * duty cycle ∕ Fs* L
Vin: - is minimum input voltage
Fs:- minimum switching frequency of the converter
L: - selected inductor value (400mH)
∆IL= 12*0.97 ∕ 50* 400mH
=0.582amps
Inductor calculation
L= Vin*(Vout-Vin) ∕ ∆IL*Fs*Vout

33
Where
Vin: - typical input voltage
Vout: - desired output voltage
∆IL:- estimated inductor ripple current
L: - inductorL=12*(400-12) ∕ 0.582* 50* 400
= 0.4H or 400mH
Capacitor selection
For the capacitor selection we used 400V with 400uF the reason is our intention is to generate
400V DC so we used a capacitor that can store around 400V.
For the constant current generator: - we used resistor value of 1 ohm the reason is in order to
generate high current as much as possible. If we increase the value of the resistors the amount
of current will decrease.
3.7 Working Operation Of The Project
3.7.1 Software Description
The software implementation of the design of the earth resistivity meter is done by the
software so called MULTISM. The software enables us to use the related materials those are
neededin the software implementation.
The materials that we used:-
 Resistor
 Multimeter
 2.2 microfarad capacitor
 LED1
 12 volts DC battery (power source)
 Bridge rectifier
 500watt inverter
 Two DPDP switch
 Ammeter
 Voltmeter
The measurements are made by digital multimeter, voltmeter and ammeter.

34
 CHAPTER FOUR
4 SIMULATION RESULT AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Simulation Result

Figure 4-1: circuit diagram of the simple resistivity meter.

Figure 4-2: Simulation result of measuring resistance

Figure 4-3: Simulation result of measuring voltage

4.2 Discussion
The construction of the resistivity meter is based on the application of direct current where
artificial sources of current (in this case, a 12V DC car battery) was used to produce an
electrical potential field in which current was driven into the ground by means of two current

35
electrodes and the potential difference was measured by the potential electrodes. The
equipment was constructed and assembled in accordance with the circuit diagram shown in
Figure 4-1. A 500 watt “modified” sine wave inverter that produces an AC sine wave from the
12 volts DC source was used to increase the voltage required value to hundreds of volts
(220V). The bridge rectifier was connected in parallel to convert the inverter output into direct
current at the same output. A 2.2F capacitor was connected in parallel to the circuit to
smoothen the output of direct current at high steady DC voltage. The circuit diagram also
includes two reversing switches (DPDT) - one for the ammeter and one for the voltmeter. The
two multi-meters which serve to measure current and voltage output were connected to the
simple resistivity meter via connectors where current and potential electrode cables were also
connected to the simple meter. Field testing: Schlumberger electrode configuration was
adopted in testing of the equipment in the field. The method was adopted because the data in
Table-1, which were to be compared with the ones, acquired using the fabricated meter was
obtained by the same electrode array. Additional equipment used for the field test were five
electrodes, four cable on reels, two measuring tapes and two sledge hammers. The two current
electrode cables were connected to the fabricated resistivity meter through connectors on the
current electrode terminals and connected to the current electrodes which are used to inject
current into the ground to create an electric field while another two potential electrodes also
connected to the simple meter via cables measures the potential difference. The two multi-
meters, one for current measurement and the other for voltage measurement were also
connected to the simple resistivity meter. The electrodes were connected first before
connecting the power source to the system to avoid the risk of electric shock. After the above
setup was done, a 12volt DC car battery was connected to the resistivity meter and the multi-
meters were switched on. The multi-meter for measuring current is set at 200mA while the
multi-meter for voltage measurement was set at the 20V range. The power switch was turned
on to take the first readings after which the system was switched off so that the current
electrodes could be expanded for depth penetration of current before the system is powered on
again to take the next readings.
From the results that we obtain from the simulation we can conclude that amount of the
generated current will cover a huge amount of surface. This helps to measure the earth
resistivity deeply and widely. The results are given in the above figures. Especially the
measured voltage is around 2.4volts and the measured value of current is around 2.88amp.

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After this next step is to feed this current into the earth ground by using probes and take the
potential of the ground. For the reading we can use multimeter. Let’s consider some place
and we have current that we generate previously, if we fed this much current into the ground
we will get some voltage. After that we get the resistance of the ground this can be done by
using ohm’s law. And by using Wenner four point method we could find the resistivity.

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 CHAPTER FIVE
5. CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION AND
LIMITATION
5.1 Conclusion
In general earth resistivity meter plays a great role in making safe environment and in finding
valuable and precious things. In order to get more information about the type of the soil
feeding high current into the ground is very important. High current covers large soil surface
and it helps to know more about the desired ground. So we have to use high current generator
circuits.
On the measurement the space of the separation between the probes must increase
accordingly. In the result we can cover deep areas and large surfaces i.e. increasing the space
between the probes is increasing the information of the soil behavior.
5.2 Recommendation
The things that we would like to recommend for the future works are
 To generate more voltage, generating high voltage than the previous one enables to
measure huge part of the earth.
 To use power MOSFET, power diodes and power BJTs instead of normal and low power
rating MOSFET, diode and BJTs for practical implementation.
 To implement the specific project practically since we designed the project only by using
software.
5.3 Limitation
The limitation that we faced while doing this project is
 Lack of materials for the practical use because of this particular reason we could not
perform the project by using hardware.
 Lack of internet access.
 Some parameters of software system are not present in software library.

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 REFERENCE
1, E. Cortina, notes on `Circuits with transistors', Univ. Gen_eve, 20072,
2, Horowitz, The art of electronics
3, Griffiths, D.H., Barker, R.D., 1993. Two-dimensional resistivity imaging and modeling
inareas of complex geology. J. Appl. Geophys. 29, 211–226.
4, Dias, Rodrigo; dos S. Hoefel, Simone; de A. Costa, Edmondo G.; Carrer, Jose A. M.; de
Lacerda, Luiz A. (15 November 2010). "Two-dimensional Simulation of the Wenner Method
with the Boundary Element Method - Influence of the Layering Discretization". Mecánica
Computacional XXIX: 2255–2266.
5, "Metodi di prospezione Geofisica". University of Florence.
6," Guida alla realizzazione dell'impianto di terra". Voltimum.
7, Loke, M. H. "Tutorial: 2-D and 3-D electrical imaging survey". Stanford University.
8, Andolfato, Roberto; Fellin, Lorenzo; Turri, Roberto (4 March 1997). "Analisi di impianti di
terra a frequenza industriale: confronto indagine sperimentale e simulazione numerica".
Energia Elettrica (Milan) 74 (2): 123–134.
9, STD 61936-1 "Power Installations Exceeding 1 kV ac – Part 1: Common Rules"
Section 10.3.1 General Clause b.

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 APPENDICES
Parameter used
 Digital multimeter
 Inductor
 Capacitors:- ceramic
 Power Diode:- silicon
 Resistors
 Car battery(12V DC) with 70amps
 Power Mosfet(n- channel)
 PWM circuit:- such as function generator
 Power bipolar Transistors:- pnp, npn,
 Pulse voltage
 Probes:- Metal pipes or welding rods
 Wires
 Other accessories: - connectors and hammer.

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