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Mini project report

EARTH RESISTANCE
MEASUREMENT
Submitted by
Sufyan saif 2010-EE-549
Fawad zulafqar 2010-EE-550
Abdul wahid 2010-EE-531
Umair nazar 2010-EE-532
Ayyaz ahmed 2010-EE-536
Under supervision of sir engr waqas javiad

Rachna college of engineering & echnology,Gujranwala

(A constitute college of U.E.T Lahore)

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Table of contents

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................................................1
CONTENTS............................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................3
OVERVIEW..................................................................................................................................................3
BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION.......................................................................................................3
METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................................................5
TOOL DESCRIPTION.........................................................................................................................6
USER INTERFACE.......................................................................................................................................6
FEATURES.....................................................................................................................................................6
SPECIFICATION.........................................................................................................................................9
CALLING THE DESIGN TOOLS....................................................................................................................12
ANALYSIS....................................................................................................................................................14
VISUALIZATION ........................................................................................................................................
SYNTHESIS..................................................................................................................................................20
MODULARITY OF ANALYSIS AND
VISUALIZATION................................................................................................................................21
OVERVIEW....................................................................................................................................................21
ANALYSIS....................................................................................................................................................21
VISUALIZATION ........................................................................................................................................21
IMPLEMENTATION...................................................................................................................................21

REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................2

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We are pleased to acknowledge
sir engr waqas javaid for their invaluable guidance during
the course of this project work. We extend our sincere
thanks to sir who continuously helped us throughout the
project and without his guidance, this project would have
been an uphill task.

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INTRODUCTION
Ground beds provide safety grounding of mine lectrical
equipment. The lower the resistance of the ground bed the
better protection it provides.While ground bedsmay have a
low resistance when first installed, corrosion of ground
rods, breaks in interconnecting wires, and water table
changes can all increase the resistance of the safety
ground bed. It is, therefore, important that the resistance
of the ground bed be measured not only when first
installed, but also periodically to ensure that it remains low
in value.
A reliable equipment ground system that connects all the
metal frames of electrical equipment together must be kept
at a safe reference potential. Since earth ground is
considered to be at zero potential, making an electrical
connection to earth is a logical choice. The earth grounding
electrode should provide the lowest impedance connection
possible to earth and maintain this reference at a low
value. The objective is that in the event of a fault to ground,
sufficient current will flow through the ground path to allow
the protective equipment to operate and isolate the circu
In the real world, however, the ground system does have
resistance. All ground beds, even the largest, have some
measurable amount of resistance. "Earth resistance" is
defined as the resistance of the earth to the passage of
electric current. In comparison with metal conductors, soil
It is not a good conductor of electricity. Resistances in the
two to five ohm range are generally found suitable for
industrial plant substations, buildings and large commercial
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installations.

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WHY DO WE NEED TO HAVE

GOOD EARTHING ?

The grounding system is an essential element for

the electrical system security and it is required to:

 Allow for protective devices activation when there is

 Equalize the potential of conductive parts that can

an insulation fault.

be accessed simultaneously, with the potential in

the surrounding soil in order to prevent people from
being

 Allow the lightning strike energy to be safely

exposed to hazardous voltages.

 To Reduce electromagnetic interferences

dissipated.

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WHAT IS RESISTANCE?

Resistors have two terminals and its

resistance is defined as the quotient of the voltage applied
on those terminals and the current circulating between them
as a consequence of that voltage.
R=V/I in ohms (Voltage / Current)

WHAT DOES RESISTANCE

DEPEND ON ?
The value of the resistance
depends on the type of material
(resistivity) and its physical
dimensions (area and length of the
resistive element).

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Methods of measurement of earth

resistance
Fall of potential method
This instrument makes earth resisitance measurement with fall of
potential method which is a method to obtain earth resistance
value Rx by applying AC constant current(I) between the
measurement object E (earth resistance) and C (current
electrode), and finding out the potential difference v between e
and p (potential electrode).
Rx = V / I

Precise Measurement (with Test Probe M-7095)

 Stick the auxiliary earth spikes P and C into the ground

Test probe connection

deeply.
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 They should be aligned at an interval of 5-10m from the

 Connect the green wire to the earthed equipment under test,

earthed equipment undertest.

the yellow wire to the auxiliary earth spike P and the red wire
to
the auxiliary earth spike C from terminals E, P and C of
the instrument.
precautions:

 Make sure to stick the auxiliary earth spikes in the moist part

 Give enough water where the spikes have to be stuck into

of the soil.

the dry, stony or sandy part of the earth so that it may

 In case of concrete, lay the auxiliary earth spike down and

become moist.

water it or put a wet dust cloth etc. on the spike when

making measurement.

 Set the range switch to EARTH VOLTAGE position in the

Earth Voltage Measurement

condition of . Earth voltage will be indicated on the display.

 When the display reads more than 10V To avoid this, make
Make sure that the voltage is 10V or less.

measurement after reducing the voltage by turning off the

power supply of the equipment under test etc.

 Set the range switch to 2000Ω position and press the test
Precise Measurement:

 Turn the range switch to 200Ω and 20Ω when the earth
button. LED remains illuminated during testing.

resistance is low. This indicated value is the earth

resistance of the earthed equipment under test.

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TO MEASURE THE GROUND RESISTANCE

APPARATUS
 EARTH TESTER TYPE
 THREE ELECTRODES
 MEASUREMENT LEADS

PROCEDURE
Make connection as shown in the diagram where E-
P-C should be approximately in line. This three point method
involves passing a current into the electrode to be measured and
measuring the ground electrode (E) under test and a test
potential electrode (P). A test current electrode (C) is driven into
te earth to permit passisng a current into the electrode tobe
tested. Potentials are measured with respect to the ground
electrode under test which is assumed tobe at zero potential. It is
shown in the following figure. Make galvanometer balnce by
turning dial.

PRECAUTIONS
1. If measurement is made with the probes twisted or in touch
with each other, the reading of the instrument may be
affected by induction. When connecting the probes, make
sure that they are separated.

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2. If earth resistance of auxiliary earth spikes is too large, it may

result in inaccurate measurement. Make sure to stick the
auxiliary earth spike P and C into the moist part of the earth
carefully, and ensure sufficient connections between the
respective connections..

THEORY
The purpose of electrical ground testing is todetermine
efectieness of the grounding medium with respect to true earth.
The earth may provide the return path for fault currents and for
safety all electrical equipment frames are connected to ground.
The resistivity of the earth is usually negligible because there so
much of it available to carry current the limiting factor in electrical
grounding systems how well the grounding electrodes contact the
earth, which is known as the ground rod interface. This interface
resistance component, along wiwth the resistance of the
grounding conductors and the connections, must be measured by
the ground test.
In general the lower the ground resistance the safer the system is
considered to be. There are different regulations which set forth
the maximum alalowable ground resistance, for example; the
national electrical code specfies 25 ohms or less; MSHA (mine
safety and health administration) is more stringent, requiring the
ground to be 4 ohms or better.

Observation
Measured ground resistance =----------------- ohm

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