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Earthing System of Substation

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Dimpal Sonagara
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184 views41 pages

Earthing System of Substation

Uploaded by

Dimpal Sonagara
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited

 Substation Earthing – General Overview


 Dangerous Potentials
 Earthing Design
 Measurement of Soil Resistivity
 Safe Practices

2
• Switchyard earthing means laying of an earth-mat
and connecting all non-current carrying parts of
equipments of yard as well as control room to the
earth-mat.
• Safe passage to fault current to enable to operate
protective devices and provide safety to
personnel and Equipments.
• Intentional earthing system is created by laying
earthing rod of mild steel in the soil of substation
area.
Step potential:
The potential difference
shunted by a human body
between two accessible points
on the ground separated by a
distance of one pace assumed
to be equal to one meter.

Touch potential:-
The potential difference
between a point on the
ground and a point on an
object likely to carry fault
current (e.g., frame of
equipment) which can be
touched by a person.
• To limit step & touch potential to the working staff in
substation
• Provides low impedance path to fault currents to ensure
prompt and consistent operation of protective device
• Stabilizes the circuit potentials with respect to ground
and limit the overall potential rise
• Keeps the maximum voltage gradients within safe limit
during ground fault condition inside and around
substation
• Touch Potential – The potential difference between two
points, one on the ground where a man may stand and any
other point which can be simultaneously touched by either
hand.

• Step Potential – The potential difference between any two


points on ground surface which can be simultaneously
touched by feet.

• Maximum ground mat resistance shall be less than 1.0


ohm for substations of 220kV class and below, and shall be
0.5 ohms for 400kV and above voltage class.
The design of earthing system for AC power stations requires
systematic analysis of various factors and application of proper
methodology and criteria for determining -

1. Design parameters,
2. Usage of design parameters for deciding
– Type of earthing conductors and their material and size,
– Maximum permissible dangerous ( touch and step ) potential
difference for human beings in the station area,
– Layout of horizontal grid conductors to keep touch and step
potentials within permissible limits,
3. Locations of rod / pipe / plate electrodes for control of potential
difference and fulfillment of statutory and other requirements,
and
4. Earth electrodes for system ( neutral ) and electronic equipment
earthing.
The main elements of the earthing system of
HVAC stations are :
• Horizontally buried bare strip / round conductors
• Vertically buried bare rod/pipe/plate electrodes
• Bare / insulated earth lead conductors between
above ground earthing points / terminals
equipment / structures and underground buried
horizontal conductors / vertical electrodes.
Where,
Ac Cross section area mm2
I Current, Amp
ρ Resistivity of material micro - ohm
α Resistance temperature coefficient of material per oC
(0.00423)
δ Density of material gm/cm3 (7.86 gm/cm3)
θm The maximum permissible temperature deg.C
θo Ambient temperature deg.C
tf Duration of current flow, seconds
S Specific heat of the material, cal/gm oC (0.114 cal/gm oC)

The ambient temperature θo and standard values of material constants (ρ,α,δ


and s) for the type of material of the conductor are used in the above equation;
the value given in parentheses are for mild steel.
To standardize the size of the ground conductor, a uniform corrosion
allowance of 0.12 per year is considered.
Considering, the life of the substation as 40 years,
The corrosion allowance to diameter: ( 40 x 0.12 x 2 )mm = 9.6mm

o Magnitude of Fault current 31.5kA


o Duration of fault current 1 Sec.
o Minimum diameter of the earth conductor 22.7 mm
o Diameter of the conductor with corrosion allowance 32.3mm

40 mm dia MS Rod has been selected for design purpose.


The main earthing system is formed of a grid
of conductors, mostly perpendicular to
each other, buried horizontally, usually at a
depth 0.5m-0.6m below the surface of
earth. These may be laid at reasonably
uniform spacing. Cross connections should
be provided so as to form meshes; the
mesh junction should be provided at such
points where multiple paths are useful
such as neutral connections, lightning
arrestor connection etc. The minimum
spacing of conductors is limited by the
distance, at which trenches can be dug.
Typical spacing is 3m – 8m; however in
non-critical areas spacing up to 15m or
even larger can be used.
The grid earth electrode may be assumed to
consist of only horizontal conductors to start
with. Vertical rods may be provided at this stage
at stations where resistivity of soil is likely to vary
with change of seasons. Driven vertical earth
rods of 3m-5m length with their upper ends
connected to mesh junctions are suitably
provided. A vertical rod is very effective if its
length is such that it can penetrate the moist
subsoil.
The main earth mat shall be laid horizontally at a regular spacing in
both X & Y direction based upon soil resistivity value and substation
layout arrangement.
The circuit of flow of current
through the body, shown in
Fig follows from IEEE Std.
80.
Rb is resistance of human
body. Though there is
variation between the hand
- to - hand contact and
hand – to – feet contact, an
average value of 1000 ohm
has been adopted for Rb in
IEEE Std. 80.
The calculated value of step voltage (Es) and touch voltage (Et) should
be such that the possible body current I is less than the maximum
permissible current IB. The maximum permissible values of step
and touch voltages are given, for average body weight of 50 kg, by

Estep = (1000 + 6Csρs) 0.116/√ts

Etouch = (1000 + 1.5Csρs) 0.116/√ts

A 50mm to 150mm thick layer of gravel / crushed rock is usually


speared on the ground surface over the earth grid in switchyard
area to increase the contact resistance between the soil and feet
and thereby the magnitude of maximum permissible touch and step
voltages. The electrical resistivity of gravel / crushed rock layer is
usually assumed as 3000 ohm-m for determination of the maximum
permissible touch and step voltages.

Attainable value of Touch and Step voltage should be


less than the Permissible Value
POTENTIAL DISTRIBUTION FOR A GROUND MAT WITH VARIOUS MESH SIZES
( GROUND MAT POTENTIAL = 100 PERCENT )

36

100

D
80

C Curve A Single mesh


B
60

Curve B 4 mesh
A
40

20
Curve C 16 mesh
0
Curve D 64 mesh
• Difficult conditions for the design of an
earthing system are any or all of

– High soil resistivity


– Limited area for laying the earth electrode
– Large magnitude of earth current.
• Soil resistivity in an area is not constant but varies
with weather condition as well with type and
nature of soil. It can also vary with depth below
earth surface.
• Soil resistivity measurement may preferably be
made during the year when soil is dry and
temperature is low.
Four probes are driven into the earth along a straight line, at equal
distances ‘S’ apart, driven to a depth ‘e’. The voltage between the two
inner (potential, V) electrodes is then measured and divided by the
current between the two outer (current, I) electrodes to give a value of soil
resistivity as per the following equation.

Where,
ρ is the resistivity of the soil in Ω-m
R(V/I) is the measured resistance in Ω
S is the distance between adjacent electrodes in meter
e is the depth of burial of electrodes in meter
V Voltage difference between the two inner electrodes in Volts
I Current flowing through the two outer electrodes in Amps
C1,C2 Current electrodes
P1,P2 Potential electrodes
• We have started implementing ‘Maintenance free treated earth
electrode’ in place of ‘CI pipe earthing pits’.
For Normal Soil For Rocky Soil
• Shield wires are strung to provide DSLP for yard
equipments. Hence, do not ignore to provide
earth wires if removed.
• Always use clip-on
type digital meter to
measure healthiness
of earth pits and
equipment structure
earthing.
• Never open the
earth connection.
• Never keep riser unconnected to • Grass/plants/shrubs shall be
earthmat. removed from the yard.
• Never open earth connection in live
switchyard.
• Laying of earth-mat and proper welding as per
standard earthing philosophy.

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