Earthing Pit

Taken from
http://electricalnotes.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/calculate-numbers-of-platepipestrip-earthing-for-system/
Calculate Numbers of Plate/Pipe/Strip Earthings (Part-1)
March 8, 2013 25 Comments
Introduction:
Number of Earthing Electrode and Earthing Resistance depends on the resistivity of soil
and time for fault Current to pass through (1 sec or 3 sec). If we divide the area for
earthing required by the area of one earth plate gives the no of Earth pits required.
There is no general rule to calculate the exact no of earth Pits and Size of Earthing Strip,
But discharging of leakage current is certainly dependent on the cross section area of the
material so for any equipment the earth strip size is calculated on the current to be
carried by that strip. First the leakage current to be carried is calculated and then size of
the strip is determined.
For most of the Electrical equipments like Transformer, DG set etc., the General concept
is to have 4 no earth pits.2 nos for body earthing With 2 separate strips with the pits
shorted and 2 nos for Neutral with 2 separate strips with the pits shorted.
The Size of Neutral Earthing Strip should be Capable to carry neutral current of
that equipment.
The Size of Body Earthing should be capable to carry half of neutral Current.
For example for 100kVA transformer, the full load Current is around 140A.The strip
connected should be Capable to carry at least 70A (neutral current) which means a Strip
of GI 25x3mm should be enough to carry the current And for body a strip of 253 will do
the needful.
Normally we consider the strip size that is generally used as Standards. However a strip
with lesser size which can carry a current of 35A can be used for body earthing. The
reason for using 2 earth pits for each body and neutral and then shorting them is to serve
as back up. If one strip gets Corroded and cuts the continuity is broken and the other
Leakage current flows through the other run thery by completing the circuit. Similarly for
panels the no of pits should be 2 nos. The size can be decided on the main incomer
Breaker.
For example if main incomer to breaker is 400A, then Body earthing for panel can have a
strip size of 256 mm Which can easily carry 100A.
Number of earth pits is decided by considering the total Fault current to be
dissipated to the ground in case of Fault and the current that can be dissipated by
each earth Pit.
Normally the density of current for GI strip can be roughly 200 amps per square cam.
Based on the length and dia of the Pipe used the Number of Earthing Pits can be
finalized.
(1) Calculate Numbers of Pipe Earthing:
(A) Earthing Resistance & No of Rod for Isolated Earth Pit (Without Buried
Earthing Strip):
The Earth Resistance of Single Rod or Pipe electrode is calculated as per BS 7430:
R=/23.14xL (loge (8xL/d)-1)
Where =Resistivity of Soil ( Meter),
L=Length of Electrode (Meter),
D=Diameter of Electrode (Meter)
Example:
Calculate Isolated Earthing Rod Resistance. The Earthing Rod is 4 Meter Long and
having 12.2mm Diameter, Soil Resistivity 500 Meter.
R=500/ (23.144) x (Loge (84/0.0125)-1) =156.19 .
The Earth Resistance of Single Rod or Pipe electrode is calculated as per IS 3040:
R=100x/23.14xL (loge(4xL/d))
Where =Resistivity of Soil ( Meter),
L=Length of Electrode (cm),
D=Diameter of Electrode (cm)
Example:
Calculate Number of CI Earthing Pipe of 100mm diameter, 3 Meter length. System has
Fault current 50KA for 1 Sec and Soil Resistivity is 72.44 -Meters.
Current Density At The Surface of Earth Electrode (As per IS 3043):
Max. Allowable Current Density I = 7.571000/(xt) A/m2
Max. Allowable Current Density = 7.571000/(72.44X1)=889.419 A/m2
Surface area of one 100mm dia. 3 meter Pipe= 2 x 3.14 x r x L=2 x 3.14 x 0.05 x3 =
0.942 m2
Max. current dissipated by one Earthing Pipe = Current Density x Surface area of
electrode
Max. current dissipated by one Earthing Pipe = 889.419x 0.942 = 837.83 A say 838
Amps
Number of Earthing Pipe required =Fault Current / Max.current dissipated by one
Earthing Pipe.
Number of Earthing Pipe required= 50000/838 =59.66 Say 60 Nos.
Total Number of Earthing Pipe required = 60 Nos.
Resistance of Earthing Pipe (Isolated) R=100x/23.14xLx(loge (4XL/d))
Resistance of Earthing Pipe (Isolated) R=10072.44/23.14x300x(loge
(4X300/10))=7.99 /Pipe
Overall resistance of 60 No of Earthing Pipe=7.99/60=0.133 .
(B) Earthing Resistance & No of Rod for Isolated Earth Pit (With Buried
Earthing Strip):
Resistance of Earth Strip(R) As per IS 3043
R=/23.14xLx (loge (2xLxL/wt)).
Example:
Calculate GI Strip having width of 12mm , length of 2200 Meter buried in ground at
depth of 200mm,Soil Resistivity is 72.44 -Meter
Resistance of Earth Strip(Re)=72.44/23.14x2200x(loge (2x2200x2200/.2x.012))= 0.050

From above Calculation Overall resistance of 60 No of Earthing Pipe (Rp) = 0.133 .
And it connected to bury Earthing Strip. Here Net Earthing Resistance
=(RpxRe)/(Rp+Re)
Net Earthing Resistance= =(0.1330.05)/(0.133+0.05)= 0.036
(C) Total Earthing Resistance & No of Electrode for Group of Electrode
(Parallel):
In cases where a single electrode is not sufficient to provide the desired earth resistance,
more than one electrode shall be used. The separation of the electrodes shall be about 4
M.
The combined resistance of parallel electrodes is a complex function of several factors,
such as the number and configuration of electrode the array.
The Total Resistance of Group of Electrode in different configurations as per BS
7430:
Ra=R (1+a/n) Where a= /2X3.14XRXS
Where S= Distance between adjustment Rod (Meter),
=Factor Given in Table,
n= Number of Electrode,
=Resistivity of Soil ( Meter),
R=Resistance of Single Rod in Isolation ()
Factors for parallel electrodes in line (BS 7430)
Number of electrodes (n) Factor ()
2 1.0
3 1.66
4 2.15
5 2.54
6 2.87
7 3.15
8 3.39
9 3.61
10 3.8
For electrodes equally spaced around a hollow square, e.g. around the perimeter of a
building, the equations given above are used with a value of taken from following
Table.
For three rods placed in an equilateral triangle, or in an L formation, a value of = 1.66
may be assumed.
Factors for electrodes in a hollow square (BS 7430)
Number of electrodes (n) Factor ()
2 2.71
3 4.51
4 5.48
5 6.13
6 6.63
7 7.03
8 7.36
9 7.65
10 7.9
12 8.3
14 8.6
16 8.9
18 9.2
20 9.4
For Hollow Square Total Number of Electrode (N) = (4n-1).
The rule of thumb is that rods in parallel should be spaced at least twice their length to
utilize the full benefit of the additional rods.
If the separation of the electrodes is much larger than their lengths and only a few
electrodes are in parallel, then the resultant earth resistance can be calculated using the
ordinary equation for resistances in parallel.
In practice, the effective earth resistance will usually be higher than Calculation.
Typically, a 4 spike array may provide an improvement 2.5 to 3 times. An 8 spike array
will typically give an improvement of maybe 5 to 6 times.
The Resistance of Original Earthing Rod will be lowered by Total of 40% for Second
Rod, 60% for third Rod,66% for forth Rod
Example:
Calculate Total Earthing Rod Resistance of 200 Number arranges in Parallel having 4
Meter Space of each and if it connects in Hollow Square arrangement. The Earthing Rod
is 4 Meter Long and having 12.2mm Diameter, Soil Resistivity 500 .
First Calculate Single Earthing Rod Resistance
R=500/ (23.144) x (Loge (84/0.0125)-1) =136.23 .
Now Calculate Total Resistance of Earthing Rod of 200 Number in Parallel condition.
a=500/(23.14x136x4)=0.146
Ra (Parallel in Line) =136.23x (1+100.146/200) =1.67 .
If Earthing Rod is connected in Hollow Square than Rod in Each side of Square is
200=(4n-1) so n=49 No.
Ra (In Hollow Square) =136.23x (1+9.40.146/200) =1.61 .

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