GROUNDING SYSTEMS

Part 1
Professor Ahdab Elmorshedy

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Reference:
 High Voltage Engineering Theory and
Practice, Text Book, Marcel Dekker Inc. NY,
USA, 2000.
Mazen Abdel-Salam, Hussein Anis, Ahdab
Elmorshedy, Roshedy Radwan.
 “Grounding Systems”, Chapter (13).
 “Overvoltages on Power Systems” , Chapter
(14).
 “High-Voltage Cables” Chapter (12).

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The objective of a grounding system are:
1. To provide safety to personnel during normal and fault
conditions by limiting step and touch potential.
2. To assure correct operation of electrical/electronic
devices.
3. To prevent damage to electrical/electronic apparatus.
4. To dissipate lightning strokes.
5. To stabilize voltage during transient conditions and to
minimize the probability of flashover during transients.
6. To divert stray RF energy from sensitive audio, video,
control, and computer equipment.

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A safe grounding design has two objectives:
1. To provide means to carry electric currents
into the earth under normal and fault
conditions without exceeding any operating
and equipment limits or adversely affecting
continuity of service.

2. To assure that a person in the vicinity of

grounded facilities is not exposed to the
danger of critical electric shock.
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 The PRIMARY goal of the grounding
system throughout any facilities is
SAFETY.
Why ground at all?
PERSONNEL SAFETY FIRST
EQUIPMENT PROTECTION SECOND

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 What are the three main types
of grounding?

The three main types are:

 EQUIPMENT GROUNDING (SAFETY)
 SYSTEM GROUNDING
 LIGHTNING/SURGE GROUNDING

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 The soil resistivity is the single most
important factor affecting the resistance of
the ground system.

 Most soils behave both as a conductor of

resistance R, and as a dielectric.

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 For high frequency and steep-front
waves penetrating a very high resistive
soil, the earth may be represented by a
parallel connection of resistance R,
capacitance C, and a gap.

 Forlow frequencies and dc the charging

current is negligible comparing to the
leakage current, and the earth can be
represented by a pure resistance R.
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Soil Characteristics
 Soil type. Soil resistivity varies widely
depending on soil type, from as low as 1
Ohm-meter for moist loamy topsoil to almost
10,000 Ohm-meters for surface limestone.
 Moisture content is one of the controlling
factors in earth resistance because electrical
conduction in soil is essentially electrolytic.

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 The resistivity of most soils rises abruptly
when moisture content is less than 15 to
20 percent by weight, but is affected very
little above 20 percent.
 The moisture alone is not the predominant
factor influencing the soil resistivity.
 If the water is relatively pure, it will be of
high resistivity and may not provide the
soil with adequate conductivity.

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The influence of moisture content

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The influence of temperature

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Typical variations in soil resistivity as a function
of moisture, temperature and soil content

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Resistivities of different solutions

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 The soluble salts, acids or alkali
presented in soil influence considerably
the soil resistivity.
 The most commonly used salting materials
are sodium chloride (common salt), copper
sulfate and magnesium sulfate.
 Different types of salts have varying
depletion rates; consequently, different
types may be combined to produce the
optimum depletion and conditioning
characteristics.
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 The temperature effect on soil resistivity
is almost negligible for temperatures
above the freezing points.
 When temperature drops below water
freezing point, the resistivity increases
rapidly.
 Compactness and granularity affects
soil resistivity in that denser soils generally
have lower resistivity.

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 The two factors - moisture and salt
content -are the most influential ones on
soil resistivity for a given type of soil.
 Therefore the chemical treatment of soil
surrounding ground rods is preferable and
in some cases the only economically
sound solution in obtaining low impedance
of the ground system.

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 TYPES OF GROUND ELECTRODES
 Ground electrodes must penetrate into the
moisture level below the ground level.
 They consist of a metal (or combination of
metals) which do not corrode excessively
for the period of time they are expected to
serve.

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 Because of its high conductivity and
resistance to corrosion, copper is the most
commonly used material for ground
electrodes.
 Other popular materials are hot-galvanized
steel, stainless steel and lead.
 Ground electrodes may be rods, plates,
strips, solid section wire or mats.

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  Three types of copper rods are available.
 Solid Copper-Copper -clad steel rod (copper
shrunk onto the core)-Copper bonded steel
core (copper is molecularly bonded to nickel
plated steel rod)
 Solid copper rods not prone to corrosion,
but are expensive and difficult to drive into
hard ground without bending.

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A steel cored copper rod is used for this
reason, however those rods that are
simply clad are prone to the cladding
tearing away from the core when driven in
rocky ground, or when bent.
 This exposes the internal steel core to
corrosion.
 The most cost effective solution is the
molecularly bonded steel cored copper
rod.

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 There are three components affecting
grounding electrode resistance:
(1) The resistance of the electrode which is
negligible.
(2) the resistance of the electrode-to-soil
interface area which is negligible
(3) the resistance of the body of earth
immediately surrounding the electrode.
The main part of any electrode resistance is
that of the body of earth surrounding the
electrode.
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GROUND RESISTANCE OF AN ELECTRODE
Grounding point electrode
 The equations for the resistance of any complex
system of ground electrodes can be developed
from the fundamental principles.

 The starting point for such a development is the

use of a buried metallic electrode with a
hemispherical base of radius r.

 It is assumed that the hemispherical base is

completely buried in the soil.

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 When a current I enters the ground
through such an electrode, due to its
hemispherical base, the current flows
radial outward as shown in the sketch
below.

dx
dR 
2x 2

A Hemispherical
electrode

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 Current flow from a
hemisphere in a uniform earth
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 If ρ is the resistivity of the soil, the
resistance offered by a hemispherical
shell of thickness dx at a radial distance x
from the electrode is given by
r1
dx
R
a
2x 2

 Hence, the resistance encountered by

the ground electrode up to the depth of r1
is
 1 1 
R   
2  a r1 
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 If r1 is made ∞, the total resistance of the
ground electrode will be
r1   
R 
2a
 This is the maximum resistance of the
ground electrode.
 The general equation of the resistance
shown above can be modified to a suitable
form.
 If a current I enters the ground electrode,
the potential drop up to the shell radius of r1
will be given by
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 1 1

R   
2  a r1 
  a
R 1  
2a  r1 

 a
V  IR  IR 1  
 r1 

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 The general equation for the electrode
resistance: 
R 
2C
 Where C is the electrostatic capacitance of
the electrode and its image above earth.
Q
Vsphere 
4 0 r

Q
 C  4 0 r
V
 r in cm = C of a sphere in cgs units.

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 At very high values of r1, the resistance
value will approach the value R∞ , beyond
which true ground can be assumed to be
present.

 The figure below shows the plots of R, V

and Vabs, the absolute potential with
respect to the true ground against the
radial distance r1 from the electrode.  

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  a
V  IR  IR 1  
 r1 

a
Vabs  IR  
 r1 

I  a 
Vabs   
2a  r1 

I
Vabs 
2r1
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Step and touch voltages
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Step and touch voltages

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 Step and Touch voltages near a grounded
structure:
E electrostatic stress (voltage gradient)

I
E x  i 
2x 2

r1
I I 1 1
Vr1   dx    
a 2x
2
2  a r1 

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 Step potential
 “Step potential” is the voltage
between the feet of a person standing
near an energized grounded object.
 It is equal to the difference in voltage,
given by the voltage distribution curve,
between two points at different
distances from the “electrode.”
 A person could be at risk of injury
during a fault simply by standing near
the grounding point.
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 Touch potential
 “Touch potential” is the voltage
between the energized object and the
feet of a person in contact with the
object.
 It is equal to the difference in voltage
between the energized object and a point
some distance away.
 The touch potential could be nearly the
full voltage across the grounded object if
that object is grounded at a point remote
from the place where the person is in
contact with it. 39
Driven rods

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Resistance of driven rods:
 The Ground Resistance (R) of a single rod, of diameter
(d) and driven length (l) driven vertically into the soil of
resistivity (ρ), can be calculated as follows:

   8l  
R  ln   1
2l   d  
where:     ρ        Soil Resistivity in ohm-m
     l       Buried Length of the electrode in m
      d          Diameter of the electrode in m
The rod is assumed as carrying current uniformly along its
rod.
 Examples
(a)20mm rod of 3m length and Soil resistivity 50 Ω-m ..R=16.1
Ω
(b)25mm rod of 2m length and Soil resistivity 30 Ω-m ..R=13.0
Ω 41
Earth resistance shells surrounding a
vertical earth electrode

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 The resistance of a single rod is not sufficiently
low.
 A number of rods are connected in parallel.
 They should be driven far apart as possible to
minimize the overlap among their areas of
influence.

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 It is necessary to determine the net
reduction in the total resistance by
connecting rods in parallel.
 The rod is replaced by a hemispherical
electrode having the same resistance.

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The interfacing hemisphere

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Equivalent hemisphere

   8l 
 ln  1
2req 2l  d 

l
req 
 8l 
ln d  1
 R for large power station = 0.5 ohm
 R for small power station = 5 ohm
 R for towers = 10-30 ohm
 R for labs = 2 ohm

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Rod Electrodes in Parallel
 If the desired ground resistance cannot
be achieved with one ground electrode,
the overall resistance can be reduced by
connecting a number of electrodes in
parallel.
 These are called “arrays of rod
electrodes”.

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 The combined resistance is a function
of the number and configuration of
electrodes, the separation between
them, their dimensions and soil
resistivity.
 Rods in parallel should be spaced at
least twice their length to utilize the full
benefit of the additional rods.

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 If the separation of the electrodes is much
larger than their lengths and only a few
electrodes are in parallel, then the resultant
ground resistance can be calculated using the
ordinary equation for resistances in parallel.
 In practice, the effective ground resistance will
usually be higher than this.

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 Typically,
a 4 rod array may provide an
improvement of about 2.5 to 3 times.
 An 8 rod array will typically give an
improvement of may be 5 to 6 times.

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The multiple driven rod electrode
 The driven rod is an economical and simple
means of making an earth connection but its
resistance is not sufficiently low.
 A number of rods are connected in parallel.
 They should be driven far apart as possible to
minimize the overlap among their areas of
influence.
 It is necessary to determine the net reduction in
the total resistance by connecting rods in parallel.
 The rod is replaced by a hemispherical electrode
having the same resistance.

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 Themethod consists of assuming that
each equivalent hemisphere carries the
same charge.

 Calculate the average potential of the

group of rods.

 From this and the total charge the capacity

and the resistance can be calculated.

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Rods too close

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Two ground electrodes

Equivalent
hemisphere

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 Two driven rods:
( I / 2)  ( I / 2)  I 1 1 
V1     r  d 
2r 2d 4
 Actual value
V  1 1 
Re qactual    r  d 
I 4


 Ideal value Re qideal 
4r
 Overlapping ideal Re q ideal
coefficient (screening)   actual  Re q actual  1

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 Three electrode system
 Four electrode system

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