408 Electrical installation design. . . alternating current is supplied to the test cireuit and the resulting potentials are rectified for measurement by 2 direot reading moving-coil ohm-meter. The instrument pointer wanders due to the presence of stray currents in the soil but an increase or decrease of the generator handle speed will cause this to disappear. ‘The earth electrode resistance is measured by fall of potential method also. In this method two auxiliary earth electrodes besides the test electrode are placed at suitable distances from the test electrode. A measured current is passed between the electrode A to be tested and an auxiliary current electrode C, and the potential difference be- tween the electrode A and the auxiliary potential electrode B is measured, The resistance of the test electrode A given by where R is the resistance of the test electrode in ohms, V the reading of the voltmeter in ohms, and /is the reat of ammeter in amperes, ‘The auxiliary electrode usually consist of 12.5 mm diameter mild steel rod driven up to 1 m into the ‘The auxiliary current electrode C should be placed at least 30 m away from the test electrode. Auxiliary po electrode B should be placed midway between them, Figure 8.22 shows such measuring arrangement. nt aT sae je AE é Bit c Fig. 8.22 Measurement of earth electrode resistance 8.15 Measurement of earth resistivity The resistivity of the earth varies within the limits of 1 to 10,000 ohm-meter. The resistivity of the soil sites has been found to be non-uniform. Variation of the resistivity of the soil with depth is more pred ‘compared to the variation with horizontal distances. To design the most economical and technically sound system, it is necessary to obtain accurate data on soil resistivity, and its variation at the sites, The resi earth varies over a wide range depending on its moisture content. It is desirable to conduct earth resist during the dry season in order to get conservative results, In the evaluation of earth resistivity for sub-st generating station, at least eight test directions should be chosen from the center of the station to cover the’ site. For very large sub-station sites the number of test directions should be increased.8.15. Measurement of earth resistivity 409 72 | Megger cre OS or Current Current electrode electrode: t—s—_-_s__,- __,__} (+-8x0x4) ip i fe ia 25, Tet rana? Vexstand P= resistivity of soil in ohm-meter, ‘5= distance between two successive electrodes in metres, Y= voltage difference between the two inner electrodes in Vv J current flowing through the two outer electrodes in A, d= depth of burial of electrodes in m. *sncgligible compared tothe spacing between the electrodes, then v = 2xnxSxZ Paden xSxt Bohm meter) is used for measuring soil resistivity (refer Fig. 8.24, the follow. jequation may be used P=2xaxSxR, sistivity of soil in ohm-meters, listance between successive electrodes in m, R= megger reading in ohms.410 Electrical installation design . . . In case the resistance of the potential electrodes (the two inner electrodes) is comparatively high, the following correction to test results is necessary and the connection for test results should be. P=p'R+R)/R, where (p= resistivity of soil in Q-m, ‘p' = unconnected value of resistivity of soil in @-m, R, =the resistance of the voltage circuit of the instrument used to obtain R, R, = the reading of the megeer. 446 Testing for soil uniformity In the calculation of soil resistivity of a site under consideration, the horizontal and vertical variatio + in earth resistivity have to be analysed. The vertical variation may be detected by repeating the tests at a giv location in a chosen direction, with the number of different electrode spacing increasing from 2 to 250 m or. preferably in the steps of 2, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50, or more. If the resistivity variations are within 20 to 30 per cent, soil in the resistivity of the test location is considered to bé uniform. Otherwise, a curve of resistiv ‘versus clectrode spacing, i.e. polar curve has to be drawn (see Fig, 8.24). For drawing such a polar curve, th resistivity for at least eight equally spaced directions from the centre of the site have to be measured. The inside the curve is measured and equivalent circle of the same area is found. The radius of this equivalent circle the average resistivity of the site under consideration. The horizontal variations are studied by taking ‘ments in various directions from the centre of the site under consideration. Fig. 8.24 Polar curve 8.16 Faults in cables Cable faults fall under the following categories. = Open circuit faults — Single-phase faults = 2Phese elte — 3-Phase faults = Phase-to-ground faults in one, two, or all phases