A 1V in f n1 rW W somewhat surprising to learin that only

pp ication o ing in
esonant jroun
Power Systems in the United States
ERIC T. B. GROSS EDWARD W. ATHERTON
FELLOW AIEE
Synopsis: Previous investigations indicated
a treind toward increased application of
resonant grounding in the United States.
The application of resonant grounding in
power systems operating at voltages froni
2.4 kv to 230 kv has been analyzed on the
basis of answers to a questionnaire received
from all organizations using such grounding.
Experiener
Experience with
been very satisfactory. grunimn
resonant grounding has
withreoaT The equipment re-
quires practically no maintenance and
hardly any attention since detuning is per-
missible within reasonable margins. The
major field of application of resonant
grounding is at voltages of 69 kv and below.
Operation on sustained faults has been suc-
ASSOCIATE AIEE
how the number of ground fault neu-
tralizers (or Petersen coils, as these
reactors are called frequently) increased
from one in 1921 to 87 in 1949 and that
resonant grounding had been applied in
miost systems for much longer periods than
one year. Figure 2 shows further that
there is a trend toward greater use of
coils that have continuous rating (or ex-
tended time rating as defined in AIEE
Standard number 324). Whereas, in
1943 only IS per cent of the ground fault
194,roly 1per cn oegrod u
neutralizers, then in service, were de-
wered
48 per cent of systems at 22 kv and above
now resonant grounded were previously
delta cent),(33
systems
(15 per per cent)altogether
whereas or new systems
52pe
cent were operated with some kind of
neutral grounding before the change to
resonant grounding was made. It is of
particular interest that a large percentage
of systems (35 per cent) had previously
been solidly grounded.
This report covers all systems which
were or had been in operation with res-
onant grounding at the end of 1949 and
the breakdown of answers from 51 sys-
tems is given in the left section of Figure
3. It can be expected that changes from
other grounding methods to resonant
grounding also will be made in future
years. However, it may be mentioned
that 9 per cent of all systems' reporting
in 1947 were then ungrounded, most of
i
the ungounded mso
them at voltages below 115 kv.
v

cessful in many systems for hours anid even signed to permit operation with sustained There also were changes from resonant
days. More equipment designed for ex- ground faults, 40 per cent of nearly twice grounding to some other method, though
tended time rating than for "10-ininute" as many coils permitted such operation in in not many systems. Figure 4 contains a
rating has been installed in the last few 1949 (an increase in the number of such summary of all ground fault neutralizers
years. Many users of "10-minute" equip-
ment feel that operation on sustained faults coils from 9 to 35). The number of 10- (single-phase or 3-phase)'722 built for use
would 'have additional advantages. m-inute" coils decreased accordingly from in this country. The number of coils
82 per cent in 1943 to 60 per cent in 1949 taken out of service is indicated in Figure
and there is reason to believe that the two 5 which contains a classification by volt-
THE latest general AIEE report on curves "B" and "C" on Figure 2 will in- age and by time rating. Most ground
Grounding Practices' indicates that tersect again before long. fault neutralizers taken out of service by
there is a trend toward greater use of res- 1949 were "10-minute" coils (9 of 61 or
onant grounding2 in this country. Figure Questions and Answers 14.8 per cent). The reason for discon-
1, which is based on this report3 shows tinuation of resonant grounding was
this trend clearly. Amongst the many GROUNDING PRACTICES nearly always that interconnection with a
systems at and above 22 kv that were Considering that other grounding meth- large system grounded in a different
investigated, 6.8 per cent of the total ods' are well established (74 per cent of all
mileage consisted of lines which belong to systems', corresponding to 78 per cent of Paper 51-64, recommended by the AWIE Protective
systems using resonant grounding. the whole 1mileage under investigation, Devices Committee and approved by the Technical
Program Committee for presentation at the AIRE
The fact that resonant grounding is were solidly grounded), it would appear Winter General Meeting, New York, N. Y., January
22-26, 1951. Manuscript submitted October 20,
finding wider application in this country, resonant grounding applications would be 1950; made available for printing December 7,
especially at voltages below 115 kv, seems confined to new systems and to existing 1950.
to be of particular significance and this ungrounded (or delta) systems. An analy- ERIC T. B. GRo°SsIsl jProifesIso°rofPoer SystemsOIg
investigation was undertaken in order to sis of the distribution of grounding Chicago, Ill., and EDWARD W. ATHERTON iS writh
answer many pertinent questions with methods as indicated in Figu.re 1 shows, the l-T-E Cicuithl Breaaker Comtpany, Philaelp'trh'i.
information from organizations with however, that many systems that now are Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology
operating experience in this field. Ques- resonant grounded were previously not when most of this investigation was made.
~ wer~senllto oeratrs
tionnaires~~~
tionaire ~ sen
Wer wh.nruddbtgone
wro to al oprtr .c ut gouncec .lnnsm
tngronc sme onerte The authors want to express their thanks to Harold
H. Brown, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Eugene Herzog.
could provide answers on basis of at least manner. The aitswers to the question Dayton, Ohio, for valuable assistance and informa-
one year's experience and this report "what the grounding practices were be-
covers all systems that had been so oper- fore the installation of resonant groun1d-
nairen and to the adionistrhatidorn of Illinois Institute
heYspecsrtiallly to Eh R. whitehead, for
pofvTecnolgy
ated by the end of 1949. Figure 2 shows ing" are summarized in Figure 3. It is possible.

19541, VOLUME 70 Gross, Atherton-Resonnt Grounding in Powter Systems 8(99

 100
Figure 1 (left).
UNGROUNDED Grounding of GROUND FAULT NEUTRALIZERS - 87(100%
RESONANT power systems in 80 IN STE UVSCE
REACTANCE United States at , /
and above 22 kv ,
U)
RESISTANCE 5;
60
W /// B-TEN
~~~~~A-TOTAL
_ _ t MINUTE RATING -
E
/

z
_
zC -EXTENDED TIME 511 (60%)
Figure 2 (right). RATING
Ground fault . ° 42(bi)r 45
0 neutralizers in oC
w
service,14 1921- 2C -
0. SOLID 9(j18I%) I
1920 1925 930 1935 1940 1945 1950

voltage and by rating. It is noticeable

1925 1930 (935 1940
manner would necessitate the purchase of
a 1-to-i isolating transformer. We now
know that there are many technical and
economic reasons to ground 230-kv sys-
tems solidly and resonant grounding of
the 230-kv system for example, was
never intended to stay in operation after
further system expansion.'4
Figure 6 is a map of the United States
showing how the resonant grounded power
systems are distributed geographically.
Since some of the systems extend into
neighboring states, such systems are in-
dicated in a different manner in the state
which contains the smaller mileage of
lines. Systems which are not resonant
grounded any longer are omitted.
Table I
3 -''__________________
Pole construction (54 systems 100%).........
(945
RATING OF GROUND FAULT
NEUTRALIZER
Answers to the questionnaire were re-
ceived from 56 systems; this response is
quite good since this report now covers 26
more systems5 than the general ground-
ing report' of 1947. In these 56 systems,
23 had 'extended time rating" coils in-
stalled permitting continuous operation
on sustained faults, and 33 systems were
operated with "10-minute" coils. How-
ever, these data include a few systems
that at present (1951) are not operated
with resonant grounding. The number
of systems with resonant grounding in
service is broken down in Figure 7 by
-~ -~- ~-
Per Cent
Wood poles only ..................... 67
Steel towers only ..................... 4
Wood poles and steel towers,
and wood poles only ................
Wood poles and steel towers,
that in one 140-kv system resonant
grounding is still in use, though it now is
recognized that the economical balance
is at about 115 kv. Most ground fault
neutralizers are in operation at systeiii
voltages of 69 kv and below.
LINE CONSTRUCTION
As for the type of line constretion, a
number of questions were asked and the
breakdown of the answers received is
given in Table I
The maximum and average mileage of
the systems classified by voltage is giv-en
in Figure 8. One 34.5-kv systemn com-
prising 1,500 miles of lines is not only the
largest svstem in operation with resoinant
groundiyg, but it also is the largest of all
themany34.5-kysystemsinthiscountry.
A number of underground cable systems
and also some mixed overhead-line and
underground-cable systems at and below
13.8 kv are resonant grounded. The
special symbol used in Figure 8 at 2.4 kv
and 6.6 kv refers to underground cables.
The larger number indicates the maxi-
mum mileage. The other symbol in-
dicates overhead lines.
TESTS
Answers to questions concerning tests
96iidctdheflong Of5sveis
(1 0() per cent reporting), arcing ground
I

and steel towers only .......... 33

Ground wires (static wires) Wood poles only ........ 19
(54 systems= 100%) ............................ Wood poles and steel towers ........... 41 tests at very nearly resonant tun-
Insulators (53 systems 100%) .
(Suspension-type only .............. 23 ing were made by 67 per cenit. Sucl
. Pin and/or post type only .45
Grounding of hardware on wood poles
(Suspension-type and others ............ 32 tests were not made by 33 per cent. Of 4S
Ungrounded hardware ................ 53
(54 systems= 100%o, wood poles only are in ........ Grounded hardware .14
use on 67% of these systems) ( (only at 35 and 69 kv)
(Totally ungrounded .................. 69 % GROUNDING METHOD
Grounding of hardware (48 systems 100%) ......... Totally grounded .12 4 RESISTANCE 4
New transpositions mnade, either in switching Noartly
chges8 1E SSTAEM m 1
stations or on newFstructures (52 systems =..................
Sometranspositions Sl.........NESYTM15

Table 11. Number of Tap Changes Per Year 3 UNGROUNDED m 3

--- , ALL 22 KV
When Changes in the VOLTAGES ANO ABOVE
0 System Occur 1 to 10 11 to 100 100 to 200 ahovre 200 ((009% 51f SYSTEMS) (100% 46 SYSTEMS)
Figure 3. Grounding practices before using
27% .
. 25% 29% . 15% . 0% . 4%... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~resonant grounding
390 Gross, A therton-Resonant Grounding in Power Systenmls AJIE E TRANSACTIONS
 too 7 Figure 4 (left).
GROUND FAULT NEUTRALIZERS Ground fault
BUILT FOR SERVICE A neutralizers built 140 2
80 IN THE U.S. for service the
in 115 5
United States, t 95 TAKEN OUT Of SERVICE
- A-TOTAL 6I __ CM1921-1949 0 TEN MINUTE RATING IN SERVICE
60 -8
B _ EXTENDED TIME RATING IN SERVCE
-
8 -TEN MINUTE RATING _
X 69
C-EXTENDED TIME RATING
54C~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~5
.4\ 40 ____ 39
4 ___

C~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
20 /- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1.
344 22i 1 2

Figure 5 (right). 132 _ P

.
1920 O 1925 1930 1935
I
1940
I
1945 1950 I- G
Grounr un faault
l
neutralizers classi- 2A 2
fied by voltage
svstems (100 per cent) reporting oti arcitig
Table Ill. Results of Operation ground tests with large off-tune settinigs
only 31 per cent made such tests; 69 per
Grading of Resonant of -Grading, Per Cent cent did not. In no case were limits for
Rating Grounding as answers Excellent Good Fair Poor the maximum permissible out-of-tuniie
ratio established.
Extended time ......... Protective device ............ 21 . 33 . 53 .. 0 14
Extended time ......... Economic investment ......... 20 . 30 . 60 . 10 . 0 TAPS AND CONNECTION
10-mim. coil .......... Protective device ............ 29 . 28 . 3
69.. 0
10-min. coil . Economic investment . 29 . 17 . 69 . 14 . 0 Some very interesting data concernig
All systems ........... Protective device . ........... ...0.30 .2.8.02. . ......0........0
All systems ... . Economic investment 49.
......... 23. 65. 12 .0 taps and the changing of taps for the pur-
pose of retuning were received. Of 45
systems (100 per cent) responding 40 per
cent reported that more taps than neces-
ME. se_sary were available on the ground fault
/os s} O0 o0 o - 0"I
|^ @ /@ \@ '}@@b4§> , N$
.DAK. t lNg2 neutralizers that are instaled. No one
had insufficient taps available; but 60

LD1104>Wye * q /@e \N
{ k eWt%)
19-DiK }@e p > \per
0 W os, '>}"£$sj te° t0g8. right.
cent said the number of taps were just
However, answers were received
& * co2°1.
from 48 systenis (100 per cent) about the
/HIier^ilI "E8R. 00 s s e jILi * N J. number of tap changes per year and these
* * L o|L. data are broken down in Table II. The
0 \
5\I100o KAN& s
L
questions
f
taps | %
asked were: "How often are
@ ochanged?" and "What is the average
AR
PM OKLA N number of changes per year?"
Is
> e 1 l 1 A;g;;>j; yIn most cases power transformers are
available for the connection of single-
phase reactors; hence, of 53 systems (100
0 o FL (z_ i nper cent) reporting, 70 per cent use power
transfonners with single-phase coils and
9 MAJOR PART OF SYSTEM ~ < _/ \ \ only 30 per cent use 3-phase equipment.

IN
THINOR
THIS STATE _:
STARTE OF SYSTHowever, in a few systems when more
than one coil is used in the system, and
when a power transformer was not avail-

140
Fiiure6
| Figure6(above).(bov).KV o 5o MAXIMUM AND AVERAGE
115 Geographic dis- 24 33 80 MILEAGE OF SYSTEMS
u0 |tribution of reso- 6.6 63 (EQUIVALENT)
!m - EXTENDED TIME RATING nant grounded 13.8 556
> 88 TEN MINUTE RATING systms, 1949 20
22o 0____________________ (LARGEST SYSTEM
AT THIS VOLTAGE)
69 J b4 |
Figure 7 (left). A IW_465 1500

bJ46 SXzZz-zzzzz grounded systems 46 z""z""x///"d14 1

e 4Le6 2 classified by volt- 57-ztzzzzzzXfzooXXZot,i4

22
22! Figure 8 (right). e 5
>) 13.8 ~1|Mileage of reso- 9
6. 2 6.6 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~systems
nant grounded 148
classified 14015 -XX,,,,,,,,. 03
MILES
2.4 _2 by voltage

1951, VOLUME 70 Gross, Atherton-Resonant Grounding in Power Systems 391

 KV Figure 9 (left). KV
13.8 143
143 PERAND
MAXIMUM AVERAGECOIL
PETERSEN MILEAGE Mileage of circuit
pe ground fult
MAXIMUM DURATION
PERMANENT OF
GROUND FAULT
22
,,
g
335 s e run al
neutralizer classi- 2.4 D (
34.5252 Red by voltage SEVERAL
1 ,181 6.6 5 HRS. DAYS
46 -2184 13.8 124 HRS.
57 _ 170 P22 4 HRS.
104
28s34.5 22 HRS.
sow _ 135
35
Figure 10 (right).
95t25
_ Maximum dura- 41 3 HRS.
115 18t!t<s14 2 tion of sustained 46 3 HRS.
140 > 722 ground Faults
72MILES ,classified by volt- S7 2 HRS.
age 69 F 2HRS.

able everywhere, one or more of tlle coils GRADING OF RESULTS Acknowledgment

were single-phase coils and the others
were 3-phase equipment. Figure 9 shows
the maximum and average mileage of cir-
cuit per coil at various voltages; the
larger figure refers, of course, to the
maximum mileage.
PERMANENT FAuLTs
It is interesting that the advantages of
extended time rating coils were utilized at
all voltages up to 69 kv. Operation with
permanent faults was contitnued for
several days at 2.4 kv and the maxiinuni
duration of sustained ground faults be-
caine shorter at higher voltages, as Figure
10 slhows. Though very satisfactory re-
sults hiave been achieved in all systems
using coils with continuous rating (ex-
tended time rating), difficulties are soine-
times experienced in finding the location
of sustained faults. Of 22 systems (100
per cent) using such coils, 46 per cent have
difficulties locating the fault; 54 per cent
fi9d it easy to detect the permnanent fault.
However, 17 answers (100 per cent) re-
ceived to the question congeriiig the de-
sirability of a sensitive relaying system
for the determination of the fault'6 loCa-
tion, indicate that a very large number,
94 per cent, want such a relaying syste
developed and only 6 per cent do not
think that relays are necessary.
Of 28 systems (100 per cent) using "10-
minute" coils answering the question con-
cerning their preference for the use of
larger coils designed for continuous opera-
tion, 32 per cent said they would now
stall the larger coils in order to have the
additional advantages of operation with
sustained faults; 68 per cent are satis-
fled with what they have. Figures 11I and
12 show large ground fault neutralizers
designed for extended time rating. The
Petersen coil shown in ]Figure 11 is the
largest coil of such design in operation in
this country, its rating is 15,000 equiv-
alent kilovolt-amperes.
Answers to the questions for general
grading based on observed operations are The authors acknowledge the assistance
summarized in Table III. The average is of the following organizations which sup-
between good and excellent especially on plied pertinent data for this study:
equipment with extended time rating
elack Hills Power and Light Company
Rapid City, S. I).
Conclusions Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation, Pitts-
burgh, Pa.
1. Experience with resonalit groutnd- Central Maine Power Company, Augusta,
ing has been very satisfactory. Me. Nebraska Public Power amid I r-
Cenitral
2. There is a trend toward increased rigation District, I tastings, Nebr.
use of resonant grounding.
3. There is a trend toward the ap-
plication of coils designed for extended
time rating. (Operation with sustained
ground faults.)
4. A sensitive ground relaviing systemi
for indication of the fault location would
bring further improvemnents. The de-
velopment of such relays is desirable.
5. In most cases, power transformiers
are available and the cheaper single-
phase coils can be used.
6. The major field of applwlicatioii of
resonant grounding is from 69 kv down to
2.4 kv.
7. Ground fault neutralizers require
practically no maintenance. The tap
changers are hardly ever operated. The
asystems may be operated off-tune without
influence on the protective character-
istics.
8. Operation on sustained faults has
been successful for hours and even for
days.
9. The increase of systelli mnileage
does not seem to limit the application of
resonant grounding at voltages of 69 kv
and below. The largest 34.5-ky systen
in the United States (1,500 miles, total
mileage) is resonant grounided.
I11
Figure (right). Ground Fault neutralizer for
extended time rating for a 115-kv system, 1SO-
amperes maximum current. Lightning arrester
on cover, high-voltage bushing in rear. Cour- .
tesy General Electric Company ,

392 Gross, Atherton-Resonant, Grounding i-n Power Systems AIEF T1RAXNSACTIONS

City Electric Department, Rochester, Minn. Metropolitan Edisont Company, Reading,
Consumers Power Company, Jackson, Mich. Pa.
Dayton Power and Light Company, Dayton, Minnesota Power and Light Compaly,
Ohio Duluth, Minn.
Dairyland Power Cooperative, LaCrosse, Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc., Grand
Wis. Wis. Forks,
Forks, N. D.
Department of the Army, Corps of Engi- Montana Dakota Utilities Company, Miii-
neers,Fort Peck District, Fort Peck, Mont. neapolis, Minn.
Eastern Kanisas Utilities, Inc., Fort Scott, New England Power Service Company,
Kan. Boston, Mass.
Georgia Power Colnpally, Atlainta, Ga. New Jersey Power and Light Company,
Indianapolis Power and Light Company, Dover, N. J.
Indianapolis, Ind. New York State Gas and Electric Corpora-
Interstate Power Coiupaiiy, Dubuque, Iowa tion, Binghamton, N. Y.
Iowa Electric Light and Power Company, Northern Pennsylvania Power Companiy,
Cedar Rapids, lowa Towanda, Pa.
Iowa Power and Light ComIIpaIIy, Des Northern States Power Company, Minle-
Moinies, Iowa apolis, Minn.
Northwestern Ptublic Service Coinpany,
Iovwa Public Service Comlpanly,
*owa
IowaPuliuerieropaynWtrlo
W ate-rloo
Hur S. DF
Kanisas Gas and Electric Colllpany, WN'ichita Otter Tail Power Company, Eergus Falls,
Kan. Minn.
Lake Stuperior l)istrict Power Colnly,nv Public Electric Light Comnpany, St. Albans,
Aslid NAis t. SevcMopn o
Ashland, Wis.
Public Service Company of Colorado,
ooao
Colo.
D)enver,Denver,
Cl.968-71.
Public Service Colnlpany of Indiana, Inc.,
Indianapolis, Ind.
Public Service Company of New Hampshire,
Manchester, N. 11.
Public Service Coinpaiiy of New Mexico,
Albuquerque, . M. N. M.
Rockland Light and Power Company, Bos-
ton, Mass.
Rural Cooperative Power Associationi,
Maple Lake, Miuti.
Sioux City Gas anid Electric Company
cal Engineering (AIEE Traxsactioxs), volume 57,
June 1938, pages 295-302.
10. PETERSEN COIL INSTALLBD ON 100-KV CoLo-
LINE, W. D. Hardaway. Electrical World
(NewkRADo
( York,N vOLu 108, 1937 page83
I l. B. PETBRSEN EleatricalIOVVAWorldSYSTECM,
,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A. Brown.PROTECT
Hird, H. H.COILS (New
York, N. V.), volume 112, 1939, page 587.
12. APPLICATION, CONTROL AND REcORD oF 33
Kv GROUND FAU.T NEUTRALIZER, A. MacDonald.
Electric Lighl and Power (Chicago, Ill.), volume 17,
November, 1939, page 54.
13. OPERATING EXPERIENCE WITH PETERSEN
COILS ON 66-Kv SYSTEM OF METROPOLITAN EDISON
COMPANY, H. M. Rankin, R. E. Neldig. Electrical
volume 58,
Engineerin,g (A,lEE Transactions),
November 19311, pages
568-75.
14. ENGINEERING FEATURES OF THE 230-Kv
BOUIuBER-CHINO TRANSMISSION LINE OF THF
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON COMPANY, LTD.,
Kroneberg, E. M. Hunter. AIEE Transac-
A. A. volume
S.Dlions, 59, 1940, pages 982-87 and 1176-77.
15. PETERSEN COIL PROTECTION EQUALS LIGHT-
INNG PROOFING, R. E. Neidig. Electrical WIorld
(New York, N. Y.), volume 113, 1940, page 1211.
16S. SENSITIVF GROUND PROTECTION Pot TRANS-
ISSION LINES AND DISTRIBUTIoN FEECDERS, Eric
. B. Gs Electrical Engineering (AIEE
TIransactions), volume 60, November 1941, pages
17. BAUdI TRANSFORMER DAMPS CABLE FAULTS,
L. M. Nelson, H. N. Muller. Electrical World
(New York, N. Y.), volume 122, 1944, page 86.
18. 100-Kv AND 13-Kv PETERSBN COILS ON THE
SYSTEM OF TEE PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF
~~~~~~COL.ORADO, L. M. Robertson. General Electric
Reriew (Schenectady, N. Y.), volume 49, September
1946, page 14.
i19. TrE ARC QUENCHING EFFECT OF PETERSEN
COILS, W. Diesendorf. Journal, Institution of
Fngineers (Sydney, Australia), volume 18, 1946,
page 237.

(Iowa Public Service Co.,) Sioux City, Iowa 20. PETERSEN COIL TUNING DETBRMINES PUR-
FORMANCEc, H. W. Hartzell, S. S. Cook, A. A.
Southern California Edison Company, Los Johnson. Electrical World (New York, N. V.),
Angeles, Calif. volume 130, 1948, pages 62-65.
Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Com- 21. RESONANT GROUNDING OF DISTRIBUTION
pany, Evanisville, Ind. SYSTEMS, E. Herzog. Proceedings, Midwest Power
Southwestern Public SrieCmay
Serviceompany, Conference
237-40. (Chicago, Ill.), volume 11, 1949, pages
Amarillo, Tex. 22 OPERATION OF A GROUND-FAULT NBUTRALIlER
]U. S. Departmenit of the Interior, Bureau of ON A REGULATED DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, H. R.
Reclamationi, Denver, Colo. Tomlinson, F. B. Hunt. AIEE Transactions,
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East volume 68, part 11, 1949, pages 1321-28.
Pittsburgh, Pa. 23. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCBS WITH RESONANT
Wiascdionsin Michigan Power Coinpany,Appl GROUNDING IN A LARGE 34.5-Ky SYSTEM, H. H.
Brown, Eric T. B. Gross. AIEE Transactions.
ton, Wis. volume 69, plarta s, 1950, pages 1400-05.

Figure 12. Ground fault neutralizer For
tended time rating for a 69-kv system, 40-
amperes maximum curfent. Core and coil
asml.CortesyWestingoueElectric
Corporation
References
1. PRESENT D)AY GROUNDING PRACTICES ON
POWER SYsTEms, CAt Committee Report. AaIEE
Traersactions, volume 6,51947, pages 1525-51.
2. THE WaY AND How op RESONANT GROUNDING,
Eric T. B. Gross. Electric Light and Power (Chi-
cago,UI.), volume 25, July and August 1947.
3. Reference C. page 1526.
4. NEUTRAL GROUNDING DEvicEs. m EE Stand-
ard Number 32, 1947.
5.
6.
Reference 1, Table 25, page 19543.
THE RELATION OF THE PETERSEN SYSTEM O
GRouNDING POWER NETWORKS TO INDUCTIVE
EFFECTS IN NEIGIIBORING COMMUNICATION CIR-
CUITS, H. M. Tmeblood. Bell System Technical
Jourrnkal
(New York, N. Y.), volume 1, 1922, page
39eres maimmcuen.Coe n cilOP PgA
7. 0PERATING PERFORMANCE PETERSEN
EARTH COIL, J. M. Oliver, W. W. Eberhardt.
AIEEtransactions, volume 42, 1923. page 435-45
and volume 45, 1926, page 165-68.
8. PETERSEN COIL TESTS ON 140 Ky SIYSTEM.
ex- J. R. North, J. R. Eaton. Electrical Engineeri ng
(AIEE Transactions), volume 53, January 1934,
pages 63-74.
9. TEST AND OPERATION OP PETERSE&N COIL ON
100-Ky SYSTEM OP PUB3LIC SE3RVICE CO0MPANY OF
COLORADO, W. D. Hardaway, W. W. Lewis. Electri-
Discussion
Byron Evans (Uslited States Bureatll o
Reclamatioll, aenver, Colo.): The authors
have preseinted data that will be of con-
siderable interest to system designers ande
Opl
ra tors.owethe groundit mears that
fon pereminta blas, rappea
increasitig
resonant and solid groundingandareungrounided
while reactance, resistance,
applicatiolis are decreasing. In general,
resonant grounding has its best application
on systems of about 69 kv and below, and k
shuld like to see Figure 1 of this paper
ilo
drawn to show the grounding methods used
for systems ill this voltage range.
Figure 6 of the paper seems to indicate the
greateSt application of resonant grounding
to be in the mountain states and the more
northern states extending from the Dakotas
eastward to the Atlantic seaboard, with few
if any applications in the southeastern

1951, VOLUME 70 Gross, Atherton-Resonant Grounding in Power Svstemts 393

quarter and the Far West. It would be
interesting to know what factors may have
influenced this distribution of resonant
grounded systems.
It is expected that location of permnanent
faults, in extensive systems with resonant
grounding, would be difficult and would re-
quire considerable time if "cut-and-try"
methods must be used. I understand that
very sensitive ground relaying is feasible for
resonant grounded systems, and I would
appreciate the authors' comments on such
relaying. Is this relaying reliable for trip-
ping circuit breakers or would it be used
only for alarm and indication, with the sys-
tem operator considering information at
several relay points before decidinig on the
faulted section? In general it appears that
automatic tripping would be desirable for
switching at isolated unattended stations on
a system with neutralizers having short time
ratings, while alarm and indication probably
would be preferable if neutralizers have ex-
tended time ratings.
If a permanent fault is left oni the system
during a lightning storm, it seems quite pos-
sible that another fault could occur on
another phase to cause a double-line-to-
ground fault to trip out the circuit. This
seems most likely for the lower voltage sys-
tems having triangular configuration of con-
ductors, since the top conductor, likely to
intercept lightning strokes, may be phase
"A" at one point in the storm area and
phase "B" or "C" at another point in this
same storm area. The possibility of such
multiphase faults would be increased if
permanent faults were left on for some time,
as would be expected with extended time
rated neutralizers. I would appreciate the
authors' cormnents on actual experience
concerning this matter.
The paper did not give details on the cur-
rent range or number of taps provided and
used on the neutralizers now in operation.
Coils with a current range of one to two, or
even higher, are common, but it is under-
stood that with such large current ranges it
is difficult or even impractical to design for
the desired saturation for all tap positions.
If this is the case, the current range should
be less than one to two if at all possible.
This may, of course, be a difficult decision
for the system designer when the extent of
future system development is not definitely
known, although the initial coil or coils are
thought to be located to give satisfactory
performance with the probable future sys-
tem.
Considering satisfactory experience on
out-of-tune operation, there is some ques-
tion about providing numerous taps. When
more than one coil is used, the system as a
whole can be tuned accurately with fewer
taps on each coil. It therefore appears that
taps with steps of at least 10 per cent would
be satisfactory in lieu of the commonly pro-
vided steps of 5 per cent. With regard to
out-of-tune operation) four arcing fault
tests on a 115-ky resonant grounded system
resulted in a fault clearing at 21 and 51
cycles with the system in tune, and 1.5 and
8.5 cycles with some of the 115-kyr line
switched out to produce an out-of-tune con-
dition with about 21.5 per cent excess of
lagging current.
Lawrence M. Robertson (Public Service
Company of Colorado, Denver, Colo.): The
394 Gross, Atherton-Rescmant Grounding in Power Systems
authors have collected some very valuable
data on power systems, and these data are
very helpful in system planning and opera-
tion. This represents a very large amount
of work, and the authors are to be congratu-
lated on their paper and the help which
they have given the industry. Our experi-
ence with 100-kv and 13.8-kv Petersen coils
has led us to concur in the authors' conclu-
sions.
I feel that continuous review must be
given of power systems and the changing con-
ditions, economics, and all the various asso-
ciated problems. What may have been the
right procedure and solutions of the prob-
lems in the past may not be now or in the
future. Sometimes practice with regard to
engineering, design, and so forth, may be a
matter of habit, therefore it is well to keep
new ideas in mind.
The larger system capacity may make it
very desirable to reduce the value of fault
currents as much as possible, and maybe
Petersen coils would be helpful. In any
event, it is well to keep the various methods
in mind. It might be that operating per-
formance could be improved by adopting
different measures than are now being used.
It may be that the very-high-voltage sys-
tems cannot justify Petersen coils or imped-
ance grounding of the neutral, but this
should not be a firm conclusion.
T. W. Schroeder (Iowa Power and Light
Company, Des Moines, Iowa): From this
survey it appears that the use of resonant
grounding for power systems is growing,
which is somewhat the opposite of what this
writer would have guessed in the absence of
the record. There is no question but that,
in general, the ground fault neutralizer gives
a good account of itself in protecting the
system to which it is applied, albeit this pro-
tection can be against ground faults only.
The ground fault is, of course, the pre-
dominating type of fault experienced. In
fact, the ground fault neutralizer appears to
give a great deal of help even when ground-
ing systems in which the lines have conduc-
tors closely spaced, relatively flat spacing,
and the structures employ steel cross-arm
braces and are apt to have high footing re-
sistance. This help is evidenced by the
indication on the neutralizer recording
ammeter chart that numerous disturbances
occur without resulting line outage. In
fact, in some cases the number of disturb-
ances as shown by the ammeter chart is
considerably greater in a given period than
actually obtained in a similar period before
the installation of a neutralizer; therefore,
it is felt that the neutralizer sometimes is
given more credit than is really due it. This
is no serious objection, however, since usual
facts are that the number of outages is
definitely decreased after a neutralizer is
placed into service.
It is believed that the greatest use of the
ground fault neutralizer type of protection
is made on existing lines where the trans-
mission line structure configuration and
grounding conditions are inherently inimical
to good lighting performance because here,
even though theoretical considerations will
show that the line cannot expect good neu-
tralizer protection, it actually will experi-
ence considerable help. Of course, new con-
struction connecting to existing neutralizer-
protected systems logically can depend on
protection fromn the existing neutralizer or
neutralizers. However, where the oppor-
tunity exists to start a new section of a sys-
tem which can be grounded separately,
strong consideration should be given to the
use of shield wire protection, which, unless
the system becomes extensive, may be the
most economical and at the same time afford
protection against other types of faults in
addition to the line-to-ground variety.
S. S. Cook (Westinghouse Electric Corpora-
tion, Sharon, Pa.): I have read with much
interest this paper by Mr. Gross and Mr.
Atherton. It represents a very valuable
summary of a tremendous amount of data on
the subject which has been collected by the
authors. They deserve a great deal of
credit, and I believe the paper is very
timely.
It is inlteresting to note the comments on
the number of taps and current ranges.
The American Standard has been to have a
current range of 4 to 1 with 25 positions or 2
to 1 with 15 positions. If these are unneces-
sary and the extremes are not used it, of
course, would result in considerable saving
to design for a smaller current range and
fewer tap positions. It is interesting to note
that we recently have received two orders for
neutralizers for application in a foreign
country. One order has a current range of
1.35 to 1 with a 5-position tap changer, while
the other order has a current range of 2 to 1
with a 6-position tap changer. Perhaps this
should be reconsidered by the AIEE Pro-
tective Devices Committee.
Another thing that seems interesting is
the trend toward reactance or resonant
grounding, as indicated in Figure 1 of the
paper. I am wondering if it would be feasi-
ble in those cases where reactance grounding
is changed to resonant grounding to put the
neutralizer in series with the present reac-
tor. It would seem that if the reactor were
surplus it could be used to cut down the size
of the neutralizer. By this means the sys-
tem would not be dead grounded when the
neutralizer is by-passed.
It is interesting to note the trend toward
continuously rated neutralizers. The origi-
nal idea, I believe, was for the neutralizer to
clear swinging faults or others which would
clear mechanically, but without quenching
the arc. If a fault occurs that would not
clear itself in 10 minutes, the relays are sup-
posed to clear the system, resulting in an
outage. For this purpose 10-minute neu-
tralizers probably are satisfactory. Ten
minutes, however, is an extremely short
time to locate and clear a fault. It therefore
would seem that longer rated coils would
permit operation on most systems under
fault conditions without opening the circuit.
All this could be done with no more expense
than the difference in price of a continuous
rated coil over a 10-minute coil. We are
glad that the trend is toward continuous
rated coils, since that seems to be a logical
development.
Howard K. Amehinl (American Gas and
Electric Service Corporation, New York,
N. Y.): The authors and co-operating corn-
panies have provided a logical basis for re-
examining present-day resonant grounding
practices. Based on the results of the ques-
tionnaire, it appears advantageous to make
AIEE TRANSACTIONS
several chanlges in design and application of spaced within 10 per cent, it always will be
the ground fault neutralizer. possible to tune not more than '=' 5 per cent
It would seem extremely difficult to justify off resonance, which is satisfactory.
the need for a 4-to-1 current range, or even It is most unfortunate that no system re-
a 2-to-1 range. Furthermore, the number porting performed tests to determine the
of taps seems excessive. maximum permissible deviation from exact
It cannot be disputed that current range tuning, since the majority of them did make
depends upon the particular system. How- arrangements to perform arcing tests at
ever, how many systems, assuming that the nearly resonant tuning. Knowledge of this
coil is designed to operate in the middle of permissible deviation will reduce consider-
its tap range, operate regularly with from ably the number of tap changes made each
25 to 50 per cent or more of their lines year (see Table II of the paper). That 4
switched off? If this situation does happen per cent of the systems reporting make more
regularly, the writer suspects that the sys- than 200 changes each year is astonishing.
tern is split into two sections to be operated It is interesting to note the increased use
independently, thereby requiring two ground of extended time rated coils, and that of 28
fault neutralizers to provide protection for systems reporting that use "10-minute"
each section. An arrangement of this sort coils, 32 per cent now would install coils for
wotuld, of course, be independent of switch- continuous operation. It would be helpful
ing. As previously stated,' "The higher to learn the effects of continuous operations
than normal range (4 to 1) of coil reactance (Figure 10 of the paper) on adjacent tele-
has inever been used, and large decreases in phone toll circuits, since it is believed that
system capacity are unusual. It would have this type of operation leads to excessive
been a better design to put existing needs noise in these circuits.
near the upper limit and use most of a Of 17 companies reporting, 16 indicate
smaller range for future expansion." the desirability of a sensitive relay system5
The paper states that "of 45 systems (100 to indicate the location of ground faults.
per cent) reporting, 40 per cent indicated We have high-sensitivity single-phase direc-
that niore taps than necessary were avail- tional relays; the current transformer re-
able . . .," atnd the paper's Table II shows quirement is satisfied by three identical cur-
that of 48 systems (100 per cent) reporting, rent transformers6 (no special accuracy re-
27 per cent never change taps. Further- quired); we may benefit from thousands of
more, an earlier paper2 said that "taps 12 similar applications abroad. What else is
through 15 have never been used." On the required?
other hand, it seems that current design
practices produce Petersen coils with from REFERENCES
15 to 25 tap positions, or even with a con- 1. See reference 21 of the paper, page 177.
tinuously variable arrangement.3 1 See reference 23 of the paper.
The most satisfactory coil operation is 2 Seereference23 of thepaper.
obtained at about the knee of the saturation 3. TUNING OF GROUND-FAULT NEUTRALIZERS,
curve. Nevertheless, examination of satura- N. E. Dillow and J. R. Burkhart. General Electric
tion curves of several coils now inoperation Review, vol. 52, December 1949, pages 31-37.
shows that these coils have from 25 per ceat 4 See reference 2 of the paper.
to 50 per cent of their taps below the knee of 5. See reference 16 of the paper.
the curve. 6. SENSITIvB GROUND PROTECTION, AIEE Com-
Present practices which produce a coil mittee Report. AIEE Transactions, voliime 69,
with a current range of 2-to-1 (or higher) part 1, 1950, pages 473-76.
and 15 or more taps give, as a by-product, a
coil which is too expensive and somewhat
unsatisfactory from the technical viewpoint. J. C. Russ (General Electric Conmpany,
A ground fault neutralizer with a lower cur- Pittsfield, Mass.):
Messrs. Gross and
rent range, say 1.5 to 1, and fewer taps, sayAtherton have performed a useful service in
5-7, should be quite satisfactory. their survey of operators using resonant
grounding equipment. From the point of
It might he said that the lesser number of
taps as suggested in the preceding sentence view of the manufacturer it is encouraging
would not permit proper tuning, and the to have this additional evidence of the suc-
writer is inclined to believe this idea to becessful performance of such devices.
onewreasonthati60iper cent oftreporting com- The demonstrated trend toward greater
panies stated that the present number of use of extended time rated ground fault
taps is "just right." However, as shown in neutralizers is interesting. In this connec-
Table I, which follows,4 a relatively large tion, it should be pointed out that there is
degree of deviation from exact tuiling will very little difference in the over-all cost of
10-minute and extended time neutralizer
still permit the desired results to be obtained
with the coil. equipments when they are compared com-
plete with their auxiliaries. Thus, it may
well be that an operator changing from an
Table I isolated neutral system to a resonant
grounded system will install extended time
neutralizers simply on the basis of saving
DExiactionunrog
himself the extra cost of the ground relay
equipment which he would need with a 10-
System Voltage Per Cent
_______________________________ minute neutralizer installation. Ground
20 kv anld below .... ..30relay equipment would inlvolve, in some
30 kv-60 kv . 20 cases, the purchase of grounding trans-
Above 60 kv .... 10 formers, which would add considerable ex-
pense to the application,
The survey shows that 35 per cent of the
This table would seem to offer further evi- resonantly grounded systems previously
dence that 15 or more tap positions are unl- were solidly grounded. An analysis of these
necessary. For example, if the taps are installations to determine what proportion
1951, VOLUME 70 Gross, Atherton-Resoncant Grounding in Power Systems
of them are 10-miniute and what proportion
are extended time might be significant.
Since the basic cost of the two types of
equipment is a stand-off and since the
assumption is that the majority of the sys-
tems which previously were solidly grounded
had ground relays available at the time of
the change-over, the decision determining
the choice of 10-minute or extended time
neutralizer equipment, in these cases, must
have been based on the operator's opinion
of the relative operating advantages of the
two types of equipment. In other words,
the advantage of being able to operate for
longer than 10 minutes with a ground fault
on the system would be weighed against the
advantage of being able to relay out a faulty
section of the system by closing the ground-
ing switch furnished with 10-minute neutral-
izer.
The question of safety could be a factor in
some applications. For instance, an opera-
tor might consider operation with a broken
conductor lying on the ground a hazard and
might choose 10-minute neutralizer equip-
ment on this account.
In the section on "Line Construction," it
is pointed out in the paper that in 15 per
cent of the installations it was necessary to
make additional transpositions. The infer-
ence is that such transpositions were made
to keep the residual unbalance current
through the neutralizer below the 30 per
cent value normally allowed in the neutral-
izer rating. There has been some agitation
recently to reduce the 30 per cent unbalance
current ratiiig to, say, 15 per cent on the
basis that most systems normally have less
than 15 per cent unbalance current anyway.
Studies have indicated that little or no sav-
ing in cost would result from such a reduc-
tion in rating, iinasmuch as a 30 per cent
continuous current capacity is inherent in
most neutralizer designs.'
Most of the neutralizer applications in the
2.4 KV and 6.6 KV voltage classes have
been on industrial power systems. Many
of these systems require frequent retuning
particularly where motors equipped with
large protective capacitors are continually
being switched on and off. For these appli-
cations there has been developed a tapless
ground fault neutralizer capable of smooth,
stepless reactance variation over the con-
ventional 2:1 or 4:1 range. These neutral-
izers also have the advantage of being able
to be tuned under load as contrasted to the
tap type which must be by-passed or de-
energized before taps are changed. All
applications of this type have been extended
time ratings.
REFERENCE
1. REPORT ON SURVEY Or UNBALANCED CHARGING
AFFECTING
CURRENTS ON TRANSMISSION LINES AS Committee
GROUND-FAULT NEUTRALIZERS, AIEE
Report. AIEE Transactions, volume 68, part II,
1949, pages 1328-29.
George Danla (New York State Electric and
Gas Corporation, Binghamton, N. Y.): I
think the authors deserve our thanks for the
preparation of a comprehensive question-
naire which shows us for the first time the
extent of the trend toward the use of ground
fault neutralizers and a nation-wide opinion
of their value as a tool for improving con-
tinuity of power distribution.
For about 15 years the New York State
Electric and Gas Corporation has been oper-
39a
 wOo_ I I arranging the outage. It also is
to ipermit 100
UNGROUNDED important to have a good alarm system RE
which permits location of the fault. An
~~alarm system now is being installed which_______w
sstenw BC .~~~ESSTANCE
isbengnsalldhihREACTANCE trouble
will indicate the faulted circuit. Much
has, however, been experienced in v)
0 _

X____ D____ - locating the exact point of the fault. The U0 _C SOLID
o 60 demonstration by the fault is so slight that
z t soL1o operators have walked right by the fault z
without noticing, unless it was very quiet. It
cw 40 _ - To realize fully the advantage of the ground w 70
fault neutralizer, it will therefore be neces-
sary to provide a fault-detection system
oL
925
J

1930 1935 1940 1945

GROUNDING OF POWER SYSTEMS 22 TO 70 KV
Figure 1. Grounding of power systems in the
United States, 22 kv to 70 kv
atinig a 46-kv system and a 33-kv system
with 10-minute rated neutralizers. The 33-
kv system is a joint system with Northern
Pennsylvania Power Company and includes
five grounding points, four of which are
nonattended and two of which lack super-
visory control facilities.
As pointed out in the authors' conclusions,
ground fault neutralizers require a minimum
of maintenance, but we believe the same
cannot be said of the control and switching
equipment associated with short time rated
coils, especially in nonsupervised stations.
The trend toward extended time rated coils
and the desire for fault-locating relays sub-
stantiates our thoughts.
The number of taps furnished has been
more than ample. Over a period of years,
system growth usually requires additional
grounding points for relaying and stabilizing
the neutral. This fact creates an ideal time
and place for the installation of more neu-
tralizer capacity and answers the question
usually raised about "what will happen as
the system outgrows the original coils."
Referring to Figure 3 of the paper, I
notice with considerable interest that only
33 per cenit of the systems of 22 kv and
above have been ungrounded before install-
ing neutralizers. This shows that the bene-
fits claimed for resonant grounding are not
due to any great extent to the mere fact that
some kind of grounding was added.
I also believe that extended time rated
coils would alleviate many inductive co-
ordination problems with communication
systems and that their value in this respect
should be recognized.
that will indicate, not only the circuit, but
the exact point of the fault. Then outages
will be necessary only for the time necessary
for repairs, and at the convenience of the
operator.
Eric T. B. Gross (Illinois Institute of Tech-
nology, Chicago, Ill.): It is indeed gratify-
ing that this paper has met with the interest
which is indicated by these many discus-
sions.
Some of the discussions deal with the
same questions, and the answers, therefore,
are given with reference to the various topics
under consideration. It appears that there
is general agreement as to the validity of the
conclusions drawn in the paper.
A further breakdown' of the data collected
for the latest general AIEE Report on
Grounding Practices2 leads to Figure 1 of
this discussion concerning systems at volt-
ages from 22 to 70 kv, and to Figure 2 of
this discussion concerning systems at higher
voltages. As pointed out by Mr. Evans,
most of the Petersen coils are used in sys-
tems operated at 69 kv and below. It is nIot
known completely why resonant grounding
has not yet been applied in the southeastern
and western parts of the United States.
One reason may be that in the more northern
states there are more isolated systems, which
lend themselves readily to resonant ground-
ing; other reasons may be that in the
southeastern and western states less lines
per unit area have been built or larger sys-
tems (such as the Tennessee Valley Author-
ity and the Bonneville Power Administra-
tion) are operated at higher voltages with
100
90
90
80
0___I1925 1930 1935 1940
_
1945
*UNGROUNDED
GROUNDING OF POWER
GONIGO YTM ABVE
OE SYSTEMS 0KKV
BV 70
Figure 2. Grounding of power systems in the
United States above 70 kv
solidly grounded neutrals. This question
deserves further study.
It seems that solid neutral grouniding is
more economical at 115 kv only if all possi-
ble advantages of this grounding method
can be utilized. This voltage is sort of a
borderline case. Mr. Robertson is quite
correct in pointing out that it is necessary to
investigate critically all phases of the prol)-
lem and not to accept any practice as ac mat-
ter of habit. In a number of resonant
grounded systems which are operated at 115
kv, Petersen coils have established an excel-
lent record.
Static wires, as emphasized by Mr.
Schroeder, have their merits, though such
ground wires are a means of preventinig
ground faults, whereas resonant grouniding
eliminates existing ground faults as a source
of further difficulties. Static wires and
Petersen coils act in very different maiiiiers
and supplement rather than replace eaclh
other. A shield wire, if supplemented by
low tower footing resistances, is helpfuil in
the reduction of single and multiphase flash-
overs. However, it is obvious and has been
shown by experience that resonant ground-
ing will produce an additional outage reduc-
tion, and vice versa. Mr. Schroeder's
reference to the discrepancy between ground
2/I
3

E. Herzog (United States Army Air Forces,

Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio): The authors
c,0.. 70 ,, 6
are to be commended for their work in col- 6
lecting the information presented. It is 1 60
interesting to note that the method of
resonant grounding had a rapid increase in
the last few years, particularly on low-volt- 50 52 z | l l
age systems. f
The philosophy underlying the applica- -f 5l3 l l l
tion of gound fault neutralizers by the Air 40 -- ___ _____
Force has been that a well-built system will 95|
have faults only rarely. When a fault occurs 30 /__ -
the system should be operable until equip-30 4 5 60 7 8 90 010
ment and personnel is arranged for repairs, 3 0 5 0 7 0 9 0 1
then repairs can be made when convenient A P
and quickly; no unexpected interruptions Figure 3. GroundAMP
can be tolerated. Accordingly, the neutral- fault neutralizer cur-
izer coil must have an extended time rating rents on 15 taps SATURATION CHARACTER IST IC
396 Gross, A therton-Resonant Grounding in Power Systems AIEE TRANSA\CTIONS
fault neutralizer operation shown on the
recording ammeter and apparent ground
faults checks an observation made in many
systems. A reason for this discrepancy is
often found in the fact that switches and
circuit breakers do niot operate simultane-
ously on all three phases and the temporary
electrostatic unbalance to ground of the
three phases leads to a transient current
through the ground fault neutralizer. Data
check well if operation records are analyzed
in the proper light.
A number of discussers seem to recom-
mend a smaller current range and fewer
taps, that is, a technically better design
which also will result in a cheaper ground
fault neutralizer. In Figure 3 of this discus-
sion is drawn what may be called a satura-
tion characteristic of a ground fault neu-
tralizer with 15 taps. The ordinate for each
point gives the current referred to rated
voltage for the unsaturated reactance; the
abscissa gives the saturated current values
at rated voltage. The figure shows clearly
that this coil does not saturate sufficiently
on taps 9 through 15; eliminating these
taps would result in a 63-to-102-ampere
coil, that is, a range of about 1 to 1.6. I am
in complete agreement with Mr. Cook's sug-
gestions concerning the design of ground
fault neutralizers. Mr. Amchin's conclu-
sions are technically sound, since unusual
conditions make it necessary to design the
magnetic circuit so that saturation sets in
when the zero sequence voltage approaches
the value of the system phase voltage. It
is possible to use an available short circuit
limiting reactor in series with a Petersen
coil, as suggested by Mr. Cook, if this
arrangement is taken into account in the
design of the ground fault neutralizer. Such
a reactor acts like the zero sequence react-
ance of a power transformer or the ground-
ing transformer used for the connection of
the Petersen coil.
Ground fault neutralizers with a smooth
variation of reactance may have limited
advantages: they can be operated when on
the system and are therefore always ready
for operation, as pointed out by Mr. Russ.
However, all the remarks relative to current
range and saturation apply to them, and
they also should not be designed for a larger
1951, VOLUME 70 Gross, Atherton-Resonant Grounding 'in Power Systems
current ratio than about 1 to 1.6. When
tuning is done at smaller than full ground
displacement, a correction for saturation
must be applied. Such ground fault neu-
tralizers have had a limited application for
some 10 years.3 However, the number of
such installations in the United States is
small, and at least one user concluded4 that
a smaller current ratio "would have been a
better design." There was no indication
that these users were among those who
changed their taps very often; this is quite
understandable, since the 6.6-kv and 2.4-kv
industrial systems contain many under-
ground cables so that the zero sequence
capacitance of the whole system is not
greatly changed by switching on or off mo-
tors with protective capacitors.
The noise-reducing effects of Petersen coil
application have been pointed out by H. M.
Trueblood5 in an early investigation. I am
familiar with cases in which the noise in an
adjacent communication circuit decreased
during a solid single line-to-ground fault on
the high-voltage line of a resonant grounded
system. Operation with sustained grounds
seems to have been quite successful, and
many systems have operated "10-minute"
coils during cold winter periods for 30
minutes or longer. Of course, permanent
faults can become a hazard, as Mr. Russ
points out, but so can very large ground
fault currents in effectively grounded sys-
tems, and it is difficult to decide which haz-
ard is greater. Mr. Dana's comments about
difficulties with the control and switching
equipment of short-time-rated coils are con-
firmed by others with similar experience.
The problems of synchronizing various by-
pass and neutral grounding switches does not
seem to have been solved satisfactorily.1
Furthermore, the shock to the system pro-
duced by the operation of by-pass switches
produces dips in the line-to-line voltages to
which many users of power are quite sensi-
tive.6
It is interesting to learn from Mr. Herzog
that an alarm system to indicate the faulted
circuit is being installed. It can be expected
that the operation will be as successful as
the application of resonant grounding. As
apparently referred to by Mr. Amchin, the
only new feature of such a relaving system is
our frequency of 60 cycles, since numerous
installations abroad have been in operation
at 50 cycles for many years. These relays
are in most cases indicating devices which
help locate the fault. Switching off the line
section is delayed until this can be done
without interruption of service.7 However,
additional carrier or microwave channels
between stations would provide a solution
to the tripping problem mentioned by Mr.
Evans. A fault detection system which
seems to fulfill Mr. Herzog's requirement has
been described recently in a paper by B. D.
Zelikin.8
As for simultaneous faults (multiple
ground faults), referred to by Mr. Evans,
the records do not indicate that difficulties
have been experienced. It is important to
keep the insulators in goodL condition by
making inspections and tests with full sys-
terni voltage to ground (lirLe-to-line). In
order to eliminate damaged insulators or
insulator elements, such tests should be
made regularly in the spring before the
lightning season.9
In these closing remarks, an attempt has
been made to answer most of the questions
raised in the discussions. The remaining
questions require further sttidies for which
not enough time is available now. The
authors wish to thank all discussers for their
valuable and very interesting contributions.
REFERENCES
1. Electrical World (New York, N. Y.). olohime
131, May 21, 1949, page 303.
2. See reference 1 of the paper.
3. THE BROWN BOVERI ARC-SUPPRESSION COIL
WITH PROGRESSIVE CURRENT REGULATION, A. van
Gastel. Brown Bove'ri Review (Baden, Switzer-
land), volume 30, 1943, pages 103-10.
4. See reference 21 of the paper, page 177
5. See reference 6 of the paper.
6. See reference 23 of the paper.
7. See reference 16 of the paper.
S. A METHIOD FOR DETECTION OPF SUSTAINED}
EARTT-&FAULTS IN RURAL OVERHEAD LINES PRO-
TECTED BY PETERSEN CtIal BEnikineers (Loundon
England), volume 95, part II, 1948, pages 617-19.
). See reference 23 of the paper, auithors' cloisture-
cf the discussion.
39J7