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    3 views9 pages

    OP00118091

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    João Nelson Hoffmann

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    633 IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 10, No. 2, April 1995 EQUIVALENT RESISTIVITY OF NON-UNIFORM SOIL FOR GROUNDING GRID DESIGN Baldev Thapar Senior Member 759 = 1/808) - Victor Gerez ‘Senior Member Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana Abstract - This paper develops a method to determine equivalent resistivity of heterogeneous soils to be used in the available expressions for uniform soils employed to calculate the ground resistance, mesh and step voltages. The results obtained with the proposed equivalent resistivity are compared with the results obtained from the two layer and the multilayer models of the soil and with the results from a computer program, developed by the authors, directly based on the potential Produced by a point source in heterogeneous soil. Keywords: Grounding Grids, Ground Resistivity, Substations. 1 INTRODUCTION Important parameters in the design of grounding grids for ac substations are ground resistance, mesh and step voltages. If the soil is assumed uniform, simple formulas to determine these parameters are available.[1]. However, the ground under the surface of the earth is by no means homogeneous. Techniques and computer programs have been developed to calculate the design Parameters of the grounding grids in non-uniform soil by considering the soil as a two or a multilayered media with horizontal or spherical staifications.(2,3,4]. ‘These techniques require the use of complex mathematics and time consuming computations but they give accurate results only when the actual ‘ground conditions are close to the model of the ground used, A typical cross section of the underground indicates complex heterogeneity and does not show regular and distinct stratification. ‘Therefore, the refined techniques for grounding calculations in ‘multilayered media are good only for particular cases and may not give good results in practical situations. It has also been suggested {o use the expressions for uniform soil employing an equivalent resistivity for the heterogeneous soil[5,6,7]. However, this equivalent resistivity is based on the horizontally stratified ground and is not convenient to determine. (Changes caused by weather and season, by rain and frost and by temperature variations influence the resistivity of the soil and greatly affect the grounding parameters. Because of the random nature of these changes a high degree of accuracy in the calculations of the grounding parameters is not required. A method that is simple, reasonably accurate and applicable to heterogeneous soils without requiring the modelling of the soil is needed for the grounding calculations and to ascertain that the electric system shall Rot experience technical trouble or cause accidents. This paper presents two such methods. In both the methods @ knowledge of the underground soil structure is not required and only a point source apparent resistivity raph for the site is needed (1) The first isthe direct method. The potential produced by a point 94 SM 387-1 PWRD A paper recommended and approved by the IEEE Substations Comnittee of the IREE Pover Engineering Society for presentation at the IEEE/PES 1994 Sumner Mooting, San Francisco, OA, July 24 - 28, 1994. Manuseriptoubaitted July 19, 1993; ado available for printing May 9, 1994. source is used directly to calculate the ground resistance, mesh and step potentials. (2) The second is the equivalent resistivity method. The present available expressions to calculate the ground resistance, the mesh ‘and the step voltages, are used. The value of the resistivity to be used in these expressions is determined from the point source ‘apparent resistivity graph. ‘The results obtained with these two methods are compared ‘with the results from scale model studies and with the results from the refined methods for the multilayered grounds. Il. POINT SOURCE APPARENT RESISTIVITY In a uniform soil, the voltage produced by a point current source § near the surface of the ground at a point P also near the surface of the ground is given by[8]: V = (pl/(2xx) o Where I = current discharged by S. P = resistivity of the soi x = distance between § and P, Ata site direct measurement of V and I for « spacing x between $ and P are made. For these measurements a vertical linear electrode of length less than 1/Sth of the spacing x may be considered a8 a point electrode. To obtain reasonable accurate results the remote current and potential probes C, and P, respectively, should be located at a distance of about 10 times the value of "x", from the point current source S. To avoid mutual coupling between the leads the angle between S-C, and S-P, should be about 90°, Using measured data for various values of x, the resistivity of the soil is determined from equation (1). This is the apparent resistivity of the soil, p,. between the points § and P. ‘When the soil is heterogeneous p, will change with x. ‘The relation between p, and x is independent of the location of the source and the direction of x if the soil is horizontally stratified. In practice this is not true; but as the variation of the resistivity in the vertical direction is generally more than the variation in the horizontal direction, the relation between p, and x does not vary much with the location of $ and directions of x within the switchyard area. A mean graph of p, vs x over the area of the switchyard for a number of point source locations and directions of x is obtained. Because ofthe large distance between the probes the method of measurement outlined above may not be convenient to use in all situations. For such cases the source point apparent resistivity can be indirectly determined from the data obtained with the Wenner Four Probe Method, which is commonly used to measure the resistivity ofthe soil. Let p(x) be the resistivity obsained withthe Wenner Four Probe Method for a spacing of "x" between the adjacent probes. The following equation gives the relation between the point source apparent resistivity, p,. and the Wenner resistivity, Prw (81: Pax) PAX) + Paol))/2 @ (0885-8977/95/S04.00 © 1994 IEEE : 404. Vid. 160 ‘A convenient procedure to estimate p,(x) from the Wenner resistivity p(x), is given below: (@) p(x) versus x graph is obtained for various values of x upto a value of x large enough 90 that p(x) does not change appreciably ‘with futher increase in x. (©) From this graph note p,, for x equal to 1,24,8,16,32,64....1m. (e) Start ata high value of x beyond which p,.(x) does not change appreciably. Suppose this value of x is 138m. At this point consider Pyx(128)=p,(128) (@)_p, for the next lower value of x, Le. 64m, is then calculated from equation (2) (©) p, atthe next lower value of x, ie, 32m, is then calculated and this procedure is continued until the p, for the lowest value of x is determined. An illustration of getting p,(x) from p,g(x) will be found in Table 3, Ml, DIRECT METHOD To calculate the ground resistance of a horizontal grid, the point source apparent resistivity graph obtained with both the source fand the observation point at the depth of the grid is required. ‘Whereas to calculate the mesh and step voltges, the point source ‘apparent resistivity graph obtained with the source point atthe depth ‘of the grid and the observation point atthe surface of the ground is needed, A grounding grid is usually buried at a depth of 0.5 m. For this depth there is only a litle difference between the two apparent resistivity graphs mentioned above. Therefore, as an approximation the apparent resistivity, p,, obtained with both source and the ‘observation point near the surface of the soil may be used to calculate the ground resistance, the mesh and the step voltages. ‘A computer program "NUGL"” has been developed by the authors, to determine the ground resistance, the mesh and step voltages. ‘This program is based on the modified form of the commonly used method of analysis in which the grid is divided in ‘mall linear segments. The following modifications are adopted. (@) To determine the self ground resistance of a small linear ‘segment, the apparent resistivity, p,, for x=r is used. Where r is the ‘equivalent radius of the linear segment given by: 2 atin Zea} oh a length of the segment. fadius of the segment, (b) To determine the mutual ground resistance between the two small segments p and q the apparent resistivity, py. for x=pq is used. ‘Where pq is the distance between the centers of the two segments. (©) To determine the potential at a point m on the surface of the ‘ground because of the current discharged by a segment p, the apparent resistivity p, for x=pm is used. Where pm isthe distance between m and the center of the segment p. ‘The program is good for grounding grids without vertical rods. Presence of a few short vertical rods does not change the results appreciably, However, the computer program can be extended to include the vertical rods of large lengths. To do this, additional measurements of the resistivity are needed to determine ‘the apparent resistivity of the soil with the source and the observation points at various depths. ‘The computer program NUGL should give good results as it is based directly on the potential measurements made at the site and does not require the modelling of the soil. The validity of the ‘computer program was tested with the scale model tests described in the next section. IV. MODEL TESTS Analog model studies were conducted in a cylindrical tank of about 2 m diameter, filled with tap water to a depth of about 10 em. The inside cylindrical surface of the tank was lined with aluminum foil to act as the collecting electrode for the current. ‘Tests were conducted in two widely different cases of heterogeneous soil, The lower layer of the soil had infinite resistivity in one case and zero resistivity in the other case. These cases were simulated by lining the bottom of the tank (a) with a non conducting plastic sheet and (b) with an aluminum foil connected to the aluminum foil ‘on the cylindrical surface, respectively. ‘The apparent resistivity was obtained by discharging @ current of about 30 mA through a 12 AWG probe placed vertically at the center of the tank with a length of about 1 cm dipping in the water. Voltage between the collecting electrode and points on the surface of the water at various distances from the probe was measured. From these measurements the graph of apparent resistivity, p, , versus the distance x from the probe was obtained. ‘The graphs for the two cases, ARI (lower layer of infinite resistivity) and AR2 (lower layer of zero resistivity) are shown in Figure 1 ‘The following models of the square grids made of 12 AWG. bare copper wire were tested in the tank. 20 em x 20 cm, 4 meshes. 20 cm x 20 cm, 16 meshes. 30 em x 30 cm, 4 meshes. 30 em x 30 cm, 16 meshes. ‘The model was suspended horizontally at a depth of about | em and a current of 0.14 to 1.0A was discharged through it. The ground resistance and the mesh potential at the center of the corner ‘mesh were measured in each case. These experimental values were AR2 a ee x, em. Figure 1 - Apparent resistivity of the two models ofthe soil ‘compared with the calculated values using the computer program "NUGL". Both sets of values are shown in Table 1 ‘A comparison of the values in Table 1 shows that the results ‘obtained from the computer program NUGL both for the ground resistance and the mesh voltage are close to the model test results. ‘The data given in Table 1 also shows that for the two widely different models, ARI and AR2, of the ground, the ground resistance of a grid is very different whereas the mesh voltage is ‘not. This clearly shows that the equivalent resistivity of the medium. to be used for ground resistance calculations is different from the fone to be used. for the mesh voltage V. EQUIVALENT RESISTIVITY A. Ground Resistance ‘The ground resistance, R, of a grid in uniform soil is given by LE: R=pa ) My eetiet e 5 2 ya0a Tener E Where p = resistivity of the sil, ohm-m. L = the length of the buried conductor, m. ‘A= the area occupied by the grid, sq.m. ‘h = the depth of the grid, m, ‘The ground resistance of a grid in heterogeneous Soil can be calculated conveniently with the use of equation (4) ifthe equivalent resistivity of the soil to be used in the equation can be estimated. Practical grounding grids are buried near the surface of the earth and have usually more than 30 meshes. Their ground resistance is close to that of a circular plate whose area is equal 10 the area occupied by the grid. Consider a circular plate of diameter 8 buried horizontally near the surface of the earth. Assume that the ccurrent dissipation over the surface of the plate is uniform. The potential at the center ofthe plate due to an elemental ring of radius ‘and thickness Ax, as shown in Figure 2 is given by [5]: Table 1 - Ground Resistance and Mesh Voltage. “Apparent Resistivity Ground Test Results| ‘Computer Results Gria* Mesh Ground Mesh. Graph Resistance Voltage Resistance Voltage 20x20x4 ARI 163 164 174 143 20x20x4 RZ 47.7 158 49.6 142 20x20x16 ARI 158 s7 m 64 20x20K16 AR2_ 43.8 5. 483 46 30x30x4 ARI 129 103138 105 30x30x4 AR2 30.9 12288 139 30x30x16 ARI 125 58 133 67 30x30x16 AR2 24.2 4a 265 47 The ground resistance is in ohms. The mesh voltage is in volts per ampere current discharged by the grid. * Lengoh, cm x Width, em x Number of meshes. 761 cy Figure 2 - Model ofa grid for ground resistance calculations. 2axAx Av=p, (x) SS 18/2) = Where 1, = current that flows from the plate to ground. P.(X) = the point source apparent resistivity at distance x. The total potential at the center of the plate is given by: on L, m—ip_ wal { eater a Consider V/l, to be the ground resistance, R. ” fein ax ‘) Tara Let py, (independent of x) be the equivalent resistivity of the soil that gives the same ground resistance, R. “2 i D Sita 9 aTaraye | Pe Bi 7 From equations (8) and (9) on a2 3 Pons 57a | Pal ) ce (20) ‘Therefore, py is the average value of the point source apparent resistivity of the soil from x=0 to x=8/2 B. Mesh Voltage In a uniform soil the mesh voltage is given by (1) 18 ay B=K, KL «2 K, = 0656 + 0.172 8 (3 a pe, (Dean)? Ko (nl Big PRM By Bin gay) (14) 762 CA 5 Xeo7 Figure 3 - Model of a grid for mesh voltage calculations. K, = 1/2n)® for grids with no rods or grids with only a few rods, none located in the comers or on the perimeter. K,=1 for grids with ground rods along the perimeter or for grids with ground rods along the perimeter and throughout the grid area K, = Va4) Where spacing between the parallel conductors, m. he depth of the grid conductor, m. 1n = number of the parallel conductors fiameter of the grid conductor, m, I, = grid current that flows from the grid to the ground, A. To estimate the equivalent resistivity, Pyqr of the heterogeneous soil that can be used in equation (11), consider the arid as a circular plate of diameter 8. A mesh with a conductor spacing of D may be represented by a circular hole of diameter D at the center of the plate as shown in Figure 3, When this plate is buried horizontally near the surface of the ground, the potential, V.. ‘of the ground surface at the center of the mesh (hole in the plate), for D<

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