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ABSTRACT:
This paper presents the design of earthing system for 400 KV substation and calculation of its
parameters. Successful operation of entire power system depends to a considerable extent on
efficient and satisfactory performance of substations. Hence substations in general can be
considered as heart of overall power system. In any substation, a well-designed grounding plays
an important role. Since absence of safe and effective grounding system can result in mal-
operation or non-operation of control and protective devices, grounding system design deserves
considerable attention for all the substations. Grounding system has to be safe as it is directly
concerned with safety of persons working within the substation. Main purpose of this work is
designing safe and cost effective grounding systems for HV / EHV substations situated at such
locations where soil of the substation site is not uniform. Initially significance of Earthing is
explained & methodology for design of substation grounding system is discussed for HV / EHV
substations. Standard equations are used in the design of earthing system to get desired
parameters such as touch and step voltage criteria for safety, earth resistance, grid resistance,
maximum grid current, minimum conductor size and electrode size, maximum fault current level
and resistivity of soil. By selecting the proper horizontal conductor size, vertical electrode size
and soil resistivity, the best choice of the project for safety can be performed. This paper
mentions the calculation of the desired parameters for 400 kV substations. A case study is done
at 400 kV substations at Aurangabad in Maharashtra state of India.
























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A. INTRODUCTION
Earthing practices adopted at Generating Stations, Substations, Distribution structures and lines
are of great importance. It is however observed that this item is most often neglected. The codes
of practice, Technical Reference books, Handbooks contain a chapter on this subject but they are
often skipped considering them as too elementary or even as unimportant. Many reference books
on this subject are referred to and such of those points which are most important are compiled in
the following paragraphs. These are of importance of every practicing Engineer in charge of
Substations. Earthing system thus design must be easily maintained and future expansion must
be taken into account while designing the dimensions of earth mat
Substation earthing system is essential not only to provide the protection of people working in
the vicinity of earthed facilities and Equipments against danger of electric shock but to maintain
proper function of electrical system. Reliability and security are to be taken in considerations as
well as adherence to statutory obligations (IEEE and Indian standards on electrical safety [1-2]
and environmental aspects). This paper is concerned with earthing practices and design for
outdoor AC substation for power frequency in the range of 50 Hz.
1.1 Definition of Earthing and Grounding:

Grounding implies connection of power system neutral to ground (earth). e.g. Neutral
grounding / system grounding. In grounding current carrying parts are connected to
ground.

Earthing implies the connection of non-current carrying parts to ground e.g metallic
enclosures. Another term for earthing is equipment grounding. Earthing is done for
human and equipment safety.



Figure 1: Earthing Between Generator & Transformer

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1.2 Importance
The earthing system in a plant / facility is very important for a few reasons, all of which are
related to either the protection of people and equipment and/or the optimal operation of the
electrical system. These include:
Equipotential bonding of conductive objects (e.g. metallic equipment, buildings, piping etc) to
the earthing system prevents the presence of dangerous voltages between objects (and earth).
the earthing system provides a low resistance return path for earth faults within the plant,
which protects both personnel and equipment.
For earth faults with return paths to offsite generation sources, a low resistance earthing
grid relative to remote earth prevents dangerous ground potential rises (touch and step
potentials)
The earthing system provides a low resistance path (relative to remote earth) for voltage
transients such as lightning and surges / overvoltages
equipotential bonding helps prevent electrostatic buildup and discharge, which can cause
sparks with enough energy to ignite flammable atmospheres
the earthing system provides a reference potential for electronic circuits and helps reduce
electrical noise for electronic, instrumentation and communication systems [1-3]

This calculation is based primarily on the guidelines provided by IEEE Std 80 (2000), "Guide for
safety in AC substation grounding".
B. EARTHING DESIGN FOR A H.V./E.H.V SUBSTATION

2.1 Earthing
Earthing means an electrical connection to the general mass of earth to provide safe passage to
fault current to enable to operate protective devices and provide safety to personnel and
Equipments.

2.2 Types of Earthing
The earthing is broadly divided as
Underground Earthing
Solid Grounding
Reactance Grounding
Resistance Grounding
Resonant Grounding

System Earthing
This is primarily concerned with the protection of Electrical equipment by stabilizing the voltage
with respect to ground (Connection between part of plant in an operating system like LV neutral
of a Power Transformer winding and earth).

Equipment Earthing (Safety grounding)
This is primarily concerned with the protection of personnel from electric shock by maintaining
the potential of noncurrent carrying equipment at or near ground potential. Connecting frames of

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equipment (like motor body, Transformer tank, Switch gear box, operating rods of Air break
switches, etc.) to earth.
The system earthing and safety earthing are interconnected and therefore fault current flowing
through system ground raises the potential of the safety ground and also causes steep potential
gradient in and around the Substation. But separating the two earthing systems have
disadvantages like higher short circuit current, low current flows through relays and long
distance to be covered to separate the two earths. After weighing the merits and demerits in each
case, the common practice of common and solid (direct) grounding system designed for effective
earthing and safe potential gradients is being adopted.[5-6]
2.3 Types of Earth Electrode
1. Rod electrode.
2. Pipe electrode.
Table 1: Earthing Electrode Technical Data



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Figure 2: Rod Type

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Figure 3: Plate type

2.4 Factors That Change the Requirement of Earth Electrode
a) If an electrical facility can expand in system, it creates different routes in the electrode. What
was formerly a suitable low earth resistance can become obsolete standard.
b) More number of metallic pipes, which were buried underground become less and less
dependable as effective low resistance ground connection.
c) Most of the location, the water table gradually falling. In a year or two, area ends up with dry
earth of high resistance.
d) These factors emphasize the importance of a continuous, periodic program of earth resistance
testing

2.5 The earth resistance shall be as low as possible and shall not exceed the
following limits
Table 2: Earth Resistance values
Serial No. Particulars Permissible values
1 Power Station 0.5 Ohms
2 EHT Substation 1.0 Ohms
3 33 KV Station 2.0 Ohms
4 D/T center 5.0 Ohms
5 Tower Foot Resistance 10.0 Ohms


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2.6 Terms & Definitions
A. Step Potential
Step Potential is the difference in the voltage between two points which are one meter apart
along the earth when ground currents flowing
B. Touch Potential
Touch Potential is the difference in voltage between the object touched and the ground point just
below the person touching the object when ground currents are flowing.
C. Ground Potential Rise (GPR)
The maximum electrical potential that a sub-station grounding grid may attain relative to a
distant grounding point assumed to be at the potential of remote earth. This voltage is equal to:
0PR=(I0Rg)
Where, I0 =Maximum earth grid current Rg=Earth Grid resistance

-
GRID
is portion of ground fault current that flows from the grounding grid to surrounding earth.
SF is the percentage of ground fault current discharged by grounding grid to earth.
GPR =
GRID
X R
GRID

GRID
= SF x
FAULT
,

GRID
is portion of ground fault current that flows from the grounding grid to surrounding
earth. SF is the percentage of ground fault current discharged by grounding grid to earth.


Figure 4: Fault within Substation; Local Neutral Grounded
In the above figure,
GRID
=0 since no current is discharged to earth. In this case, SF =0.



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Figure 5: Fault within Substation; HV= Delta
In the above figure,
GRID
=
FAULT
since entire ground fault current is discharged to earth. In this
case, SF =1.







Figure 6: Fault within Substation
In the above figure,
GRID
is fault contribution from remote end, which implies 0 <SF <1.






Figure 7: Fault outside Substation;
In the above figure, GRID is fault contribution from source end and implies 0 < SF < 1
Use total fault current FAULT for conductor sizing calculations, whereas GRID for step and
touch voltages calculations. For a fault on Transmission Line, some part of fault current (
F
)

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returns via earth wire (
EW
) and some part of fault current (
F
) returns through ground (
G
) as
shown below

Figure 8:
F
= EW

+G
Ground potential raise (GPR), step and touch potential are developed due to
G
only. Earth wire
current directly returns through metallic path. Hence, ground grid if planned on
F
instead of
G
will result in oversized design. Current through earth wire (
EW
) depends on number of earth
wires, material and size of earth wire and tower footing resistance.
Step Voltage: It is defined as the difference in surface potentials experienced by person bridging
a distance of 1 meter with his feet without contacting any other grounded object as shown below.






Figure 9: Step Voltage
Touch Voltage: It is defined as the Potential difference between GPR and the surface potential
at the point where person is standing, while his hand is in contact with grounded structure as
shown below.




Figure 10: Touch Voltage

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The decisive factor is Touch Voltage. The Step Voltage criterion is usually satisfied. Step
Voltage is difference between two surface potentials and Touch Voltage is difference between
GPR and surface potentials










Figure 11: Touch & Step Voltage

D. Mesh Potential: The maximum touch potential within a mesh of the grid.

E. Transferred potential:
A special case of touch potential where a potential is transferred into or out of the sub-station
from or to a remote point external to the sub-station site. A person standing in a sub-station
coming in contact with say rails/water pipeline/neutral coming from an adjacent sub-station at
the time of occurrence of earth-fault at that sub-station gets exposed to the transferred potential
which equals difference in GPRs of the two sub-stations.

Figure 12: Ground Network

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Figure 13: Distance In feet from energized, grounded object

Specification of Earthing
Depending on soil resistivity, the earth conductor (flats) shall be buried at the following depths.
Table 3: Resistivitys relation to Economical Depth
Sl. No Soil Resistivity in ohms/meter Economical depth of Burial in meters
1 50-100 0.5
2 100-400 1.0
3 400-1000 1.5
To keep the earth resistance as low as possible in order to achieve safe step and touch voltages,
an earth mat shall be buried at the above depths below ground and the mat shall be provided with
grounding rods at suitable points. All non-current carrying parts at the Substation shall be
connected to this grid so as to ensure that under fault conditions, none of these parts are at a
higher potential than the grounding grid.

Following points should be fallow to keep the earth resistance as low as possible.
Remove Oxidation on joints and joints should be tightened.
Poured sufficient water in earth electrode.
Used bigger size of Earth Electrode.
Electrodes should be connected in parallel.
Earth pit of more depth & width- breadth should be made.



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Plate Earths
Taking all parameters into consideration, the size of plate earths are decided as
Power Stations & EHV Station - Main - 100 x 16mm
Auxiliary - 50 x 8mm
Small Stations - 75 x 8mm

2.7 Earth Mat Design
Earthing System in a Sub Station comprises of Earth Mat or Grid, Earth Electrode, Earthing
Conductor and Earth Connectors.

2.7.1 Earth Mat or Grid
Primary requirement of Earthing is to have a low earth resistance. Substation involves many
Earthlings through individual Electrodes, which will have fairly high resistance. But if these
individual electrodes are inter linked inside the soil, it increases the area in contact with soil and
creates number of parallel paths. Hence the value of the earth resistance in the interlinked state
which is called combined earth value which will be much lower than the individual value.
The inter link is made through flat or rod conductor which is called as Earth Mat or Grid. It
keeps the surface of substation equipment as nearly as absolute earth potential as possible. To
achieve the primary requirement of earthing system, the Earth Mat should be design properly by
considering the safe limit of Step Potential, Touch Potential and Transfer Potential. Achieve the
primary requirement of Earthing system, the Earth Mat should be design properly by considering
the safe limit of Step Potential, Touch Potential and Transfer Potential.


Figure 14: General Configuration of Earth mat

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2.7.2 The factors which influence the Earth Mat design are:
Magnitude of Fault Current
Duration of Fault
Soil Resistivity
Resistivity of Surface Material
Shock Duration
Material of Earth Mat Conductor
Earthing Mat Geometry

2.7.3 The design parameters are:
Size of Earth Grid Conductor
Safe Step and Touch Potential
Mesh Potential (E-mesh)
Grid configuration for Safe Operation
Number of Electrodes required

C MATHEMATICAL CALCULATION
3.1 Prerequisites
The following information is required / desirable before starting the calculation:
A layout of the site.
Maximum earth fault current into the earthing grid.
Maximum fault clearing time.
Ambient (or soil) temperature at the site.
Soil resistivity measurements at the site (for touch and step only).
Resistivity of any surface layers intended to be laid (for touch and step only).

3.2 Step and touch voltage criteria
The safety of a person depends on preventing the critical amount of shock energy from being
absorbed before the fault is cleared and the system de-energized. The maximum driving voltage
of any accidental circuit should not exceed the limits defined as follows.

For step voltage the limit is
The tolerable step voltage criteria is
EStcp=[1000+(6Csps)]0.116ts (1)
The tolerable touch voltage criteria is
EIouc=[1000+(1.5Csps)]0.116ts (2)
Where,
E-step = the step voltage in V
E-touch = the touch voltage in V
Cs= 1for no protective layer
s = the resistivity of the surface material in m
ts = the duration of shock current in seconds


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The earth grid conductor size formula is mentioned below
I=A(ICAP104)orprln(k0+IHk0+Io) (3)
Where,
I =rms value in kA
A =conductor sectional size in mm
Tm =maximum allowable temperature in C
Ta =ambient temperature for material constants inC
= thermal coefficient of resistivity at 0C
=thermal coefficient of resistivity at reference temperature Tr
=the resistivity of the ground conductor at reference temperature Tr in uA/cm3
K = 1/ or 1/ - Tr
tc =time of current flow in sec
TCAP =thermal capacity factor
Spacing factor for mesh voltage (Km)

KH=12[(216J+(J+2)28J4J)+KiiKln8n (2n1)] (4)

Where,
D =spacing between conductor of the grid in m
d =diameter of grid conductor in m
K
M
=spacing factor for mesh voltage
K
ii
=1 for grids with rods along perimeter
K
h
=Corrective weighting factor for grid depth

Spacing factor of step voltage (Ks)

KS=1[12+1(+)+1(10.5n2)] (5)
Where
D =spacing between conductor of the grid in m
h =depth of burial grid conductor in m
n =number of parallel conductor in one direction

Evaluation of ground resistance
A good grounding system provides a low resistance to remote earth in order to minimize the
GPR. For most transmission and other large substations, the ground resistance is usually about 1
or less. In smaller distribution substations, the usually acceptable range is from 1 to 5 ,
depending on the local conditions.[3]
For calculation of grounding resistance, the following formula is used
Rg=[1II+120(1+11+20A)] (6)
Where
= soil resistivity m
Lt =total length of grid conductor m
A =total area enclosed by earth grid m2
h =depth of earth grid conductor m

For calculation of grid current, equation [11]

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I0=(CPSI) (7)

For calculation of grid potential rise
0PR=(I0Rg) (8)

Actual Step Potential & Touch Potential Calculations
Formula for calculation of mesh voltage is
Em=[pKmKiKimII+IB+IA+(1.15IE)] (9)

Formulas for calculation of step voltage are
Es=[pKmKiKisII+IB+IA+(1.15IE)] (10)
Where
= soil resistivity, ohms-m
Em =mesh voltage at the center of corner mesh in V
Es =step voltage between point in V
Km =spacing factor for mesh voltage
Kis =spacing factor of step voltage
Kim =correct factor for grid geometry
LL=Length of grid conductor along length of switch yard
LB=Length of grid conductor along breadth of switch yard
LA=Length of riser and auxiliary mat in switch yard
LE=Length of earth electrodes in switch yard
LT=Total length of earth conductor in switch yard
II=(II+IB+IA+IE) (11)
Switchyard ground grid design procedure is summarized below:
From plot plan, estimate area available for grounding.
Soil resistivity test to estimate
Evaluate fault level - FAULT
Find current for grounding grid design GRID = SF x FAULT
Use -FAULT and T-fault to size conductor.
Make preliminary grid design: horizontal strips, vertical rods
Calculate E
S1LP
SAFE

& E
100CH
SAFE
Calculate E
S1LP
DESIGN & E
100CH
SAFE
If E
S1LP
DESIGN < E
S1LP
SAFE AN E
100CH
DESIGN < E
100CH
SAFE design is completed
Otherwise, redesign till design voltage are within safe limits.











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Figure 15: Isolation Shaft Earthing


Figure 16: EARTHING IN LV SYSTEM CORRECT METHOD


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Figure 17: EARTHING IN LV SYSTEM WRONG METHOD


Figure 18: MV (Resistance Grounded System)


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Figure 19: MV (Ungrounded System)



Figure 20: Underground Earthing Conductor


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Figure 21: Electronic Equipment Earthing-Monitoring


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Figure 22: Electronic Equipment Earthing; Wrong Method


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Figure 23: Electronic Equipment Earthing; Correct Method


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D. RESULT
The main electrical properties of an earthing system are:
Earthing resistance
Earth surface potential distribution
Current carrying ability

The most favorable earth surface potential distribution concepts have horizontal earth electrodes,
especially meshed ones, whose surface potential can be controlled relatively simply. The
potential distribution of vertical electrodes is the most unfavorable, with high values of touch
potential. On the other hand, vertical electrodes can easily reach low earthing resistance with
stable values, largely independent from seasons. Vertical electrodes are also used in combination
with horizontal ones in order to reach lower values of earthing resistance. These results are
obtained above prove that this earth grid design is safe for 400 kV substation in the range of soil
resistivity 100-350 m.

E. FUTURE WORK
Mathematical modeling and simulation.
Programming and Designing by using MATLAB & E-TAP Software.
Focus on the study to minimize the problems in earthing.
Recommendation to minimize the problems in earthing in Existing substation.
F. CONCLUSION
This paper has a focus on designing of a 400 kV HV/EHV AC substation earthing system. The
results for earthing system are obtained by computational method. For earthing conductor and
vertical earth electrode, mild steel are used. The step by step approach for designing a substation
earthing system is presented. The various kinds of conductor sizes for earth equipment are
mentioned in this paper. Construction of earthing grid is expressed in here. The step and touch
voltages are dangerous for human body. Human body may get electric shocks from step and
touch voltages. When high voltage substations are to be designed, step and touch voltages should
be calculated and values must be maintained specified standard. Importance to be given to the
transfer of Ground Potential rise (GPR) under fault conditions to avoid dangerous situations to
the public, customer and utility staff. The values of step and mesh voltages obtained for 400 kV
substation are respectively 389.6783 Volt and 374.1747 Volt which are within the permissible
limits.