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EARTHING DESIGN CALCULATION

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1.0 NOTES
1.01 This document outlines and describes the Technical Parameters for Earthing calculation as per IEEE Std 80-2000
1.02 For the conductor spacing calculations, the rectangular portion of the switchyard is considered however in those cases, where
the switchyard is not essentially rectangular in shape, the value of rectangle having the same area as that enclosed by
irregular
1.03 If Bentonite treatment is considered then 80% reduction in the Measured Resitivity value may be considered
1.04 The term "Mesh Voltage" means the maximum touch voltage within a mesh of a ground grid.

2.0 LEGENDS
A

= Cross-sectional area of the conductor in mm2

= RMS value of the AC Ground fault current, which can flow through the conductor in Amps

IG

= RMS value of the maximum Grid current in Amps

= Fault duration in secs

= Soil Resistivity in Ohm- mtr.

rs

= Resistivity of surface material in Ohm-mtr.

= Depth of Conductor buried in meters.

Cs

= Surface layer derating factor.

ts

= Duration of Shock current in secs

hs

= Thickness of the surface layer in meters

= Diameter of earthing conductor in mm or meters

Et

= Tolerable Touch Potential in Volts

Es

= Tolerable Step Potential in Volts

= Total length of buried Conductors in meters

Em

= Mesh Voltage in Volts

= Spacing between grid conductors in meters

= Geometric factor.

Km = Spacing factor for mesh voltage

Ks

= Spacing factor for step voltage

Ki

= Corrected factor for grid geometry

Kii

= Corrective weighing factor

Kh

= Corrective weighing factor for grid depth

= Width of Earthing Material

= Thickness of Earthing Material

Bwf = Body Weight Factor

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3.0 DATA
a)

Fault Current

b)

Voltage Level of Sub-Station

c)

Fault Duration for selection of conductor

d)

Fault Duration for calc. of Step & Touch Potentials (ts)

e)

Switchyard Dimensions in Mtrs

25000

66

kV

sec.

0.5

sec.

Length of Switchyard

96.50

mtrs.

Breadth of Switchyard

50.20

mtrs.

Considered 1 m additional length & breadth on both sides

of outside switchyard fence

96.50

mtrs.

50.20

mtrs.

Therefore Area of Earthmat grid considered for calc.

96.5 x 50.2

f)

Soil Resistivity (r)

288

W-m

g)

Surface layer Resistivity (rs)

3000

W-m

h)

Depth of the Conductor buried (h)

0.6

mtrs.

i)

Thickness of the surface layer

0.15

mtrs.

j)

Earthing conductor Material

M.S. Flat

k)

Maximum allowable temperature for welded joint

620

(As per IEEE-80, Pg. No.51 & 52)

4.0 NUMBER OF EARTH ELECTRODE

4.01 Driven earth electrodes of Outer Dia (Pipe)

40mm G.S.

4.02 Length of Earth Electrodes

Equipment - treated earth pits

is considered for the following equipments

mtrs.

Per Eqpt qty

Eqpt Qty

Total qty

power Transformer

Station Transformer

Total nos. of pipe electrodes in treated earth pits

4.03 Driven earth electrodes of Outer Dia (Pipe)

10
40mm G.S.

4.04 Length of Earth Electrodes

Equipment - untreated earth pits

is considered for the following equipments

mtrs.

Per Eqpt qty

Eqpt Qty

Total qty

Lightning Arrester

18

18

66kV Potential Transformer

66kV Capaitive voltage Transformer

Lightning protection tower with peak

Control room(Treated)

Corners of the buried grid

Total nos. of pipe electrodes in untreated earth pits

39

Total nos. of treated and untreated earth pits

49

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CONDUCTOR SELECTION
I

-4

TCAP x 10
= A

t x r x r r

T CAP x 10
=

5.01

Ko Tm
2
n

Ko Ta

31500

Where,
I

t x r x rr

-4

Ko T m
n

Ko T a

1
2

3 .93 10 - 4
293 620

1 0 .0032 20 .1
ln 293 50

1/ 2

(As per IEEE-80 Pg. No 41 & 42, Eq. 37)

= is the maximum anticipated fault current

is the maximum allowable temperature of
conductor (brazed or welded joints)

Tm

Ta

= is the ambient temperature

25

620

50

20

Tr

= is the reference temp. for material constants

is the thermal coefficient of resitivity at reference

temperature Tr

0.0032

rr

is the resistivity of the ground conductor at

reference temperature Tr

20.1

K0

= (1 / r)-Tr

293

= is the thermal capacity per unit volume

kA

1/ 0 C

(As per CBIP Manual pub. No 223, Page no. 5)

(As per IEEE 80 - 2000, [Link].41)

(As per IEEE 80 - 2000, [Link].42, Table - 1)

W-cm (As per IEEE 80 - 2000, [Link].42, Table - 1)

(As per IEEE 80 - 2000, [Link].42, Table - 1)
30

J /(cm . C)

3.93

Area of Conductor, A

559.61

mm2

Accordingly, the minumum cross section required is

560

mm2

Allowance for corrosion

TCAP

Equation 5.01

(As per IEEE 80 - 2000, [Link].42, Table - 1)

Substituting the values in equation 5.01, we get

[Link].
1
2
3

5.02

5.03

Soil Resitivity
> 100 -m
>25 & < 100 -m
< 25 -m or treated soil

% Corrosion
0%
15%
30%

As per CBIP [Link].223, Pg. No.6

560 x 1.10

615.57

mm2

Width of the condcutor selected

65

mm

Thickness of the conductor selected

10

mm

Hence area of the conductor required, with allowance for

corrosion of 0%
Selection of Earthing Conductor

The required conductor area is 616 [Link] and the selected conductor area is 650 [Link]. Therefore, selected conductor is
adequate.

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Equivalent conductor diameter

d

5.05

DATE

W x T 4)

0.02876235

615.57

mm

d =

28.00

mm

25

mm

NA

If M.S. Rod is to be selected then,

Required diameter of circular conductor (M.S. Rod) can be
calculated as follows.
A

2
= d 4

Therefore, Selected size of Main Earthing Conductor is

Not Applicable, as Earthing Conductor is Flat Conductor.
5.06

M.S. Rod Diameter (d)

6.0 CALCULATION OF TOLERABLE TOUCH (et) & STEP (es) POTENTIAL

6.01 Surface layer derating factor (Cs).

Cs

(As per IEEE 80, Eq. 27, Pg. No. 23)

r
0.09 x
1
rs

1-
2 x hs 0.09

0.791385

Weight of the Person

50

Body weight Factor for 50 Kg

0.116

Body weight Factor for 70 Kg

0.157

Substituting values in equation 6.01 , we get

Cs

Kg

6.02 Tolerable Touch Potential Et

Et

Equation 6.01

(As per IEEE-80, Pg. No. 27)

(As per IEEE 80, Eq. 32, Pg. No. 27)

1000 1.5 x Cs x rs) Bwf

Equation 6.02

ts

Substituting values in equation 6.02 , we get

Et

(1000 + 1.5 x 0.791 x 3000)0.116

( 0.5)

748.264

6.03 Tolerable Step Potential Es

Es

(As per IEEE 80, Eq. 29, Pg. No.27)

1000 6 x Cs x rs ) Bwf

ts

Substituting values in equation 6.03 , we get

Es

(1000 + 6 x 0.791 x 3000)0.116

( 0.5)

2500.911

Equation 6.03

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7.0 CALCULATION OF LENGTH OF GROUND CONDUCTOR

7.01 Conductor spacing assumed (D)

2.4

7.02 No. of Conductors parallel to 50.2 meters

42

Nos

7.03 No. of Conductors parallel to 96.5 meters

22

Nos

7.04 Length of buried Conductors in horizontal grid L c

42 x 50.2+22 x 96.5

4927

7.05 Length of each ground rod Lr

Number of ground rods

49

Nos

Total length of ground rods LR

49 x 3

147

2 (96.5 + 50.2)

293

7.06 The peripheral length of grid Lp

mtrs

mtrs

mtrs

8.0 CALCULATION OF MESH / TOUCH VOLTAGE

8.01 Spacing factor for Mesh voltage Km
Km =

(IEEE 80, Formula no. 81, [Link]. 93)

2
1 D2 D 2h)
h Kii
8

-
n
n

2 16hd
8Dd
4d Kh 2n - 1)

Equation 8.01

Where
Kii

Kh

h
1
Where, ho is 1(Grid reference depth)
ho

1.265
(IEEE 80, Formula no. 84, [Link]. 93)

8.02

= na X nb X nc X nd

na

nb

nc

for rectangular grids

nd

for rectangular grids

2 x Lc
Lp
Lp

4 x

2 x 4927
293

293
4 x (96.5x50.2 )

8.03 Substituting values in equation 8.2, we get

0.5

33.59

1.02

Equation 8.02

33.59 x 1.02 x 1 x 1

34.26
8.04 Substituting values in equation 8.1, we get

Km

0.171

0.644+0.148 x 34.26

5.71

8.05 Correction factor for grid geometry (Ki)

Ki

0.644 0.148n

(IEEE 80, Formula no. 89, [Link]. 94)

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8.06 Split factor

Ig

Sf If

0.734

25000 x 0.7

18350

4927 + 147

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8.07 Effective buried conductor length ( LM) for Mesh voltage

LM

LC LR

8.08 Mesh Voltage (Em)

Em

(IEEE 80, Formula no. 80, [Link]. 91)

r G m i
LM

Substituting values in equation 8.8,we get

Em

288 x 18350 x 0.171 x 5.71

5074
Em =
8.09

1018.44

Equation 8.08

The calculated mesh / touch voltage = 1018.44 volts is Greater than the tolerable touch voltage of 748.26 Volts. Hence
Unsafe.

9.0 CALCULATION OF STEP VOLTAGE

9.01 Spacing factor for Step Voltage (Ks).
Ks

(IEEE 80, Formula no. 94, [Link]. 94)

1 - 0.5
2 h D h D
1 1

n-2

Substituting values in equation 9.01,we get

Ks

0.504

9.02 Effective buried conductor length(Ls) for step voltage

LS

(IEEE 80, Formula no. 93, [Link]. 94)

0.75 LC 0.85 LR

Substituting values in equation 9.2,we get

.
Ls

=
=

Equation 9.2

0.75 x 4927+0.85 x 147

3821

9.03 Step Voltage (Es)

Es

Equation 9.1

(IEEE 80, Formula no. 92, [Link]. 94)

rI G K S K i

Equation 9.3

LS

Substituting values in equation 9.2,we get

Es

=
Es =

288 x 18350 x 0.50 x 5.71

V
3821
3983.90

9.04 The calculated step voltage = 3983.90 volts is Greater than the tolerable Step voltage of 2500.91 Volts. Hence Unsafe

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10.0 CALCULATION OF GRID RESISTANCE

10.1 The Grid resistance RG is given by:

RG

L
T

(IEEE 80, Formula no. 52, Pg. No. 65)

1
1
.
1
20 A
1 h 20 A

Equation 10.1

Where
L

= Length of buried conductors

4927 + 147

5074

mtrs
mtrs

= Depth of Conductor buried in meters

0.6

= Area of Grid

96.5 x 50.2

4844

288.00

W-m

1.873

= Soil Resistivity

Substituting values in equation 10.1,we get

10.2

RG

m2

According to IEEE 80-2000 clause no. 14.1 (Usual requirements of ground resistance). For most large substations, the
ground resistance is usually less than 1W or less.

11.0 CONCLUSION
The calculated buried grid resistance is =1.873 Ohms., which is greater than 1.0 Ohms as specified in IEEE 80. Hence the
spacing of buried conductors at 2.4 meters is Unsafe.

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12.0 SUMMARY
Soil Resistivity
Voltage level of the substation
RMS value of the AC Ground fault current, which can flow through the
conductor

288.00 W-m
66 kV
18350 Amps

Length of the switchyard

96.5 mtrs.

Breadth of the switchyard

50.2 mtrs.

Length of the Earthmat grid considered for calculations

96.5 mtrs.

Breadth of the Earthmat grid considered for calculations

50.2 mtrs.

Type of Earthing conductor

M.S. Flat

Buried conductor size

65 x 10 mm

Spacing of conductors parallel to Length of Substation

2.4 mtrs.

Spacing of conductors parallel to Breadth of substation

2.4 mtrs.

Grid conductors parallel to Length of Substation

22 nos.

Grid conductors parallel to Breadth of Substation

42 nos.

Total Length of buried conductors considered in calculations

4927 mtrs.

Earth Electrodes (Treated)

10 nos.

Earth Electrodes (untreated)

39 nos.

Earth Electrodes (considered in calculations)

49 nos.

Calculated maximum touch potential

1018 Volts

Calculated maximum step potential

3984 Volts

Tolerable touch potential

Tolerable step potential
Combined Resistance of Grid Electrode with earth electrode as per IEEE 80

748 Volts
2501 Volts
2W

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