Proc.

of the 4rth
m
International
Conference on

using
Power Generation
Systems and
Renewable Energy

Backfil
Technologies
(PGSRET)
10-12 September

l
2018, Islamabad,
Pakistan

Portab Materi
le als
Groun Proc. of the 4rth
International
Conference on
ding Power Generation
Systems and
Renewable Energy
Syste Technologies
(PGSRET)
10-12 September
l
2018, Islamabad,
Pakistan

Portab Materi
le als
Proc. of the 4rth
Groun International
Conference on

ding
Power Generation
Systems and
Renewable Energy

Syste
Technologies
(PGSRET)
10-12 September

m
2018, Islamabad,
Pakistan

using Portab
Backfil le
Groun
Abstract -
Electrical
grounding is

ding essential part of

power
system.
Syste Backfilling
materials utilized

m
in grounding
system work
effectively in

using lowering the

grounding
resistance.
Backfil During lightning
strikes or short

l circuit surge
arises grounding
system should be
Materi capable of
handling high

als
current for short
or prolong period
of
time. This paper lime under
investigates the alternating,
behaviour of direct and
bentonite and impulse voltages.
cement on The electrical
refined sand and groundin
Proc. of the 4rth International Conference on Power Generation Systems and Renewable
Energy Technologies (PGSRET) 10-12 September 2018, Islamabad, Pakistan

Portable Grounding System using Backfill Materials

R. Ahmad, F. Khan, I. Ullah, N. Ahmad, S. Khan, B. Khan
Department of Electrical Engineering
COMSATS University Islamabad
Abbottabad Campus
Rizwan.ciit016@[Link], faisalkhan@[Link]
Department of Electrical Engineering
CECOS University
Peshawar, Pakistan
Irshadullah95@[Link]

Abstract - Electrical grounding is essential part of path for huge amount of current to ground in very short
power system. Backfilling materials utilized in interval of time. Earth is a huge reservoir of electrical
grounding system work effectively in lowering the charge and neutralizes current between ground and
grounding resistance. During lightning strikes or short charged electrode by balancing the charge. Ground
circuit surge arises grounding system should be acts zero potential regions as a reference and used to
capable of handling high current for short or prolong stabilize the voltage sparks ensuring safe operation of
period of time. This paper investigates the behaviour electrical system, human being and sensitive
of bentonite and cement on refined sand and lime equipment [1]. An effective grounding system must be
under alternating, direct and impulse voltages. The able to provide low impedance path, according
electrical grounding system is made portable to
provide low and acceptable resistance path for terrains
where soil is not suitable for grounding system like 978-1-5386-7027-9/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
forests, deserts and normal surfaces. The portable
earthing system can be applying to railway systems, air to International Electro Technical Commission (IEC)-
aviation systems and military sectors particularly for 479-1 criteria resistance allowed for grounding system
electronic equipment zero referencing. is10ohm. Grounding is designed according to nature
of system it is used for, transients produced by
Index Terms – Electrical grounding, Backfill lightning strikes, short circuit electrical surge
material, Electrical surges, Portable grounding system. occurrence in power system. The main difference
between these systems is rate of energy transferring
I. INTRODUCTION
and frequency, the frequency of power system is 50Hz
Electricity provided countless benefit and ease for whereas lightning strike has frequency up to 10 kHz
human life but still it remains one of the deadly [2]. In lightning protection system high amplitude
element in our daily lives. Grounding is an essential current is brought to earthing system through a
part of electrical power system. Electrical system could conductor. The earthing system then in short duration
be subjected to failure for different reasons one of the of time ground the huge amount of charge. In power
major reason is improper grounding. Whenever fault system grounding system is used for the safety of
arises or lightning strikes, grounding system provide a the human beings, electrical equipment, noise
reduction and a point of reference for whole system. The grounding pit hence becomes the garbage
electrical wiring system [3]. Earthing materials is where possibility of maintenance is very low.
the soul of grounding system, materials should be Portable grounding system eliminates the problem
selected to achieve low resistance and avoid surface of maintenance. One other major problem of
arching and back flashover. A existing earthing grounding system is to retain its moisture in hot
material causes the nearby soil to ionize hence creating conditions which is overcome by using bentonite and
a potential rise in down conductor and a possibility bauxite which have high absorption capacity of
of back flashover phenomena which causes water and swallowing [12]. In conventional
catastrophic actions to human lives, structures and grounding system grounding rod is dig into soil
equipment. Earth resistance plays a vital role in while in portable system grounding rod is dig in soil
performance of the grounding system as per the in a container [13]. In this research lime and sand
standards on lightning protection [3, 4]. Earthing will be used as grounding material and bentonite and
resistance must have low frequency and also cement will be used as back filler. These materials are
dependent on soil resistivity and geometry of selected because earlier material used was lake in
grounding electrodes. The soil grain size and arc efficiency in term of losses, safety, do not last for long
impedance have a direct correlation. Soil arc period of time and also do not decrease grounding
impedance depends on size of soil small soil resistance below certain limit [14]. The material
particles exhibit lower arc impedance than large soil suggested will decrease resistance and hence provide
particles [5]. In addition, the frequency of injected low impedance path for high current and also last
current also affects these electrical parameters. The for long period of time. Many materials have been
electrical conductivity and permittivity values of soil studied for grounding application [13, 15] yet the
decreases when higher frequency is applied [6]. The best one known as bentonite as void filler. Research
breakdown of soil around the conductor occurs when dedicated on bentonite as grounding backfilled is
electric field strength exceeds critical field (EC) value. discussed in literature A research is also conducted on
EC values can be of vide range as Oettle [7] proposed mixture of bentonite with some chemicals like
critical field value of 1000kV/m. Soil critical NaCO3, Na2SO4, MgCO and MgSO4 [16]. The
ionization gradient estimated by Mousa’s is equal to materials suggested will eliminates the problems of
300kV/m, proposed to be used for typical soil resistance, short life span, and efficiency but to
critical electric field [8] and takes value of 400kV/m validate it experimental analysis is conducted. In
lacking any explanation [9]. An IEEE working group this research lime and sand will be used as
also takes a value of 1000kV/m value mentioned in grounding material and bentonite and cement will be
Ref. [10]. When taking impulse behavior used as back filler.
consideration to improve grounding system the
II. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
decrease in grounding resistance results from soil
ionization has to be taken into account [11]. Thus, in Experiment is conducted into two main parts
studies of impulse behavior of grounding system the A. Selection of materials
critical electric field value of soil plays an important B. Experimental testing samples preparation
role. Typically, electrodes are deep driven to achieve A. Selection of materials
low grounding resistance. Backfilling can be used
In this experiment vast variety of materials are
with grounding material for improving efficiency, low
studiedsuitable for grounding purposes, out of which
grounding resistance, and long life of grounding
bauxite, rock sand, cement and gypsum are selected
materials. The backfilling materials must have some
properties in order to achieve the maximum benefit for and bentonite as backfilled material. These materials
using it; it should be naturally inert, do not leach for are selected according to their resistivity. At first, the
long time, economical and have stable resistivity. selected materials and their compounds were analyzed
for grain structure, composed of solid grain particles
Soil have different resistivity depends on its and void spaces between them. The relative proportion
geographical location and its chemical and physical of sand, silt and clay together form the soil texture.
properties. This research work will focus on using the The United State Department of Agricultural (USDA)
portable grounding concept which can be remotely
classify the soil texture on the basis of these proportion
carried to any point for sensitive equipment and areas
silt 0.05–0.002mm, sand 2.0–0.05mm, and clay <
where soil is not compatible for grounding purposes.
0.002mm particles [17]. The sieve analysis was
Conventional grounding system used sand, salt, lime
and charcoal as an earthing material and dumps performed using sieving machine to achieve a uniform
them into the grounding pit through galvanized grain size and equal distribution on all the samples.
iron (GI) pipe to connect them with electrical The discharge characteristics of soil under lightning
impulse voltages are strongly influenced by the
physical composition of soil [18]. Bentonite is used 9150(ranges from 100 to 1000 kV) and variable
as void filler and a high water absorbent aluminum voltage supply (ranges from 0 to 230 V) as shown in
phyllosilicate clay composed mainly of Fig. 2. TERCO Test transformer HV 9105 single
montmorillonite ((Na,Ca) (Al,Mg) 6(Si4O10) 3(OH) stage output ranges from 220 V to 100 kV, in ‘2’
6nH2O, it can reduce soil resistivity efficiently. stages up to 200 kV, a resistor is connected to
[Link] properties of materials protect the transformer while performing the tests.
The soil admittance equation can be expressed as Voltmeter and measuring apparatus were first
follows: calibrated before experiment initialization via AC
=+ (1) voltage
Y is admittance, G is conductance,   is Fig. 1 Block diagram of sample testing Fig. 2 AC setup
susceptance. zof already known values to avoid error and improve
An Acrylic sheet container of rectangular shape accuracy of the experiment. The DC setup is shown in
with dimensions of 15cm×15cm and height of 10cm, the figure 3. DC test is usually done for pressure tests
without the top lid, a used for experimental purpose. on high voltage cables. It consists of half wave
Aluminum foil is installed at the bottom layer of the rectification using high voltage selenium rectifiers.
box to provide a conductive path for experiment. G The lightning flashover test is conducted to
evaluate the performance of proposed material under
and C could be expressed as:
lightning conditions. The impulse voltage is
=  (2)
generated using TERCO high voltage transformer
= (3)
which is capable of generating 1.2/50µs impulses
Where σ is the conductivity; ε and ε which are relevant to natural lightning strikes as shown
respectively are vacuum and relative dielectric in figure below. AC source is applied which is
constant of samples, The relative permittivity and converted to DC by high voltage rectifier which then
conductivity are strongly frequency dependent, σ, ε charged capacitor using high voltage resistor.
depends on frequency (f) [19]. Different composition Voltage and current sparks are then measured using
of samples has been used: refined sand of small resistor parallel with high voltage charging
granular size (smaller air gap), cement bentonite capacitor. Spark gap separation is maintained at 2.0cm
mixture, sand bentonite mixture and lime bentonite which charges the capacitor up to 60kV as shown in
mixture, all the samples are used at different Fig. 5. Fig. 3 Experimental setup Fig. 4 DC setup Fig.
proportion and their relative breakdown voltages are 5 Impulse setup Single stage impulse generator consist
measured. of (a) HV TERCO Test Transformer (b) Rectifier
C. Sample preparation (c) Charging Resistor (d) Smoothing Capacitor (e)
Prior to experimental testing, the samples are studied low resister (f) Measuring Resistor (g) Sphere Gap
(h) Wavetail Resistor (i) Wavefront Resistor (j)
for itsgrain size and structure. Bauxite and bentonite
Load Capacitor.
are in rocks form so first it is crushed to powder form
using crusher machine of 6 ball bearings. Then it is IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
sieved in sieve shaker machine to obtain a refined
Grounding compound is prepared using
powder form and remove the impurities. The next step
different proportion of bentonite, cement and sand.
followed is each sample is dried in an oven for
Low and medium voltage conditions (50 Hz)
two days at 105Co [20]. The samples are then Alternating current, direct current and impulse are
filled in acrylic sheet container of applied to proposed grounding compounds and their
15cm×15cm×10cm dimension. The bottom layer of result are analyzed in this paper.
the box was fitted with an aluminum foil of 3mm
thickness; an opening was made at bottom layer which A. AC and DC tests result
in turn is grounded through copper wire. This The breakdown characteristic of grounding
Aluminum foil has been acted as the ground electrode material isconsidered to be lowest, provide low
for the material as shown in Fig. 1. resistance path so as to efficiently ground the
III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP incoming transients from lightning or short circuit
Alternating current, Direct current and lightning surges. AC and DC is applied to specimen, pure
flashover tests are conducted on samples and their bentonite have lowest breakdown voltage as shown
breakdown strength is calculated. Alternating current by experiments figs. 6, 7 &8. While adding mixtures
(AC) voltage is generated by transformer as shown in of cement, sand and lime the breakdown voltage
Fig. 2, the experimental circuit consist of control desk increases relatively. Refined sand mixed with
(CD) HV 9103 with built-in peak voltmeter HV bentonite shows considerable low breakdown voltage
compared to lime and cement as shown in table I, II 25 Bentonite 75 4.89 4.66 31.05 Bentonite 100 2.54
&III. 3.24 28.96 Fig. 9 breakdown of Bentonite lime mixture
2.54 4.89 6.46 10.76 12.993.57 4.66 8.37 16.33
B. Impulse test
21.8628.96 34.9557.7287.59980204060801001200 20
The breakdown of air is treated as 40 60 80 100Breakdown Voltage ()kVProportionAC
reference for thebreakdown characteristics of DC Impulse2.54 6.55 12.25 17.01 19.233.57 8.3
bentonite, sand and cement. The impulse setup 14.7623.29 27.2828.97 32.1380-1010305070900 20 40
arranged in lab generates waveform which is 60 80 100Breakdown Voltage (kV)ProportionAC DC
approximately equal to natural lightning flashes Impulse
although literature have shown that practical lightning
Table. II bentonite lime mixture results Percentage
is not regular as generated in lab. Fig. 5 below shows
proportion AC test result (kV) DC test result (kV)
the standard waveform of impulse generator which can
Impulse test result (kV) Lime 100 19.27 27.28 80
be characterized approximately as a 1.2/50 µs wave
Lime 75 Bentonite 25 17.01 23.29 ---- Lime50
profile.
Bentonite 50 12.25 14.76 ---- Lime 25 Bentonite 75
Fig. 7 below shows the breakdown 6.55 8.39 32.13 Bentonite 100 2.54 3.57 28.96 Fig. 10
characteristics of air when subjected to 50 kV Breakdown of bentonite sand mixture Table. III
impulses. As time progress the rise and fall occurs Bentonite sand mixture result Percentage proportion
due to impedance mismatching, as impedance of AC test result (kV) DC test result (kV) Impulse test
ground is higher than impedance of ground. result (kV) Sand 100 10.21 11.58 33.1 Sand 75
Bentonite 25 4.11 6.65 32.46 Sand 50 Bentonite 50
The backfill material bentonite is mixed with 2.99 5.16 31.33 Sand 25 Bentonite 75 2.89 4.32 30.63
the grounding material with different proportions for Bentonite 100 2.54 3.58 28.96
all the tests and their results are analyzed, by
increasing the ratio of bentonite the breakdown IV. CONCLUSION
voltage is reduced. Cement bentonite mixture
This research work shows the breakdown
breakdown characteristics are shown in Table I, the
characteristic of backfill materials and sand at
breakdown voltage of pure cement is very high by
different proportions under high voltage alternating,
mixing bentonite with 25 percent proportion its
direct and impulse conditions. Bentonite exhibit
breakdown voltage decreases. Table II shows the
lowest breakdown voltage suggesting lowest resistance
result of lime bentonite mixture AC and DC tests
path and reducing ground potential rise. Bentonite
shows result in all proportion but in case of impulse
heat dissipation is greater than sand in the event of
(75 percent and 50 percent lime) the test equipment
alternating high voltage test. The massiveness of earth
fails, the primary variable voltage supply of TERCO
which limits the small scale grounding system has
generator reaches its limit of 230 V, so supply is cut
been addressed by using portable system. The work of
off. Hence it is proved experimentally that lime
this paper suggests that bentonite is better grounding
bentonite mixture should not be used with bentonite
material with respect to other specimen under dry
for grounding purpose, as it provide a very high
conditions. Future work should be done on using
impedance path for current. This limitation of
portable system for high current and high voltages
bentonite lime mixture was overcome by proposing a
and behaviour of these specimens under wet
specified proportion of sand bentonite mixture. Table
conditions.
III shows sand bentonite mixture result; this
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