Earthing Calculation

Purpose:-The functions of grounding systems or earth mat in

include: To ensure safety to personnel & Equipment in
substations against electrical shocks.
Determine the minimum size of the earthing conductors required
for the main earth grid Ensure that the earthing design is
appropriate to prevent dangerous step and touch potentials.
Methodology :- This calculation is based on IEEE Std 80
(2000), "Guide for safety in AC substation grounding". There are
four main parts to this calculation:
1. Earthing grid conductor sizing
2. Grid resistance Calculation
3. Touch potential calculations
4. Step potential calculations

Table
1 MS ROD -- MAIN MAT + AREA EARTHING + HEAVY EQUIPMENT
2 GI/GS FLATE -- MAIN MAT + AREA EARTHING + HEAVY AND MEDIUM EQU
3 COPPER FLATE-- MAIN MAT + AREA EARTHING + HEAVY AND MEDIUM EQU
4 COPPER ROD -- MAIN MAT + AREA EARTHING
5 AL WIRE -- MEDIUM EQUIPMENT + ELECTRONICS EQUIPMENT
6 GI WIRE -- HEAVY AND MEDIUM EQUIPMENT
7 COPPER WIRE -- MEDIUM EQUIPMENT + ELECTRONICS EQUIPMENT

material use for earthing

1 MS ROD -- 28mm, 32mm, 40mm, dia
2 GI/GS FLATE -- 25x3mm, 50x3mm, 50x5mm, 65x3mm, 65x5mm, 65x10mm, 65x12mm, 75
3 COPPER FLATE-- 12.5x3m, 25x3mm, 50x3mm, 50x5mm, 65x3mm, 65x5mm, 65x10mm, 65x12m
4 COPPER ROD -- 12.5mm, 17.2mm, 19mm, 28mm, 32mm, 40mm,
5 AL WIRE -- 400sqmm, 300sqmm, 270sqmm, 180sqmm, 95sqmm, 70sqmm, 50sqmm
6 GI WIRE -- 14mm, 17mm, 19mm
7 COPPER WIRE -- 400sqmm, 300sqmm, 270sqmm, 180sqmm, 95sqmm, 70sqmm, 50sqmm

EARTHING -- for equipment and human safety

Grounding -- equipment safety, grounding working as neutral but neutral is not working as grounding
Neutral -- is used to balanced the system, neutral is used to make 3 phase to single phase
 SIZE DEPENDS UPON S.C/FAULT CURRENT

1 EARTH ELECTROD AND CHEMICAL EARTH ELECTROD

TRANFORMER EARTHING FOR SUBSTATION

LIGHTINING ARRESTER
CABLE TRAY
ms or earth mat in
quipment in
ng conductors required
thing design is
d touch potentials.
grounding". There are

+ HEAVY EQUIPMENT
+ HEAVY AND MEDIUM EQUIPMENT
+ HEAVY AND MEDIUM EQUIPMENT + ELECTRONICS EQUIPMENT

RONICS EQUIPMENT

65x5mm, 65x10mm, 65x12mm, 75x10mm, 75x12mm,

5x3mm, 65x5mm, 65x10mm, 65x12mm, 75x10mm, 75x12mm,

mm, 95sqmm, 70sqmm, 50sqmm

mm, 95sqmm, 70sqmm, 50sqmm

neutral is not working as grounding

phase to single phase
TYPE A TYPE B TYPE C TYPE D TYPE E
CT LA TF LT PANEL ELEDTRONICS DEVICE
PT ISO GEN CABLE TRAY BUILDING
CB MOT
MOTOR WITH PIPE ELECTROD

ISO LATOR
DTRONICS DEVICE
Experience of Step & touch Potential :-
h Potential :-
 Table of Contents

CLAUSE NO. DESCRIPTION

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1 Purpose
The purpose of this calculation is

a) To establish ground grid configuration

b) To calculate subsoil ground grid resistance

c) To check step and touch voltages

2 Codes & Standards

a) IEEE Std 80 - 2000 - IEEE Guide for safety in AC Substation Grounding

b) IS - 3043 Code of practice for earthing

c) Test Report of Measurement of Soil Resistivity for Switchyard of PV Power Plant

ANNEXURE-A : SOIL RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENT REPORT

3 Nomenclature

1 Soil resistivity ρ Ω −m
2 Surface Gravel layer (crushed rock resistivity) ρs Ω −m
3 Symmetrical fault current in substation If A
4 Total area enclosed by ground grid A m2
5 Surface layer de-rating factor Cs
6 Diameter of grid conductor d m

7 Spacing between parallel conductors D m

8 Attainable Touch Voltage Em V

9 Attainable Step Voltage Es V

10 Tolerable step voltage for human with 50 kg body weight Estep50 V

11 Tolerable touch voltage for human with 50 kg body weight Etouch50 V

12 Tolerable step voltage for human with 70 kg body weight Estep70 V

13 Tolerable touch voltage for human with 70 kg body weight Etouch70 V

14 Depth of Burial of earth material h m

15 Surface Gravel layer thickness hs m

16 Maximum grid current that flows between ground grid and surrounding IG A

17 Symmetrical grid current Ig A

18 Reflection factor between different resistivities K

19 Corrective weighting factor that emphasizes the effects of grid depth Kh

20 Correction factor for grid geometry Ki

21 Corrective weighting factor that adjusts for the effects of inner conductors Kii

22 Spacing factor for mesh voltage Km

23 Spacing factor for step voltage Ks

24 Total length of grid conductor Lc m

25 Effective length of Lc + LR for mesh voltage LM m

26 Periphery Length of the earthing equivalent area LP m

27 Total length of ground rods LR m

28 Length of ground rod at each location Lr m

29 Effective length of Lc + LR for step voltage LS m

30 Total effective length of grounding system conductor, including grid LT m

31 Maximum length of grid conductor in x direction L = Lx m

32 Maximum length of grid conductors in y direction W = Ly m

33 Geometric factor composed of factors na , nb , nc , and nd n

34 Number of rod in switchyard Nr

35 Resistance of grounding system Rg Ω

36 Duration of shock for determining allowable body current ts s

4 Input Parameters

1 Symmetrical fault current in substation for conductor sizing If = 25

2 Fault current division factor Sf = 0.6

3 Duration of shock for determining allowable body current ts = 0.5

4 Surface Gravel layer resistivity ρs = 6000

5 Surface Gravel layer thickness hs = 0.15

6 Soil resistivity ρ = 160

7 Depth of Burial of earth material h = 0.6

8 Number of Rods Nr = 24

9 Length of ground rod at each location Lr = 2

10 Arrangement of ground rod in grid Rod at the grid corners

11 Maximum length in X- Direction L = 25

12 Maximum length in Y- Direction W = 25

13 Number of Long conductor NL = 6

14 Number of Short conductor NW = 6

Diameter of conductor / Equivalent diameter in case of FLAT

15 d = 19.5441
Conductor

16 Spacing between parallel conductor D = 5

 kA

Ω−m

Ω−m

grid corners

m
 5 Conductor Sizing Calculation
Input Data : Properties of MS is as per item 10
of table 1 of IEEE Std 80-2000

(i) Type of Conductor Material = MS

(ii) System Voltage = 33 kV

(iii) Fault Current, If, for sizing of conductor = 25 kA

(iv) Fault Duration, tc = 1 Sec

(v) Maximum Allowable Tempeature, Tm = 620 0

C

(vi) AmbientTempeature, Ta = 40 0
C

(vii) Thermal Co-eff. of Resistivity at ref. tremp, αr = 0.0016

(viii) Resistivity of ground conductor at ref. tremp, ρr = 15.9 µΩ−cm

(ix) Thermal Capacity Factor, TCAP = 3.28 J/(cm3.0C)

(x) Ko (= 1/αo) = 605

Conductor Size:
As per equation 37 of IEEE Std 80-2000, conductor size is given as

Substituting the input data, we get

Conductor size, A = 274.90 sqmm

Soil resistivity = 160.00 Ω−m

Considering Corrosion factor = 274.90 sqmm

Conductor size (as per calculation) = 274.90 sqmm

Conductor size (selected) = 300 sqmm MS Flat

= 19.5441 m MS Flat (50 x 6 mm)
MS
GI
50 x 6 mm) Soil Resistivity & Corrossion allowances
Range of Soil Resistivity Corrossion
Class of Soil
(ohm - m) allowances
Less than 25 Severely corrosive 30%
25 - 50 Moderately corrosive 15%
50 - 100 Mildly corrosive 15%
Above 100 Very Mildly corrosive No allowance
6 Ground Resistance Calculation
(i) For ground mat depths less then 0.25 Maters

Rg = Station ground resistance in ohm

ρ = Average earth resistivity in ohm-m
A = Area under earthing mat in square meter (m

L = Total length of buried conductors in meter (m)

(ii) For ground depths between 0.25 and 2.5 meters

Average earth resistivity in ρ = 160 ohm-m

Total length of buried conductors in meter (m),= 300 m

Area under earthing mat in square meter = 625 m2

h is Depth of ground grid conductors = 0.6 m

Ground Resistance thus calculated is (bet 0.25 = 3.26 ohm

 quare meter (m2)

uctors in meter (m)

2.8352072
3.3685406
7 Tolerable Touch & Step Voltage Calculation

E touch (Tolerable) =

E step (Tolerable) =

Where E touch (Tolerable) = Touch Voltage in Volts

E step (Tolerable0 = Step Voltage in Volts

Cs = Surface layer derating factor

Cs = 1 (when no surface material is used)

ρs = Resistivity of the surface material in ohm-m

ts = Duration of shock current in sec

Cs = 0.7753846

E touch (Tolerable) = 1308.8568 V

E step (Tolerable0 = 4743.281 V

`
8 Attainable Touch & Step Voltage Calculation
ρ = 160 ohm-m

Lc = 300 m

Lp = 100 m

Lr = 48 m

A = 625 sqm

h = 0.6 m

d = 19.54410048 m

D = 5m

(i)    Emesh Emesh is calculated by the following expression.

Emesh (calculated) =

Ki = is the correction factor to account for increase in current density in

the grid extremities and is given by the expression
= 0.644 + 0.148 * n
= 1.532

n = na * nb * nc * nd

= 6

na = 2 * Lc / LP as Lc is total length of conductor

= 6

nb = √ (Lp / (4 * √ (A))) as Lp is perimeter and A is area of the Grid.,

= 1

nc & nd = 1 for rectangular or square grid.

= is a factor based on the geometry of ground grid for n parallel

Km
conductors and is given by the expression
Km =

= 0.121784655

= is corrective weighting factor that emphasizes the effect of grid

Kh
depth and as given by expression

Kh = h= is depth of burial of the conductor

ho = is 1m (reference depth of grid)

= 1.264911064

= is corrective weighting factor that adjusts the effect of inner

Kii
conductors on corner mesh and is given below
(Assuming that the earthing mat will be
Kii = 1 provided with ground rods along the
perimeter)

d = Equivalent Diameters of earthing mat conductor in meters

= d = W/2 For earthing mat conductor consisting of

rectangular flat

W = width of flat

D = Spacing between parallel conductor in m

IG = Maximum Grid Current

= D f x S f x If
= 15000 A
Df = Decrement factor for the entire duration of fault tc
Decrement
Fault Duration (sec)
Factor (Df)
0.008 1.65
0.1 1.25
0.25 1.1
0.5 or more 1

Sf = Fault currnet division factor

= 0.6
 (In the absence of full details regarding exact system configuration
of which the substation form a part, at the design stage it will be
fairly accurate to adopt a value of 0.6 for Sf to determine the fault
current that flows through the grid to remote earth)
If = rms value of symmetrical ground fault current in Amperes
= 25000 A

Lc = length of grounding system conductor

Lr = total length of rods

Emesh (calculated) = 1260.64 V

(ii) Estep Estep is calculated by the following expression

Estep(calculated) =

Ki = 0.644 + 0.148 * n

Ks = Ks is spacing factor for step voltage and is given by the expression

Ks =

= 0.3819760388

h = is Depth of ground grid conductors in m

D = is spacing between parallel conductors in m

Estep(calculated) = 3953.97 V
pression
9 Safety Check

For the safe earthing system design, Attainable Step & Touch Voltages should be less than
the Tolerable Step & Touch values respectively.

Attainable Tolerable

Touch Voltage (V) 1260.636 1308.857

Step Voltage (V) 3953.968 4743.281

The maximum attainable touch voltage as well as step voltage is less than the Tolerable
limit. Hence the grid design is correct & safe.
 Table 1 - Material Constants
IEEE Std 80 - 2000

Material αr factor at Fusing TCAP thermal

Ko at 0 °C ρr 20 °C
S.No. Description conductivity 20 °C temperature capacity
(0 °C) (μΩ·cm)
(%) (1/°C) Tm (°C) [J/(cm3·°C)]

Copper, annealed
1 100.0 0.00393 234 1083 1.72 3.42
soft-drawn

Copper,
2 commercial hard- 97.0 0.00381 242 1084 1.78 3.42
drawn

Copper-clad steel
3 40.0 0.00378 245 1084 4.40 3.85
wire

Copper-clad steel
4 30.0 0.00378 245 1084 5.86 3.85
wire

Copper-clad steel
5 20.0 0.00378 245 1084 8.62 3.85
rod

Aluminum, EC
6 61.0 0.00403 228 657 2.86 2.56
grade

Aluminum, 5005
7 53.5 0.00353 263 652 3.22 2.60
alloy

Aluminum, 6201
8 52.5 0.00347 268 654 3.28 2.60
alloy
 Aluminum-clad
9 20.3 0.00360 258 657 8.48 3.58
steel wire

10 Steel, 1020 10.8 0.00160 605 1510 15.90 3.28

Stainless-clad
11 9.8 0.00160 605 1400 17.50 4.44
steel rod

Zinc-coated steel
12 8.6 0.00320 293 419 20.10 3.93
rod

Stainless steel,
13 2.4 0.00130 749 1400 72.00 4.03
304
 Table 2 - Material Constants

S. No. Material Conductivity (%)

1 Copper, annealed soft-drawn 100.0

2 Copper, commercial hard-drawn 97.0

3 Copper, commercial hard-drawn 97.0

4 Copper-clad steel wire 40.0

5 Copper-clad steel wire 30.0

6 Copper-clad steel rod 20.0

7 Aluminum EC Grade 61.0

8 Aluminum 5005 Alloy 53.5

9 Aluminum 6201 Alloy 52.5

10 Aluminum-clad steel wire 20.3

11 Steel 1020 10.8

12 Stainless clad steel rod 9.8

13 Zinc-coated steel rod 8.6

14 Stainless steel 304 2.4

terial Constants
IEEE Std 80 - 2000
Tm (0C) Kf

1083 7.00

1084 7.06

250 11.78

1084 10.45

1084 12.06

1084 14.64

657 12.12

652 12.41

654 12.47

657 17.20

1510 15.95

1400 14.72

419 28.96

1400 30.05