IACSIT International Journal of Engineering and Technology, Vol. 4, No.

3, June 2012

Earthing System Design for Small Hydropower (SHP)

Station – A Review
Arjunsingh A. Mehta, S. N. Singh, and M. K. Singhal

noncurrent-carrying conductive materials capable of

Abstract—Grounding is critically important to achieve becoming energized due to either insulation failure,
equipment and personnel protection in Small Hydropower inadvertent contact with an energized conductor, or
(SHP) station. Moreover, the performance of any electrical or building up of a static or induced voltage should be
electronic system is greatly affected by the state of earthing. The
paper includes the purpose of grounding, basic knowledge
grounded.
regarding the objective, review of various research works useful 2) The grounding arrangement should ensure a deliberate
for designing a safe grounding system and recent trends which ground fault current return path, so that the (over current
can be employed in designing a sound as well as an economic or ground fault) protection system will sense the fault
earthing system. The aim of the paper is to carry out the review and either trip the faulty circuit or provide an alarm to the
of the techniques and developments in Earthing System and station operator.
suggest the loop holes if any.
3) The grounding should limit the step and touch voltage to
Index Terms—Earthing mat, step potential, touch potential, acceptable limits under all climatic conditions and also
ufer grounding during faults.
4) The grounding conductors and connections should
withstand the ground fault current for the duration of the
I. INTRODUCTION fault, without being damaged by thermal,
thermomechanical or electromechanical stresses.
A. General 5) The grounding conductors should be continuous, i.e no
With the development of modern power system to the switching device should be inserted in the grounding
direction of extra-high voltage, large capacity, far distance conductors (except where the operation of the switching
transmission and applications of advanced technologies, the device will also automatically disconnect all power
demands on the safety, stability and economic operation of sources from the equipment grounded by that
power system becomes higher. A good grounding system is conductor).
the fundamental insurance to keep the safe operation of 6) The grounding conductors should be mechanically
power system. Before now the design and the subsequent reliable or protected in order to withstand any possible
implementation of substation earthing was a trial and error mechanical stress imposed on them.
procedure. The recent years has shown the development of 7) The grounding system should be designed to minimize
computer-based tools for the design and performance corrosion to adjacent structures, equipment and
analysis of substation earthing grid systems. enclosures.To minimize the effect of lightning strikes on
personnel, equipment and structures
B. Purpose [1]
The function of a grounding electrode system and a ground
terminal is to provide a system of conductors which ensures II. BASICS OF EARTHING
electrical contact with the earth. The grounding system
serves the following functions. A. General
1) Personnel safety The electrical properties of earthing depend essentially on
2) Equipment and building protection two parameters.
3) Electrical noise reduction 1) Configuration of Earthing electrodes
4) To establish a reference 2) Soil resistivity
C. Grounding Principles [1] B. Electrical Electrode
The grounding systems of generating stations should meet Earthing electrodes maintain ground potential on all the
the following principles. connected conductors. This is used to dissipate currents into
1) All metallic enclosures on equipment and exposed the ground conducted by these electrodes.
1) Components of Earthing Electrode [2]: Earthing
electrodes basically consist of 3 components as shown in
Manuscript received April 2, 2012; revised May 2, 2012. This work was
supported in part by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Fig. 1 namely:
Government of India in the form of stipend for carrying out research work. • Ground Conductor
The authors are with the Alternate Hydro Energy Centre at Indian • Connection/Bonding of ground conductor to earthing
Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand – 247667, India electrode
(e-mail: [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected]).
• Earthing electrode

275
 IACSIT International Journal of Engineering and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 3, June 2012

Fig. 1. Components of earthing electrode [2]. Fig. 4. Sphere of influence.

2) Location of Resistance [3]: The resistance of earthing d) Ground system design: Different ground systems have
electrode has 3 basic components different ground resistivity calculations. Various types
• The ground electrode and its connections of ground systems are shown in Fig. 5 to Fig. 8.
• The contact resistance of the earth to the electrode
• The resistance of the surrounding body of earth
The ground resistance due to first two reasons is negligible
with respect to the resistance of the surrounding body of
earth.
3) Parameters for Earthing Electrode resistance: The
parameters which affect the ground system resistance are Fig. 5. Single electrode [2]. Fig. 6. Multiple electrodes [2].
as follows:
a) Length/Depth of the ground electrode: One very
effective way of lowering ground resistance is to drive
ground electrodes deeper. The variation in soil resistivity
with length/depth of earthing electrode can be shown by
Fig. 2. [3].
Fig. 7. Mesh network [2]. Fig. 8. Earth plate [2].

4) Types of Earth Electrode [6]: The earth electrodes

generally used are as follow:
a) Rod Electrode: These electrodes can consist of rod, pipe
etc. and are driven or buried to depth usually from 3 m to
30 m.
b) Strip Electrode: These are generally used for
interconnection of electrodes and equipment. Cable with
exposed metal sheath or armour behaves similar to a
strip-type earth electrode.
Fig. 2. Graph of Soil resistivity vs. Depth of earthing electrode [4].
c) Ground Plate: These electrodes are in form of plates
b) Diameter of the ground electrode: Increasing the generally of copper or aluminium.
diameter of the ground electrode has very little effect in d) Chemical-type Electrode: It consists of a copper tube
lowering the resistance. For example, you could double filled with a salt. Holes in the tube allow moisture to
the diameter of a ground electrode and your resistance enter, dissolve the salts, and allow the salt solution to
would only decrease by 10 % [3]. leach into the ground. These electrodes are installed in
c) Number of ground electrodes: In this design, more than an augured hole and typically back-filled with soil
one electrode is driven into the ground and connected in treatment.
parallel to lower the resistance as shown in Fig. 3. For e) Foundation Earth Electrode: These electrodes are formed
additional electrodes to be effective, the spacing of from conductive structural parts embedded in concrete
additional rods needs to be at least equal to the depth of foundation providing a large area contact with the earth.
the driven rod and care needs to be taken because C. Soil Resistivity
without proper spacing of the ground electrodes, their
One of the most important parameter in designing the
spheres of influence will intersect and the resistance will
station grounding system is the resistivity of the soil in the
not be lowered. Fig. 4 shows the zone of influence or the
station area. The reason for measuring soil resistivity is to
sphere of influence.
find a location that has the lowest possible resistance.
1) Soil Resistivity Variables [7]: Soil resistivity is not
constant as there are number of factors affecting it.
Principle factors affecting soil resistivity are:
a) Type of soil: The soil composition can be of clay, gravel,
loam, rock, sand, shale, silt, stones, etc. In many
locations, soil can be quite homogenous, while other
locations may be mixtures of these soil types in varying
proportions, thereby having different ground resistance.
b) Seasonal Conditions: The effects of heat, moisture,
Fig. 3. Graph of grounding resistance vs. No. of earthing rods [5]. drought and frost can introduce wide variations in

276
 IACSIT International Journal of Engineering and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 3, June 2012

“normal” soil resistivity. Soil resistivity usually is to produce an adequate grid design. The permissible touch
decreases with depth, and an increase of only a few and step potential are given by following expression
percent of moisture content in a normally dry soil will presented in Table I.
markedly decrease soil resistivity. The effect of seasonal
variables on soil resistivity is shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. TABLE I: TOUCH AND STEP POTENTIAL [9].
10.

Here,
ts = duration of shock current (in second)
ρs = soil resistivity of ground (in Ωm)
Fig. 9. Effect of moisture on soil resistivity [4]. Cs = reduction factor for derating the nominal value of
surface layer resistivity ρs with a thickness of hs laid on a
native soil of resistivity ρsoil and could be assigned [8] as
ρsoil
0.09(1 − )
ρs
Cs = 1 −
2hs + 0.09 (1)
B. Sizing of Earthing Electrode
In sizing the earthing electrodes, three considerations must
Fig. 10. Effect of temperature on soil resistivity [4]. be borne in mind [1]:
• All grounding conductors should be suitable for the
c) Other factors: Other soil properties conducive to low expected mechanical stresses.
resistivity are chemical composition, soil ionization, • The impedance of the grounding system should be
homogeneous grain size and even grain distribution - all low enough for the current to reach the value for
of which have much to do with retention of soil moisture, actuating the protective schemes.
as well as providing good conditions for a closely • Current carrying capacity of the conductors should be
packed soil in good contact with the earth rod. Variation sufficient to carry the maximum current for a fault to
of soil resistivity with salt content is as shown in Fig. 11. ground for a minimum period of 5 sec without
damage to the conductor from overheating [10].
C. Designing
The earth electrode resistance should be 1Ω or less [10].
The formulae for calculating earthing system resistance for
various types of earthing system can be presented as in a
Table II.
TABLE II: RESISTANCE OF VARIOUS EARTHING SYSTEM [10], [11].
Fig. 11. Effect of added salts on soil resistivity.
Type of
Sr. Earthing System
2) Soil Resistivity Measurement Technique [8]: The Earthing Terms involved
No Resistance
System
techniques for measuring soil resistivity are essentially Single ρ = Soil Resistivity (Ωm)
100ρ ⎛ 4l ⎞
the same whatever the purpose of the measurement. 1 Earth R= ln ⎜ ⎟ l = Length of the strip (cm)
Electrode 2πl ⎝ d ⎠ d = Diameter of rod (cm)
Complexity caused by non uniform soils is common, and
in only a few cases are the soil resistivities constant with ρ R1 = Resistance of one rod in
a= isolation (Ω)
increasing depth. Some of the techniques for measuring Multiple
2πR1S ρ = Soil Resistivity(Ωm)
soil resistivity are 2 Earth n = No. of rods
a) Wenner Array Method (4-pole equally spaced method) Electrode ⎛ 1 + λa ⎞ S = Distance between rods
R = R1 ⎜ ⎟
b) Schlimberger Arrangement (4-pole unequally spaced ⎝ n ⎠ (m)
λ= Factor as per Table III
method)
100ρ ⎛ 2l 2 ⎞ ρ = Soil Resistivity(Ωm)
c) Fall of Potential (3-point method) Strip R= ln⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ l = Length of the strip (cm)
3 Conductor 2π ⎝ wt ⎠ w = Depth of burial of
Earthing electrode (cm)
III. DESIGNING AN EARTHING SYSTEM t = Width (cm)
ρ = Soil Resistivity(Ωm)
A. Criteria for Safety Earthing ρ π
4
Plate R= A = Area of both sides of
The maximum allowable touch and step voltages are the 4 A plates ( in m2)
ρ = Soil Resistivity(Ωm)
criteria that should be met to insure a safe design. If the touch ⎡ ⎛
⎜
⎞⎤
⎟⎥ A = Area of earth grid(m2)
⎢1
and step voltages of the grid design are below the maximum Earthing ⎢
R=ρ +
1 ⎜
1+
1 ⎟⎥
5 h = Depth of grid (m)
Mat ⎢L 20 A ⎜ 20 ⎟⎥
values, then the design is considered adequate [8]. Lower the ⎢
⎣
⎜ 1+ h
⎝
⎟
A ⎠⎥⎦
l = Total length of the
conductor (m)
maximum allowable touch and step voltages more difficult it

277
 IACSIT International Journal of Engineering and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 3, June 2012

TABLE III: FACTOR FOR PARALLEL ELECTRODES [11]. It therefore acts as a ground element. Hence the concrete
Number of Electrodes Factor λ foundations may carry substantial amount of leakage and
2 1.00
fault current. Therefore, steel embedded in the concrete
3 1.66
foundations forms a ground element which gets connected in
4 2.15
5 2.54
parallel with the installed grounding system [14]. Currently
6 2.87
the part of the grid which lies embedded in concrete and also
7 3.15 reinforcement connected to the grounding system which do
8 3.39 lower the grid resistance are not taken into account while
9 3.61 designing the grounding grid. But, once the ground resistance
10 3.81 of a foundation is determined, the rebars in the foundation
can then be represented by a simple equivalent conductor for
The basic flow chart for designing an earthing system can further analysis of the grounding system formed by the
be given as shown in Fig. 12. foundations

REFERENCES
[1] IEEE Guide for Generating Station Grounding. IEEE Std. 665 – 1995.
[2] Electrical Grounding Techniques, Ground Resistance Principles,
testing methods and applications, LEM, 2010.
[3] Principles, testing methods and applications, Fluke Corporation, 2010.
[4] IEEE Guide for Measuring Earth Resistivity, Ground Impedance and
Earth Surface Potentials of a Ground System. IEEE Std 81 - 1983.
[5] Rong, Z., Jinliang, H., Zanji, W., Yanqing, G., Weimin, S., and S. Qi,
“Analysis on Influence of Long Vertical Grounding Electrodes on
Grounding System for Substation,” International Conference on
Power System Technology, Vol 3, pp. 1475-1480, 2000.
[6] Earthing and EMC, Earthing Systems - Fundamentals of Calculation
and Design, Power Quality Application Guide, Copper Development
Association, 2003.
[7] Earthing, rfi-ind.com.au, RFI Industry Pty. Ltd., 2010.
[8] IEEE Guide for Safety in AC Substation Grounding. IEEE Std 80 –
2000.
[9] G. Sverak, K. Dick, H. Dodds, and H. Heppe, “Safe Substation
Grounding - PART I,” IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and
Systems, Vol. PAS-100, Issue No. 9, pp. 4281 – 4290, 1981.
[10] Code of practice for Earthing, IS: 3043 – 1987.
[11] Code of practice for Earthing, BS: 7430:1998.
[12] U. Ubeku and F. Odiase, “Substation Earthing Grid Safety Analysis,”
2009, International Journal of Electrical and Power Engineering, vol
3, Issue 5, pp. 262-267.
[13] H. G. Ufer, “Investigation and Testing of Footing Type Grounding
Electrodes for Electrical Installations,” IEEE Transactions on Power
Apparatus and Systems, vol 83, Issue 10, pp. 1042 – 1048, 1964.
[14] Thapar, B. and Gerez, V., Balakrishnan, A., “Foundations in Power
System acts as Grounding Element,” Power Symposium 1989, pp. 237
– 243, 1989.

Arjunsingh A. Mehta is Post Graduate from Alternate

Hydro Energy Centre at Indian Institute of Technology
Fig. 12. Flow chart for designing a grounding grid [12]. Roorkee, Roorkee, India. He was born in Ahmedabad,
India on September 5th, 1987. He did B. Tech in
Electrical Engineering from Nirma University,
IV. REVIEW OF DESIGN OF EARTHING SYSTEM Ahmedabad, India. His areas of interests are Hydro
Power Designing, Electrical Machines, Power System,
The findings of Ufer that concrete-encased metal objects renewable energy technologies, control system.
were effective in providing improved grounding under He is currently working as Senior Engineer in India. His current research
adverse soil conditions suggests that the reinforcing work includes DC system and GIS for Hydropower plants.
framework of footings for the columns of structural steel S. N. Singh is Senior Scientific Officer at the Alternate
buildings would provide effective grounding function. In Hydro Energy Centre at Indian Institute of Technology
addition, the much larger number of column footings Roorkee. His areas of interests are Electrical Machines,
Electro-mechanical works and Transmission and
required for structural reasons does, when used, provide Distribution of Small Hydro Plants.
much more effective grounding under all soil conditions than
previously used systems. The steel framework of such
buildings, if electrically connected at each column base to an
M. K. Singhal is Senior Scientific Officer at the
inherent grounding electrode, then can function as a very Alternate Hydro Energy Centre at Indian Institute of
efficient grounding network for system, lightning, and static Technology Roorkee. His areas of interests are
grounding [13]. Planning, Design and Analysis of Civil Works of
Small Hydro Plants and development of related
Also, steel in the foundations is not insulated from the softwares.
metallic superstructures and the installed grounding systems.

278