Substation

Grounding

Grounding System
 The substation is one of the important
components in the construction of an
electric power system, where its use is for :

01 High voltage and low voltage power settings

02 Regulation, supervision of operations, and security arrangements for electric power systems

03 Transformation of high voltage to high voltage or medium voltage

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❑ In high voltage system substations, the possibility of danger occurring is mainly caused by the
emergence of phase to ground short circuit faults which cause current to flow to the ground.

❑ This fault current will flow to equipment parts made of metal and also flow into the ground around
the substation.

❑ The fault current creates a voltage gradient between the equipment and the equipment, the
equipment and the ground, and also a voltage gradient on the ground surface itself.

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❑ Therefore, a substation requires an appropriate grounding system, where the purpose of the grounding
system is to limit the voltage that arises between equipment and equipment, equipment and the ground,
and even out the voltage gradient that arises at the ground surface due to fault currents that arise flowing
in the ground.

❑ In the substation grounding system, several factors must be taken into account, including :

1. The magnitude of the fault current that occurs

2. The area of land that can be used for grounding
3. Resistivity of the soil around the substation
4. The shape, size and type of conductor used as a grounding electrode

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Substation Grounding System

❑ Grounding of the substation is initially carried out by planting conductor rods which are installed
perpendicular to the ground surface.
❑ With the development of science and existing conditions in the field, the grounding system is carried out
by planting a grounding conductor horizontally on the ground surface, considering that the area where
the grounding conductor is planted is a rocky area so it cannot be planted deeper.

This grounding is called grid grounding

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Substation Grounding System

❑ It turns out that this type of grid grounding has advantages compared to vertical rod grounding, but
vertical grounding is still widely used in substations and is also the basic theory of the grounding
system.

❑ By knowing the contact resistance of each grounding system and paying attention to the type of
conductor and characteristics of the soil layer, the contact resistance to the ground can be reduced.

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Soil Characteristics

❑ The characteristics of the soil where the grounding conductor

will be installed is important, because the characteristics of
the soil greatly determine the amount of conductor resistance
of the grounding system that will be planned.

❑ The basic properties of soil resistivity depend on many

factors, including the type of soil in dry or wet conditions, for
example: rocky, gravel, sand, clay.

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Soil Resistivity

The balance factor between ground resistance and surrounding capacitance is the soil type
resistance which is represented by (ρ) in a limited depth area and depends on several
factors :

✓ Type of soil : clay, sand, rocky, etc

✓ Subsoil : layers with different or equal resistance types
✓ Soil moisture
✓ Temperature

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Soil Resistivity

❑ The resistivity of soil varies from 500 to 50.000 Ω per cm3, and sometimes this
value is expressed in Ω – cm.
❑ The value of soil resistivity at a limited depth is very dependent on weather
conditions.
❑ To obtain the average soil resistivity for planning purposes, investigations or
measurements are required over a certain period of time.
❑ Usually soil resistance also depends on the height of the soil surface above the
constant water level.

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Soil Resistivity

❑ To reduce variations in soil resistance due to the influence of seasons or weather, a

grounding system method can be used by embedding grounding electrodes until they
reach a depth where there is a constant groundwater level.
❑ In a grounding system where it is not possible to plant deeper to achieve a constant
groundwater level, very large variations in soil resistivity are obtained because
sometimes planting will cause humidity and temperature to vary, so the value of soil
resistivity must be taken for the worst conditions, when dry and wet/cold.

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Soil Resistivity

❑ After obtaining the price of soil resistivity for a soil composition with the highest
price, the price is considered constant.

❑ Based on the price of soil resistance, a grounding system plan is made.

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Types of Substation Grounding Systems

Grounding by planting plate conductors

parallel to the ground surface

Grounding by planting a conductor

rod perpendicular to the ground
Grounding by planting conductor
surface (Rod)
rods parallel to the ground surface
(Grid)
Grid and Rod combination grounding

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Grounding System With Plate Electrodes

This type of grounding is a grounding system that is carried out by installing or planting electrode
plates or conductors, usually copper, which are also planted parallel to the ground surface with the aim
that the fault current received by the conductor can be distributed evenly over the surface of the
conductor.

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Rod Grounding System

❑ Initially, the grounding system was carried out by installing grounding electrode rods which
were planted perpendicularly in the ground.

❑ If the grounding resistance is still too high, it is necessary to add a grounding electrode which
functions to reduce the resistance.

❑ The method used is to plant electrode rods perpendicularly into the ground, this is commonly
called rod grounding.

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Rod Grounding System

One conductor rod is planted perpendicular to the ground surface.

In grounding matters, the ground electrode is a conducting material that carries an electric charge.

The charge spreads around the ground electrode.

n this way, the potential at every place on the electrode surface will be the same.

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Rod Grounding System

Two conductor rods are planted perpendicular to the ground surface.

Configuration of two cylindrical electrode rods with length l which are planted perpendicularly into the ground
with a distance s between the two electrode rods.

Because the soil resistivity is relatively high, to reduce it by planting more than one grounding electrode rod.

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Rod Grounding System

Several conductor rods are planted perpendicular to the ground surface.

If a larger number of electrode rods are planted, the grounding resistance will be smaller and the voltage
distribution will be more equal.

Planting the electrode rods which are planted perpendicularly into the ground can be shaped like a rectangle
or square, with the distance between the ground electrode rods being the same.

Meanwhile, the connecting conductor between the electrode rods is placed on the ground surface.

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Grid (Mesh) Grounding System

❑ In this grounding system, grounding electrode rods are planted parallel to the surface of the ground and the
electrodes are connected to one another to form a network resembling a mesh.

❑ The more conductors installed in this system, the more evenly distributed the voltage that arises on the ground
surface will be when a fault occurs.

❑ The existence of a grounding system that has a small grounding resistance does not necessarily guarantee the
safety of people in the substation or those around it.

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Grid (Mesh) Grounding System

❑ To obtain a small grounding resistance, conductor rods are generally used which are planted parallel to the
ground surface.

❑ In addition, this can even out the stress that arises on the ground surface when a disturbance occurs.

These stems are usually planted in the form of a network

which is commonly called a grid.
❑ The grid shapes commonly used are square or rectangular, each of which can consist of one mesh, two
meshes, etc.

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Grid (Mesh) Grounding System

Square 4 mesh Rectangle 9 mesh

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Combination Grounding System

❑ Completion of the grounding system at a substation can usually also use a combination grounding system of a
grid and vertical rod grounding system, because by using a combination of grounding a lower grounding
resistance is obtained.

❑ However, the combined grounding system with vertical rods is economically unfavorable, especially for large
grounded areas.

❑ So in a substation, the use of combined grounding with the addition of vertical rod electrodes is only done if
deemed necessary.

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Combination Grounding System

❑ The addition of vertical rod electrodes is carried out if a substation has a grid grounding system that has been
installed, under certain conditions there is an unplanned increase in power at the substation, resulting in the
short circuit current to ground becoming greater.

❑ The increase in short circuit current to the ground will increase the potential difference on the ground surface
around the location of the substation, so that to prevent damage to equipment and human safety at the
substation and its surroundings, it is necessary to add a vertical grounding rod to the substation. The aim is to
obtain lower grounding resistance.

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Combination Grounding System

Rod Grid

Grid and Rod Combination Grounding System

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Combination Grounding System

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Combination Grounding System

Determination of the Number of Conductors

To determine the number of grid conductors (N) of this grounding system, the formula can be used:

(𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎) (𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎)

𝑁1 = +1 𝑁2 = +1
𝐷 𝐷

So that : Where :
N1 : number of conductors on the long side
𝑁= 𝑁1 𝑥 𝑁2 N2 : number of conductors on the width side
D : distance between parallel conductors (meters)

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Fibrillation Current

❑ Humans have limited abilities regarding the amount of electric current flowing in the body.
❑ If an electric current passes through the human body, the electric current can affect the heart, which is
called "Ventricular Fibrillation", causing the heart to stop working and blood circulation not running, so the
person can lose their life.

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Fibrillation Current

To determine the magnitude of the fibrillation current, an approximate formula can be used :

𝑘
𝐼𝑘2 . 𝑡 = 𝐾 or 𝐼𝑘 =
𝑡
Where : 𝑘= 𝐾

K : 0,0135 for humans weighing 50 kg

K : 0,0246 for humans weighing 70 kg

So, k50 : 0,116 Ampere

k70 : 0,157 Ampere

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Fibrillation Current

So that :
❑ The fibrillation current for a human weighing 50 kg is : 0,116
𝐼𝑘 =
𝑡
❑ The fibrillation current for a human weighing 70 kg is : 0,157
𝐼𝑘 = 𝑡
Where :
Ik : the amount of current passing through the human body (Ampere)
t : the time the current passes through the human body or the duration of the ground fault (seconds)

❑ The duration of the interruption (t) depends on several factors, including system stability, the type of relay and power
breaker used.
❑ Time that is considered realistic ranges from 0.5 seconds to 1.0 seconds.

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Permissible Touch Voltage

Touch voltage is the voltage that exists between an object that is touched
by a human and is connected to the grounding grid beneath it.

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The magnitude of the fault current is limited by the resistance of the person and the
ground contact resistance of the person's feet :

Figure of touch voltage and its

replacement circuit

Human

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Permissible Touch Voltage

Where :
Es : touch voltage (volts)
Rk : person's body resistance (1000 Ω)
Rf : ground contact resistance of one foot on a coral-covered ground surface
Ik : the amount of current through the human body (Ampere)

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Permissible Touch Voltage

❑ Because the resistance Rf has a value close to 3 ρs, where ρs is the resistivity of the soil around the
surface. Thus the allowable touch voltage becomes :
Es = (Rk + 3ρs/2) Ik
= Ik (Rk + 1,5ρs)

Where :
Es : touch voltage (volts)
Rk : person's body resistance (1000 Ω)
ρs : resistivity of the surface of the soil covered with coral stone (3000 Ω-meter)
Ik : the amount of current through the human body (Ampere)

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Actual Touch Voltage

❑ In reality, the soil resistance at a substation location is not evenly distributed, as is the current through or in the grid
conductor..
❑ Therefore, to cover the influence of the number of parallel grounding conductors (N), the distance or spacing of
parallel conductors (D), the diameter of the grounding conductor (d), and the depth of embedding of the grounding
conductor (h), the actual touch voltage can be calculated using the equation:
𝐼
𝐸𝑚 = 𝐾𝑚 𝐾𝑖 𝜌 𝐿

Where :
K = 0,65 + 0,172 N
1 𝐷2 1 3 5 7 9 2 𝑁−2 +1
𝐾𝑚 = 𝑙𝑛 16 ℎ𝑑 + 𝜋 𝑙𝑛 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 𝑥 … . . 𝑥
2𝜋 4 6 8 10 2 𝑁−2 +2

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Actual Touch Voltage
In this case :
Em : actual touch voltage (volts)
Ki : correction factor for unevenness of current density calculated by empirical formula
Km : Mesh constant
D : distance or spacing between parallel conductors (meters)
h : depth of embedding of grounding conductor (meters)
d : diameter of the grounding conductor (m)
N : the number of parallel conductors in the grid
ρ : average resistivity of soil (Ω-meter)
I : large fault current (Ampere)
L : total length of grounding conductor (meter)

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Allowable Step Voltage

Step voltage is the voltage that arises between

the legs of a person who is standing on the
ground at the location of the substation which is
being fed by a fault current to the ground.

Human

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Allowable Step Voltage

By using a replacement circuit, the step voltage can be determined as follows :

EL = Ik . (Rk + 2 Rf)
EL = Ik . (Rk + 6 ρs)
Where :
EL : step voltage (volt)
Rk : human body resistance (1000 Ω)
Rf : the ground contact resistance of one foot on coral-covered ground is approximately 3 ρs
ρs : resistivity of the soil around the surface of the soil covered with coral stone (3000 Ω)

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Actual Step Voltage

The actual step voltage at a substation can be calculated using the following equation :
𝐼
𝐸𝑙𝑚 = 𝐾𝑠 . 𝐾𝑖 . 𝜌 . 𝐿

Where
1 1 1 1 1 1
𝐾𝑠 = 𝜋 + 𝐷+ℎ + 2𝐷 + 3𝐷 + ⋯ +
2ℎ 𝑁−1 𝐷

In this case,
Elm : actual step voltage (volt)
Ks : step constant
Ki : correction factor for unevenness of current density calculated by empirical formula
ρ : average resistivity of soil (Ω-meter)
I : ground fault current (Ampere)
L : total length of grounding conductor (meter)

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Ground Resistance

The amount of grounding resistance (Rg) in a substation that uses a grid type grounding system can be calculated
using the Sverak equation, which is as follows :

1 1 1
𝑅𝑔 = 𝜌 + + 1+
𝐿 20 𝐴
1+ℎ 20ൗ𝐴

Where in this case :

Rg : grounding resistance(Ω)
ρ : average resistivity of soil (Ω-meter)
L : total length of grounding conductor (meter)
A : area of grounding (m2)
h : depth of embedding of the grounding conductor (meter)

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Thank you