Comparison of AIS and GIS
Comparison of AIS and GIS
Comparison of AIS and GIS
ISSN: 2454-132X
Impact factor: 4.295
(Volume 4, Issue 2)
Available online at: www.ijariit.com
In any substation, grounding system deserves considerable attention as far as performance and design are considered. So
grounding play very important role in the operation of the power system. The main purpose of this work is to design the grounding
system for 400kV Darbhanga GIS substation. Then after the grounding design is done for identical 400kV AIS substation and
comparison made between both types of the substation for grounding design. This design is done by using the IEEE 80-2000
standard for the safe grounding design in AC substation. Also, the comparison also made for both type of substation that how
they differ from each other like the space requirement, spacing, no of equipment for both types of the substation, etc. The Auto
Grid Pro and SD calc software are used for the grounding design of both types of the substation.
Keywords: Grounding grid, Step voltage, Touch voltage, Grid resistance, Ground grid design, Ground potential rise (GPR),
Ground rod, resistivity, Split factor, Reflection factor (K).
1. INTRODUCTION
The main part of the power system is Generation, Transmission, and Distribution. For this, power system has passed through
different types of the substation. In any safe and reliable substation, a well-designed grounding system plays a crucial role. The
absence of safe and effective grounding system can result in mal-operation of control and protective devices which disturb the
operation of complete power system. Hence great care should be taken while designing grounding system of any substation,
primarily to ensure electrical safety of persons working within or near substations.
Main two functions of any grounding system are :
1) To provide a path for electrical current to earth without exceeding operating limits of equipments.
2) To provide a safe environment for protecting personnel in the vicinity of grounded facilities from the danger of electrical shock
particularly under fault conditions.
Grounding system has all the interconnected grounding facilities in the switchyard area which include ground grid, overhead ground
wires, and neutral conductors underground cables etc. ground grid being the main component. The ground grid consists of horizontal
interconnected conductors often supplemented by vertical ground rods. Being major component of the overall grounding system,
the design of grounding grid should be such that total grounding system is safe and at the same time it is cost –effective.
In recent years, a SF6 gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) indoor substation is adopted by power utilities, particularly the power utility
supplies electric power to the urban area. This is because GIS indoor substation can reduce an environment impact, and also increase
safety for people and operation and increase reliability. Due to the very high cost of land, it is extremely difficult to acquire a large
piece of land for constructing the conventional air-insulated outdoor substation (AIS) in an urban area.
The design of grounding system for GIS indoor substation is different from conventional AIS. GIS indoor substation normally
occupies only 10-25% of the land required for conventional AIS. Therefore, the grounded area of GIS indoor substation is also
reduced. Also, the grounding system of the building in GIS indoor substation has to be taken into account, especially the working
Fig.1 Fig.2
Fig. 1. Grid current is equal to the fault current when no shields or neutrals are present
Fig. 2. Grid current is only a fraction of the fault current when a shield or neutral is present
Equation (1) assumes that the entire fault current is flowing through the ground grid (If = Igrid) to remote earth (Fig. 1). If a
substation is supplied from an overhead line with no shield or neutral wire, the total ground fault current enters the earth, causing
an often steep rise in the local ground potential. The primary way to limit the GPR in such a case is to create a ground grid that has
a very low resistance to remote earth. Limiting the current flowing in the ground grid also lowers the GPR. The use of a shield wire
or neutral provides an alternate path for the ground fault current to flow to the source instead of the earth. A split factor is added, as
shown in equation (2), to indicate the percentage of the ground fault current assumed flowing into the earth (Fig. 2)
GPR =If ∗Sf ∗Rgrid or
GPR =If ∗Zg (2)
where Sf split factor;
Zg total equivalent ground impedance.
2) Step Voltage:
The step voltage is defined as potential difference felt by a living thing having a distance of one feet between his/her feet without
having contact with any part of body touching with solidly grounded structure.
The calculation for step voltage for 50kg and 70kg body is given by the following equation:
Estep50 = (1000 + 6Cs ∗ρs)0.116/√ts (3)
Estep70 = (1000 + 6Cs ∗ρs)0.157/√ts (4)
Where Cs is a function of ρs and hs. It is a correction factor for computing the effective foot resistance in the presence of a finite
thickness of surface material;
ρs is resistivity of the surface layer in ohm meter;
ts is the duration of the shock current in seconds.
The correction factor Cs is dependent upon the depth and resistivity of the surface material and the resistivity of the soil layer
beneath the surface material. Cs provides a correction to the estimated resistance of a human foot in contact with the surface material
and is used in both the calculations for allowable step and touch voltages. Cs increases as the surface material thickness increases.
However, the effect of the surface material thickness diminishes greatly after approximately 12 in (or 0.3 m).
The higher this value of Cs, the greater is the allowable step potential before the body will absorb a critical amount of shock energy.
Based on (3), the greater the resistivity of the surface layer and the shorter the fault duration, the greater the step voltage must be to
have an effect on the human body. Faults can be cleared in very short time periods depending on protective devices and relaying
schemes. A fault clearing time of 1 s (a common design practice) is assumed to be on the conservative side. If the time is held
constant at 1 s, the greater the surface soil resistivity is, the greater the allowable step voltage can be without causing a hazardous
shock.
3) Touch Voltage:
The touch voltage is described as a difference in potential between GPR and potential at the surface where a living thing is standing
with his/her hands touching the structure which is connected to a solid ground point.
Allowable touch voltage uses a very similar equation to step voltage and is shown as:
Etouch50 = (1000 + 1.5Cs ∗ρs)0.116 /√ts (5)
© 2018, www.IJARIIT.com All Rights Reserved Page | 2469
Solanki Himesh, Soni Rahul; International Journal of Advance Research, Ideas and Innovations in Technology
Etouch70 = (1000 + 1.5Cs ∗ρs)0.157 /√ts (6)
Fig.3
Fig. 3 shows the effects of surface material resistivity on the allowable step and touch voltages for a fault duration of 1 s.
4) Split Factor:
The generally accepted practice, and, in some instances, a requirement of a ground grid, is to have a low impedance to remote earth
(less than 1–5 Ω). However, as stated in IEEE Std. 80, “a low substation ground resistance is not, in itself, a guarantee for safety.
There is no simple relation between the resistance of the ground system as a whole and the maximum shock current to which a
person may be exposed”. Even though IEEE Std. 80 states that a low ground resistance is not, in itself, a guarantee of a safe ground
grid, somehow it has become a standard practice in determining the acceptability of a ground grid.
In cases where a ground resistivity is high, yielding a high ground grid resistance, the use of overhead neutral or ground wires can
help alleviate the amount of fault current flowing through the ground grid.This is defined by the split factor (Sf).
As depicted in Fig. 2, part of the fault current (IE) flows back over the overhead ground wire to the source, thereby reducing the
grid current (Igrid) which will limit the step and touch potentials. It should be noted that the ground potential gradient may be higher,
requiring additional equipment to isolate communication circuits and other devices that are not rated for the higher voltage levels.
Applying the split factor should be used with caution since it is very difficult to calculate the exact value. Various factors including
shield wire resistance, number of shield wires, remote substation ground resistance, and pole footing resistance will all influence
the amount of current flowing to remote earth and to remote grounding systems.
5) Single-Layer, Two-Layer, and Multilayer Soil Models
Many of the commercially available software utilizes multilayer soil model. Single-layer soil model assumes a generally uniform
and homogeneous soil resistivity and is calculated by using the arithmetic average of the measured soil resistivity data. The equation
for this model is
{ ρa(1) + ρa(2) + ρa(3) +•••+ ρa(n)}/ n (7)
The single-layer model does not provide good accuracy with large variations in soil resistivity measurements.
The two-layer soil model is represented by an upper layer uniform soil of a finite depth and a lower layer of uniform soil of infinite
depth. As a compromise, the two-layer soil model is often used for designing grounding systems. These calculations are often
sufficient, while a more accurate multilayer soil model is rarely justifiable or technically feasible.
A multilayer soil model is used when highly non-uniform soil conditions are encountered, requires complex computer programs or
graphical methods, and is seldom used in the design.
6) Surface Material
The surface material becomes very important when designing a substation ground grid in the high-resistivity soil. A layer of crushed
rock or other material has become the design standard to provide a high resistance between the ground grid and personnel. If the
underlying soil has a lower resistivity than the Surface layer, then only a small amount of grid current will flow into the surface
layer, resulting in a smaller potential rise in the surface material. Additionally, the resistance between personnel and the ground is
increased, reducing the amount of current that may flow through the person to ground.
Fig.3 shows the effects of surface material resistivity on allowable step and touch voltages. Fig. 4 shows the effects of varying
surface material depth on allowable step and touch potentials.
Fig.4
7) Mesh Voltage (Vm):
The mesh voltage is described as a difference in potential between the center of ground grid mesh and structure which is solidly
grounded connected to remote earthing electrode buried at a sufficient depth below ground surface.
8) Earth Surface Potential (ESP):
Earth surface potential is defined as the difference in potential between mesh voltage (Vm) and Touch voltage (Vt).In worst case
scenario it is observed that mesh voltage is actually touched voltage.
9) Ground Resistance (Rg):
The ground resistance is defined as the resistance of overall ground grid mesh through which the fault current will flow and will be
efficiently dissipated to the earth. It is necessary to have the ground resistance kept at a low level for proper dissipation of fault
current without having any substantial rise in grid potentials.
10) Fault Current (If):
The value of fault current is defined as the maximum current which flows along the ground grid mesh the designing of ground grid
mesh is based on worst condition fault current that may arise in the substation considering all design constraints.
11) Short term temperature rise:
It is defined as a rise in temperature that may occur along ground grid mesh horizontal conductors and vertical rods. It is necessary
to properly analyze the temperature rise in order to avoid any arcing which may result in hazardous situation across ground grid
mesh.
12) The weight of person (Kg):
It is defined as reference weight of a person on the basis of which all the calculation related to above-mentioned parameters are
based upon. The calculation can be done for a person having a body weight of 50kg or 70kg.
Most substations typically have incoming (or outgoing) lines with shield wires installed. It would be appropriate for the design
engineer to investigate the properties of these shield wires and how they could affect current division as discussed in Annex C of
IEEE Std. 80.
In some instances, the calculated split factor may not be substantial enough to limit the grid current to a safer level. Some possible
solutions to all eviate this include the following.
1) Upsize the transmission/distribution shield/neutral wires.
2) Utilize aluminum shields instead of steel.
3) Install shields on unshielded lines
4) Consider connecting to a satellite ground grid.
Each of these methods must be carefully scrutinized and evaluated as they may result in hazardous voltage conditions at remote
locations during a ground fault.
c. Surface Layer
From Figs. 1 and 2, the following can be concluded.
1) A minimum of 5 in of surface material should be used.
2) Increasing the surface material resistivity linearly increases the safely allowable step and touch voltages.
Fig.5
d. Fault Clearing Time
Limiting the duration of a ground fault on the system also reduces the hazardous touch and step voltages.
Fig. 3 shows the benefit derived from decreasing fault clearing times below 0.1s. The recommended practice, however, is to design
a substation ground grid using the backup relaying clearing time of 1s.
This is a conservative estimate that will not falsely elevate safe step and touch voltages. Installing high speed primary and backup
relaying schemes will allow the engineer to lower this backup protection tripping time, thus having a significant, and relatively low-
cost, impact on designing a safe grounding grid.
Step 11: If either the step or touch tolerable limits are exceeded, revision of the grid design is required. These revisions may include
smaller conductor spacings, additional ground rods, etc.
Step 12: After satisfying the step and touch voltage requirements, additional grid and ground rods may be required. The additional
grid conductors may be required if the grid design does not include conductors near equipment to be grounded. Additional ground
rods may be required at the base of surge arresters, transformer neutrals, etc. The final design should also be reviewed to eliminate
hazards due to transferred potential and hazards associated with special areas of concern.
6. EXAMPLE OF HVPNL
Here the calculation is done for the Grounding design of one substation of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL)
Input parameters
1) Symmetrical fault current in a substation for conductor Sizing If = 40000 A
2) Duration of a shock for determining allowable body current ts = 1sec
3) Surface gravel layer resistivity ρs = 3000 Ω - m
4) Surface gravel layer thickness ℎs = 0.1 m
Ampacity calculation:
Grid configuration:
Output:
1) Ampacity calculation:
1
𝐴𝑚𝑚2 = 𝑙 ∗
𝑇𝐶𝐴𝑃 ∗ 10−4 𝐾0 + 𝑇𝑚
√(
𝑡𝑐 ∗ ∝𝑟 ∗ 𝜌𝑟 ) 𝑙𝑛 ( 𝐾0 + 𝑇𝑎 )
= 505.1927372 mm2
4
√(𝐴𝑚𝑚2 ∗ )
𝜋
=25.36843761 mm
= 0.69131
(𝑅𝐵 + 1.5 ∗ 𝜌𝑠 ∗ 𝐶𝑠 ) 𝑘
𝐸𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ = 𝑅𝐵 +
√𝑡𝑠
= 645.410515 V
(𝑅𝐵 + 6 ∗ 𝜌𝑠 ∗ 𝐶𝑠 ) 𝑘
𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 = 𝑅𝐵 +
√𝑡𝑠
= 2110.64206 V
5) Grid configuration:
1 1 1
𝑅𝑔 = 𝜌∗ + ∗ 1+
𝐿𝑇 √20 ∗ 𝐴 20
[ ( 1 + 𝐻 ∗ √ 𝐴 )]
= 0.023409232 ohm
1
𝐾𝑖𝑖 = 2
(2 ∗ 𝑛)𝑛
=1
The corrective weighting factor for grid depth
𝐻
𝐾ℎ = √(1 + ( ))
𝐻 0
= 1.264911064
𝐿𝑟
𝐿𝑀 = 𝐿𝑐 + [1.55 + 1.22 ∗ ( )] ∗ 𝐿𝑅
√𝐿2𝑥 + 𝐿2𝑦
= 5868.6899 m
Split factor :
𝑍𝑒𝑞
𝑆𝑓 = [ ]
𝑍𝑒𝑞 + 𝑅𝑔
= 0.960191145
= 38407.6458
Decrement factor:
Df = 1
= 38407.6458 A
= 0.279374784
= 4397.7 m
Mesh voltage
= 226.3343477 V
Step voltage
= 74.14985262 V
SAFETY CHECK:
Attainable voltage (V) Tolerable voltage (V)
8. CONCLUSION
The design of grounding grid system for AIS and GIS substation is done by using IEEE 80-2000. For getting the lower step and
touch voltages below their attainable value, the spacing between the conductor should be decreased. Also by using the Rods, the
step and touch voltages can be decreased. The surface layer resistivity and surface layer thickness has a considerable effect on the
step and touch volages.This paper has discussed several alternatives to the generally accepted practice of attempting to lower the
ground grid resistance. It provides guidance for designing a safe and reliable substation ground grid for any substation.
9. REFERENCES
[1] IEEE guide for safety in AC substation grounding, IEEE standard 80-2000.
[2] CBIP manual on substation layout, Publication No. 299 ,2006.
[3] Andrew Ackerman, P.K.Sen, “ Designing safe and reliable Grounding in AC substations with Poor Soil Resistivity: An
Interpretation of IEEE Std. 80’’,IEEE Tranjection on Industry Application,Vol_49,No.4July/August 2013.
[4] Chien- Hsing Lee, “Comparison of 161/69-kV Grounding Grid Design Between Indoor-Type and Outdoor-Type Substations”
,IEEE Tranjection on Power Delivery,Vol.20,No.2,April 2005.
[5] Raj Nagarsheth, Sushant Singh, “Study of Gas insulated substation and its comparison with ais insulated substation” , Electrical
Power and Energy Systems 55(2014) 481-485
[6] M.G.Unde,B.E.Kushare, “ Cost Effective Design of Grounding Grid using Ground Rods-a Case Study”,2012.
[7] Tosak Thasananutariya, Knathip Spuntupong, Somchai Chatratana, “Design Of Grounding System For GIS Indoor
Substation’’,2004.
[8] Kaustubh A. Vyas, and J.G. Jamnani, “Optimal Design and Development of Softwarefor Design of Substation Grounding
System’’ , Institute Of Technology, Nirma University, Ahmedabad – 382 481, 08-10 December, 2011.
[9] M. Usman Aslam, Muhammad Usman Cheema, Muhammad Bilal Cheema, Muhammad Samran, “Design Analysis and
Optimization of Ground Grid Mesh of Extra High Voltage Substation using an Intelligent Software’’ 2014.
[10] Hao Zhang,Qiang Liu,Meirong Chen,Wei Wang,‘‘Optimization Design of Grounding Grid Model for 500kV Substation”
,2012.
[11] LARUELLE Elodie, KIEFFEL Yannick, “Environmental impact comparison between a 220 kV Gas-Insulated Substation and
a 220 kV Air-Insulation Substation”, 2013.
NOMENCLATURE
𝐸𝑠 Step voltage, V
𝐾𝑖𝑖 Corrective weighting factor that adjusts for the effects of inner conductors on the corner mesh, simplified method
𝐿𝑇 Total effective length of grounding system conductor, including grid and ground rods, m