Chapter 4 4.

7 Earthing System at St Martin Sewage Treatment Plant

Personal Contribution

The aim of this assignment was to design and implement an earthing system for the HT switchgear and to achieve an earth resistance of 2 or even less as requested by the consultant. The layout of the HT switch gear is illustrated in figure 4.8.

Switching Roon

Earthing System to be designed

Lightning Protection

Power Tx 22/11 3MVA

Power Tx 22/11 3MVA

Figure.4.8. CEB Switch Station at St-Martin Sewerage Treatment Plant 4.7.1 Earthing System Design The most significant factor that will determine the earthing system design is the ground itself. A borehole survey of the ground was carried out at St Martin sewage treatment plant where the earthing is to be installed. This survey indicates whether rock is present and at what depth, factors that will not only affect the electrical consideration but will also have a direct bearing on installation costs. 4.7.2 Soil Resistivity Measurements A technique for measuring the earth resistivity was proposed by the American, Dr.Frank Wenner. The wenner method was used to measure the resistivity of the soil between ground level and a given depth. Electrical resistivity is a measurement of the resistance of a unit quantity of a given material, expressed, in this case, in volume as an ohmmeter. The test spaces four probes out at equal distances of 3m to approximate the depth of the soil to be tested. This test is repeated five times, four times along the perimeter and once across the diagonal of the chosen location as illustrated in figure 4.9. In this test, a probe, C1, is driven into the earth at the corner of the area to be measured. Probes, P1, P2, and C2, are driven at 3m respectively, from rod C1 in a straight line to measure the soil resistivity from 0m to 3m in depth.

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Personal Contribution

C1 and C2 are the outer probes, which circulate current through the resistance under test; P1 and P2 are the inner probes, which measure the voltage drop across the resistance under test. At this point, a known current is applied across probes C1 and C2 and the resulting voltage is measured across P1 and P2. The instrument computes the value of resistance from the measured value of current and voltage.
4 Soil Testing Probes Spaced Equally
C1 P1 P2 P1 C2 C1 P1 P2 C2 C1 P1 C1 P1 P2

C2

C1

P1

P2

C2

C2

0.000

B A

Figure.4.9.Wenner Soil Resistivity Test The following table 4.21 illustrates the results obtained for the earth resistance tests along the perimeter and once across the diagonal, therefore the test was repeated five times.
Test No. 1 2 3 4 5 A = Distance between probes (m) 3 3 3 3 3 R = Resistance () Measured 17.5 16.4 16.8 15.6 17.2

Table 4.21.Earth Test Results

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Personal Contribution

Once all the resistance data have been collected, it is now possible to calculate the resistivity of the local soil in ohmmeters by using the following formula. p = [4 x x A x R] / [1 + ((2 x A) / (A2 + 4 x B2)) (A/(A2 + B2) )] Where, p = Resistivity of local soil (m) B = Depth of probes into the ground (cm) A = Distance between probes (m) R = Resistance determined by the testing device () For most practical circumstances, A is twenty times larger than B, where we can then make the assumption that B = 0, and the Formula becomes simply: p=2xxAxR These values give an average resistivity of the soil to depth of the value of A. The following table 4.22 illustrates the calculated resistivity of the local soil
Test No. 1 2 3 4 5 A = Distance between probes (m) 3 3 3 3 3 R = Resistance () Measured 17.5 16.4 16.8 15.6 17.2 Calculated Resistivity (m) of theSoil 2 x A x R 329.70 308.97 316.51 293.90 324.04

Table.4.22.Calculated Resistivity The above results indicate that the earth resistance varies between 15.6 and 17.5. Hence, using an average resistance of 16.7 the calculated average resistivity value of the soil is 314.6m. 4.7.3 Choosing Earth Electrode When the borehole survey of the ground was carried out, it was noticed that the ground had 1 or 1.5 meter depth of soil and below that level numerous amount of rock was found. Therefore, driving rod electrode is not suitable, instead copper earth plate has been chosen. The following formula is used to determine the size of the copper plate mat in order to meet the earth resistance of 2 as requested by the consultant. R = (p/275L) x Log10 ((800 x L)/w ) Where, R = Apparent earth electrode resistance in ohms p= Soil resistivity in ohm.m L = Length of electrode in meters w = Width of electrode in meters

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Personal Contribution

The required earth resistance is R = 2, and the calculated resistivity p = 314.6.4m. As we already know the soil is suitable for copper plate mat. Therefore, the size of the plate can be calculated to obtain the desired 2 ohms resistance. R = (p/275L) x Log10 (800 x L)/w Thus, R = 2 p = 314.6m Therefore, if we let L = 1.5m, w = 1.5m and substitute to see what value or R is obtained R = 314.6 / (275 x 1.5) x Log10 ((800 x 1.5) / 1.5) = 2.2 4.7.4 Installation and Testing of Earthing System Once the earth mat was buried under a depth of 1.5m, the four terminal methods was used to measure the earth resistance by connecting the fourth earth probe to the earth mat. The result gathered is illustrated in table 4.23.
Test Number 1 2 3 Resistance in 3.5 3.8 3.6

Table.4.23 The above result clearly shows that the earth mat has very much improved the earth resistance but the targeted resistance of 2 was not achieved. Therefore, the following solution was proposed. Increasing the depth of the earth pit Using soil conditioning agents

Hence the depth of earth pit was further increase to 2m and soil conditioning agent was used, to reduce the soil resistivity and hence the earth resistance. Betonite was used as an earth-electrode backfill to reduce soil resistivity by retaining moisture. It has the ability to hold its moisture content for a considerable period of time and to absorb moisture from the surrounding. Finally, the four terminal method was used to measure the earth resistance by connecting the fourth earth spike to the earth mat earth copper conductor. The result gathered is illustrated in table 4.24
Test Number 1 2 3 Resistance in 1.8 1.9 1.9

The above result clearly shows that the soil conditioning agent has very much improved the earth resistance. The earth resistance being 1.9 was accepted by the consultant.

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