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Computation of Ground Resistances and Assessment of Ground Grid Safety at 161/23.9-kV Indoor-Type Substation
Cheng-Nan Chang and Chien-Hsing Lee, Member, IEEE
AbstractThis paper computes ground resistances and assesses ground grid safety at three 161/23.9-kV indoor-type substations in the system of the Taiwan Power Company. For computing the ground resistance, a method based on two kinds of two-layer models (i.e., grid buried in the lower-layer of two-layer soil, two-layer soil simplied with one-layer structure of the Sveraks and empirical equations) is used and compared with the method proposed by the one-layer model of the Schwarzs equation in IEEE Standard 80, 2000 edition. As a result, the ground resistance obtained by the two-layer soil simplied with one-layer structure of the empirical equation is near the measurement. For assessing the ground grid safety, the ground potential rise is computed based on the calculated ground resistance and is compared with the minimum touch voltage. As a result, the design of the ground grid at all three 161/23.9-kV indoor-type substations is unsafe under a one-layer model of the Schwarzs equation for humans with 50-kg body weight. Index TermsGround potential rise, ground resistance, one-layer soil model, touch voltage, two-layer soil model.

NOMENCLATURE One-layer soil ground resistance of grid conductors (in ohms). One-layer soil ground resistance of ground rods (in ohms). One-layer soil mutual ground resistance between the grid conductors and ground rods (in ohms). One-layer soil substation ground resistance (in ohms). Uniform soil resistivity (in ohmsmeters). Total length grid conductors (in meters). Diameter of grid conductor (in meters). Depth of ground grid conductor (in meters). Total area enclosed by ground grid . Quantity of ground rods placed in area A. Length of ground rod at each location (in meters). Radius of ground rod (in meters). Length of area occupied by the ground grid (in meters).

GPR

Manuscript received January 12, 2005; revised April 13, 2005. Paper no. TPWRD-00008-2005. C.-N. Chang is with the Graduate School of Engineering Science and Technology, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin 640, Taiwan, R.O.C. (e-mail: g9310819@yuntech.edu.tw). C.-H. Lee is with the Department of Systems and Naval Mechatronic Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan, R.O.C. (e-mail: chienlee@mail.ncku.edu.tw). Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TPWRD.2005.860245

Width of area occupied by the ground grid (in meters). Measured soil resistivity data obtained at different spacing in the Wenner four-pin method (in ohmsmeters). Number of measurements. Two-layer soil model reection factor. Apparent soil resistivity (in ohms-meters). Upper-layer soil resistivity (in ohms-meters). Lower-layer soil resistivity (in ohms-meters). Depth of the reection boundary (in meters). Two-layer soil ground resistance of grid conductors (in ohms). Coefcient of burying. Correction term due to lower-layer (in ohms). Single mesh length in x direction (in meters). Single mesh length in y direction (in meters). Area shape factor. The peripheral length of the grid (in meters). Depth of upper layer (in meters). Two-layer soil ground resistance of ground rods buried in lower layer (in ohms). Ground resistance of a single ground rod (in ohms). Ground resistance of the solid sleeve surface area S (in ohms). Effective radius of the rodbed (in meters). Two-layer soil substation ground resistance (in ohms). Tolerable touch voltage for human with 50-kg body weight (in volts). Tolerable touch voltage for human with 70-kg body weight (in volts). Duration of shock current (in seconds). Reduction factor for derating the nominal value of the surface layer soil resistivity. Ground potential rise (in volts). Maximum grid current that ows between ground grid and surrounding earth (in amperes). Maximum ground fault current (in amperes). Current division factor. Current decrement factor. I. INTRODUCTION

N THE TOWNS and villages supplied with energy by the Taiwan Power Company (TPC), customers are less and less willing to allocate ground for siting the high-voltage substation necessary for public transmission of electricity. To reduce

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Fig. 1. Equipment and grounding layout of TPCs 161/23.9-kV indoor-type substation.

global costs (i.e., space, equipment, and management), the TPC recently has designed indoor-type substations to replace outdoor-type substations. This means the power equipment, such as transformers and gas-insulated switchgears, installed at the outdoor-type substation will be equipped on a different oor of the indoor-type substation. Consequently, the dimension of an ac substation can be effectively reduced and the protection of the power equipment can be effectively integrated, too. Fig. 1 shows an example of the equipment layout of the TPC indoor-type substation, and its design procedure based on IEEE 80, 2000 is shown in Fig. 2. When a ground fault occurs at a substation, the fault current may return to the sources through several alternate paths. Thus, the grounding system at a substation is then designed to dissipate the fault current into earth through equipment grounding, grounding buses, and ground grid. A fraction of the maximum ground fault current that ows between the ground grid and the surrounding earth is known as the grid current. To prevent workers from electric shocks due to accidental energization or faults at a substation, the ground resistance at a substation should be ensured to be low. Generally, it consists of three basic components as follows:
) * + , . / 0 1 2 3 / 4 1 5 6 1 2 * 6 1 3 / 7 / + 1 2 + 8 9 : + / 5 : 3 ; , 1 5 < = * 5 < > 5 / ? 1 . 6 / + @ A B C 5 3 : 2 1 2 5 D 4 + E 1 .

1) conductor resistance between equipment ground wires and the ground grid; 2) contact resistance between the ground grid and the soil; 3) resistance around the ground grid soil. Nevertheless, the most accurate representation of a grounding system should certainly be based on the actual variation of the soil resistivity at a substation. The representation of a ground electrode based on equivalent two-layer soil is generally sufcient for designing a safe grounding system. However, a more accurate representation of the actual soil conditions can be obtained by using the two-layer soil model [1].

II. FORMULA FOR CALCULATING GROUND RESISTANCE A. One-Layer Soil Model According to the IEEE Std. 80, 2000 edition, the Schwarzs equation gives a simple formula for calculating the ground resistance in the uniform soil at a substation. The equations used in calculation of the horizontal electrode (ground grid), vertical
F G H F G G I : + F J 8 K I L . 7 M N N N O P 3 . 1 A Q 1 6 + . / 4 + / 5 6 : P P 3 @ A

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where

As seen from (1)(3), the ground resistances are proportional to the uniform soil resistivity of the material and the uniform soil resistivity can be obtained by using the Wenner four-pin method from several different geographical locations. B. Two-Layer Soil Model The grounding system at a substation in heterogeneous soil can be divided into a grid buried in upper-layer, lower-layer, and between upper to lower layers. According to the measurement of soil resistivities at Hsienhsi, Luhsi, and Luichung indoor-type substations using the Wenner four-pin method, the depth of the upper layer is computed to be 0.25, 0.29, and 0.29 m based on the current distribution electromagnetic (EM) grounding and soil structure analysis (CDEGS) program. When the depth of is designed to be 0.6 m, the ground ground grid conductors grid should be all buried in the lower layer.1 Thus, the equations of the two-layer soil model (i.e., ground grid resistance and ground rods resistance), will be used to calculate the ground resistance of the lower layer for an indoor-type TPC substation. 1) Reection Factor and Apparent Soil Resistivity: The twolayer soil model can be represented by the upper-layer soil of a nite depth above the lower-layer of innite depth. In general, for a positive value of , the upper-layer soil resistivity is greater than the lower-layer soil resistivity, and for negative value , the upper-layer soil resistivity is less than the lowerlayer soil resistivity. Moreover, for a grounding system in the two-layer soil model with and , the reection factor and the two-layer soil resistivity can be simplied as one-layer apparent soil resistivity as follows [1], [2]: for for (5) (6)

where
Fig. 2. Procedure of ground grid design for TPCs indoor-type substation.

electrode (ground rods), and mutual ground electrodes are repeated below [1] (1) (2) (3) (4) 2) Resistance of Ground Grid: To evaluate the accuracy between designed and measured ground resistances, two situations are needed to be considered for the two-layer soil model, including the grid buried in the lower-layer of a two-layer soil model and the two-layer soil model simplied with a one-layer structure. Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the grid buried in the lower-layer of a two-layer soil model at an indoor-type TPC
1Substation Grounding System Designed Standard of Transmission and Substation Projects Department, 2001.

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Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of ground rods buried in the lower-layer of a two-layer soil model at an indoor-type substation.

3) Resistance of Ground Rods: Since all ground rods are buried in the lower layer, the designed resistance of ground rods will only need to consider the resistivity of the lower-layer soil as shown in Fig. 4. The ground resistance of ground rods is [6]
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of the ground grid buried in the lower-layer of a two-layer soil model at an indoor-type TPC substation.

(10) The parameters of and in (10) is determined as follows:

substation. In this case, the designed ground grid resistance can be considered to be the lower-layer soil resistivity as below [3] (7) where

and

and

As seen from (7), the ground grid resistance is proportional to the lower-layer soil resistivity . In other words, the designed ground grid resistance will decrease when the lower-layer soil resistivity is small. To simplify the two-layer soil model with a one-layer structure, the one-layer apparent soil resistivity will depend upon the parameters of the two-layer soil resistivity and as shown in (5) and (6). The ground resistance after simplication can then be computed by using the following equations [4], [5]: Sveraks equation (8) Empirical equation

As seen from (10), the resistance of ground rods is proportional to the lower-layer soil resistivity and inversely proportional to the length of each ground rod and the quantity of ground rods . This means the resistance of ground rods will decrease if the decreases or if the and increase. 4) Resultant Resistance of the Grid and Rods: Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the ground grid and rods buried in the lower layer of two-layer soil model at an indoor-type TPC substation. The resultant resistance of the grid and rods is as below [6] (11)

C. Criteria of Touch Voltage (9) As seen from (9), the rst term of this equation is the Sveraks equation and the second term is the modication of the grip shape.
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The IEEE Standard 80, 2000 edition, has been used to dene the acceptance criteria in this study since it does address most computational issues and provides procedures and guidance for assessing the safety of a grounding system of ac substations. The equations which are used to calculate the minimum touch
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Fig. 6. Schematic diagram of the Hsienhsi indoor-type 161/23.9-kV substation ground grid.

Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of the ground grid and rods buried in the lower layer of a two-layer soil model at an indoor-type TPC substation.

voltage for humans with 50- and 70-kg body weight are as follows [1]: (12) (13) As seen from (12) to (13), the minimum touch voltage is proportional to the surface soil resistivity of the material and inversely proportional to the square root of the shock current duration . This means the minimum tolerable voltage will increase if the increases or if the decreases. As a result, a thick layer of gravel is normally spread over the surface of the earth at a substation to increase the value of the , particularly ultra-high voltage (UHV) or primary substations. D. Designed Ground Potential Rise The designed ground potential rise at the 161/23.9-kV indoortype substation in the TPC system can be computed by using the equations directly from IEEE Standard 80, 2000 edition. They are repeated below [1] (14) where
Fig. 7. Schematic diagram of the Luhsi indoor-type 161/23.9-kV substation ground grid.

Fig. 8. Schematic diagram of the Luichung indoor-type 161/23.9-kV substation ground grid.

III. EXAMPLE This section computes ground resistances and assesses ground grid safety at Hsienhsi, Luhsi, and Luichung 161/23.9-kV indoor-type substations in the TPC system. A. Design Parameters Substation Grounding System Designed Standard of Transmission and Substation Projects Department, 2001. Figs. 68 show a schematic diagram of the ground grid above three indoor-type 161/23.9-kV substations. The design parameters of substations below are used as an example to calculate

Note that the ground potential rise means the maximum electrical potential that a grounding grid may attain relative to a distant grounding point assumed to be at the potential of remote earth. Therefore, to ensure safety for a person within a vicinity of a substation, the calculated ground potential rise should be less than the minimum touch voltage [1].

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the ground resistance, touch voltage, and ground potential rise. The designed information is as follows:2, 3, 4, 5 upper-layer soil resistivity for Hsienhsi for Luhsi m for Luichung lower-layer soil resistivity for Hsienhsi m for Luhsi m for Luichung uniform soil resistivity m for Hsienhsi for Luhsi m for Luichung surface soil resistivity s m diameter of ground grid conductor m mm bare copper conductor depth of the upper-layer m for Hsienhsi m for Luhsi m for Luichung depth of the lower-layer m depth of ground grid conductor b m reection boundary depth r m length of each ground rod r m radius of ground rod m for Hsienhsi for Luhsi quantity of ground rods r for Luichung m for Hsienhsi total grid area m for Luhsi m for Luichung total length of grid conductor m for Hsienhsi m for Luhsi C m for Luichung the peripheral length of the grid m for Hsienhsi m for Luhsi P m for Luichung length of area occupied by the ground grid m for Hsienhsi m for Luhsi m for Luichung width of area occupied by the ground grid m for Hsienhsi m for Luhsi m for Luichung
2Grounding System Diagram of Hsienhsi Primary Distribution Substation TDS1-06-42 004 1/8, 2003. 3Grounding System Diagram of Luhsi Primary Distribution Substation TDS1-06-39 004 2/6, 2003. 4Grounding System Diagram of Luichung Primary Distribution Substation TDS1-08-25 004 1/6, 2003. 5Review of Single-Phase and Three-Phase Fault Currents and Grounding Schemes in the TPC Primary System, Table 2, 2002.

area shape factor for Hsienhsi for Luhsi f for Luichung single mesh length in x direction m for Hsienhsi m for Luhsi x m for Luichung single mesh length in y direction, m for Hsienhsi m for Luhsi y m for Luichung duration of shock current s cycle maximum ground fault current, kA for Hsienhsi kA for Luhsi f kA for Luichung current division factor, current decrement factor, f

sec

Note that the values of upper-layer soil resistivity , depth of the upper-layer , lower-layer soil resistivity , and depth of are obtained by the measurement of the soil the lower layer resistivity data obtained at different spacings using the Wenner four-pin method as well as using the program of CDEGS. Moreover, if the grid is square or rectangular (i.e., the ratio of length will be 0.9 and and width is 2 1), the area shape factor 0.93, respectively [3]. In fact, the grid shape at the Hsienhsi and Luichung substations is approximated to be rectangular with the ratio of length and width about 2 1. Thus, the area shape factor is selected to be 0.93 for both substations. However, the grid shape at the Luhsi substation is square and its shape factor is selected to be 0.9. Furthermore, if the tolerable durations of electric shocks are between six and 15 cycles, the typical values of the current will be between 1.1 and 1.25 [1]. As a redecrement factor sult, the current decrement factor is selected to be 1.0 for all three indoor substations. However, for the value of current division factor , the Hsienhsi, Luhsi, and Luichung substations 161- and 23.9-kV power source are all XLPE underground cables. Thus, the current division factor for all three substations is computed to be 0.1 based on the substation grounding system designed standard in TPC.6 In fact, the value of plays an important role on a safe ground grid design because it is proportional to the ratio of the maximum grid current to the corresponding fault current . This fault current ratio, in turn, is proportional to the ratio of the ground resistance to the integrated impedance of entire grounding system including the impedance of the alternate ground paths which primarily include multigrounded neutral and shield paths. In TPC, the surface soil resistivity at the indoor-type substation is generally designed to be 1500 -m. Its grounding grid is constructed with rst and second concretes, and a 5-mm-thick layer of Epoxy resin is then paved on the top of the concrete. Thus, the surface soil resistivity of 1500 -m is selected for all three substations.
6TPC1

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TABLE II CALCULATION OF GROUND RESISTANCES AT HSIENHSI, LUHSI, AND LUICHUNG SUBSTATIONS BASED ON MEASURED DATA

Fig. 9. Schematic diagram of the Wenner four-pin method. TABLE I MEASUREMENTS


OF THE SOIL RESISTIVITY AT HSIENHSI, AND LUICHUNG SUBSTATIONS

LUHSI

Note: E = input voltage, E = output voltage, E = stray voltage, E = forward voltage, I = forward current, E = reverse voltage, I = reverse current, I = (I + I )=2, E = [(E + E 0 2E )=2] , R = E=I . TABLE III CALCULATION OF GROUND RESISTANCES AND GROUND POTENTIAL RISES AT HSIENHSI, LUHSI, AND LUICHUNG INDOOR-TYPE SUBSTATIONS USING ONE- AND TWO-LAYERS SOIL MODELS

Fig. 10.

Schematic diagram of the fall-of-potential method test circuit.

B. Measurement of Soil Resistivity and Ground Resistance Fig. 9 shows a general arrangement for the measurement of soil resistivity by using the Wenner four-pin method. In TPC, the soil resistivity of indoor-type substations is fairly inconsistent depending upon the season and it is usually measured by this method. Table I shows the results of measured soil resistivity at Hsienhsi, Luhsi, and Luichung substations under 20 C on January 2002. The average uniform soil resistivity is computed to be 17.34, 38.90, and 100.04 -m, respectively. To verify the adequacy of grounding analysis, there often is the need to measure the ground resistance of a grounding system. A common technique used to measure the ground resistance is the fall-of-potential method. Fig. 10 shows the test circuit for measuring the ground resistance based on the fall-of-potential method. Additionally, Table II lists the calculated results of ground resistances for the Hsienhsi, Luhsi, and Luichung substations. Note that the distance between the grid center to the is equal to the distance between the grid current electrode center to the potential electrode during measurements.

Moreover, to eliminate the mutual earth resistance, the angle between and is measured to be about 29 which is required by IEEE Standard 81.2-1991 [7]. Additionally, the minimum distance to test probes that will have an approximated measurement accuracy of 95% may be estimated by 6.5 times the extent of a grounding system for the maximum diagonal grid distance [7]. For practical measureand (i.e., 600 m) of Hsienhsi, ments, the distances Luhsi, and Luichung indoor-type substations are all greater than 6.5 times the maximum diagonal grid distance (i.e., m m). In order to obtain more realistic values of ground resistances, the current and potential electrodes should not be placed near grounded metal structures, buried neutrals, overhead ground conductors, or buried ground conductors that connect to the grounding system. Furthermore, the current electrode shall avoid being located parallel to the valley and stream, and the potential electrode shall be located far away from high-voltage transmission lines. C. Simulation Results For both types of soil models, the ground resistance and the ground potential rise (GPR) at Hsienhsi, Luhsi and Luichung indoor-type substations are computed as listed in Table III. As seen from Table III, the ground resistance of the one-layer soil based on the Schwarzs model is 0.149, 0.402, and 0.906 equation, and its relative error is about 192, 272 and 284% as compared with the measured ground resistance 0.051, 0.108, and 0.236 , respectively.


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Fig. 11. Designed ground resistance versus the depth of the reection boundary at the 161/23.9-kV Hsienhsi, Luhsi, and Luichung substations. Fig. 13. Designed ground resistance versus the total length of grid conductors at the 161/23.9-kV Luhsi substation.

Fig. 12. Designed ground resistance versus the total length of grid conductors at the 161/23.9-kV Hsienhsi substation.

Moreover, the ground resistances of the two-layer soil model are listed in Table III. As seen from Table III, using the one-layer simplied model of the empirical equations has less error than the other two methods. Under the design parameters, the minimum touch voltages of Hsienhsi, Luhsi, and Luichung substations are 508, 508, and 509 V for a 50-kg person, respectively. Moreover, the minimum touch voltages of Hsienhsi, Luhsi, and Luichung substations are 687, 687, and 689 V for a 70-kg person, respectively. As seen from Table III, the GPRs obtained by the two-layer soil model are all smaller than the tolerable touch voltages for a 50- and 70-kg person. However, the GPRs of 636.2 V at Hsienhsi and 529.5 V at Lushi obatined by the Schwarzs equation of the one-layer soil model are greater than the tolerable touch voltage for a 50-kg person as well as the GPR of 1476.0 V at Luichung is greater than the tolerable touch voltage for a 50- and 70-kg person. Nevertheless, the grounding design for all three substations is considered to be safe based on the results obtained from the two-layer soil model. Since the lower-layer soil resistivity at three substations is smaller than the upper-layer soil resistivity, it can use (5) to
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Fig. 14. Designed ground resistance versus total length of the grid conductors at the 161/23.9-kV Luichung substation.

calculate the two-layer soil model simplied with the one-layer apparent soil resistivity. Fig. 11 shows the ground resistance as a function of the depth of the reection boundary for both simplications. As seen from Fig. 11, both of the designed ground resistances increase as the depth of the reection boundary increases. However, they become almost constants after 9 m. Moreover, Figs. 1214 show the ground resistance as a function of total length of grid conductors when the depth of ground grid conductors is xed to be 0.6 m. As seen from Figs. 1214, the ground resistance calculated at Hsienhsi, Luhsi, and Luichung substations by the empirical equation is equal to the measured result when the total length grid conductor are 478, 343, and 437 m, respectively. Additionally, Figs. 1517 illustrate the ground resistances as a function of the quantity of ground rods. The ground resistance obtained by the empirical equation is equal to the measured result when the quantities of ground rods are 35, 80, and 90 m, respectively. Similarly, Figs. 1820 illustrate the ground resistances as a function of the length of each ground rod. The
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Fig. 15. Designed ground resistance versus the quantity of ground rods at the 161/23.9-kV Hsienhsi substation.

Fig. 18. Designed ground resistance versus the length of each ground rod at the 161/23.9-kV Hsienhsi substation.

Fig. 16. Designed ground resistance versus the quantity of ground rods at the 161/23.9-kV Luhsi substation. Fig. 19. Designed ground resistance versus the length of each ground rod at the 161/23.9-kV Luhsi substation.

Unlike Figs. 1520, Figs. 2123 illustrate the designed ground resistance as a function of the total grid area at each substation. As seen from Figs. 2123, the ground resistances obtained by the empirical equation are equal to the measured result when the total grid area is 1680, 1002, and 1555 m , respectively. IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS This paper computes ground resistances and assesses ground grid safety at three 161/23.9-kV indoor-type substations in the system of TPC. For computation of the ground resistance, a method based on two kinds of two-layer models (i.e., grid buried in the lower-layer of two-layer soil, two-layer soil simplied with one-layer structure of the Sveraks and empirical equations) is proposed and compared with the method proposed by the one-layer model of Schwarzs equation in the IEEE Standard 80, 2000 edition. Moreover, the ground potential rise is computed and compared with the minimum touch voltage for assessment of ground grid safety per IEEE Standard 80, 2000 edition,
d P M e f g e f f h Y J e i W j h k M L V l m m m n o R L M P ` p P U J M N S J N L T U Y o o R _ `

Fig. 17. Designed ground resistance versus the quantity of ground rods at the 161/23.9-kV Luichung substation.

ground resistance obtained by the empirical equation is equal to the measured result when the lengths of each ground rod are 1.5, 2.1, and 2.2 m, respectively.
H I J K L M N O P Q R N S P T U P Q I U P R N V N J P Q J L W X Y J N L T Y R Z K P T [ \ I T [ ] T N ^ P M U N J _ ` a L b T R L Y Q P Q L T c S J L

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Fig. 20. Designed ground resistance versus the length of each ground rod at the 161/23.9-kV Luichung substation.

Fig. 23. Designed ground resistance versus the total grid area at the 161/23.9-kV Luichung substation.

50- and 70-kg person. In this case, the designed ground potential rise by using one-layer model of the Schwarzs equation is greater than the tolerable touch voltage for a 50-kg person. Thus, the design of groundings at all three indoor substations is unsafe for a human with 50-kg body weight. Other conclusions are drawn as follows. The error by using a one-layer model of the Schwarzs equation to compute the ground resistance is greater than the other two kinds of two-layer models. Thus, the twolayer soil model simplied with a one-layer structure is suggested for designing the ground resistance at an indoortype TPC substation. The total lengths of grid conductors at Hsienhsi, Luhsi, and Luichung indoor-type substations are suggested as 478, 343, and 437 m. The quantity of ground rods can choose 35, 80, and 90 m. Moreover, their corresponding lengths of each ground rod can choose 1.5, 2.1, and 2.2 m, respectively. Finally, their total grid areas should be at least 1680, 1002, and 1555 m , respectively.

Fig. 21. Designed ground resistance versus the total grid area at the 161/23.9-kV Hsienhsi substation.

REFERENCES
[1] IEEE Guide for Safety in AC Substation Grounding, 2000. [2] J. A. Sullivan, Alternative earthing calculations for grids and rods, in Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng., Gen., Transm. Distrib., vol. 145, May 1998, pp. 271280. [3] M. M. A. Salama, M. M. EI Sherbiny, and Y. L. Chow, A formula for resistance of substation grounding grid in two-layer soil, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 12551262, Jul. 1995. [4] Y. L. Chow and M. M. A. Salama, A simplied method for calculating the substation grounding grid resistance, in IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 9, Apr. 1994, pp. 736742. [5] B. Thapar, V. Gerez, A. Balakrishnan, and D. A. Blamk, Evaluation of ground resistance of a grounding grid of any shape, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 640647, Apr. 1991. [6] Y. L. Chow, M. M. Sherbiny, and M. M. A. Salama, Resistance formulas of grounding system in two-layer earth, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 13301336, Apr. 1996. [7] IEEE Guide for Measurement of Impedance and Safety Characteristics, 1991.

Fig. 22. Designed ground resistance versus the total grid area at the 161/23.9-kV Luhsi substation.

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Cheng-Nan Chang was born in Taichung, Taiwan, R.O.C., on April 22, 1977. He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1999, and the M.S.E.E. degree in 2004 from the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin, Taiwan, where he is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree. Currently, he is an Electrical Engineer with Taiwan Power Company. His research interests are power system grounding analysis and power system relay design.

Chien-Hsing Lee (SM93M98) was born in Pingtung, Taiwan, R.O.C., on June 13, 1967. He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Arizona State University, Tempe, in 1993, and the M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, in 1995 and 1998, respectively. Currently, he is an Associate Professor with National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. His research interests are power system grounding analysis, power system transient modeling, power quality, and applications of wavelet theory in power systems.

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