Professional Documents
Culture Documents
How to Determine Correct Number of Earthing Electrodes (Strips, Plates and Pipes) - part 1
Introduction
Number of Earthing Electrode and Earthing Resistance depends on the resistivity of soil and time
for fault current to pass through (1 sec or 3 sec). If we divide the area for earthing required by
the area of one earth plate gives the number of earth pits required.
There is no general rule to calculate the exact number of earth pits and size of earthing strip, but
discharging of leakage current is certainly dependent on the cross section area of the material so
for any equipment the earth strip size is calculated on the current to be carried by that strip.
First the leakage current to be carried is calculated and then size of the strip is determined.
For most of the electrical equipment like transformer, diesel generator set etc., the general
concept is to have 4 number of earth pits. 2 nos for body earthing with 2 separate strips with the
pits shorted and 2 nos for Neutral with 2 separate strips with the pits shorted.
The Size of Neutral Earthing Strip should be capable to carry neutral current of that equipment.
The Size of Body Earthing should be capable to carry half of neutral Current.
For example for 100kVA transformer, the full load current is around 140A.
The strip connected should be capable to carry at least 70A (neutral current) which means a strip
of GI 25x3mm should be enough to carry the current and for body a strip of 253 will do the
needful. Normally we consider the strip size that is generally used as standards.
However a strip with lesser size which can carry a current of 35A can be used for body earthing.
The reason for using 2 earth pits for each body and neutral and then shorting them is to serve as
back up. If one strip gets corroded and cuts the continuity is broken and the other leakage current
flows through the other run thery by completing the circuit.
Similarly for panels the no of pits should be 2 nos. The size can be decided on the main incomer
circuit breaker.
For example if main incomer to breaker is 400A, then body earthing for panel can have a strip
size of 256 mm which can easily carry 100A.
Number of earth pits is decided by considering the total fault current to be dissipated to the
ground in case of fault and the current that can be dissipated by each earth pit. Normally the
density of current for GI strip can be roughly 200 amps per square cam. Based on the length and
dia of the pipe used the number of earthing pits can be finalized.
Where:
= Resistivity of soil ( meter),
L = Length of electrode (meter),
D = Diameter of electrode (meter)
Example:
Calculate isolated earthing rod resistance. The earthing rod is 4 meter long and having 12.2mm
diameter, soil resistivity 500 meter.
R=500/ (23.144) x (Loge (84/0.0125)-1) =156.19 .
The earth resistance of single rod or pipe electrode is calculated as per IS 3040:
R=100x/23.14xL (loge(4xL/d))
Where:
= Resistivity of soil ( meter),
L = Length of electrode (cm),
D = Diameter of electrode (cm)
Example:
Calculate number of CI earthing pipe of 100mm diameter, 3 meter length. System has fault
current 50KA for 1 sec and soil resistivity is 72.44 -Meters.
Current Density At The Surface of Earth Electrode (As per IS 3043):
Surface area of one 100mm dia. 3 meter Pipe = 2 x 3.14 x r x L = 2 x 3.14 x 0.05 x3 =
0.942 m2
Max. current dissipated by one Earthing Pipe = Current Density x Surface area of
electrode
Max. current dissipated by one earthing pipe = 889.419x 0.942 = 837.83 A say 838 Amps
Top
Top
In cases where a single electrode is not sufficient to provide the desired earth resistance, more
than one electrode shall be used. The separation of the electrodes shall be about 4 m. The
combined resistance of parallel electrodes is a complex function of several factors, such as the
number and configuration of electrode the array.
The total resistance of group of electrodes in different configurations as per BS 7430:
3.61
3.8
For electrodes equally spaced around a hollow square, e.g. around the perimeter of a building,
the equations given above are used with a value of taken from following table.
For three rods placed in an equilateral triangle, or in an L formation, a value of = 1.66 may be
assumed.
Factors for electrodes in a hollow square (BS 7430)
Number of electrodes (n)
Factor ()
2
2.71
3
4.51
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
12
14
16
18
20
5.48
6.13
6.63
7.03
7.36
7.65
7.9
8.3
8.6
8.9
9.2
9.4
Now calculate total resistance of earthing rod of 200 number in parallel condition:
a = 500/(23.14x136x4) =0.146
If earthing rod is connected in Hollow square than rod in each side of square is 200 = (4n-1) so n
= 49 No.
Ra (in hollow square) =136.23x (1+9.40.146/200) = 1.61 .
Originally published at Electrical Notes - Calculate Numbers of Plate/Pipe/Strip Earthings
(Part-1)
http://electrical-engineering-portal.com/how-to-determine-correct-number-ofearthing-electrodes-strips-plates-and-pipes-part-1
https://electricalnotes.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/calculate-numbers-ofplatepipestrip-earthing-for-system/