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21072005

ALL MEMBERS OF ELECTRCAL JNSTALLATONS

SECTIONAL COMMITTEE, ET 20

Dear Sir(s),

In response to the viewsl.observations received from Jyoti Structures Ltd., Mumbai (circulated
vide our letter dated 2-06-2005), comments received from Shri 0 Maheshwaran, Dy General
Manager Designs, Larsen & Toubro Limited, Chennai on IS: 3043: 1987 Code of Practice for
Earthing are enclosed
Kindly send your views on this latest by 22 August 2005.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

~~ ~
( Nar~)
Director (ETO)
e.mail narendra .singh@bis.org.in
fax: 01123215924

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Cir. No. 284/DIV/PROJ/TLT/02

- - - ---

10thAugust 2005

To: AUMembers of Projects I Transmission Line Towers Division

fOfv\mf views and comments.
aik
r. Executive Officer
C:\EIsy's Data\BIS\BIS Circulars.doc

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1.00 Type of Vertical Electrodes

1.0I

As per prevailing industrial practice for 400kV and 220kV system. the vertical electrodes are
classified as Treated and Untreatedearth pits. The Treated earth pits are providedusingOS Pipe
of 40mm dia or CI Pipe of 100mmdia and augmentedwith salt & charcoal. while in untreated
earth pit. 40mm MS Rods are directly driven into virginsoil.
-.;;;.. ~-~

1.02

Treated earth pits are normally provided for LA. and Transformer Neutral earth pits. while
untreated earth pits are provided for all body earth of EHV Equipments.

1.03

Current practice that is being adopted is. 40mm dia GS Pipe are used for normallnon-corrosive
type of soils, while 100mm dia CI Pipe is used in highly corrosive soffiJaOfdall major industrial
consultants such as ElL MECON etc., still recommend use of 100mnrdia CI Pipe in treated
earthpits.

1.04

Hence. while revising IS 3043, we recommend the usage of JOOmmdia Cast Iron pipe and 40
mm dia G.I pipe to be stated clearly in the standard indicating their application in power system
earthing - based on the type of soil.

2.00

Fence Earthing System

2.01

According to CI. 17.3 of IEEE 80:2000. ' Groundingof Fencc' ,\\c feel that the GRID has to be
aligned in such a way that the Fcnce is positioncd as 0.9 I11tr(ie. 3 It) insidc the outer 1110stof the

earth grid. as per the Fig. 37 & 38 of IEEE 80:2000 standard.

Regd. Office: L&THouse. Ballard Estate. P 0 6ox 278. Mumbal - 400001 Tel 2618181: 82 Fax +0222620223
Webslte www lar$entOubro com

In addition to above, we requestyou to considerthe followingalso,

3.0

Earth Conductor Sizes

3,01
Prime Power utilities in India viz., NTPC & PGCIL have standardized the Main Earth Conductor
(buried below ground) size as 40mm dia M.S.Rod (based on 40kA fault for I sec duration) for
both 400kV & 220kV System.
3.02

3.03

However,if sizing of conductor is done, based on temperaturerise calculation,a minimumsize

of 25mmdia is adequatewithoutany corrosionallowance.

Regardingthecorrosionallowance.as perCHIPmanual(Ref: PublicationNo:223 , Manualon

Substation, chapter" Design of Earthing Mat for High voltage substation, Jan 1992..), the
corrosion allowances are recommended as per following table.
SI.No.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

Soil Resistivity Range

Less than 25 Ohm mtr
25 - 50 Ohm mtr
50 - 100 Ohm mtr
Above 100 Ohm mtr

class of soil
severely corrosive
Moderately corrosive
Mildly corrosive
very mildly corrosive

corrosion allowance
30%allowance
J5% allowance
15% allowance
No allowance

For the purpose of corrosion allowance the lowest resistivity of soil encountered in the field
measurement is to be considered.

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3.04

Assuming an average soil resistivity of 150 Ohm-mtr, a size of 24.72 mm dia (i.e 500 sq.mm ) is
adequate. without any corrosion allowance. As a worst case. even if we consider the lowest
value of soil resistivity that can be encountered as less than 25 ohm mtr. then still only a
corrosion allowance of 30% generally adequate as per the above CHIP research guide line. After
applying corrosion allowance of 30%, the minimum cross-sectional area required works out as
650sq_mm. which is equivalent to 28.76mm Dia. Hence. choosing a nearest standard size of
30l11mor 32mm dia can be provided, which will meet the technical requirement.

3_05

This fact is also well supported by the corrosion allowances given in BS7430: 1991. "Code of
practice for earthing. refer table 7. which indicates that for soil resistivity value greater than the
40 Ohl11-mtr"corrosion resistance generally unaffected".

3.06

However. even though 28mm dia is adequate as per above calculations. NTPC I PGCIL still
specif~' in their specifications. a 40mm dia conductor has to be provided for main earth mat.
while normally leading private consultants such as TCE. ElL & MCCON do not in~ist in such a
higher size.
Regd. Office:

3.07

l&T House.

Ballard Estate. P a.Box 278. Mumbal- 400 001.

Websrte www larsenloubro
com

Tel

2618181

I 82 F~.

..0222620223

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AlSo, in our opinion, the recent IEEE 80:2000, also does not recommend any minimum size,
such as say 40mm dia, for 400kV & 220kV system for main earth mat.

3.08

Since the present standards do not stipulate the minimum size for EHV Switchyard earthing, the
conductor are being sized by the EPC contractor according to the customer specification.

3.09

In view of the above. to bring commonality in the earthing system design. among the various
lead Utilities like PGCIL. NTPC and other lead consultants with EPC contractors. a common
approach should be made in BIS standard (ie. IS : 3043 : 1987) on the following aspect.
(a) Corrosion Allowance. which shall be directly related with Soil Resistivity, which is a
significant parameter measured at field for earthing system design.

3.10

We would request our BIS Sectional Committee ET20 to review the above thoroughly so
that the conductor sizes can be standardized.