IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 14, No.
3, July 1999
A NEW METHOD TO DECREASE GROUND
RESISTANCES OF SUBSTATION GROUNDING SYSTEMS
IN HIGH RESISTIVITY REGIONS
Qingbo Meng Jinliang He
Dept. of Electrical Eng.
Northeast China Power Bureau Tsinghua University
Shenyang 11OOO6 Beijing 100084
P. R. China P.R. China
Abstract: Decreasing the ground resistance of a grounding
system in high resistivity soil is often a formidable task. A
new method is proposed to decrease ground resistances. This
method requires three steps: (1) drilling deep holes in the
ground; (2) developing cracks in the soil by means of
explosions in the holes; (3) filling the holes with low
resistivity materials (LRM) under pressure. Most of the
cracks around the vertical conductors will be filled with LRM
and a complex network of low resistivity tree-like cracks
linked to the substation grid is formed. The principle of
decreasing ground resistances using this new method is
described and the effectiveness of the new method is
examined. Application of this method to power system
grounding is presented together with measurement results.
Keywords: grounding, ground resistance, low resistivity
materials, soil resistivity, explosion
1. Introduction
The main purpose of power system substation grounding
grids is to maintain reliable operation and provide protection
for personnel and apparatus during fault conditions. A recent
survey concluded that a series of serious failures had taken
place in China because the ground resistances of some
substations did not meet the required values. For example, the
required ground resistance of the grounding system in Fenyi
Power Plant, Jiangxi Province, is 0.25 Q, but the actual one is
0.69 51. The failure in this plant on July 31, 1984, destroyed
the entire control system and the 50,000 kW No.6 generator.
In 1986, a 100,000 kW generator was destroyed in Heshan
Power Plant, Guangxi, because the ground resistance was
higher than the required value. In China, the ground
resistances of many power substation grounding systems can
not reach the required values in regions with high soil
resistivity. These substations have been in this state for some
time.
PE-196-PWRD-0-09-1998 A paper recommended and approved by
the IEEE Substations Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering
Society for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Power DeliieW.
Manuscript submitted April 10, 1998; made available for printing
October 7,1998.
0885-8977/99/$10.00 0 1998 IEEE
91 1
F. P. Dawalibi J. Ma
Senior Member, IEEE Member, IEEE ?e-
Safe Engineering Services & technologies ltd.
1544 Viel, Montreal, Quebec
Canada, H3M 1G4
An adequate grounding grid is a fundamental requirement to
maintain reliable power system operation [l-41. The earth
surface potential distribution in a substation should meet the
IEEE requirements [4] for touch and step voltages. This can
be achieved by various methods [5-91. On the other hand, the
ground resistance should also be kept low and meet the IEEE
requirements [4]. But in high soil resistivity regions,
decreasing the ground resistance of a grounding system may
constitute a formidable task.
The ground resistance of a grounding grid in uniform soil can
be calculated approximately using [ 101
where A is the area of the grounding grid and p the soil
resistivity. If the required ground resistance is 0.5 Q then
from (1)
A =pPz
If the soil resistivity is 100 Q,m, the area of the grounding
grid should be on the order of 100x100 m2 for a 0.5 Q ground
resistance. With the increase of soil resistivity, the required
area of the grounding grid for a given resistance value
increases significantly. If the soil resistivity is 2000 Q.m, the
required area for a 0.5 Q resistance will be 2000x2000 m2.
Because the available area for a substation is usually limited,
large grounding systems are not practical. In general, the area
of a substation is on the order of 100x100 m2. Therefore, it is
difficult for the ground resistance of a horizontal grid to reach
0.5 51, if the average soil resistivity is greater than 100 a . m .
Consequently, to meet the requirement of low ground
resistance in high resistivity regions, the substation grounding
grid should extend downward in the soil.
If a huge “deep” distributed grounding system in the
substation area is created, then the current injected into the
grounding system disperses to deeper soil layers easily. At the
same time, the area available to dissipate fault currents
increases, resulting in the decrease of the ground resistance.
Realistically, it is difficult to construct a large grounding
system within the area defined by property lines of most
substations. In this paper, a new method based on building a
grounding system extending to great depths is described and
examined.
912
2. Description of the New Method
First, several vertical holes are drilled, then appropriate
explosive agents are introduced into the holes. The resuIting
explosions create various cracks in the soil. Finally, l w
resistivity mkfials (LRM)are injected into the holes a d
cracks under high pressure. As a result, a large number of
cracks around the vertical conductors are filled with LRh4
and a large 3-dimensional grounding network consisting of
the ground conductors and cracks is formed as illustrated in
Fig. 1 (a). The basic idea of this method comes from the usual
practice of building the foundations of transmission line
towers in rocky regions by triggering explosions in holes and
filling them with concrete. It is noticed that these kinds of
tower foundations have very low ground resistances. The
LRM is usually an inorganic material with a resistivity less
than 5 a . m . The explosion course is carefully planned, and
the region close to the surface remains intact, as shown in Fig.
1 (b).
Ground
4 Grqunding Grid
(b)
Fig.1. The cubic grounding system (a) and its side view (b).
The basic principles upon which this new method is based
are:
(1) Contacting Deep Soil Layers with Low Resistivity: It has
been observed that there are usually low soil resistivity layers
or layers saturated with underground water in the regions with
high resistivity. The new method can effectively use these low
resistivity layers to decrease ground resistances.
(2) Reducing Contact Resistances: The low resistivity
materials which fill the holes provide a very low contact
resistance between the ground conductors and soil.
( 3 ) Decreasing the Leakage Resistance: The measured
ground impedance of a grounding system consists of four
parts: the impedance of the bonding leads, the impedance of
ground conductors, the contact resistance between the ground
conductors and the soil, and the distributed resistance to
remote earth. The first and second parts are very small and
can be neglected. The third part is normally ignored during
computation and is quite small when LRM are used to
decrease contact resistances as is the case here. Consequently
only the distributed (leakage) resistance is significant. The
ground resistance of a circular metallic plate or very dense
grid of radius r can be calculated approximately using the
simple formula
R =p/4r (3)
The ground resistance of a hemispherical electrode of radius r
as shown in Fig. 2 is approximately
R, = p / 2 7 ~ (4)
The difference between the ground resistances of a dense
grounding grid and a hemispherical electrode is
P
A R = R - R , =(1-21~)-=0.363R (5)
4r
It can be seen that there is a 36.3% reduction in the ground
resistance using a hemispherical electrode instead of a
circular plate electrode with the same radius. When the radius
of the hemispherical electrode is increased to lSr, the total
reduction becomes 57.5%. Therefore, expanding the number
of conductive branches available for the current to dissipate in
the soil can effectively decrease the ground resistance.
Fig. 2. Hemispherical electrode.
When the new method is used, a large network of soil cracks
filled with LRM is formed. This network acts like a virtual
extension of the grounding system to deeper soils, resulting in
lower ground resistances.
(4) Links to the Intrinsic Soil Cracks: It is known that intrinsic
cracks exist in rocky areas. The cracks caused by the
explosion often connect with the intrinsic cracks in the rock.
These intrinsic cracks are typically filled with moisture and
usually extend to remote locations. The connected intrinsic
 913
cracks and explosion cracks are filled with LRM by the high amount of explosives used. It is usually suitable to select a
pressure injection. When current is discharged from the rod span between 1.5-2.01.
grounding system, it can flow to remote locations through the
low resistivity soil cracks, as can be seen in Fig. 3. TABLE 1. Measured Ground Resistance R2 and Computed
Resistance of the Vertical Rods in Parallel R3
Rod SA Rz(i2) R3 (a) Usage
span s Factorf
30m 1.5 10.6 9.4 0.887
20m 1.0 16.4 11.9 0.726
10m 0.5 20.4 10.4 0.510
10m 0.5 15.8 8.6 0.544
20m 1.0 10.5 8.2 0.781
30m 1.5 15.9 13.1 0.824
L
40m 2.0 11.7 10.8 0.921

Fig. 3. Intrinsic cracks and explosion cracks. (1) Grounding 0.8 1 L

P
l
conductor; (2) Intrinsic crack; (3) Explosion crack;
(4) Soil.

3. Span Between Vertical Conductor Holes

The cost of applying the new method can be quite high. In
order to lower the cost, a suitable span between the vertical
holes should be determined for which the interaction effects
between the various elements of the grounding system
(vertical rods and cracks) lead to the optimum reduction
effect.
The field experiments for determining a suitable rod span
were completed in Benxi, China, in October 1992. First, one
vertical hole was drilled at one corner of the grounding grid
to be installed. Cracks were made by explosion in the hole
and then filled with low resistivity material. First, the ground
resistance of a metallic rod in this hole was measured. The
measured resistance value divided by 4 is defined as R3,
representing the ground resistance of four vertical rods placed
at the four corners of the grid, neglecting the interaction
between the rods. Second, three more holes were drilled at
the other three corners of the grounding grid to be installed
and the explosion method was applied. After installing three
vertical rods in the three newly drilled holes and the
horizontal grounding grid, the ground resistance of the
complex grounding network consisting of the grid, the
vertical rods and the low resistivity filled cracks was
measured, yielding a value defined as R2. The length 1 of
every rod was 20 meters. The measured results for different
rod spans are listed in Table 1.
The usage factorf is defined as
f =R3/R2 (6)
where R3 is the measured resistance of one vertical rod
divided by 4 (resistance of four infinitely spaced vertical
rods). The relationship between the usage factor f and SI1 is
shown in Fig. 4, where S is the rod span and 1 the rod length.
The rod span is related to the geological structure and the
f
0.6
- [
0.4-
0.2 -
SI1
Fig. 4. Usage factorffor different rod spacings.
4. Effectiveness of the New Method in Decreasing
Ground Resistances
A. Ground Resistance of a Deep Distributed Grounding Grid
If a substation grounding system consists of a horizontal grid
and vertical conductors, then an approximate value of the
ground resistance R can be computed using 141
R = ( R H R s - R H s Z ) / ( R H+ R s - 2 R H s ) (7)
where RH is the ground resistance of the horizontal grid, Rs
the ground resistance of the vertical conductors, and RHSthe
mutual resistance between the horizontal grid conductors and
the vertical conductors.
It should be pointed out that a deep distributed grounding
system created using the new method is more effective in
dissipating fault currents than a usual grounding system
consisting of a horizontal grid and vertical conductors. This is
because the LRM-filled cracks connect to one another and to
the soil's intrinsic cracks, resulting in a truly extensive
grounding system. The ground resistance of this grounding
system could be computed using (3) with a modified
equivalent radius r
914

r=h+D (8) arrangement is shown in Fig. 5 . Twelve vertical holes were

drilled, and the new method was applied. The experimental
where h is the depth of the deepest hole and D the equivalent
results are shown in Table 2. From a lot of experimental
reach of cracks, which is related to the geological structure in
results, the explosion and geology factor K has been classified
the substation area. In light weathering rock soil, D is in the
six types according to geological situation. The results
range of 5 to 10 meters. In medium weathering rock soil, D is given in Table 3.
in the w e of 10 to 15 meters, and in heavy weathering rock I
soil, D is in the range of 15 to 20 meters. TABLE 3. Explosion and Geob Factor Kin Different
Geological C o a tions
Because the deep distributed grounding system can connect
with deeper low resistivity soil via the intrinsic and explosion
cracks filled with LRM, an explosion and geology factor K
should be considered when computing the resistance of the
grounding system using the formula for a hemispherical
electrode of radius r as defined in (8)

(9)

The explosion and geology factor K is related to the degree of

explosion and geology. For example, K is dependent on the
existence of deep low resistivity layers, the existence of
intrinsic cracks, and whether the cracks extend to remote
locations with low resistivity soil.
5. Applications of the New Method in Power System
Grounding
A. Main Applications
Since 1989, the new method has been used in China in many
power system grounding projects such as the 220 kV Nan-Ge
transmission line, 220 kV Fen-Ge transmission line, and 220
kV Ping-Hu transmission line projects. The main applications
in substation grounding projects are shown in Table 4.
TABLE 4. List of Applications of the New Methods in
Substation Grounding Projects

-
Vertical Conductor

Fig. 5. The experimental arrangement.

TABLE 2. Effectiveness of the New Method

in Decreasing Ground Resistance

Soil Weathering Low Hole Ground Estimated Measured

Resisti- Condition Resistivity Depth Resis- Crack Factor
vitv Laver (m)
. . tance Reach D K
(ail) (a) (m)
3400 Heavy No 60 5.3 15 1.37
1500 Slight Yes 40 3.7 10 1.28
4300 Heavy No 60 6.3 15 1.45
1700 Medium Yes 40 3.6 15 1.35
2600 Heavy Yes 50 2.2 20 2.70
3800 Medium Yes 60 5.2 15 1.54
1900 Slight No 40 7.7 10 0.80
2100 Slight Yes 50 4.8 10 1.16
3600 Heavy Yes 60 3.7 20 1.96

B. Effectiveness of the New Method

Note that the computed resistance values in Table 4
In order to analyze the effectiveness of the new method in correspond to the grid and vertical rods only, without
decreasing ground resistances, several experiments were considering the LRM filled cracks. The computation method
carried out in different test regions. The experiment is described in [ l l ] . This new method is accepted as an

effective method to decrease the grounding resistance of
grounding system in high resistivity regions in China.
B. The 110 kV Gangbei Substation Grounding Project
The newly built 110 kV Gangbei substation grounding system
in Zhuhai adopted the new method. The average soil
resistivity is about 1100 Q.m which is very high, but the
measured ground resistance of the grounding grid is 0.43 a,
which is below the required value for safe operation. The
project was completed in three months from March to June in
1993. It should be pointed out that the computed ground
resistance of the grid with four vertical rods of 100 m in
length at its four corners is 3.2 9 with a 1100 Q-m soil
resistivity.
The horizontal grounding grid was about 120 m x 120 m.
First, 4x100 m vertical holes at four corners of the grid were
drilled and explosives were used to develop the cracks. Then
LRM was injected under high pressure into the holes. And
other 13 vertical rods with the depths of 30-50 m by the new
methods were arranged near electrical equipments inside grid.
A total of seven tons of LRM were used in this project. The
explosion and geology factor was estimated to be about 3.4.
Moreover, the substation has safely operated since it is put
into operation.
C. The Fengzhen Power Generating Station Project
The grounding system of Fengzhen Power Generating Station
is shown in Figure 6. The original grounding system consists
of the grounding grids of the power generating station, the
220 kV substation and the 500 kV substation. The measured
ground resistance is 0.69 R. The soil resistivity is 560 a.m.
In October, 1997, the grounding system was enhanced by
adding a new grounding grid as shown in Figure 6. The new
method was applied when the new grid was added. 12x40 m
and 2x80 m vertical holes with the new method were
arranged around the peripheries of the new added grid. The
measured ground resistance of the enhanced grounding
system is 0.26 Q.
6. Conclusions
A massive grounding system made of grounding conductors
and a network of soil cracks is constructed using a new
method. The mechanisms by which the ground resistance is
decreased significantly are: (1) development of deep
conductive soil cracks using explosives and low resistivity
materials; (2) linkage of cracks created by the explosions with
intrinsic (natural) cracks; (3) connection of the various cracks
with low resistivity soil layers.
It has been found from extensive field tests that an optimum
(suitable) span between vertical conductors is in the range of
1.51 to 2.01 with 1 being the length of the vertical conductors.
The explosion and geology factors in different soils have also
determined by field tests. The effectiveness of the new
method in decreasing ground resistance has been examined
and actual applications of the new method in substation
915
grounding have been presented. It is shown ’that the new
method is quite effective in reducing ground resistances in
roc@ areas.
200 m
k
500 kV
Substation
Grounding
1 I 1:
Grid
II 220 kV Substation
Grounding Grid
Grounding Grid of Paver
Generating Station
400 m
P I
Fig. 6. The Fengzhen Power Station Grounding System.
7. References
[I] F. Dawalibi and D. Mukhedkar, “Parametric analysis of
grounding grids,” IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus and Systems,
Vol. PAS-98, No. 5 , Sept./Oct. 1979, pp. 1659-1668.
[2] F. Dawalibi and D. Mukhedkar, “Influence of ground rods on
grounding grids,” IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus and Systems,
Vol. PAS-98, No. 6, Nov./Dec. 1979, pp. 2089-2098.
[3] A. P. Meliopoulos, R. P. Webb, and E. B. Joy, “Analysis of
grounding systems,” IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus and
Systems,Vol. PAS-100, No. 3, March 1981,pp. 1039-1046.
[4] IEEWANSI Std. 80-1986, Guide for Safety in AC Substation
Grounding.
[5] F. Dawalibi and D. Mukhedkar, “Optimum design of substation
grounding in two-layer earth structure - Part I, analytical
study,” IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. PAS-
94, N0.2, MarchIApril 1975, pp. 252-261.
[6] F. Dawalibi and D. Mukhedkar, “Optimum design of substation
grounding in two-layer earth structure - Part 11, comparison
between theoretical and experimental results,” IEEE Trans.
Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. PAS-94, No.2,
MarcWApril 1975, pp. 262-266.
[7] F. Dawalibi and D. Mukhedkar, “Optimum design of substation
grounding in two-layer earth structure - Part 111, study of
grounding grids performance and new electrode configuration,”
IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. PAS-94,
N0.2,MarcNApril 1975, pp. 267-272.
[8] J. G. Sverak, “Optimized grounding grid design using variable
spacing technique,” IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus and
Systems, Vol. PAS-95, No. 1, Jan.lFeb. 1976,pp. 362-374.
[9] L. Huang, X. Chen, and H. Yan, “Study of unequally spaced
grounding grids,” IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, Vol. 10, No.2,
April 1995, pp. 716-722.
916
[lo] IEEE Std.665-1995, IEEE Standard for Generating Station
Grounding.
[ 111 F.P. Dawalibi and F. Donoso, "Integrated Analysis Software
for Grounding, EMF, and EMI",IEEE Computer Applications
in Power, 1993, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 19-24.
8. Biography
Mr. Qingbo Meng was born in 1951, in Shenyang, P. R.
China. He graduated from Northeast China Electrical
Engineering University in 1975. He worked in the department
of power construction of Northeast China Power Bureau,
where he is a senior engineer. He received his M. Eng. from
Wuhan University of Hydraulic and Electrical Engineering in
June 1994. His research interests are in power transmission,
construction of substations and transmission lines, and
grounding techniques.
Dr. Jinliang He was born in Changsha, P. R. China, in
January, 1966. He received the B.Sc. degree from Wuhan
University of Hydraulic and the Electrical Engineering, the
M.Sc. Degree from Chongqing University., and the Ph.D.
degree from Tsinghua University, all in Electrical
Engineering, in July 1988, Jan. 1991 and March 1994,
respectively.
From April 1994 to June 1996, he was a lecturer in the
Electrical Engineering Department, Tsinghua University. In
July 1996, he became an associate professor in the same
department. From 1994 to Jan 1997, he was the head of high
voltage laboratory in Tsinghua University. Since 1996, he has
also held a concurrent position as an associate professor in
the National Key Laboratory of Safety, Control and
Simulation of Power System in Tsinghua University. Since
April 1997, he has been a visiting scientist in Korea
ElectrotechnologyResearch Institute, involved in research on
metal oxide varistor and high voltage polymeric metal oxide
surge arrester. His research interests are in overvoltages and
EMC in power systems and electronic systems, grounding
technology, and power apparatus.
Dr. Farid P. Dawalibi (M72, SM'82) was born in Lebanon
in November 1947. He received a Bachelor of Engineering
degree from St. Joseph's University, affiliated with the
University of Lyon, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from
Ecole Polytechnique of the University of Montreal. From
1971 to 1976, he worked as a consulting engineer with the
Shawinigan Engineering Company, in Montreal. He worked
on numerous projects involving power system analysis
and design, railway electrific ation studies and specialized
computer software code development. In 1976, he joined
Montel-Sprecher & Schuh, a manufacturer of high voltage
equipment in Montreal, as Manager of Technical Services
p d was involved in power system design, equipment
selection and testing for systems ranging from a few to
several hundred kV.
In 1979, he founded Safe Engineering Services &
Technologies, a company which specializes in soil effects on
power networks. Since then he has been responsible for the
engineering activities of the company including the
development of computer software related to power system
applications.
He is the author of more than one hundred papers on power
system grounding, lightning, inductive interference and
electromagneticfield analysis. He has written several research
reports for CEA and EPRI.
Dr. Dawalibi is a corresponding member of various IEEE
Committee Working Groups, and a senior member of the
IEEE Power Engineering Society and the Canadian Society
for Electrical Engineering. He is a registered Engineer in the
Province of Quebec.
Dr. Jimi Ma was born in Shandong, P.R. China in December
1956. He received the B.Sc. degree in radioelectronics from
Shandong University, and the M.Sc. degree in electrical
engineering from Beijing University of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, in 1982 and 1984, respectively. He received the
Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada in 1991. From
1984 to 1986, he was a faculty member with the Dept. of
Electrical Engineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics
and Astronautics. He worked on projects involving design
and analysis of reflector antennas and calculations of radar
cross sections of aircraft.
Since September 1990, he has been with the R & D Dept. of
Safe Engineering Services & Technologies in Montreal,
where he is presently serving as manager of the Analytical R
& D Department. His research interests are in transient
electromagnetic scattering, EM1 and EMC, and analysis of
grounding systems in various soil structures.
Dr. Ma has authored and coauthored more than forty papers
on transient electromagnetic scattering, analysis and design of
reflector antennas, power system grounding, lightning and
electromagnetic interference analysis. He is a corresponding
member of the IEEE Substations Committee and is active on
Working Groups D7 and D9.