EARTHING

G.V. Nilanka
Content………..
 purpose of earthing
 Earthing design
 Soil resistivity testing
 Resistance to earth of a rod or pipe
electrode
 Resistance to earth of a strip
 Resistance to earth of a infill material
purpose of earthing

 We provide a direct path to fault current.

 What is fault current?
 By earthing we can get common reference
potential in electrical system.
 There are several earthing arrangement
 To achieve good earthing,a suitable low
resistance to earth is desirable.
Earthing design
 Using Rods or pipe

 Using Strip

 Using Infill material

 Using foundation
Soil resistivity testing
 This varies with some parameters.
 moisture content
 temperature
 Depth
Soil resistivity testing
Calculate the soil resistivity

ρ=2πAd
 ρ=soil resistivity
 A=Apperant resistance
 D=distance between adjacent electrode
Resistance to earth a rod or pipe
electrode

R=ρ(ln(8l/D)-1)/2πL

L =length of electrode
D=diameter
ρ = resistivity of soil
Cont….

 l varies with electrode arrangement

 Three types of copper rods are
commonly available.

• Solid Copper
• Copper clad steel rod ( copper shrunk onto the
core)
• Copper Bonded steel core (copper is molecularly
bonded to nickel plated steel rod)
Resistance to earth of a strip

L – length of the strip

h - the depth buried
w - width of the strip
P and Q are coefficient for strip or round conductor

Rn=FR
Resistance to earth of a infill material

Where
ρ = resistivity of soil in Ω-m
ρc = resistivity of infill material Ω-m
d = Diameter of the electrode – m
D = Diameter of infill – m
L = Driven Length – m
Thank You