Lightning Protection Improvement and Economic Evaluation of Thailand’s 24 kV Distribution Line Based on Difference in Grounding Distance of Overhead Ground Wire

This study determines the voltage across insulators after a direct lightning strike to an overhead ground wire on a 24 kV pole structure for different grounding distances of overhead ground wire, to calculate the maximum ground resistance required to avoid disruption of the distribution line system using ATP-EMTP software. The results show that when a 40 kA lightning current, the average lightning current in Thailand, strikes a 24 kV pole structure, the maximum ground resistance should not exceed 4 Ω for a 40 m grounding distance of overhead ground wire, based on an existing critical insulator flashover of 205 kV. However, because the average ground resistance in Thailand is approximately 10 Ω, this study proposes increasing the insulation level from 205 kV to 300 kV to reduce the likelihood of power outage. The cost-effectiveness of such an investment is assessed in terms of net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), profitability index (PI), and discounted payback period (DPP) using existing economic tools. Results show that when the critical insulator flashover is increased from 205 kV to 300 kV for a 40 m grounding distance of overhead ground wire, the project is likely to have a DPP of 15.12 years, NPV of 143,321.87 USD, IRR of 12%, and PI of 1.15. On the other hand, grounding distances greater than 40 m for overhead ground wire result in negative NPV, although the back flashover rate can be reduced by 1.51–5.71% with grounding distances of 80–200 m compared to the situation in the absence of grounding.

Statistical Analysis of Lightning Flashes over Wind Parks in Greece

Currently, lightning phenomenon, mechanisms, and impacts on lives and infrastructures have been satisfactorily decoded and studied. Sound knowledge of lightning parameters is available in international literature. Yet, there are few studies referring to lightning statistics such as the number of flashes over an area, current amplitude distribution, etc., except for official documentation from national weather services, perhaps because of the stochastic nature of lightning. This work presents full recorded data for lightning flashes over wind farms distributed at the Hellenic territory. The data come from real time measurements at wind farm stations from 2011 to 2020 and concern number of CG flashes and lightning current amplitude. They are statistically processed and analyzed and contain useful information regarding the lightning characteristics of various geographic regions all over the country. Furthermore, the study displays data from field measurements of ground resistance at wind turbines and highlights techniques of designing and enhancing grounding systems of wind turbines for given lightning protection level (LPL). The present study, therefore, provides stakeholders with useful data and noteworthy conclusions about lightning occurrence and characteristics in Greece in order to make informed decisions on the various project stages, such as selection of the wind farm site, proper and in-depth risk assessment, and investment in safety measures for personnel and equipment.

DEVELOPMENT OF A METHOD FOR CALCULATING THE BEARING CAPACITY OF BORED CONICAL PILES

Three methods for determining the load-bearing capacity of bored conical piles are presented, considering the additional forces of the ground rebound along their inclined side surface under vertical load. It is proposed to determine the bearing capacity according to the results of field tests using the coefficient of transition from the maximum permissible settlement of the building foundation to the settlement of the pile obtained during static tests. Its value varies from 0.1 to 0.3 depending on the angle of the pile taper. To determine the bearing capacity of the empirical method, tabular data of the ground rebound forces on the side surface of the piles are developed. It depends on the strength properties of the base soil, the angle of the pile taper and the depth of the location of the changing cross-section of the pile along the length. The process of compressing the soil in a drilled well with an elastic cylindrical pressiometer is close to the occurrence of a ground rebound when it is pushed apart by the side surface of a conical pile during sediment under load. It is proposed to determine the ground resistance on the side surface of conical piles according to the same dependence as when processing the results of pressiometric tests of soils, taking into account the introduction of a correction factor depending on the parameters of the pile. The calculated load-bearing capacity of the piles, determined by the proposed methods, differs from the actual load-bearing capacity, determined by the results of static tests of full-scale piles, within 10 %. However, these methods need to be improved with the accumulation of statistical data for testing full-scale piles in different ground conditions.

Application of Mineral Compounds for a High-Voltage Portable Grounding System: An Experimental Study

Electrical grounding is an indispensable part of the power system network. The grounding system is mainly affected by grounding resistance and the nature of the soil. High ground resistance produces the phenomenon of soil ionization, surface arching, and back flashover. A conventional grounding system requires the deep digging of electrodes, thus creating maintenance difficulties. This research work focuses on the safe operation of an electric power system from external and internal impulses arising due to lightning strikes or short circuits. The study proposes an application of mineral samples as grounding materials, and bentonite is used as backfilling material in portable grounding systems. A detailed experimental analysis was conducted under controlled conditions to evaluate the performance of selected materials in high-resistance soil. The problem of a deeply driven electrode is addressed by designing the portable grounding system. The study results demonstrate that the proposed portable grounding system could be installed in troubled environments such as forests, deserts, and rocky terrains. To measure the breakdown voltages of the proposed samples, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis and other laboratory tests were conducted. The electric field intensities are extracted through Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The experimental and simulation findings show the expected performance of mineral samples under various operating conditions. The findings of this study can guide the practitioners for safe and efficient operations of portable electrical grounding systems.

Effect of Non-Homogeneous Soil Characteristics on Substation Grounding-Grid Performances: A Review

Designing an effective grounding system for AC substations needs predetermination of ground resistance and ground potential distribution caused by fault current’s presence in the ground. Therefore, it is necessary to have a suitable grounding grid structure in the soil properties in which the grid is buried. Though the soil composition where the grounding grid is located is typically non-homogeneous, the soil is often presumed to be homogeneous due to the complexities of grounding system analysis in non-homogeneous soil. This assumption will lead to inaccuracies in the computation of ground resistance and ground potentials. Although extensive research has been done on non-homogeneous soil structure, comprehensive literature on grounding system performance in non-homogeneous soil is yet to be reviewed. Thus, this paper reviews the effect of non-homogeneous soil on the grounding system, with different soil characteristics in horizontal and vertical two-layer soil structure and the horizontal three-layer soil structure. In addition, the effect of design parameters on the grounding performance in non-homogeneous soil conditions for non-transient fault conditions is also studied. The significance of this study is that it provides a comprehensive review of grounding performance as grounding design changes and their effects as soil layers and their corresponding features change. This knowledge will be useful in developing safe grounding designs in non-homogeneous soil.

Analysis of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) Surge Arrester Connected to Various Ground Electrodes

This paper presents impulse tests results on a zinc oxide (ZnO) surge arrester connected to four ground electrodes, with its resistance values ranging from 17 Ω to 104 Ω. It has been noted that when in series with various ground resistance values, the voltage–current characteristics of the zinc oxide (ZnO) surge arrester are far from the one tested using a common grounding, which is a standard measurement method described in IEC 60060-1. This paper clarifies the relationship between the surge arrester with various ground electrodes and its performance when tested with a common practice, based on IEC 60060-1. The tests carried out on a 15 kV ZnO surge arrester, under high-impulse conditions by field measurements, provide important information on the characteristics and ability of the surge arrester to adequately function in various ground electrodes.

Fault identification in power cables by using travelling wave-based approach

Thefaults in the underground cables cause to generatetransients which propagate along the power cable as travelling waves. The velocity of the generated travelling wave and the time taken by a wave to reach the source point from the fault location enables us to calculate the fault distance value.In this paper a double endedtravelling wave based approach is used and a communication channel is designed to calculate the fault distance. A circuit-based model is developed in the EMTP-RV software to find out the fault distance from the source end for all types of faults. Further it is proved that the fault distance is unaffected by the change in ground resistance, various types of faults and the fault inception angle in the proposed method