result in long term gains including

expense of data transmission.

a reduction in the time

and

Requirements from Data Compression Algorithms

Data compression schemes need to provide wide system
frequency response and also provide reasonable compression
ratios. This implies some very stringent requirements from
the data compression technique. First, the compression
technique should not attenuate or accentuate any of the
frequencies below the specification on the system frequency
response. Second, the compression algorithm should not
corrupt the waveform data by adding higher frequency
components. Third, the compression technique should be
able to specify the slew rates in the input analog data beyond
which it fails. Certain accuracy specifications will also have
to be met by the compression technique. These specifications could limit the maximum variance of the magnitude of a
reconstructed sample from the actual measured value. The
magnitude variance specification may also be tiered along the
magnitude of the input signal. Other requirements can be
expected to arise as more experience is gained in this area.

Recommended Schemes
A number of data compression schemes have been evaluated using data typical to a power systems environment. Two
promising schemes have been identified. One of the schemes
involves the use of the Fast Fourier Transform. This transform
is applied on a cycle by cycle basis. A value for the upper
frequency limit on the data uploaded is set by the user during
setup. Harmonics upto this upper frequency limit are uploaded. The second scheme, known as Differential Pulse
Code Modulation (DPCM), is a differential coding or predictive
coding system where waveform redundancy is utilized in
time-domain operations to realize straightforward reductions
in transmission times. DPCM coders are based on the notion
of quantizing a prediction error signal, the prediction error
being the difference between a predicted value and the actual

sample value. The performance of each of these techniques

has been evaluated using various data sets.

Conclusion
The search for a suitable compression method has just
begun. However, the results obtained from this effort have
provided insights into the requirements for any data compression scheme. Two promising approaches to compression of
power systems data have been identified. Variations and
modifications of these fundamental approaches are recommended so as to obtain optimum performance. Characterization of the disturbance data should also be performed to tune
the basic algorithms for power systems data.

89 WM 063-9
July 1989

Bibliography for Reliability and Availability

Engineering for Substations

IEEE Working Group Dl on Operating and Reliability

Aspects for Substation Design

Summary

on technical references relating to the reliability of substations which step down from a primary voltage to a secondary
distribution system voltage of 46 kV or below.
The references are arranged alphabetically by the last name
of the first author appearing in the publication. Organization
names are used as the author when the individuals preparing
the document could not be identified. In some cases, no
author or organization could be identified on magazine
articles. These articles are credited to the magazine staff and
are so listed.
The vast majority of these references are readily available
in industry literature and in technical libraries.

88 SM 714-8

July 1989

Increasing of Ground Resistance of Human Foot

In Substations Yards
B. Thapar, Sr. Member IEEE
Ziad A. Alaywan, Member, IEEE
Montana State University
Bozeman, Montana

Summary
Tolerable step and touch voltages for a person largely
on the grounding resistance of the foot. In a
substation switchyard a 0.08 to 0.1 5 m layer of crushed rock
is often spread on the surface of the earth to increase the
grounding resistance of the feet of the people in the substation area. However, if the thickness of the layer of crushed
rock is small and the soil underneath is of low resistivity, a
high value of the footing resistance is not obtained. Cement
concrete pathways in a switchyard when wet may result in a
low grounding resistance of the foot. For designing a safe
grounding system a high value of footing resistance is
desirable. A simple method that can be adopted to obtain high
footing resistance is the use of a sheet of plastic material
such as polyethylene, permalon, etc., immediately below the
layer of crushed rock or the cement concrete pathway, at
places in a substation where high footing resistance is
needed. Plastic sheets having tear and puncture resistant
qualities are available and if used properly should last for a
long time.
Analysis of the footing resistance when a plastic sheet is
spread below the surface of earth is presented in this paper.
Scale model tests have been conducted to obtain results and
a simple method has been developed to obtain the grounding
resistance of the foot when a plastic sheet is used below the
surface of the soil.

depend

Footing Resistance with Plastic Sheet

A human foot is adequately represented by a conducting
metallic disk having 8 cm radius. A circular plastic sheet
spread horizontally at a depth h below the surface of the soil

with its center below the center of the disk representing the
foot is considered.
Models prepared on a scale 1:4 were tested in a small
swimming pool filled with tap water. It was observed that if
the depth at which the plastic sheet was placed was not more
than 20 cm and the diameter of the sheet was more than 1 m,
the resistance offered by the soil to the flow of the current
beyond the edge of the sheet was very small as compared to
the resistance offered by the soil above the sheet, therefore,
only the region above the sheet was considered to evaluate
the resistance of the foot. Mathematics involved to determine
the resistance offered by the soil above the plastic sheet to
the flow of the current from an electrode is easiest when the
electrode is in the form of a vertical cylinder of length h placed

This paper presents a bibliography of 107 references

pertaining to the reliability and availability of substations.
An extensive search has been made to identify technical
papers, articles and books which are applicable to the study
of substation reliability and availability. Emphasis was placed
IEEE Power Engineering Review, July 1989.
IEEE Power Engineering Review, July 1989

53

at the center of the plastic sheet. With the help of scale model
studies equivalent radius of the cylindrical conductor that
gave the same grounding resistance as the metallic disk of
radius 8 cm placed at the surface of the soil was determined
for different values of h.

Hole in the Plastic Sheet

To evaluate the effect of an opening in the sheet on the
grounding resistance of the foot circular holes are considered.
A hole of irregular shape may be replaced by a circular hole
having the same area as the irregular hole. Through the hole
the current flows in the soil below the plastic sheet. The flow
of the current in the soil below the sheet will be almost the
same as from a disk of the same size of the hole placed at P,
the location of the hole. The total grounding resistance of the
foot can be determined by considering the resistance offered
by the soil between the equivalent cylindrical conductor and
point P in series with the parallel combination of: (a) the
resistance offered by the soil between point P and the rim of
the plastic sheet and (b) the resistance offered by the soil
below the hole at P.
The grounding resistance of the foot when a plastic sheet
having a hole was spread below the surface of the soil was
measured with the scale models for a large variation of
parameters within practical limits. The results obtained for
various values of the parameters through scaled model
studies are quite close to those calculated with the above
mentioned method.
The model studies indicate that if a hole in the sheet is
covered with a piece of plastic sheet the grounding resistance
of the foot is restored to that with no hole in the sheet. The
covering sheet need not be sealed around the hole.
Surface Potential
Through analog model studies comparison of the surface
potentials with and without a plastic sheet is made for a 9
mesh square grid. Depending on its location use of the plastic
sheet may decrease or increase the touch voltage. However,
if the plastic sheet is located so as to increase the touch
voltage, even under the worst condition an increase in the
touch voltage will be less than 30%
Conclusions
Typical examples given in the paper show that a plastic
sheet used under a layer of crushed rock or a cement
concrete pathway in a substation significantly increases the
grounding resistance of the foot. With the data presented in
this paper the grounding resistance of the foot, when a plastic
sheet is used, can be evaluated. The effect of any damage to
the sheet, resulting in a hole, on the grounding resistance of
the foot can be estimated. In most situations use of the
plastic sheet extending 1 m from the foot will increase the
grounding resistance of the foot by more than 100%.
Advantage gained by the increase in the footing resistance
will not be offset by the increase in the touch voltage if at all
the increase in the touch voltage occurs.
Discussers: J. K. Arora and H.R. Seedher.

5454

89 WM 065-4
July 1989

Seismic Behavior of Toughened Glass Station

Post Insulators for 800 kV Networks
J. Grases and A. 0. Lopez
Central University of Caracas
Venezuela
R. Parraud, Member, R. Joulie
and G. Bourdier
Sediver
Saint-Yorre, France
To prevent damage to the equipment in substations during
earthquakes and ensure essential functions both during and
after the events, special care must be taken in design and
selection of each component, especially station post insulators used to insulate busbars and disconnecting switches. In
the past, studies of seismic behavior of substation insulating
components concentrated on porcelain members.
The test results, investigations and analysis reported
hereafter represent a complete seismic characterization of
800 kV toughened glass station post insulators comprising
the following stages:
- verification
of the ability of the post insulators to
withstand the seismic specifications of EDELCA (VENEZUELA),
tests to determine the resistance limit under forced
vibrations,
analytical study by mathematical model allowing analysis of the behavior of the insulator in its real configuration under combined exceptional stresses,
- definition of safety factors,
statistical study of failure probability in two well known
high earthquake risk areas: San Andreas fault (California) and Bocono fault (Venezuela)
-

Conclusion
Analytical as well as experimental studies of 800 kV
toughened glass post insulators have shown that they have
more than sufficient capacity to withstand the seismic
actions established in modern specifications, with design
spectra anchored at 0.5 g, duly combined with simultaneous
gravity, conductor and short circuit effects. Shaking-table
tests show that toughened glass post insulators withstand
earthquake forces which are at least 3 times larger than those
required in present standards. Under extremely hazardous
seismic scenarios, for example near the San Andreas fault,
the probability of failure for 50-year lifespan hardly exceeds
1%.
These studies confirm that toughened glass station post
insulators offer a new solution to problems of seismic
resistance.

IEEE
Power Engineering
IEEE Power
Review, July
Engineering Review,
July 1989