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ANSI/IEEE Std 81-1983 IEEE Guide for Measuring Earth Resistivity, Ground
Impedance, and Earth Surface Potentials of a Ground System -Description
Content

1. Purpose
2. Scope
3. Objectives of Tests
4. Definitions
5. Safety Precautions While Making Ground Tests

o 5.1 Station Ground Tests
o 5.2 Surge-Attester Ground Tests
o 5.3 Small Isolated Ground Tests
6. General Considerations of the Problems Related to Measurements

o 6.1 Complexities
o 6.2 Test Electrodes
o 6.3 Stray Direct Currents
o 6.4 Stray Alternating Currents
o 6.5 Reactive Component of Impedance of a Large Grounding System
o 6.6 Coupling Between Test Leads
o 6.7 Buried Metallic Objects
7. Earth Resistivity

o 7.1 General
o 7.2 Methods of Measuring Earth Resistivity
o
7.2.1 Geological Information and Soil Samples
7.2.2 Variation of Depth Method
7.2.3 Two-Point Method
7.2.4 Four-Point Method
o 7.3 Interpretation of Measurements
o
7.3.1 Geological Information and Soil Samples
7.3.2 Variation of Depth Method (see Appendix B)
7.3.3 Two-Point Method
7.3.4 Four-Point Method
o 7.4 Instrumentation
o
7.4.1 Two-Point Method
7.4.2 Four-Point or Variation-of-Depth Methods
8. Ground Impedance

o 8.1 General
o
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8.1.1 Characteristics
8.1.2 Theoretical Value of Ground Resistance
o 8.2 Methods of Measuring Ground Impedance
o
8.2.1 General
o 8.3 Testing the Integrity of the Ground Grid
o 8.4 Instrumentation
9. Earth Potential

o 9.1 Equipotential Lines
o 9.2 Potential Contour Surveys
o 9.3 Step and Touch Voltages
10. Transient Impedance

o 10.1 Transient Impedance of Ground Systems
o
10.1.1 General
10.1.2 Measurements of the Transient Impedance of Ground
Systems
10.1.3 Instrumentation
11. Model Tests

o 11.1 Purpose
o 11.2 Similarity Criteria and Limitations
o 11.3 Instrumentation
o 11.4 Resistance Measurements
o 11.5 Potential Measurements
o 11.6 Interpretation of Measurements
12. Instrumentation

o 12.1 Ratio Ohmmeter
o 12.2 Double-Balance Bridge
o 12.3 Single-Balance Transformer
o 12.4 Ammeter-Voltmeter
o 12.5 Induced Polarization Units
o
12.5.1 Transmitter
12.5.2 Receiver
12.5.3 Main Advantages
o 12.6 High-Frequency Earth Resistance Meter
13. Practical Aspects of Measurements

o 13.1 Selection of Auxiliary Electrodes
o 13.2 Selection of Test Leads
o 13.3 Selection of Auxiliary Equipment
o
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13.3.1 Hammers

13.3.2 Distance Measurements

13.3.3 Lead Reels and Mobile Cart
o 13.4 Testing Precautions
o 13.5 Large Substations
Annex A Nonuniform Soils

o A.1 Two-Layer Soil Apparent Resistivity
o A.2 Exponential Variation of Resistivity
o A.3 Ground Rod Resistance in a Two-Layer Soil
Annex B Determination of an Earth Model
Annex C Theory of the Fall of Potential Method

o C.1 Basic Definitions and Symbols
o C.2 Derivation of the Fundamental Equations
o C.3 Uniform Soil
o C.4 Identical Electrodes and Large Spacings
o C.5 Hemispherical Electrodes
o C.6 General Case
Annex D Bibliography

GROUNDING

Grounding is the permanent and intentional connection of all metal parts of an electrical
power system to the earth with a conductor that has a sufficient current rating to carry any
possible fault current, and sufficiently low impedance to limit the voltage rise above the
ground potential. Under normal conditions, electrical system will satisfactorily deliver
power without proper grounding. Grounding problems will become apparent only after a
fault occurs and someone is injured or equipment is damaged.
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The Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) requires that the grounding be designed to satisfy
the following criteria:
- to protect life from the danger of electric shock, and property from damage by
bonding to ground non-current-carrying metal parts of systems; and
- to limit the voltage to a safe level when a circuit is exposed to higher voltages than
those for which the circuit was designed; and
- in general to limit ac circuit voltages to-ground to 159 V or less on circuits
supplying interior wiring systems; and
- to facilitate the operation of electrical apparatus and systems; and
- to limit the voltage on the circuit which might otherwise occur through exposure to
lighting.1

A grounding system has two distinct parts: system grounding and equipment grounding.
System grounding is the electrical connection of one of the current carrying conductors
of the electrical system to the ground. Equipment grounding is the electrical connection
of all the metal parts that do not carry current of all electrical equipment to the ground.

The electrical code requires that all equipment must be properly grounded and equipment
grounds are universally applied. On the other hand, until recently, the system grounding
was not always considered necessary and many systems were operated ungrounded.

1
CSA C22.1-1994, Canadian Electrical Code
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Figure 1: Illustration of System and Equipment Grounding

Note: This figure shows a separate ground connection for each type of grounding to
illustrate the two different functions. In practice, there will be one common connection
to ground.

Range of Tolerable Current

It is often assumed, that if a piece of equipment is connected to the ground, it can be

safely touched. However, the presence of a connection to ground is no guarantee of
safety. The safety depends on the current that will be passing through a persons body.
Electric current below 5 mA is not considered dangerous. Electric current above 50 mA
is fatal. Between 5 mA and 50 mA the current may be dangerous because the victim loses
muscular control and muscular contractions prevent the victim from letting go. The value
of current considered dangerous was obtained experimentally, and is usually given as
approximately 9 mA. The human body presents a resistance to an electric current. The
resistance varies depending on the points of contact and on the dryness of skin. The
resistance of hand-to-hand contact was experimentally established to be around 2330
ohms, hand-to-feet around 1130 ohms. Value of 1000 ohms is usually used for rough
calculations. From the above numbers, it is apparent, that a voltage as low as 10.2 V can
cause serious harm.

EQUIPMENT GROUNDING

The purpose of equipment grounding is to limit the potential between the exposed metal
parts of the equipment and the surfaces that are at earth potential.
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Figure 2: Ungrounded Metal Enclosure on a Grounded System

To understand how the grounding works, consider the circuit in figure 2. The neutral of
the source is solidly grounded. The motor is inside a metal enclosure that is not grounded.
If a person touches the metal enclosure, nothing will happen as long as there is no contact
between the live parts of the motor and the enclosure. If for example the winding
insulation fails, the line potential will appear on the enclosure . If at this moment a person
touches the enclosure, his body will complete the circuit to the ground and fault current
will flow back to the source ground.
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Figure 3: Grounded Metal Enclosure

In figure 3, the metal enclosure of the motor is connected to the ground. If the enclosure
is at the line potential and a person touches it, the fault current is bypassing the person
and flows directly to the ground.
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Figure 4: Typical equipment grounding circuit

Figure 4 shows the equipment grounding for a typical system. To simplify the diagram,
only one phase conductor is shown. The equipment grounding circuit includes the metal
enclosures, frames, and support structures of the circuit entrance equipment,
transformers, switchboards, panels, switches, breakers, motors, generators, lighting
equipment, cabinets, cable trays, racks etc. These metal parts are interconnected by bare
copper wires and metal sheaths and armors of cables. All parts of the grounding circuit
must have adequate current carrying capacity for any current that is likely to flow through
the circuit. For line to ground faults this is the same current that flows through the phase
conductor.
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SYSTEM GROUNDING

Ungrounded Systems

Ungrounded systems have no intentional connection between the current carrying

conductors and the ground. Both delta and wye system can be operated ungrounded but it
is usually the delta system that is used for ungrounded operation. The ungrounded
systems were once popular because a ground fault on one phase did not affect the
operation of the system (figure 5). When one phase touches ground, all that happens is
that this phase is at the ground potential. There is no fault current flowing because there
is no return path (there is a small charging current that flows to the ground).

Figure 5: Ungrounded Delta System

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Another reason for using the delta systems involves the connection of the transformer
banks. If one transformer in a delta connection fails, the supply can be still maintained
with two transformers in an open delta connection.

As system voltages and fault capacities increased, problems with ungrounded systems
became more obvious.

Problems with Ungrounded Systems

Overvoltage Problems: Refer to Figure 6. A fault with high inductive reactance, for
example on a transformer winding, creates an RLC circuit with the resistance and the
distributed capacitance of the line. The voltages across the capacitance and the
inductance tend to cancel each other out, but each on their own can be several time larger
than the source voltage. The current IG is very small and not usable to activate an
overcurrent device.

Operating Problems: The existence of a ground fault on an ungrounded system is very

easy to detect with a ground fault indicator (figure 7). Finding the location of the fault
involves opening and closing in turn of each main feeder, each subfeeded, and each
branch circuit until the faulted circuit is found. If another ground fault on the same phase
occurs before the first ground fault is determined, there is no indication of its presence
since the ground fault indicator is already indicating the first fault.
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Figure 6: Ground Fault with High Inductive Reactance on an Ungrounded Delta System.
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Figure 7: Ground Fault Location on Ungrounded Delta System

Grounded Systems

Most grounded systems use the wye configuration with the neutral grounded. When a
ground fault occurs, there is a path for the fault current to flow (figure 8). The current
activates an overcurrent device and the fault can be cleared.
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Figure 8: Ground Fault on a Grounded Wye System

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SUBSTATION GROUNDING

When there is a ground fault at a substation, the flow of ground current depends on the
impedances of the various possible paths. Currents may flow between portions of the
substation ground grid, between the ground grid and the surrounding earth (i.e. out of the
substation area), along overhead sky wires, or along a combination of all these paths. The
potential rise of a substation when a current is flowing through its ground must be limited
to a safe value so that there is no danger to anyone touching for example the substation
fence. The ground potential rise (GPR) at the station is given by

GPR = IGRG where IG = current flowing between the ground and the surrounding
earth
RG = resistance of the station grounding system

It is desirable that the substation grounding provides a near zero resistance to remote
earth. The prevailing practice of most utilities is to install a grid of horizontal ground
electrodes (= burried bare copper conductors) supplemented by a number of vertical
ground rods connected to the grid, and by a number of equipment grounding mats and
interconnecting cables. The grounding grid provides a common ground for the electrical
equipment and for all metallic structures at the station. It also limits the surface potential
gradient. The vertical ground rods decrease the overall resistance of the substation. There
are three variables that affect the resistance of the ground rods
1. the ground itself. The soil around the rods is seldom homogeneous and resistance
values can vary greatly.
2. the depth of the ground electrode. This is a very effective way of decreasing
substation resistance. The earth is in layers and the resistivity of each layer
considerably changes from layer to layer. Generally, doubling the length of the rod
can decrease irs resistance by about 40%. Most of the rod is below frost level so
freezing will not considerably increase the substation resistance.
3. diameter of the ground electrode. The diameter of the rod affects the resistanceb ut
the effect is not very large. Doubling the diameter of the rod will decrease the rod
resistance by only 10 %.
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Each grounding rod has its sphere of influence and to be effective, the rods cannot be
crowded. In general, the spacing between the rods should not be less than the depth to
which they are driven

The flow of ground current between parts of the ground gives rise to a step potential.
Step potential is defined as the difference in surface potential experienced by a person
bridging a distance of 1 m with his feet without contacting any other grounded object.
The value of the maximum safe step potential depends on the resistivity of the top layer
of susrface material, and on the duration of the current flow. For example, for a
substation with a 10 cm layer of crushed rock and current flowing for 0.5 s, the maximum
velue of the step potential is approximately 3100 V.

Touch potential is the potential difference between a surface potential at a point a person
is standing, and a grounded metallic structure at a normal maximum reach (1 m). For the
same situation as above, the maximum safe touch potential is approximately 880 V.

a) Step Potential b) Touch Potential

Figure 9: Illustration of a Step Potential and Touch Potential

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MEASUREMENTS OF GROUNDING SYSTEM RESISTANCE

The resistance of substation grid is measured to determine the effectiveness of the ground
grid and of the connections to the ground grid, and thus ensure that personnel and
equipment are protected.

Resistance that is measured by any of the following tests has three components:
a) resistance of the electrodes themselves, and of connections to them
b) contact resistance between the electrodes and the soil
c) resistance of the surrounding soil

The resistance of the surrounding soil is by far the largest of the three components. The
first two components can be in most cases neglected.

Figure 10 shows the principle of earth resistance measurements. Three electrodes are
driven into the earth some distance apart. The electrode 1 is the substation grounding
system. Voltage is applied between electrodes 1 and 2. Current of known magnitude is
passed through the station ground and through electrode 2 (electrode 2 is called current
electrode). This current is measured by an ammeter. Potential difference between
electrode 1 and electrode 3 (potential electrode) is measured by a voltmeter. The potential
electrode is then moved towards the current electrode at equal increments of distance and
readings of current and voltage are taken. From these the resistance is calculated and
plotted against the distance from the station. When the value of the resistance levels off,
this value is taken as the resistance of the station ground. When the resistance is not
leveling off, the current electrode should be moved farther away from the station and the
test repeated.

For large grounding networks, both the current electrode and the potential electrode
should be placed as far away from the station as practical. For a station with a grounding
mat of 100 m by 100 m, a distance of 250 m to 300 m is recommended
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Figure 11: Fall of Potential Method

Definitions

Grounding Electrode - a conductor embedded in the earth and used for collecting
ground current from the earth or dissipating ground current into the earth

Grounding Conductor the conductor used to connect the service equipment or system
to the grounding electrode

Grounding Grid - a system of horizontal ground electrodes that consists of a number of

interconnected bare conductors buried in the earth and that provides a common ground
for electrical devices and metallic structures.
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Ground Return Circuit - a circuit in which the earth or an equivalent conducting body
is utilized to complete the circuit and allow current circulation from or to its current
source (1)

Ground - a conducting connection , whether intentional or accidental, by which an

electric circuit or component is connected to the earth or to some conducting body of
relatively large extent that serves in place of earth.(1)

Ground Current - a current flowing into or out of the earth or its equivalent serving as a
ground. (1)

Ground Potential Rise - the maximum voltage that a station grid may attain relative to a
distant grounding point at the potential of remote earth (assumed to be at 0V)

Step Voltage (Potential) - the difference in surface potential experienced by a person

bridging a distance of 1 m with his feet without contacting any other grounded object

Touch Voltage (Potential) - the potential difference between the surface potential at the
point where a person is standing and the potential of a grounded structure he is touching
at a distance of 1 m.