6/1/2017 SESCDEGSCopperVs.

SteelinGroundingSystems|FarzinKhaleghi|Pulse|LinkedIn

3 14
Buscargente,empleos,empresasydems Avanzada
Inicio Perfil Mired Aprendizaje Empleos Intereses Servicioscomerciales PruebaunacuentaPremiumgratis

SES CDEGS - Copper Vs. Steel in

Grounding Systems
Publicado el 13 de diciembre de 2016

Farzin Khaleghi Seguir

9 1 4
Member of TC 81 Committee - Lightning protection at Iranian Nati

Withincreasingpricehikeforcopper(inIran)anditsvulnerabilitytotheft,thereis
someconcerntotelecommunications,utilitycompanyandbuildingcontractorstofind
analternativematerialtocopperasagroundingnetwork.Theaimofthisarticleisthe
comparisonofCopperwithSteelforGroundingPurposes.Therelevantkeytechnical
characteristicsofSteelincomparisonwithcopperare:

Steelabsorbsapproximately1.36timesasmuchheatasanequalvolumeofcopper
beforefusing(whenconsideringthespecificweight,specificheatandthemelting
temperature).

Steelcanwithstandhighertemperaturebeforemelting(1510Centigradecompared
to1083Centigradeforcopper).

Itrequiresabout5.6(ratioofresistivity=RhoCu/RhoFe)timesasmuchsteelto
achievethesameresistanceascopper.

Steelisapproximatelytwiceasmechanicallystrongascomparedtocopperforthe
samecrosssectionalarea.

BasedonthepricesofsteelandcopperinIran,substantial(estimatedat
approximately40%50%)savingscanbeachievedinsomesteelgroundingdesign

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sescdegscoppervssteelgroundingsystemsfarzinkhaleghi 1/5
6/1/2017 SESCDEGSCopperVs.SteelinGroundingSystems|FarzinKhaleghi|Pulse|LinkedIn

afterincorporatingtheeffectofcorrosionandcathodicprotection.Thesavings 3 14
Buscargente,empleos,empresasydems Avanzada
Inicio Perfil Mired
wouldbemuchhigherinothercountries,wherecopperisveryexpensive.
Aprendizaje Empleos Intereses Servicioscomerciales PruebaunacuentaPremiumgratis

electricalcharacteristicsofcopper,i.e.groundingsystemsweremadeofsteel
conductorsthathavehigherpermeabilityandlowerconductivitythancopper.

steelconductorsarewellknownforitsvulnerabilityforcorrosion,comparedto
copper.

Abovefigureshowsthatthereare4separatetrenchesconstructedinasampleproject
whichhavebeenbuiltandbeenmonitoredfor6months.Fortrench2andtrench4,
therearedifferentfromtherestsasthesetrenchesareaddedwithEAF,whichiscarbon
basedpowdertypefillerwhichismarketedworldwide.

ThemeasureddataUsingFallofPotentialmethodareshowninnextTableandFigure.

Thedifferenceofgroundingimpedancevalueforcoppertapeandstrandedgalvanized
ironis10.45%forsystemswithoutEAF.Meanwhile,thedifferencefortrencheswith
additionofEAFis11.13%.

So,onecanconcludethatthey(Steel&Copper)havealmostthesameimpedance.But,
thisisnotallthestory!Let'slookatthissubjectwithadifferentpointofview:

CDEGS Models & Methodology

Groundingsystemsweremadeofsteelconductorsthathavehigherpermeabilityand
lowerconductivitythancopperandthisraisessomeuniqueissues.Inaconventional
groundinganalysisapproach,agroundingsystemisgenerallyassumedasan
equipotentialstructure.Thiswouldbeinaccurateforagroundinggridmadeofsteel,
especiallyifthesubstationsizeislargeandthesoilresistivityislow.Infact,theground
impedanceofthegroundingsystemhasasignificantinductivecomponent,whichisnot
takenintoaccountbyclassicalgroundinganalysismethods.Inordertogetaccurate
results,theanalysisofthegroundingperformancewascarriedoutusingthe
MultiGroundZsoftwarepackage,whichtakesintoaccountvoltagedropsalong
conductorsinagroundingsystem,therefore,eliminatingtheassumptionthata
groundinggridisanequipotential.

Consideringthegridimbeddedinauniformsoil,thegroundimpedance,GPR,GPD,
touchandstepvoltagesarecomputedfora200mby200mgrid.BelowFigurepresents
thecomputedresultsforbothcopperandsteelgrids.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sescdegscoppervssteelgroundingsystemsfarzinkhaleghi 2/5
6/1/2017 SESCDEGSCopperVs.SteelinGroundingSystems|FarzinKhaleghi|Pulse|LinkedIn

3 14
Buscargente,empleos,empresasydems Avanzada
Inicio Perfil Mired Aprendizaje Empleos Intereses Servicioscomerciales PruebaunacuentaPremiumgratis

Letuslookattheresultsshowninabovefigures.Forasoilresistivityof5ohmm,the
groundimpedanceis0.0132ohmforthecoppergridand0.0234ohmforthesteelgrid,
adifferenceof77.5%.

Whileforasoilresistivityof1000ohmm,thegroundimpedancesare1.129ohmand
1.130ohmforcopperandsteelgrids,respectively.Thedifferenceof0.12%is
negligible.

Thegroundpotentialrise(GPR)is261.5Vforacoppergrid,56%ofthesteelgrid
(466.04V)whenthesoilresistivityis5ohmm.Whenthesoilresistivityincreasesto
1000ohmm.Thegroundpotentialrisesofthecopperandsteelconductorsarealmost
thesame,i.e.,45130Vvs.45020V.

Inasoilof5ohmmand1000ohmmsoilresistivity,thecomputedmaximumtouch
voltagesare54.2Vand11041Vforagridconsistingofcopperconductorsand93.7V
and10580Vforagridconsistingofsteelconductors,resultingin72.9%(5ohmm)
and4.10%(1000ohmm)differences,respectively.Similarly,thestepvoltageshave
differencesof96.7%and1.6%forthetwosoilmodels,respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Foruniformsoilswithhighresistivity,
groundingsystemsconsistingofsteel
conductorshaveperformancethatissimilar
tothoseconsistingofcopperconductors.For
uniformsoilswithlowresistivity,grounding
systemsconsistingofsteelconductorshavea
muchsmallereffectivesizethanthose
consistingofcopperconductors.Therefore,a
coppergridwillprovideabetterperformance
thanasteelgrid.

Foratwolayersoil,whenthebottomlayer
resistivityishigh,thegroundingsystems
consistingofsteelconductorsbehavemuch
likecoppergrids.Whenthebottomlayer
resistivityislow,theeffectivesizeofa
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sescdegscoppervssteelgroundingsystemsfarzinkhaleghi 3/5
6/1/2017 SESCDEGSCopperVs.SteelinGroundingSystems|FarzinKhaleghi|Pulse|LinkedIn

groundingsystemconsistingofsteel
Buscargente,empleos,empresasydems
Avanzada
3

14

Inicio Perfil Mired Aprendizaje conductorswillbesignificantlyreduced.In

Empleos Intereses Servicioscomerciales PruebaunacuentaPremiumgratis

thiscase,agroundinggridmadeofcopper
conductorswillhaveamuchbetter
performancethanagridconsistingofsteel
conductors.

Whenthesizeofagroundinggridissmall,the
performanceofacoppergroundinggridisnot
significantlyimprovedcomparedtothatofa
steelgrid.

Duetothecomplexityofrealsoilstructures,theperformanceofindividual
groundingsystemsmustbeevaluatedcorrectlyusingadequatesoftwaretoolsto
avoidcostlyoverdesignsordangerousunderdesigns.

Ref:

"PowerGroundingSafety:CopperGroundingSystemsvs.SteelGrounding
Systems"byYexuLi,JinxiMa,andFaridPaulDawalibi

"ComparisonStudyofUsageasGroundingElectrodebetweenGalvanizedIron
andCopperwithandwithoutEarthAdditiveFiller"byF.Mahtar,A.Ramli,
W.R.WanAbdullah,M.N.Isa

"SteelGroundingDesignGuideandApplicationNotes"byP.K.Sen,Ph.D.,P.E.,
KeithMalmedal,P.E.,JohnP.Nelson,FellowIEEE,P.E.

Denunciar esto

Farzin Khaleghi
Member of TC 81 Committee - Lightning protection at Iranian National Standards Orginiz Seguir
22 artculos

1 comentario Recomendado

Deja tus comentarios aqu

Terry Mulligan 1 sem

Consultant at TPP

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sescdegscoppervssteelgroundingsystemsfarzinkhaleghi 4/5
6/1/2017 SESCDEGSCopperVs.SteelinGroundingSystems|FarzinKhaleghi|Pulse|LinkedIn

Have you completed a cost benefit analysis, copper vs steel on a

whole of life basis? Have you 3 14
Buscargente,empleos,empresasydems Avanzada
considered impressed current CP or sacrificial anodes with treated soil? All of these with respect to
Inicio Perfil Mired Aprendizaje Empleos Intereses
Lightning attachment issues and associated current densities withServicioscomerciales
rise in impedance andPruebaunacuentaPremiumgratis
saturation
densities of thinner steel elements at fortuitous connections? Copper wins
Recomendar Responder

No te pierdas los artculos de Farzin Khaleghi

SES CDEGS - Feasibility of Electrical CDEGS So ware - What can i do with CDEGS So ware - Risk Managment
Separation of Proximate Grounding "Finite Volume" in real projects using based on IEC 62305-2 Using SES-Shield
Systems as a Function of Soil Structure CDEGS! Farzin Khaleghi en LinkedIn
Farzin Khaleghi en LinkedIn Farzin Khaleghi en LinkedIn

Ests buscando ms titulares recientes en LinkedIn?

Descubre ms historias

Centrodeayuda Acercade Carrerasprofesionales Publicidad TalentSolutions SalesSolutions SmallBusiness Mvil Idioma Abnateaunacuentasuperior
LinkedInCorporation2017 Condicionesdeuso Polticadeprivacidad Opcionesdeanuncio Directricescomunitarias Polticadecookies Polticadecopyright Enviarcomentarios

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sescdegscoppervssteelgroundingsystemsfarzinkhaleghi 5/5