ResumentThe importance of making a connection to

ground in a building or home is great, because in these there is a

large amount of electronic equipment and a current or on
undesirable voltage could cause a loss in these very expensive
equipment.
A grounding system consists of electrical and electronic ground
connection, to prevent damage to our equipment in the event of a
transient currents.
The objective of a grounding system is:
t provide security to the people.
!rotect the installations, equipment and goods in general,
to facilitate and to ensure proper operation of the protective
devices.
"stablish the permanence of a potential reference, by
stabili#ing the voltage to "arth under normal operating
conditions.
The importance of making a connection to ground in a
building or home is great, because in these there is a large
amount of electronic equipment and a current or on undesirable
voltage could cause a loss in these very expensive equipment.
The resistivity of the ground is defined as the resistance that
presents $ m
%
ground, and results from an important interest to
determine &here you can build a grounding system. The
resistivity of the ground affected by several factors that may
vary it, among the most important are: seasonal nature of the
ground, moisture, temperature, salinity, stratigraphy,
compaction and variations. The value of the electrical resistance
of the "arth electrode should be vie&ed isolated from any
element of a conductive nature, so it is necessary the use of
disconnections for separate elements taking of land from the rest
of the installation during the measurement.
To perform a system grounding electrodes need land, of
&hich there are many types, some better than others in certain
characteristics such as cost, among others. The electrodes can be
artificial or natural. t is understood by the established artificial
electrodes &ith the % sole purpose of obtaining the earthing
electrodes, and by the natural metal masses that may be buried.

This work was supported by the Electronical Engineering Career at

Universidad Politcnica Salesiana Sede Cuenca.
A. C. Cube! E. A. Astudillo and S. ". Carchi are with Electronical
Engineering Career! Universidad Politecnica Salesiana Calle #ie$a y Elia %iut
&'&'(&! Cuenca! Ecuador.
The driver of the electrode of earth must be aluminum or
copper. The material chosen must be resistant to corrosion that
may occur in the facility and must be adequately protected
against corrosion. The driver must be massif or &iring, isolated,
lined or naked, and should be a single tier continued, &ithout
any splices or connections.
). *+,E*C%ATU-E
./S 0 .uilding /rounding Syste
C1S 0 Coon 1istribution Syste
%1S 0 %ow2voltage %ocal 1istribution Syste
%T 0 %ocal Trans3orer
T.P0 Transient based protection
,#S 0 ,ediu #oltage Substation
PE 0 Protective Conductor
)). )*T-+1UCT)+*
his work is 3ocused on only to a very iportant part o3
the shields o3 electricity as shields are ground. 4hen a
3ault occurs to ground in a installation o3 high or low
voltage! it causes an increase in the potential o3 the electrode
through which current 3lows o3 de3ect. To dissipate this
current by land! appear in the 3ield o3 potential gradients.
5ault2duration2depending liits 3or touch voltages have also
an in3luence whether an area can be seen as a coon
grounding syste or not. So grid 6properties7 like neutral
point8s treatent! short2circuit power! 3ault location! 3ault
type! cable types and %# grid con3iguration 9TT or T*
syste: have also an in3luence on indirect voltage ha;ards
such as touch and step voltages <'=.
T

)n particular! in a lightning protection syste grounding is
essential! since in it the dispersion o3 the lightning current
takes place. Each descent conductor should be grounded!
constituted by the conductive eleents in contact with the
ground able to scatter the bea in this current. A good earth
connection o3 a lightning protection syste ust be able to
withstand lightning currents and disperse the >uickly in the
3ield.
The a?iu contact voltage applied to the huan being 9or
an e>uivalent resistance o3 '&&& @! is given depending on the
tie o3 clearance o3 the ground 3ault! the resistivity o3 the soil
and the 3low o3 3ailure <A= 5or purposes o3 this regulation! the
voltage a?iu contact ust not e?ceed the values given in
Table '.
Table '. ,a?iu voltage and tie! bearable 3or the huan being.
A. C. Cube! E. A. Astudillo and S. ". Carchi
/rounding syste in hoes and buildings.
The fault
clearing time
'aximum tension
of admissible
contact "( )*+ ,
of the population-
Maximum
tension of
contact IEEE 50
kg
(Occupational)
,ore than A
seconds
(& volts BA volts
' segundo (( volts ''C volts
D&& ilisegundos D& volts 'EB volts
(&& ilisegundos B& volts 'CF volts
F&& ilisegundos 'E& volts 'BE volts
E&& ilisegundos A&& volts A'' volts
A&& ilisegundos AD& volts A(G volts
'(& ilisegundos E&& volts AGG volts
'&& ilisegundos EA& volts ECC volts
(& ilisegundos EF( volts ('B volts
'
))). 5EATU-ES A* E55)C)E*T /-+U*1)*/
The e33icacy o3 grounding syste grounding electrode o3
one or two like that shown in 5igure '! using ipedance
ethod 3or calculating Earth resistance and their electrode
potentials resulting 3ro <F=. The reduction in the potential
between the current 9EC: electrode and the electrode probe
9PE: is calculated as estiated by the green curve in 5igure A.
4hen the potential is C'.BH o3 the value between the current
electrode and ground electrode! the probe electrode
ipedance is supposed to be the ground ipedance
trans3orer o3 the syste. This ethod is considered to be
reasonably accurate i3 the resistivity o3 the soil is uni3or
between the electrodes! and i3 the value o3 the resistivity o3
the soil is well known. )n the construction industry! this
ethod is o3ten re3erred to as the I5all +32,todo the
Potencial I.
5igure l. Parallel grounding electrodes are re>uired i3 there is no other current
path to ground available! or i3 the ipedanceto2ground o3 a single electrode is
greater than A( ohs.
)#. TJPES +5 /-+U*1)*/ SJSTE,S
A. Grounded power systems.
The purpose o3 panic power systes is to liit any voltage
high that it ay result 3ro rays! phenoena o3 induction or
unintentional contacts with cables o3 higher voltages. This is
done through the conductor appropriate to the total syste
ground 3ault current! as part o3 the electrical syste
connected to the planet land.
B. Grounding of electrical equipment.
)ts purpose is to eliinate the potential o3 touch that could
endanger the lives and property! so that operating the
overcurrent protective devices o3 the e>uipent.
C. Ground into electronic signals.
To avoid containation with signals at di33erent
3re>uencies to the desired. )s achieved through shields o3 all
kinds connected to a re3erence or to ground ;ero.
D. Grounded power systems.
The electrical systes are connected to ground in order
to liit the tension that ay appear in the! to be e?posed to
atospheric discharges! by interconnection.
)n cases o3 3ailures with systes o3 connections above! or! to
liit the a?iu potential with regard to land! product by
the related voltage o3 the syste.
E. Grounding of electronic protection.
To prevent the destruction o3 the seiconductor eleents
by about voltages! are placed protective devices so as to liit
the peaks over voltage connected between the conductors and
ground assets.
The a?iu resistance to ground in this syste should
be about A +hs! when not reaches the desired resistance!
install soe cheical eleent to reduce the resistivity o3 the
ground and reach! the resistance to land re>uired. 5ig '
shows the ground circuitK
5ig.'. /rounding o3 electronic protection.
F. Grounding of atmospheric protection.
As its nae iplies! it is destined to drain Earth currents
caused by atospheric discharges 9lightning: without 3urther
daage to people and property. )t is accoplished with a
potential e>uali;ing etal esh connected to planet Earth
that covers buildings or e>uipent to protect or coply with
type electrodes copperweld and cable type arrester copper
class ' o3 AD threads.
The distance o3 the building with respect to the site where
buried electrode! should be not less than A.(& and ust be
copletely isolated 3ro land 3orce and electronics systes.
G. Grounded power systems.
The electrical systes are connected to ground in order
to liit the tension that ay appear in the! to be e?posed to
atospheric discharges! by interconnection. )n cases o3
3ailures with systes o3 connections above! or! to liit the
a?iu potential with regard to land! product by the
related voltage o3 the syste.
H. Grounding protection
The electrical e>uipent to be connected to ground leg
avoid that the housing or etal cover o3 the represents
a potential on earth that can ean a danger to the operator or
user o3 the coputer. This type o3 earth is known as %and o3
protection.
A
#. TLE EA-TL A*1 TLE -ES)ST)#)TJ +5 TLE
/-+U*1
As we have discussed previously the ter ISoil resistivityI
e?pressed in centieters oh is a basic variable that a33ects
the earth resistance a syste o3 electrodes. .ut it was 3ound
that the value real o3 the resistivity o3 the ground need not be
easured to check the resistance o3 the ground
electrode. ,easureents o3 soil resistivity can be used
conveniently 3or geophysical prospectus. ,easureents can
also be used to deterine the depth o3 the rock <F=.
,easureents o3 the resistivity o3 the ground are also use3ul
3or 3ind the best location and depth 3or electrodes o3 low
resistance. Such studies are carried out! when they go to
build new electric units such asK station generator! substation!
transission tower and telephone head
o33ice<(=. 5inally! you can use the
resistivity o3 earth to indicate the
degree o3 corrosion that is e?pected in
underground pipes 3or water! oil! gas!
etc.
A. Moisture and temperature effects
on the resistiity of the ground.
Undoubtedly yes! the resistivity o3
the ground very in3luenced priarily
by oisture and lesser e?tent not least
by its teperature! are as signi3icant
these e33ects that the resistance o3 the
3ield decreases with increasing
huidity and with the increase in
teperature <=. The knowledge o3 the
action o3 the oisture andM teperature
on the resistance o3 the electrode
to grounding is essential 3or
an installation o3 earth retain the tie
o3 their 3eatures.
B. Effects of moisture and salts dissoled on the resistiity of
the ground.
5or practical purposes the result o3 resistance by the action
o3 oisture and teperature re>uires us to keep present
appropriate coe33icients 3or the deterination o3 the
resistance that we assign to the electrodes with the end o3 a
good per3orance in the ground installations. Jou could oit
the 3actor o3 teperature! to not carry out both the in3luence
o3 the oisture in the ground. Another cause o3 inaccuracy in
the knowledge o3 the resistance o3 the ground is the variation
o3 values o3 this agnitude! when oving 3ro super3icial
layers or layers deep! especially when the electrode is used
cylindrical o3 di33erent nature and resistivity.
C. Effects of soil type on the resistiity of the ground.
4hether it is a ostly clay soil or very sandy! the
resistivity o3 the earth can change a lot. )t is not easy to de3ine
e?actly to a given soilM the clay you can cover a wide variety
o3 soils.
#). C+*C%US)+*S
4e can say that systes grounding will depend on several
conditions such as the type o3 building! the type o3 soil o3 the
sae! i3 in the work teas o3 high2voltage! electronic
e>uipent! since the door grounding syste will not only
save lives but also will save repair costs i3 one gets to cause
daage to the e>uipent that re>uire electricity. The
transient behavior o3 grounding systes 3or transient
produced by lightning 3or electroagnetic copatibility
9E,C: o3 sensitive electronic e>uipent such as in3oration
devices and digital relays in the substation is iportant and N
or residential houses. 4hen a protected building is struck by
lightning! lightning current 3lows through 9%PS: the
buildingOs lightning protection syste. The total current is in
the order o3 several tens o3 kiloapere and contains up to 3ew
egahert; 3re>uencies. Part o3 its outh into the soil through
the syste to Louse ground! while part o3 the current enters
the neutral circuit and 3lows to reote areas o3 the syste.
The general division o3 the lightning current is in3luenced by
any 3actors! including the nuber and positions o3 the
conductors o3 descent! the grounding syste o3 the building!
the paraeters o3 the soil! ground reote systes! and
neutral ipedance. Another 3actor! o3ten not recogni;ed! is
the electroagnetic coupling between bea Channel and
9%PS:! which can signi3icantly change the distribution o3
currents in the syste 3or soe con3igurations.
#)). ACP*+4%E1/,E*T
The authors grate3ully acknowledgeK Electrical
Engineering Career at the Universidad Politcnica Salesiana.
#))). -E5E-E*CES
<'= Pi! Lan2SuM Pyuchul ChongM Ja2Long "ieM Qenkins! P.A! IThe iportance
o3 distributed grounding in cobination with porous Si trenches 3or the reduction
o3 -5 crosstalk through pNsup 2N Si substrate!I Electron 1evice %etters! )EEE !
vol.AF! no.'&! pp.CF&!CFA! +ct. A&&E
doiK '&.''&GN%E1.A&&E.B'B&D'
<A= Q. #al$us! -. SRrRntS! 6Practical grounding easureents o3 large rural
and urban substations7! C)/-E Session 'GBF. 1issertations 9Published:
<E=. +. P. /andhi! Q. 5. 1e5ord! and L. Panai! I)pedance ,ethod 3or
Calculation o3 Power 1eposition Patterns in ,agnetically )nduced
Lypotheria!I )EEE Transactions on .ioedical Engineering! .,E2E'! 'GBF!
pp. CFF2C('
<F=Jang Ji2inM Peng ,in23angM Long Lai2taoM Juan Jue2hua! I+ptial 1esign
o3 /rounding /rids .ased on /enetic Algorith!I /enetic and Evolutionary
Coputing! A&&G. 4/EC O&G. Erd )nternational Con3erence on ! vol.! no.!
pp.'AG!'EA! 'F2'D +ct. A&&G
doiK '&.''&GN4/EC.A&&G.(B
<(=Thou ,iM 4ang QianguoM %iu JangM "iang *ianwenM Sun ThenM Chen Qun$ieM
Colillo Chunhua I! causas! 3oras y recursos de tierra para subestaciones
cuadrUcula CorrosionI .. Ligh #oltage )ngenierUa y Aplicaciones! A&&B )CL#E
A&&B Con3erencia )nternacional sobre la ..! vol! no! pp.'BC! 'BG! G a 'A
noviebre A&&B
doiK '&.''&G N )CL#E.A&&B.FDDEG&F.
)". .)+/-APL)ES
A. (. (umbe was born in /ualaceo! Ecuador! on 1eceber 'G! 'GGF.
Currently! he is a Electric Engineering Student at the Universidad Politcnica
Salesiana! Cuenca! Ecuador. Lis a$or interest included studies on behavior o3
the electroagnetic light 3or ipleentation o3 electronic e>uipent and
understand the ipleentation o3 electronics in hoe autoation.
". A. Astudillo was born in Cuenca! Ecuador! on Qanuary 'A! 'GGA.
Currently! he is a Electric Engineering Student at the Universidad Politcnica
Salesiana! Cuenca! Ecuador. Lis a$or interest included studying autoation
E
electronics applied in large industries and graduating 3ro the Universidad
Politcnica Salesiana as electronic engineer.
.. /. (archi was born in Cuenca! Ecuador! on +ctober &D! 'GGE.
Currently! he is a Electric Engineering Student at the Universidad Politcnica
Salesiana! Cuenca! Ecuador. Lis a$or interest included understand the schedule
that re>uires teas o3 -obotics and studying high2level prograing! to
ipleent in robotics
F