Novel Measurement System for Grounding

In order to measure the grounding impedance of a grounding system more precisely and easily, two key problems of the measurement system: the location of the voltage electrode and the elimination of the noise and interference must be conquered. The new theoretical analysis and measurement system of the grounding impedance based on short-current lead wire and a swept frequency ac source is proposed. The compensating position of the voltage electrode to obtain the real grounding impedance is evaluated by analyzing the soil structure, the grounding system under test, and the position of the current electrode. This new system measures the ground impedance at several frequencies other than power frequency, then interpolates them to acquire the ground impedance at the power frequency. The mutual in- ductance between the potential and current wires is analyzed and eliminated. The industrial computer-based grounding impedance measurement system is developed and the analysis software is programmed. A field test was performed and compared with the traditional method in the substation and the novel system worked well.