Study of reducing ground resistance for transmission tower on rocky mountain tops with constrained area

Abstract

An effective device to reduce the earth resistance of grounding systems for power transmission towers on rocky mountain tops with high soil resistivity and constrained area is proposed in this paper. In these scenarios, conventional methods such as using horizontal electrodes to reduce ground resistance require more space and fine‐grained soil for backfill. These methods are not applicable to scenarios where the ground consists of rock or crushed stone. To tackle such limitations, we propose an effective approach with less space and soil requirements. Based on the steady electric current field theory and the electrostatic field, the proposed approach designs a central grounding system by a special steel reinforcement cage. The layout of the cage is strictly based on theoretical calculations. The resistance of the central grounding system can be obtained by calculation and measurement. Results show that this scheme can reduce ground resistance effectively in comparison with the traditional method of imbedding horizontal radial electrodes in high‐resistivity soil on mountain tops where space is limited and excavation conditions are poor. The proposed method has also been validated in practical applications. © 2015 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.