Unique laboratory “Currents in the ground”

Abstract

A brief description of the scientific laboratory is given, which has become a flagship in the field of electrical energy, which made it possible to obtain unique results on grounding and electrical safety, which were included in state regulatory documents. It is shown that a well-known scientific school has been created in the laboratory for the study of processes in grounding devices of electrical installations. The laboratory was founded in 1971 and has not been described previously. The article shows the main building in the form of a two-story building and a nearby stack-type pulse voltage generator for a voltage of 1,250,000 V. The circuit allows for reconnecting capacitors on floors to obtain different capacitances in the discharge. To connect to the grounding device under study, a portable overhead line with split wires is used. A map of grounding fields on the laboratory territory is provided. This allows you to design almost any design of a grounding device. Fields of vertical and horizontal grounding conductors of various lengths are used; fields of complex mesh grounding conductors; groups of single vertical electrodes of different lengths. The laboratory has several sets of self-powered electronic high-speed oscilloscopes, shielded and isolated from ground to avoid interference. The range of research questions can be significantly expanded by using already installed objects: an experimental overhead line with a voltage of 220 kV on nine reinforced concrete supports; cable line 600m long; a dynamic and thermal test stand, equipped with a circuit for obtaining industrial frequency currents of up to 4 kA at a voltage of 0.4 kV; 120 linear meters of reinforced concrete trays were laid on the field of a complex mesh grounding device for laying communication and control cables in them; two additional pulse voltage generators 1,600,000 V and 1,000,000 V (the latter allows transportation to full-scale test sites outside the laboratory); test transformers IOM-100/100.