Breakpoint diagnosis of substation grounding grid using derivative method

Grounding grid is responsible for driving lightning and short circuit currents into ground. Faults in substation grounding grid can lead to significant rise in surface potential and ultimately loss to power system and operators. This paper proposes a novel technique based on derivative method to diagnose breakpoints in grounding grid. Derivative of surface magnetic flux density on circle results in peak at conductor’s location. Once a conductor is broken the flow of current and surface magnetic field ceases, which is recognized by the absence of peak at corresponding conductor’s location. The use of circle even enables this method for diagnosing diagonal branch. Furthermore, the method is analyzed for soil of different resistivities and monolayer and multilayer soils. Simulation results show that the proposed method is feasible for breakpoint diagnosis of grounding grid without excavation.