Sustainable Grounding System Using New Soil-Additive Waste Biodegradable Materials

This study conducted a grounding enhancement using biodegradable and wastederived soil additives to improve the performance of grounding systems. While traditional chemical enhancers are effective, they lack sustainability and are environmentally harmful. This study experimentally evaluated several natural biodegradable wastes, coconut shell charcoal (CC), dehydrated palm oil decanter cake (DC), a mixture of wood ash and sand (WS), and palm oil mesocarp fibre (POMF), and compared them with local or native soil (NS). The experimental system was installed in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia, and tested using the Fall of Potential (FOP) method based on IEEE Std. 81-2012, with a 62% rule configuration. Measurements were conducted over 166 days to assess long-term change in resistivity. A posting injection of the two best additive materials to the grounding systems (DC, CC) and test the recovery performance. The significant findings show that the additive bio-degradable waste materials enhance the grounding resistance, while it is a sustainable practice.