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3 Good Ways To Improve Earth Electrode Resistance - EEP

There are three main ways to improve earth electrode resistance: 1. Lengthen the earth electrode rod by driving it deeper into the soil, which can reduce resistance by up to 40%. 2. Use multiple rods spaced farther apart than the rod length. Two rods can reduce resistance by 40% and four rods by 66%. 3. Treat the soil around the electrode with chemicals like magnesium sulfate or rock salt, which provides parallel conductive paths and reduces seasonal resistance variations. However, chemical treatment is not permanent and may require reapplication.

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241 views9 pages

3 Good Ways To Improve Earth Electrode Resistance - EEP

There are three main ways to improve earth electrode resistance: 1. Lengthen the earth electrode rod by driving it deeper into the soil, which can reduce resistance by up to 40%. 2. Use multiple rods spaced farther apart than the rod length. Two rods can reduce resistance by 40% and four rods by 66%. 3. Treat the soil around the electrode with chemicals like magnesium sulfate or rock salt, which provides parallel conductive paths and reduces seasonal resistance variations. However, chemical treatment is not permanent and may require reapplication.

Uploaded by

Robert Galarza
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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3goodwaystoimproveearthelectroderesistance

electricalengineeringportal.com/improveearthelectroderesistance

Google+ 25/11/2016

3goodwaystoimproveearthelectroderesistance(photocredit:cubissystems.com)

Earthelectroderesistance
Whenyoufindthatyourearthelectroderesistanceisnotlowenough,thereareseveralwaysyoucanimproveit:
1.Lengthentheearthelectrodeintheearth
2.Usemultiplerods
3.Treatthesoil

1.EffectofRodSize

Asyoumightsuspect,drivingalongerroddeeperintotheearth,materiallydecreasesitsresistance.Ingeneral,doublingtherodlengthreduces
resistancebyabout40percent.ThecurveofFigure1showsthiseffect.Forexample,notethataroddriven2ftdownhasaresistanceof88.

Thesameroddriven4ftdownhasaresistanceofabout50.Usingthe40percentreductionrule,880.4=35reduction.

Bythiscalculation,a4ftdeeprodwouldhavearesistanceof8835or53comparingcloselywiththecurvevalues.
Figure1Earthresistancedecreaseswithdepthofelectrodeinearth

Youmightalsothinkthatincreasingtheelectrodediameterwouldlowertheresistance.Itdoes,butonlyalittle.Forthesamedepth,doublingtherods
diameterreducestheresistanceonlyabout10percent.Figure2showsthisrelationship.

Forexample,a10ftdeeprod,5/8in.indiameter,hasaresistanceof6.33.Increasingitsdiameterto11/4in.lowerstheresistanceoto5.6.

Forthisreason,younormallyonlyconsiderincreasingtheroddiameterifyouhavetodriveitintohardterrain.
Figure2DiameterofarodhaslittleeffectonitsearthresistanceCurveA,fromRef.19CurveB,averageofUnderwriters
LaboratoriestestsatChicagoCurveC,averageofUnderwritersLaboratoriestestsatPittsburgh

Gobacktowaystoimproveearthelectroderesistance

2.UseofMultipleRods

Twowellspacedrodsdrivenintotheearthprovideparallelpaths.Theyare,ineffect,tworesistancesinparallel.Therulefortworesistancesinparallel
doesnotapplyexactly.Thatis,theresultantresistanceisnotonehalftheindividualrodresistances(assumingtheyareofthesamesizeanddepth).

Actually,thereductionfortwoequalresistancerodsisabout40percent.Ifthreerodsareused,thereductionis60percent,iffour,66
percent(seeFigure3).
Figure3Averageresultsobtainedfrommultiplerodearthelectrodes
Figure4Comparativeresistanceofmultiplerodearthelectrodes.Singlerodequals100%

Whenyouusemultiplerods,theymustbespacedapartfurtherthanthelengthoftheirimmersion.Therearetheoreticalreasonsforthis,butyou
needonlyrefertocurvessuchasFigure4above.

Forexample,ifyouhavetworodsinparalleland10ftspacing,resistanceisloweredabout40percent.Ifthespacingisincreasedto20percent,
reductionisabout50percent.

Gobacktowaystoimproveearthelectroderesistance

3.TreatmentoftheSoil
Chemicaltreatmentofsoilisagoodwaytoimproveearthelectroderesistancewhenyoucannotdrivedeepergroundrodsbecauseofhardunderlying
rock,forexample.Itisbeyondthescopeofthismanualtorecommendthebesttreatmentchemicalsforallsituations.Youhavetoconsiderthepossible
corrosiveeffectontheelectrodeaswellasEPAandlocalenvironmentalregulations.

Magnesiumsulfate,coppersulfate,andordinaryrocksaltaresuitablenoncorrosivematerials.Magnesiumsulfateistheleastcorrosive,butrocksaltis
cheaperanddoesthejobifappliedinatrenchdugaroundtheelectrode(seeFigure5).

Figure5Trenchmethodofsoiltreatment
Itshouldbenotedthatsolublesulfatesattackconcrete,andshouldbekeptawayfrombuildingfoundations.Anotherpopularapproachistobackfill
aroundtheelectrodewithaspecializedconductiveconcrete.Anumberoftheseproducts,likebentonite,areavailableonthemarket.

NOTE!Chemicaltreatmentisnotapermanentwaytoimproveyourearthelectroderesistance.

Thechemicalsaregraduallywashedawaybyrainfallandnaturaldrainagethroughthesoil.Dependingupontheporosityofthesoilandtheamountof
rainfall,theperiodforreplacementvaries.Itmaybeseveralyearsbeforeanothertreatmentisrequired.

Earthelectrode

Chemicaltreatmentalsohastheadvantageofreducingtheseasonablevariationonresistancethatresultsfromperiodicalwettinganddryingoutofthe
soil.(SeecurvesofFigure6below)

However,youshouldonlyconsiderthismethodwhendeepormultipleelectrodesarenotpractical.
Figure6Chemicaltreatmentofsoillessensseasonalvariationofelectrodesearthresistance

Gobacktowaystoimproveearthelectroderesistance

Groundrodresistance(VIDEO)

Gobacktowaystoimproveearthelectroderesistance

Reference//ApracticalguidetoearthresistancetestingbyMegger

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