Parallel computing aided design of earthing systems for electrical substations in non-homogeneous soil models

Abstract

An accurate design of grounding systems is essential to assure the safety of the persons, to protect the equipment and to avoid interruptions in the power supply. In order to attain these targets, it is necessary to compute the equivalent electrical resistance of the system and the potential distribution on the earth surface in fault conditions. In this paper, a numerical approach for grounding analysis embedded in stratified soils and its implementation in a high-performance parallel computer are presented. The feasibility of this system is shown with its application to the grounding analysis in layered soils by using the geometry of real grounding grids.