A Method of Applying Mixtures to Optimize Grounding during Installation of Vertical Composite Grounding Devices

The article considers the method of using mixtures to optimize the electrophysical parameters of grounding devices in conjunction with vertical composite grounding conductors. It has been found that fluctuations in soil resistivity caused by changes in weather and climatic conditions can lead to instability of the ground loop resistance. The study shown that without appropriate measures, the resistance of the loop as a result of seasonal changes in soil properties may exceed acceptable values. This is fraught with deviations in the resistance to current spreading of grounding devices beyond the limits of acceptable parameters. To compensate for these fluctuations, a method is proposed to reduce the seasonality factor. Reducing seasonality plays an important role in ensuring the safety of service personnel and farm animals by maintaining the resistance of the grounding device within the limits of regulatory values. The authors discuss methods for artificially reducing the resistance of the ground loop, including increasing its size and using deep ground electrodes. The results of vertical electrode probing of the soil at the sites of grounding conductors are presented, the effect of humidity on the resistivity of the soil is shown, the influence of soil layering and the presence of moisture-saturated soil layers is considered. A method is proposed that allows the mixture to be introduced together with a vertical composite grounding device, the design of the coupling, tip and auxiliary device, experimental studies of the proposed designs are carried out and the results of measuring the current spreading resistance of such a grounding device with both standard and proposed couplings are presented. A comparison was made with a grounding device without the use of mixtures. The measurement results demonstrate that with an increase in the length of the grounding device, its diameter and the volume of the injected mixture, the resistance decreases. It is shown that the proposed solution makes it possible to reduce seasonality by 1.64–2.1 times, depending on the couplings used, and to obtain a grounding conductor with an equivalent diameter dozens of times larger than the diameter of a composite grounding conductor. The authors propose the use of soil-replacing mixtures to reduce soil resistivity and ensure the stability of the grounding loop throughout the entire service life. The proposed method of applying mixtures without pre-drilling makes it possible to reduce the cost of constructing grounding devices.