Modeling Grounding Systems for Electromagnetic Compatibility Analysis

In recent years, the development of smart grids for power distribution and the increasing usage of 5G communication networks have played a large impact on the resilience and reliability of grounding systems. Unexpected electromagnetic coupling between a communication tower and the one used for the electric power networks may pose a threat to the suitable performance of either system as one must assure that electromagnetic compatibility together with unexpected transient issues is within reasonable parameters. This requires wideband modeling of a grounding system, typically carried out using numerical approaches based on the Method of Moments. This modeling is implied in numerous segments to represent the conductors involved and the numerical solution of a double integral for each one of these segments. The modified nodal formulation used to obtain system voltages and branch currents is first solved in the frequency domain, leading to a heavy computational burden and a time-consuming simulation. This chapter briefly reviews the procedure used to model grounding grids and presents some results to illustrate the typical behavior. Afterward, a more complex system comprising a case of electromagnetic coupling is then analyzed to illustrate the impact of nearby grounding grids.