• KIEE International Transactions on Electrophysics and Applications
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• v.4C no.2
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• pp.60-63
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• 2004

The electrical breakdown characteristics of different types of soil samples have been measured. It is shown that the threshold soil breakdown strength is affected by many factors, such as types of soil, grain size, and soil compaction. The breakdown process in the test soil samples appears to be due to air ionization in the voids between the soil particles. The results have been compared with the relevant experimental results of other researchers.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.28-35
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• 2015

In this study, the mechanisms on ultrasonication enhanced metals extraction were investigated compared with the conventional washing technique. We hypothesized the mechanisms on enhanced extraction of ultrasonication: ultrasonication increased the temperature of soil slurry and decreased average particle size of soil due to breakdown of soil aggregate. Actually, the ultrasonication increased the temperature of soil slurry to $60^{\circ}C$ in this study, and the increase in the temperature enhanced the metal extraction to 15-20% even in the conventional simple mixing. The conventional washing technique decreased average size of soil particles because of breakdown of soil aggregate, and the ultrasonication decreased the size more than that of washing. The breakdown of soil aggregate improved the contact between metals and washing agent, which enhanced the extraction of metals in the ultrasonication. Therefore, we concluded that the main mechanisms of ultrasonication are increase in the temperature and breakdown of the soil aggregate. Finally, the ultrasonicaiton increased the extractability of metals upto 40% compared to conventional washing technique.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of IIIuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.279-282
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• 2005

Morden electronic equipments are becoming very important in information oriented society, but they are vulnerable to lightning surges. Soil resistivity in the vicinity of grounding electrodes my be affected by the current flowing from the grounding electrodes into the surrounding soil. Electrical conduction in soils depends on the grain size, compactness, and variability of the grain sizes. When a high current is injected into the soil, and the breakdown phenomenon occur. In the present work, Electrical behaviors related to discharge in soils were investigated. The breakdown voltages in soil were lower than that sparkover voltage in air. The breakdown voltage in the gravel layer is relatively low, and the breakdown was caused by the flashover through the surface of gravels

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.95-101
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• 2015

This paper presents experimental results about characteristics of soil discharge as a function of moisture content when the $1.2/50{\mu}s$ lightning impulse voltage is applied. The laboratory experiments, for this study, were carried out based on factors affecting the transient behavior in soils. The electrical breakdown in soils was measured over a 0-6% range of moisture content for sands and a 0-4% range of moisture content for gravels. Needle-plane electrode systems was used As a result, the conduction current prior to ionization growth in dry soil is a little, but it in wet soil is increased with the applied voltage because the wet soil particles act as conductors. The soil impedance curves show an abrupt reduction just after breakdown. The general tendency measured in different soils is that the higher the water content, the lower the breakdown voltage and the shorter the time-lag to breakdown.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.363-369
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• 2017

This paper presents the experimental results related to soil ionization and electrical breakdown in a concentric hemispherical electrode system under lightning impulse voltages. Dynamic voltage-current and impedance-time characteristics of soil ionization were measured and analyzed. Also the electrical breakdowns of the soil gap were investigated. The time-lag to the peak current corresponds to the soil ionization propagation. The time of ionization propagation in wet sand is found to decrease with increasing the impulse currents. A drastic decrease in ground resistance was observed during the impulse current spreading in sand. The electrical breakdown appears at the wave tail of impulse voltage and results in a wide scatter in V-t curves. The voltage-current curves have a fan-like shape attributed to ionization processes which result in increasing current and decreasing voltage.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.103-109
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• 2010

In this paper, breakdown characteristics of soil in a coaxial cylindrical electrode system stressed by impulse currents were experimentally investigated. The breakdown voltage and current waveforms for 4 types of soils were measured, and the threshold electric field intensity, the time-lag to breakdown and the voltage-current (V-I) curves were analyzed and discussed. As a result, the breakdown voltage and current waveforms are strongly dependent on the grain size of soil, and the voltage and current waveforms for gravel and sand differ from those for silt and loess. The threshold electric field intensity Ec is increased in the order of gravel, sand, loess and silt. The V-I curves for all test samples show a 'cross-closed loop' of ${\infty}$-shape. Also, the time-lag to breakdown for gravel and sand are longer than those for silt and loess. It is expected that the results presented in this paper will provide useful information on the design of improving transient performance of a grounding electrode system subjected to lightning current considering the soil ionization.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.446-454
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• 2016

In this paper, we present experimental results of the soil discharge characteristics as a function of moisture content when a 1.2/50-㎲ lightning impulse voltage is applied. For this study, laboratory experiments were carried out based on factors affecting the transient behavior in soils. The electrical breakdown voltages in soils were measured for a 0-6% range of moisture content for sand and a 0 - 4% range of moisture content for gravel. A test cell with semi-spherical electrodes buried face-to-face in the middle of a cylindrical container was used. The distance separating the electrodes is 100 mm. As a result, the time-lag to breakdown in soils decreases as the amplitude of applied voltage increases. The time-lag to initiation of ionization streamer is decreased, with an increase in the moisture content. However, the formative time-lag is rarely changed. The behavior of soil discharges depend not only on the type of soil and its moisture content but also on the amplitude of the impulse voltage. When the test voltage is applied repeatedly, electrical breakdown occurs along different discrete paths, leading radially away from the injected electrode. i.e., the fact that the ionization streamers propagate in different paths from shot to shot was observed.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.82-88
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• 2014

This paper presents the results of model tests for the attachment process of lightning leader to ground which is one of poorly understood processes of cloud-to-ground lightning discharges. In order to simulate the attachment process of lightning leader to ground, we investigated the discharge characteristics of air gap between the tip of needle-shaped electrode and the soil surface as a parameter of moisture content in soils when the positive and negative $1.2/50{\mu}s$ lightning impulse voltages are applied. The breakdown voltage and the discharge light were observed. As a result, the attachment processes of lightning leader to ground are strongly dependent on the grain size and the moisture content of soils. The time to breakdown was shortened with increasing the magnitude of incident impulse voltages. The delay time from application of the highest voltage to breakdown in sand is shortened with increasing the moisture content. The delay time from application of the voltage to breakdown in gravel varied from about $0.5{\mu}s$ to several ${\mu}s$. As the moisture content in soil increases, the breakdown voltages are decreased and the breakdown voltage versus time to breakdown curves are shifted toward the lower side. The results obtained in this work are similar to those for non-uniform air gap stressed by lightning impulse voltages.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.62-69
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• 2014

This paper deals with the fundamental characteristics of transient and conventional ground impedances associated with soil discharges when the lightning impulse voltage was applied to a small-sized ground rod. The potential rise responses of the test ground rod to impulse currents were observed. The current-voltage (I-V)curves, transient and conventional ground impedance curves were examined.. To analyze the transient behaviors of ground rod attendant upon soil discharges, the impulse responses of ground rod were compared with those of non-inductive resistor. As a consequence, the potential rise and impedance of ground rod were reduced and the currents dispersed into the earth were increased due to soil discharges near the ground rod. Soil discharges are classified into two regimes; ionization and breakdown phenomena. The potential rise and impulse impedance of ground rod are significantly decreased by breakdown processes in soil.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2007.07a
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• pp.384-385
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• 2007

The fault current through the earth originated from a power line ground fault might cause arcing through the soil to an adjacent pipeline, which might bring about not only a catastrophic accident such as gas explosion and oil leakage but also a hazard to the safety of workers responsible for the maintenance and repair of the pipeline. In this paper we experimented on the soil breakdown test using the fixture and outlined the standards for the separation distance of a buried pipeline adjacent to the power line tower.