Evaluation of the effect of vertical faults on the voltage distribution around HVDC electrodes using a supercomputer

An effective method for evaluating the electric field, the voltage distribution, and the current density near geological faults in the earth is presented. In order to quantify the effect of HVDC (high-voltage direct current) electrodes, it is necessary to determine the voltage distribution and current flow in the ground. Electrostatic theory is used to generate a voltage solution which must satisfy the Laplace equation and boundary conditions along vertical faults. The voltage distribution around a HVDC toroidal electrode is shown for an actual case. The image theory is used to account for the effect of vertical faults and horizontal soil layers. A supercomputer is utilized to generate a sufficient amount of images to insure that the boundary conditions are met within a desired accuracy