Heat dissipation computations of a HDVC ground electrode using a supercomputer

The temperature of soil surrounding a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) toroidal ground electrode of practical dimensions in both homogeneous and nonhomogeneous soils was computed at incremental points in time using finite-difference methods on a supercomputer. The results obtained validated the expected result, that the time constant of the system is large, requiring long-term and short-term simulation curves, as shown. It is concluded that by being able to compute the thermal response and by calculating the thermal time constant, the option for possible improved design is available