• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

GreyMatters

Electrical Earthing System Design & Soil Resistivity Testing

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
  • Blog
  • Earthing Services
    • Earthing Design Services
    • Lightning Protection Design
  • Earthing Training Courses
  • XGSLab
    • XGSLab Services
    • XGSLab Online Demo
    • XGSLab Sales
  • Members Academy
Home » Ask the Experts Electrical Earthing Blog » Why Greymatters Consultants Use CDGEGS HIFREQ Earth Modelling Software

15/12/2016 By Hugh Leave a Comment

Why Greymatters Consultants Use CDGEGS HIFREQ Earth Modelling Software

Clients often ask us why we use CDEGS HIFREQ instead of XGSLab or, any of the other packages available in the market. And our usual response is simply. “It’s the market leading product (Top 1%)”. So, I thought it might be useful to quantify exactly why it is the leading product and also why it commands a leading price. In addition, to demonstrate how some of the less capable products leave you and your staff exposed to unquantified risks.

Earthing CDEGS software & XGS Labs comparison chart

If Only Mother-Nature Was So Accommodating

Almost all, of the other products in the market are limited in the number of soil models they can consider. While, CDEGS HIFREQ is able to consider a soil model of as many layers as REALITY requires. As a result, we’re better able to represent what the Wenner test measures. It may be more ‘convenient’ for developers to avoid having to invest time both in:

  • a) developing the complex computations algorithms and
  • b) having to wait for computations to complete – simplification = speed.

However, mother-nature isn’t so accommodating or obliging. By assuming that a geology will be made up of a two-layer structure. This is evidenced in a recent geological / resistivity study. Which covered over 1,500 sites in Northern Europe, where less than 20% fell into the simplistic 2-layer model.

So, this begs the question “what about the remaining 80% of geologies?”

By attempting to shoehorn an oversimplified 2-layer soil model into a safety critical an Electrical Earthing Design introduces massive risk (error) into your subsequent Electrical Earthing System.

It Has To Be CDEGS HIFREQ Above The Ground

While all products consider below-ground resistive effects. And some consider complex conduction through the soil. Only CDEGS HIFREQ allows for above ground inductive effects. (For example where a fence runs parallel to a high voltage overhead line, it might have a dangerous voltage imposed on it.)

Another limitation of a lot of the less capable packages is what is called (in computational electromagnetic circles) the equipotential assumption.  I.E. however long the conductor segment is, the whole of it is at the same voltage. While this is perfectly applicable in some applications. For electrical earthing in real world situations, it can lead to a massive underestimation in touch voltages. For computational purposes it is a very useful tool.  Because, it significantly reduces compute time and effort. But at GreyMatters, safety of life is always our priority, which means we never assume equipotentiality exists.

Some packages assume all conductive parts are made out of copper. Which means (through rose tinted glasses) that they are able to conduct electricity better than they might in the real world. When we approach an electrical earthing model. We take advantage of all the conductive paths we have available to us. Of course, assuming it is safe to do so. Part of this safety assessment is checking the voltage rise that might occur during a fault. Which will, of course, vary due to the composition of the materials being studied.

When it Gets Larger and More Complex

With larger and more complex sites. Only CDEGS HIFREQ is able to model the complete power system supplying the fault.  So that all the return paths can be accounted for accurately. As a result, it is also possible to see if induced voltages (due to the unbalanced load during the fault) cause a hazard on fence lines etc.

CDEGS HIFREQ Comparison
Earthing Software Comparison Table

In Conclusion

As a Top 1% specialist Electrical Earthing Consultancy having access to the Top 1% tools makes perfect sense.  So, whilst we may not be the cheapest, if safety is important to you … if having a technically secure design is important to you … and you want to avoid any nasty surprises or embarrassment further down the line, then drop us a line or contact us.

If you want to learn what differences there are within CDEGS versions, or XGSLab then access a PDF comparison paper HERE.

Software Tools Update – Jan 2020

Regular readers of this blog will know GreyMatters have championed CDEGS for many years. But now there is a viable and attractive alternative to CDEGS. I explain “Why I chose this alternative” in this article. And compare several past projects, done with CDEGS and the alternative – in this article.

Filed Under: CDEGS, Electrical Earthing Tagged With: CDEG HIFREG Software, Energy Modelling Software, Finite Element Analysis Software, Soil Resistivity, Soil Resistivity Testing, Soil Resistivity Testing Methods, XGSLabs

Electrical Earthing Training – Free Trial

Do you want to understand more about Electrical Earthing System Design – Greymatters Academy is our Earthing Training site take a look or access your free trial here.

Recent Posts:

Knowing how important continual improvement is to the user experience for the developers of XGSLab, this month sees the first of a raft of software updates or planned improvements using the most modern of platforms on OpenGL. Bring your work to life! New 3D Viewer implementation based on OpenGL gives you stunning graphics for your […]

Soil resistivity - Generic Tester - 2.5W

Here’s the 30-min webinar on Soil Resistivity Testing What you’ll get from this is: How to avoid 7 common mistakes when testing Learn what IEC BS EN 50522 says about soil resistivity testing Learn a few tips and tricks to make your life easier and error-free Who is this for? Anyone who is responsible for […]

Comparing CDEGS with XGSLab

As teams around the world adapt their work style and business practices to take precautions for COVID-19, staying connected and having clarity around work and priorities is more important than ever. To that end, we want to help our global customers. So we are sharing tips and best practices around earthing, earthing design, and best […]

Learning new skills while furloughed

With the current pressure on governments to relax or even lift the current lockdown measures, there’s one word that the more neurotic amongst us try not to use – recession! Robert Kiyosaki gives some good advice. “Face your fears and doubts, and new worlds will open to you.” Robert Kiyosaki There are several things we […]

Earthing Superpowers Like Mario

Before we get into today’s blog “Earthing Superpowers” and how together we can create the superpowers we need to save lives. I want to share a personal story. I have a confession to make… Earlier this year I found myself in the Southern Ocean at 45deg Lattitude barrelling along at 20-30 knots on a 70 […]

About Hugh

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Take this short quiz

HV Earthing Quiz

Online Earthing Courses

Free Trial Learn More

Free Online Course – Learn Ohms Law in 10 minutes or less!

Learn Ohms Law

Our Top Earthing Post

Electrical Fault Theory

Blog Categories

  • Acadamy (2)
  • Anti-Theft (1)
  • CDEGS (5)
  • Earth Testing (5)
  • Earthing System Design (15)
  • Earthing Systems (4)
  • Electrical Earthing (34)
  • General Post (8)
  • Lightning (7)
  • Lightning Protection Design (15)
  • Lightning Strike (1)
  • Renewable Energy (2)
  • Soil Resistivity (16)
  • Soil Resistivity Testing (10)
  • Solar (3)
  • XGSLab Updates (1)

Tag Cloud

BS7430 BS EN 50522 CDEGS data centres earth electrode Earthing Earthing Arrangements earthing design earthing standards Earthing system design earthing systems earth potential rise Electrical Earthing System Design Electromagnetic Field Theory electromagnetic interference EMI EN 50522 EPR Finite Element Analysis Finite Element Analysis Software greymatters Grounding HV Earthing HV Earthing Protection lightning lightning danger Lightning Protection lightning strikes Rise of Earth Potential risk management ROEP Soil Resistivity Soil Resistivity Methods Soil Resistivity Testing Soil Resistivity Testing 10 Common Mistakes Soil Resistivity Testing Methods soil structure Step Potential Step Voltage Surge Protection Tag Archive - Lightning Strike Touch Potential Touch Voltage what to do in a thunderstorm what to do when lightning strikes

Footer

  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Cookies

Copyright GreyMatters © 2021

This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Read more.