4 ms·
I believe the parent meant that the alternating current creates an electric field which is then absorbed by the water, leading to energy loss. This happens to s
by Analemma_ 9y ago
I believe the parent meant that the alternating current creates an electric field which is then absorbed by the water, leading to energy loss. This happens to some extent to all AC transmission, but I don't know enough to say if seawater+AC is a particularly bad combination. It would make sense though, because it's more conductive.
EDIT: brandmeyer's comment explains it well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16903431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16903431
- TeMPOraL 9y agoYes, that's precisely the thing I was referring to. Wasn't sure about the correct terminology (not an EE) so I didn't try to make the comment sciency-souding :).
- gehsty 9y agoI work installing these cables and never heard this discussed, maybe at the voltages / transmission subsea cables work at (220kV, 1000s of amps) makes this effect negligible?
- TeMPOraL 9y agoI honestly don't know. I'm not an EE, I only reported on what I've heard reported on the topic (and that passed my "basic physics sniff test").
- rsynnott 9y agoAre they AC? My impression was that practically all vaguely modern undersea cables are high voltage DC.
- gehsty 9y agoIt depends, when talking about interconnecting cables between countries, yes the majority are DC, both to minimise transmission losses and also to tie together grids working at different frequencies.... In terms of km installed I think it will be HVAC just from the sheer number of offshore windfarms built over the last 10yrs in Europe. These things can be huge - 60km in length, 220kV ~1500A....