5 ms·
Transmission could be done via DC too, and there are quite a few benefits to it. The only field left to conquer is generation of electricity, looks like that's
by zuron7 8y ago
Transmission could be done via DC too, and there are quite a few benefits to it. The only field left to conquer is generation of electricity, looks like that's going to be in AC.
- walrus01 8y agoIt is, but rather difficult and expensive for short to medium distances. Submarine power cables are often HVDC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_DC_Intertie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_DC_Intertie
- howard941 8y agoGreat article. The thing's grounding system is lustworthy: The Sylmar grounding system is a line of 24 silicon-iron alloy electrodes submerged in the Pacific Ocean at Will Rogers State Beach[4] suspended in concrete enclosures about one meter above the ocean floor. The grounding system at Celilo consists of 1,067 cast iron anodes buried in a two-foot trench of petroleum coke, which behaves as an electrode, arranged in a ring of 2.02 mi (3,250.87 m) circumference at Rice Flats (near Rice, Oregon), which is 6.6 mi (10.6 km) SSE of Celilo.
- gtdawg 8y agoIncredible! I've always been fascinated when driving by the Sylmar station (many times in my life) and never knew that I was driving by connecting infrastructure when on PCH in that area. And even more interesting is they are replacing/replaced it! https://www.circlingthenews.com/terminus-of-sylmar-ground-return-system-being-replaced/ https://www.circlingthenews.com/terminus-of-sylmar-ground-re...
- Tempest1981 8y agoCool! Which led me further down the rabbit hole: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current - HVDC uses voltages between 100 kV and 1,500 kV. - HVDC can be cheaper for 500+ mile runs - HVDC allows power transmission between unsynchronized AC transmission systems - Recent advances make UHVDC feasible (800kV+)
- Ruphin 8y agoGreat excuse to get introduced to this wonderful engineering youtube channel (no affiliation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFQG9kuXSxg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFQG9kuXSxg
- garmaine 8y agoWhat benefits? The downsides are massive resistive losses.
- repiret 8y agoThat depends entirely on the voltage. AC won because transformers are relatively simple and can change AC voltage, but we can now build stuff to change AC voltage too.
- hexane360 8y agoDon't forget that three phase allows for three conductors to carry the power of three pairs of single phase conductors.
- wl 8y agoAlternatively, skin effect limits the amount of AC current you can throw over a single conductor. With DC, you can make your conductors arbitrarily thick and you'll use the whole thing.
- i_am_proteus 8y agoThree-phase AC also allows for very electromechanically simple generators and motors. Industrial electrical loads have traditionally been (and often still are) rotating machinery, putting three-phase at an advantage.
- yholio 8y agoThat's not entirely true. Any load imbalance on the phases is resolved through the null, connected to earth at both ends of the line. You can do the same with three single phase lines, although you wound need a massive earthing system with low resistance. Or you could build a 2 wire (or 4, 6 ...) DC line with complementary polarity that would carry more power due to skin effects. If the negative and positive loads are balanced, the currents though the earthing wire cancel out.
- yholio 8y ago