5 ms·
The synchroscope is a very important gauge for any power plant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchroscope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchroscope In short
by ooterness 3y ago
The synchroscope is a very important gauge for any power plant:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchroscope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchroscope
In short, every generator is also an electric motor. When you connect a generator/motor to the grid, it begins rotating in sync with every other generator/motor on the grid. The grid will supply any amount of power required to speed up or slow down as needed, to keep everything locked together.
The initial synchronization process may be quite violent, depending on the size of the initial discrepancy.
The synchroscope is the gauge that shows the phase and frequency difference between the generator and the grid. Before closing the switch, operators align everything as closely as possible to ensure a smooth transition.
- MadnessASAP 3y agoWe have some older AC-AC converters to convert 60Hz wall power to 400Hz aircraft power 3 phase. They use a motor coupled to a generator, about 100kW output. If we shut one off and then restart it before it's fully spun down the phase difference between the motor and the grid is enough to make this thing kick and jump a fair bit. I'd love to see what happens at 200+MW! From a distance of course. I imagine the structural damage would be rather spectacular.
- mjevans 3y agoStrongly suspect some engineer included a 'weak' conductor somewhere as a sacrificial fuse. Wires tend to be way easier to replace than entire buildings. Just look at how violent aircraft jet engines are when they pop.
- rcxdude 3y agoAt those power levels, a 'fuse' can still pass a hell of a lot of energy before it burns itself out.
- ooterness 3y agoObligatory link to the "Guide to fuse replacement" listing a wrench as a "2000 amp slow blow" fuse. https://studyelectrical.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Guide-on-Fuse-Replacement.jpg https://studyelectrical.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Guide...
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 3y agoSomeone tested such a thing on a pretty big generator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM8kLaJ2NDU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM8kLaJ2NDU https://www.wired.com/story/how-30-lines-of-code-blew-up-27-ton-generator/ https://www.wired.com/story/how-30-lines-of-code-blew-up-27-... > Black chunks began to fly out of an access panel on the generator, which the researchers had left open to watch its internals. Inside, the black rubber grommet that linked the two halves of the generator’s shaft was tearing itself apart. This was a proof-of-concept for a cyber attack on power infrastructure. They sent it malware that inverted the grid sync behavior from "Sync up, then connect, and if you de-sync, disconnect" to "If you are synced, disconnect, if you are desynced, reconnect" The Wired article is an advert for a book filled with pretty fluffy prose - At times reading like a romance novel...
- ok_dad 3y agoI’ve heard stories from my navy days, such as when they accidentally synchronized to the grid 180 out of sync (the automatic sync failed, this one wasn’t manual) and the two diesel generators ripped themselves from the hull and threw themselves across the space and destroyed several other things on the way. That was on an older ship and they decided not to repair it, so it was decommissioned.
- blibble 3y agohere's a demo of it at a human understandable scale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFohkp2aaU4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFohkp2aaU4
- idiotsecant 3y agoIn modern plants synchscopes are not common or nessessary. Auto synchronizers can routinely close machines into the grid with better accuracy and repeatability than human operators.