Fundamental electrical engineering concepts and theory
One of the fundamental requirements of an alternating current distribution systems it to have the ability to change the magnitude of voltages. It is more efficient to transmit power at high voltag... read more..
Over recent years the Lithium Ion battery has become popular in applications requiring high power densities with small weight and footprint. Today Lithium Ion batteries are commonly found in mobil... read more..
When current flows within a wire, a magnetic field is created. The potion of this magnetic field perpendicular to the wire is called the magnetic flux (measured in weber, Wb). Inductance is the ratio... read more..
In electrical engineering, Network Theory is the study of how to solve circuit problems. By analyzing circuits, the engineer looks to determine the various voltages can currents with exist within the... read more..
If you have no idea how electrical circuits work, or what people mean then they talk about volts and amps, hopefully I can shed a bit light. I’m intending this post to be a simple introducti... read more..
A single phase system is perhaps the most common type of system most people are familiar with. This is what people have in their homes and what appliances are plugged in to. For larger amounts of power,... read more..
A fundamental concept behind the operation of alternating current systems is that voltage and current waveforms will be sinusoidal – a Sine Wave. This is best explained by considering how a coil of wire... read more..
One of the requirements to ensuring that everything works is to have equipment selected, manufactured and verified [tested] to IEC standards. Not all equipment out there meets this requirements. It is t... read more..
Alternating current (a.c.) is the backbone of modern electrical power distribution. In this article I’ll be pulling some of the more important concepts together. It is a work in progress and I’ll be add... read more..
Depending where in the world you work, you are likely following one of two standards
I'm a fan of using manufacturers catalogues. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, if your involved in the purchase of equipment, you will likely need to look into catalogues to find what you ne... read more..
In a previous article I looked at the dc resistance of conductors and in this article we turn our attention to ac resistance. If you have not read the previous article, now may be a good time to do so. ... read more..
"I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong...
Three phase systems are derived from three separate windings, either connected in delta or star (wye). Each winding can be treated separately, leading...
Exposure to time varying magnetic fields, from power frequencies to the gigahertz range can have harmful consequences. A lot of research has been conducted...
IEC 61439 'Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies', specifies standard arrangements of switchboard (call forms of internal separation). The...
If you are wondering what happened to our cable notes, the short answer is that we have moved them to myCableEngineering.com. The "Knowledge Base" at...
I was reminded of Occam's Razor while reading a book. It's quite a simple principal of logic which has stood the test of time and is accepted as central...
I think this post is going to be helpful to several of our readers. While the IEC low voltage circuit breaker Standard [IEC 60947-2, Low voltage switchgear...
Maxwell's Equations are a set of fundamental relationships, which govern how electric and magnetic fields interact. The equations explain how these fields...
Variable frequency drives are widely used to control the speed of ac motors. This note looks at the mechanisms which enable drive units to control the...
IEC 60228 is the International Electrotechnical Commission's international standard on conductors of insulated cables. Among other things, it defines a...
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