Power systems theory - generation, transmissions and distribution
Many questions sent in to the site are in connection with motor starting and in particular star-delta. For all but the simplest application, there is merit in performing a more detailed study.&... read more..
Traditionally substations have used circuit breakers, current transformers (CT), voltage transformers (VT) and protection relays all wired together using copper cables. With advances in digital... read more..
Modelica is an open source (free) software language for modelling complex systems. Having never used it before, I thought I would download a development platform and see how it stacked up. This... read more..
Within Europe the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) has standardised the both the designation and colour of cables. These are published in CENELEC document... read more..
A UPS is an uninterruptible power supply. It is a device which maintains a continuous supply of electrical power, even in the event of failure of the mains (utility) supply. A UPS is inst... read more..
Power cables can basically be classified into earthed and unearthed cables, where earthed and unearthed refer to the application for which the cable is used. Earthed system refers to a three phase syste... read more..
Photovoltaic (PV) cells (sometimes called solar cells) convert solar energy into electrical energy. Every year more and more PV systems are installed. With this growing application, it's ... read more..
Fire resistant and fire retardant cable sheaths are design to resist combustion and limit the propagation of flames. Low smokes cables have a sheath designed to limit the amount of smoke and toxic ha... read more..
Capacitors have numerous applications in electrical and electronic applications. This note examines the use of capacitors to store electrical energy. The sidebar shows details of a typical c... read more..
If two dissimilar metals are touching and an external conducting path exists, corrosion of one the metals can take place. Moisture or other materials acting as an electrolyte between the metals... read more..
While not as popular as it once was, frame leakage protection does still have some use in some circumstances. In essence frame leakage is an earth fault type protection. A current transfo... read more..
Ever wondered what kind of power an aircraft uses when parked at the airport stand.
Normally the aircraft generates it own power, but when parked with the engines switched off power provided ... read more..
For unbalance conditions the calculation of fault currents is more complex. One method of dealing with this is symmetrical components. Using symmetrical...
We've been sending out Newsletters on a regular basis for a few weeks now. To do this we have been using Google's Feedburner service. While Feedburner...
When sizing cables, the heat generated by losses within any sheath or armour need to be evaluated. When significant, it becomes a factor to be considered...
Battery powered cars are a hot topic and widely debated. The pros, cons, issues and time frames can be talked about endlessly. An article by the Telegraph...
Electric motors are one of the most widely used items of electrical equipment. Improving motor efficiency benefits include, reduced power demand, lower...
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...
Insulation on a motor prevents interconnection of windings and the winding to earth. When looking at motors, it is important to understand how the insulation...
Exposure to time varying magnetic fields, from power frequencies to the gigahertz range can have harmful consequences. A lot of research has been conducted...
Low voltage (LV) switchrooms are common across all industries and one of the more common spatial requirements which need to be designed into a project...
When looking at the design of a lighting scheme it is useful to have an understanding on the nature of light itself and some of the basic theory associated...
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