From the monthly archives: July 2013

We are pleased to present below all posts archived in 'July 2013'. If you still can't find what you are looking for, try using the search box.

Capacitors - Energy Storage Application

By Steven McFadyen on 6/29/2013 8:24 PM

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..


Capacitor Theory

By Steven McFadyen on 6/12/2013 1:52 PM

Capacitors are widely used in electrical engineering for functions such as energy storage, power factor correction, voltage compensation and many others.  Capacitance is also inherent in any ele... read more..




IEC Document Designation

Often document control is dictated by project requirements, for example a particular organisation may have an existing numbering system. Existing company...

Aluminium Windings - Dry Type Transformers

The other day I was talking to a colleague who is a building services consultant.  Despite regularly specifying dry-type/cast resin transformers he was...

Maxwell's Equations - Gauss's Electric Field Law

Gauss's Electrical law defines the relation between charge ("Positive" & "Negative") and electric field.  The law was initially formulated by Carl Friedrich...

How to measure power supply quality

If your are ever called out to troubleshoot something on your electrical system, one of the first things consider is the supply voltage. You want to ensure...

Frame Leakage Protection

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...

Load Flow Study – how they work

A load flow study is the analysis of an electrical network carried out by an electrical engineer. The purpose is to understand how power flows around...

Smarter Electrical Distribution

The other day I came across an article in Technology Review on the development of a smart transformer. A professor at North Carolina State University is...

Occam's Razor

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...

Software Usage Guidelines

Using software in our  work is essential for most of us and we are becoming even more dependant on it's use.  While software is a great asset, many times...

Cable Sizing Software

When sizing cables nearly, everyone uses some form of software. This ranges from homespun spreadsheets to complex network analyses software. Each has its...

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