Page:EB1911 - Volume 22.djvu/251

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that resonance due to localized capacity and inductance other than that of the line conductors may, and often does, cause very serious disturbances upon the system. The subject has never been adequately investigated, but the tendency towards formidable sparking and arcing at various points on long-distance transmission systems is generally far greater than can be accounted for by consideration of the nominal voltages alone. The conditions may be still further complicated by the effect of earths or open circuits, which sometimes may produce, temporarily, appalling resonance phenomena, through bringing into action the capacity and inductance of the apparatus and introducing surges. In ordinary working the resonance of the harmonics is not very conspicuous, and the fact that it occurs not systematically, but only in special ways and under special conditions, indicates more strongly than anything else that the vital point is not the time-constant of the line alone, but those of the apparatus connected thereto. A definite and persistent tendency towards resonance may sometimes be effectively checked by the introduction of suitable inductance in the parts of the system most seriously affected, but the best general policy is to avoid as far as possible the presence of the higher harmonics, which are the chief sources of dan er.

Ciosely allied to and connected with resonance is the phenomenon known as “ surging, ” which is due to the discharge of the electromagnetic energy stored in a circuit containing inductance and capacity when that circuit is broken. This discharge is an oscillatory one, going on with decreasing amplitude until it is frittered away by resistance and other sources of loss. Its frequency is that of the system affected, and the surge may get reinforcement from resonance proper. It is sufficiently serious on its merits, however, since the resulting rise of voltage increases directly with the current and may produce terrific results when the break comes as the result of a short circuit. Minor surging occurs when there is a sudden and violent change in the conditions of the circuit even without an actual break. Such a change produces an impulsive redistribution of energy that may give a sharp rise in voltage. Every point of abrupt variation in the electrical constants on the system is liable to be affected by minor surges. Such disturbances when trivial are commonly referred to as “ static.” Surging, depending as it does on the current ruptured, may, and indeed often does, give particularly formidable effects on circuits of moderate voltage, while on high voltage transmission circuits the usually moderate current and the large margin of safety in the insulation are important ameliorating influences.

Maintenance.-Transmission lines are, when practicable, laid out through open country, and along roads which furnish easy access for inspection and repairs. The chief sources of danger in temperate climates are mechanical injury from the falling of branches of trees across the circuits, sleet and wind storms, and lightning. The first mentioned difficulty may be avoided by keeping clear, so far as possible, of wooded country, and it should be remembered that, at the voltages customarily used for transmission, a twig the size of a lead-pencil falling across the wires may set up arcin, and it will end by burning the wires completely off-not directfy by fusion, but by persistent arcing. A properly constructed overhead line is practically safe against all storms, save those of most extraordinary violence, and with care may be made secure even against these. As a matter of practice, interruptions of service upon transmission systems are very rarely due to trouble upon the main line itself, but are far more likely to occur in some part of the distributing system. The most dangerous combination of circumstances is a sleet storm sufficient to coat the wires with ice, followed by heavy winds; if the line, however, is constructed with proper factors of safety, bearing this particular danger in mind, there need be very little fear of serious results. Lightning is a much more formidable enemy. The lightning discharges observed upon electric circuits are of two general descriptions: first, a direct discharge of lightning upon the line, more or less severe, and always to be dreaded; and secondly, induced discharges due to lightning flashes which do not hit the line, or to static disturbances which may or may not produce actual lightning. Discharges of the former class are vastly more severe than those of the latter, and, fortunately, are somewhat rare. They may actually shatter the line, or may distribute themselves along it for a considerable distance, leaping from wire to pole, and thence to earth, without actually damaging the line to any marked degree. The induced discharges are felt principally in the apparatus, causing many of the burn-outs observed in transformers and generators. There is no complete protection against the effects of lightning upon the apparatus. Even the best lightning arr esters are palliatives rather than preventives. If, however, a number of arr esters are put in parallel, with reactance coils between them on the way towards the apparatus, the vast majorit of lightning discharges, to whatever cause they may be due, will be deflected harmlessly to earth. Moreover, the apparatus itself has a considerable power of resistance, due to its high insulation. The ends of the line should be very thoroughly protected by such lightning arr esters, and other points, such as prominent elevations along the line, should receive similar additional protection. In some cases a substantial steel-wire cable stretched along the tops of the poles several feet above the line wires and well grounded at frequent intervals has been found very advantageous. With the best protection at present available. lightning is not a serious menace to continuity of service, and the apparatus of the distributing system is far more difficult to protect than the main line and its apparatus.

Sub-stations.-In most long-distance transmission work the transmission line itself terminates in a sub-station, which bears to the general distribution system precisely the same relations which are borne by a central electric supply station to its distributing lines. Such a sub-station should be treated, in fact, as a central station, receiving its electric energy from a distance instead of employing local generators driven by prime movers. The design of the substation, however, is somewhat different from that of the ordinary central station. The transmission lines terminate generally in a bank of reducing transformers, bringing the voltage from the 10,000 or higher voltage employed upon the line to the 2000 or more generally used in the distribution. These transformers are usually large, and their magnitude should be determined by the same considerations which apply to determining the size of the units to be employed in a generating station. The general rule to be followed is that the separate units shall be of such size that one of them may be dispensed with without serious inconvenience. In the case of transformers, the unit in two- or three-phase working is the bank of transformers, which must be used together. In Continental practice three-phase reducing transformers are frequently made to include all three phases in a 'single structure; this practice is less frequently followed in American plants, separate transformers being more often used in each phase. In this case, two or three transformers, according as the two- or three-phase system is used, constitute a single transformer unit in the sense just mentioned. If a change is to be made from three-phase line to two-phase distribution, the change is made by the appropriate vector connexion of the transformers. The f ull-load efficiency of large sub-station transformers is commonly 97 to 98 %. In any case, the sub-station is furnished with voltage regulating appliances, to enable the voltage upon the distribution lines to be held constant and uniform. These regulators are, in practice, transformers with a variable transformation ratio. This is obtained in divers ways-sometimes by changing the inductive relations of the primary and secondary coils, sometimes by changing the relative number of effective turns in primary and secondary. Sets of these inductive regulators enable the voltage to be controlled over a sufficiently wide range to secure uniform potential on the system, and with a degree of delicacy that obviates any undesirable changes in voltage. The regulation is usually manual, no automatic regulator yet having proved entirely satisfactory. In very large systems it is worth noting that the so-called “ skin effect " in alternating current conductors may become conspicuous. In the transmission circuits themselves the wires are, in practice, never large enough to produce any sensible difference in conductivity for continuous and for alternating currents. In the heavy omnibus-bars of a large sub-station this immunity may not be continued, but in such cases fiat strips are frequently employed. If these are not more than, say, a centimetre in thickness, the “ skin effect ” is practically insignificant for all frequencies used commercially. Not infrequently the sub-station also contains devices for the changing of alternating to continuous current, usually synchronous converters feeding either traction system or electric lighting mains. Beyond these converters the system becomes an ordinary continuous-current system, and is treated as such. When very close regulation is necessary, motor generators are often preferred to synchronous converters. Series arc lighting from transmission circuits is a much more serious problem. At the present time two methods are in vogue: first, the operation of continuous-current series-arc machines by synchronous or induction motors driven from the transmission system; and, secondly, series alternating apparatus for feeding alternating arcs. This apparatus consists either of constant current transformers with automatically moving secondaries, or of inductive regulators, also automatic in their action, supplemented by transformers to supply them with the necessarily rather high voltage employed for arc distribution. As between these two systems practice is at present divided; electrically, the alternating apparatus gives a rather higher real efficiency, but involves the use of alternating arcs, which are somewhat less efficient, watt for watt, as light producers than the continuous-current arcs. The apparatus, however, requires practically no care, while the arc machines, driven by motors, require the same amount of care as if they were driven by other power. Arc light transformers, however, are likely to have low power factors, hardly above 0-8 at full load, and rapidly falling off at lower loads. Synchronous rectifiers chan ing the alternating current into a unidirectional current, suitable for use"with arc lights, have been employed with some success, but not to any considerable extent. They are satisfactory in avoiding the use of alternating currents in the arc, and consume but little energy in the transformation from one form of current to the other, but involve the use of static transformers automatically giving constant current, which are somewhat objectionable on the score of lowpower factor. Mercury rectifiers are now used rather extensively and give excellent results, although they are as yet of somewhat uncertain life, and, like the synchronous rectifiers, require special transformers when worked at constant current. In Continental practice arc lights are almost universally worked off constant