Electricity has played very important role in life of every human being, Everybody wants the

uninterrupted, smooth and clean electricity in our society but no one can be support to electrical
utilizes company for this work. As you have seen that everyone suffer from the fluctuations in supply
system so here we have discuss one cause of fluctuations in electrical system.

Are you know ? why we used 50 hz electrical frequency in India

We could have chosen any other frequency other than 50/60 hz but
50/60 HZ is an optimum frequency which keeps the transmission losses to tolerable limits.
The higher will be the frequency, the more will be the losses.
and lower frequencies would causes the size, weight & hence the cost to increase. Also,
more flickers are noticed in lesser frequencies than higher frequencies.
Advantages of a higher frequency:

1. Lighter transformers for the same power

2. Smaller filter capacitors in single-phase DC power supplies
3. Reduced light flicker
Advantages of a lower frequency:

1. Lower inductive line losses

2. Lower skin-effect losses
3. More efficient operation of universal (brush-type) motors
4. Less objectionable hum in audio systems

In India, commercial devices are made for frequency of 50 HZ. What will happen if the supply
freq is either very less like 25 HZ or high like 75 HZ?

Well get me give you an example. The regulators in your house hold fans
are frequency modulators. When you turn the knob to LOW a low frequency is given to the
fan, thus less amount of current is delivered to the fan for the same pottential difference ,
thus the fan rotated slowly. Now if you apply a higher frequency, it might just burn the
internal circuity for the amount of current you are supplying .

QUESTION: Why does the grid fail when excessive power is drawn from it?

Saraswathi Desh, Orissa

ANSWER 1: Electricity cannot be stored. Stable voltage and frequency are two important factors that
contribute to effective functioning of the grid. The standard alternating current frequency in India is 50
hertz. Excessive drawing of power results in reduction of voltage and frequency in the grid. Even though
perfect matching of generation and demand on the grid cannot be achieved in all occasions practically, the
load dispatch centres see to that the deviation is not much.
When demand is more and generation is less, the frequency falls below 50 hertz and vice versa. Load
dispatch centres resort to load shedding when generation cannot be increased further and there is excessive
demand. Normal variation in frequency allowed is 50 hertz plus or minus one per cent (49.5-50 hertz). This
is due to the fact that if frequency goes below 47.5 hertz, it will result in coinciding with the frequency of the
last stage of turbine blades. This will cause extensive damage to the turbines.

In India, the generation is roughly 70 per cent thermal and 30 per cent hydro. Nuclear and non-conventional
means contribute for a tiny fraction. Thermal power stations located in the different parts of the region
contribute to the grid. If the frequency goes below 48 hertz, grid feeders at varying frequencies in the range
47.5- 48 hertz, trip. The thermal power stations become islands feeding only to territories in and around
them. This arrangement (islanding) is now in operation for a few years to prevent tripping of all units in
thermal power stations.

A cold start up of a thermal power-generating unit takes 8 hours approximately. Restoration of supply in
case of a total collapse takes a long time as units are to be brought back into service only one by one. Also
the generation has to be gradually increased continuously matching the demand, at any given point of time
during grid restoration process to prevent further complications.

If there are provisions to increase the generation when there is excessive demand, like conventional and
pumped storage hydel power stations, gas turbine power stations, diesel power stations etc, which can be
quickly brought to full load, the problem can be tackled without much load shedding or even no load
shedding.

C. Subbaraman, Neyveli

ANSWER 2: In India regional grids comprising beneficiary states have been formed. With the formation of
the national grid, inter regional transfer of power is also made possible. Each state in a region has to cater
to its consumers' load by its own generation plus allocated share from central sector generating stations. In
AC system, voltage and current follow sinusoidal wave form touching both positive and negative peaks at 50
cycles per second.

As long as demand and load is balanced the frequency of the grid remains at 50 hertz. When the load
increases in excess of generation the generators get over loaded and the rotation of the alternators vary
resulting in reducing the frequency. Governors fitted on the turbines take care of slight variations of speed
of alternators due to load variations to the extent of plus or minus five per cent. But when the demand
increases suddenly due to climatic changes, switching on TVs or when the generating units fail, the
frequency dips beyond governors' capacity. As per the design of the turbines, low/high frequency operations
are limited to a few hours in their lifetime and for its protection the set is to be tripped when the designed
low or high frequency limits are reached. This will cause tripping of unit, thus resulting in widening the
generation-demand gapTo avoid such a phenomena, under frequency relays are installed in the distribution
system to remove loads to match demands with available generation. However, if this action is not
adequate, the frequency goes low further and grid collapses. In the case of high frequency conditions either
generation is lowered or more load is connected to the system either within the region or by supply to the
neighbouring regions.

P. Krishna Priya, Salem, T. N

Answer written ·
Technology
· 2016

What is something electrical engineers know

that others don't?

Shashank Sharma, Engineer in the making.

Updated Apr 14 · Upvoted by Dinesh Kumar, Masters Electrical Engineering, Jawaharlal Nehru
Technological University, Anantapur and Rohit Pullela, Hardware engineer at Bosch, also experienced
with many embedded projects
1. Did you ever notice gravel beneath and around large transformers(like in the pic)?

The main reason for this practice is actually "snakes". Yes, you read it right.
Large transformers produce substantial vibrations due to magnetostriction which get
transmitted to ground. Due to this effect the transformers placed on solid ground attract
snakes. To prevent this, transformers are surrounded by gravel which prevents snakes from
coming near it.

2. A common ceiling fan (not the BLDC ones) can actually rotate in either direction. It is the
capacitor that makes it run in a specific direction(clockwise or anticlockwise).
If you just remove the capacitor and complete the remaining circuit you can make it run in
either direction by giving it a gentle push.

3. You can estimate the transmission voltage in overhead lines by merely counting the
number of insulator disks used to support the wires.

Each of such disks can withstand 11KV of voltage. So in case you see 3 disks then you can
safely deduce that the transmission voltage can be around 33kV.

4. If you look at transmission line you might find small devices like the one in the image
below.
They are called Stockbridge Dampers. They are usually present as a pair on either side of a
pole/suspension point. They are used to dampen out vibrations produced in transmission
lines.

5. Zebra, Dog, Peacock, Moose, Dog, Hen are also names for transmission line conductors.
They differ from each other in terms of size, number of strands, material used, etc..

6. About 70% of the electricity produced in the world is actually consumed by Induction
Motors. Their ruggedness, easy speed control, nil maintenance requirement makes them the
most commonly-used motor.

7. Hydro Power Plants are actually a necessity in today's Electrical grid network.
In their absence, the electrical grid will become highly susceptible to load variations and
collapse on occurrence of a moderate load variation on the consumer end. It is because
these Hydro turbines increase the inertia of the power system which protects it from sudden
jerks due to load variations.

EDIT 1 :

8. Magnetic field strength developed inside a transformer core ranges from 1.5 to 1.6 Tesla.
It is very large in comparison to magnetic field strength of earth or the sun.

Earth's magnetic field is of the order of micro tesla. Whereas the sun's magnetic field ranges
from 0.1 milli Tesla to 100 milli Tesla.

9.You must have seen that overhead transmission lines are laid with a sag in them.

The sag is not introduced instinctively. It is mathematically calculated to determine the

height of the middle point of the conductor from the ground keeping in mind the effect of
wind, temperature, frost, and other types of condensation.

EDIT 2 :

10. Electromagnetic isolation for a device can achieved by placing it in a metallic enclosure.
Same principle works in a Faraday's Cage to protect a person from high voltages.

Sometimes line maintenance workers have to work on active transmission line to prevent
loss of power. The workers are directed to wear Faraday's Suit then to prevent electrocution
from induced currents in their tissues due to high strength electrical and magnetic fields.
The suit is in effect a wearable Faraday cage, which equalizes the potential over the body,
and ensures there is no through-tissue current. The strong electric field surrounding
charged equipment is enough to drive a current of approximately 15 μA for each kV·m−1
through a human body. To prevent this, hot-hand workers are usually required to wear a
Faraday suit.