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Substation Technologies


Circuit Breaker Time and Motion Testing

Determining mechanical condition of high-voltage circuit breakers BY JOZEF LEVI, Doble Engineering Company Life expectancy of a newly installed high-voltage circuit breaker is approximately 40 years. Throughout its life, under normal circuit conditions, the circuit breaker will operate less than...

Substation Automation


Lightning Protection


Pennsylvania’s Yaw Bill

In a significant move for Pennsylvania’s energy sector, State Senator Gene Yaw has introduced a transformative piece of legislation aimed at modernizing the state's approach to power plant development and capacity management. The bill, which has been the subject of considerable discussion,...

Substation Testing & Maintenance


Leakers, What a Mess!

Electric Substation apparatus, transformers and circuit breakers, are the workhorses of the electric transmission grid. Our focus in this article is on the issue of dielectric media leaks. Specifically, oil in large power transformers and oil or SF6 gas in power circuit breakers. Oil and gas leaks...

Breakers & Relays


Storm-Hardened Switchgear

How to protect electrical equipment from Mother Nature BY ROBERT A. MURPHY, Trayer Engineering Corporation The U.S. National Weather Service called Hurricane Sandy the most destructive storm of 2012’s unusually active Atlantic hurricane season. Sandy delivered unprecedented damage across a wide...

Substation Protection


Electrical Substations

Ethernet Cable Selection for Utilities

Electric utilities are constantly searching for the most efficient, reliable and cost-effective methods to deliver electricity to customers. A vision for accomplishing this is the migration of the electrical grid from a reliable, but inflexible system to the Smart Grid, which promises adaptability and efficiency.

One definition of the Smart Grid, based on work from the U.S. Department of Energy, is: "A modernized electrical grid that uses information and communications technology to gather and act on information in an automated fashion…to improve the efficiency, reliability, economics, and sustainability of the production and distribution of electricity".

The promises of the Smart Grid are exciting on many fronts...

Electrical Substations Articles