Electrical Power Systems Technology

(Elle) #1

Electrical Power Distribution Systems 209


may say that the overall electrical power system delivers power from the
source to the load that is connected to it. A typical electrical power distribu-
tion system is shown in Figure 8-1.

Figure 8-1. A typical electrical power distribution system (Courtesy Kentucky
Utilities Company)

Industries use almost 50 percent of all the electrical power produced,
so three-phase power is distributed directly to most industries. Electrical
substations use massive transformers and associated equipment, such as oil-
filled circuit breakers, high-voltage conductors, and huge strings of insula-
tors, in distributing power to industry. From these substations, power is
distributed to the industrial sites to energize the industrial machinery, to
residential homes, and to commercial users of electrical power.

POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION

Power transmission and distribution systems are used to interconnect
electrical power production systems and to provide a means of deliver-
ing electrical power from the generating station to its point of utilization.
Most electrical power systems east of the Rocky Mountains are intercon-
nected with one another in a parallel circuit arrangement. These intercon-
nections of power production systems are monitored and controlled, in
most cases, by a computerized control center. Such control centers provide
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