Mechanical EngineeringME217 Energy, Environment & Society

ME 217: Energy, Environment & Society Fall 2018

Power generation, transmission & distribution

Thomas Edison

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Edison's Pearl St. network

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Some facts about Pearl St. Served more than 500 customers, powering over

10,000 incandescent lamps

Used waste heat from coal-fired generators to heat buildings and to provide process heat

6 x 100 kW generators

33,000 m of buried cable

110 V DC

Featured first electric meters

Cost $300,000

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Some physics consideration

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The current wars

Nikola Tesla GeorgeWestinghouse

The ZBDtransformer

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The US transmission grid

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Current T&D topology

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Transmission lines

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Distribution lines

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Layout of a coal-fired power station

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Thermodynamic losses