Information about Power Engineering

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Rural 3 phase distribution transformer

Power engineering, also called "power systems engineering," is the subfield of electrical engineering that deals with power systems, specifically electric power generation, electric power transmission and electric power distribution, power conversion, and electromechanical devices. Out of necessity, power engineers also rely heavily on the theory of control systems. A power engineer supervises, operates, and maintains machinery and boilers that provide heat, power, refrigeration, and other utility services to heavy industry and large building complexes. Also it deals with the conception of new power sources.

History

Power engineering was one of the earliest fields to be exploited in electrical engineering. Early problems solved by engineers include efficient and safe distribution of electric power. Nikola Tesla was a notable pioneer in this field.

Power

Transmission lines transmit power across the grid.

Power Engineering deals with the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity as well as the design of a range of related devices. These include transformers, electric generators, electric motors and power electronics.

In many regions of the world, governments maintain an electrical network that connects a variety electric generators together with users of their power. This network is called a power grid. Users purchase electricity from the grid avoiding the costly exercise of having to generate their own. Power engineers may work on the design and maintenance of the power grid as well as the power systems that connect to it. Such systems are called on-grid power systems and may supply the grid with additional power, draw power from the grid or do both.

Power engineers may also work on systems that do not connect to the grid. These systems are called off-grid power systems and may be used in preference to on-grid systems for a variety of reasons. For example, in remote locations it may be cheaper for a mine to generate its own power rather than pay for connection to the grid and in most mobile applications connection to the grid is simply not practical.

Today, most grids adopt three-phase electric power with an alternating current. This choice can be partly attributed to the ease with which this type of power can be generated, transformed and used. Often (especially in the USA), the power is split before it reaches residential customers whose low-power appliances rely upon single-phase electric power. However, many larger industries and organizations still prefer to receive the three-phase power directly because it can be used to drive highly efficient electric motors such as three-phase induction motors.

Transformers play an important role in power transmission because they allow power to be converted to and from higher voltages. This is important because higher voltages suffer less power loss during transmission. This is because higher voltages allow for lower current to deliver the same amount of power as power is the product of the two. Thus, as the voltage steps up, the current steps down. It is the current flowing through the components that result in both the losses and the subsequent heating. These losses, appearing in the form of heat, are equal to the current squared times the electrical resistance through which the current flows.

For these reasons, electrical substations exist throughout power grids to convert power to higher voltages before transmission and to lower voltages suitable for appliances after transmission.

Components

Power engineering is usually broken into three parts:

Generation

Generation is converting other forms of power into electrical power. The sources of power include fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, hydropower,geothermal power, nuclear power, solar power, wind power and other forms.

Transmission

Transmission includes moving power over somewhat long distances, from a power station to near where it is used. Transmission involves high voltages, almost always higher than voltage at which the power is either generated or used. Transmission also includes connecting together power systems owned by various companies and perhaps in different states or countries. Transmission includes long medium and short lines.

Distribution

Distribution involves taking power from the transmission system to end users, converting it to voltages at which it is ultimately required. There are different levels of voltage for power distribution.

External links

IEEE Power Engineering Society
/ Power Engineering Magazine Articles
National Institute for the Uniform Licensing of Power Engineer Inc.
A technical article on Power Analytics can be found at: http://www.7x24exchange.org/downloads/7x24Newslink_Spring07.pdf

Electrical engineering (sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering) is an engineering field that deals with the study and/or application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism.
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Electric power transmission, a process in the delivery of electricity to consumers, is the bulk transfer of electrical power. Typically, power transmission is between the power plant and a substation near a populated area.
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Power conversion is the process of converting power from one form into another. This could include electromechanical or electrochemical processes.

In electrical engineering, power conversion
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In engineering, electromechanics combines the sciences of electromagnetism of electrical engineering and mechanics. Mechatronics is the discipline of engineering that combines mechanics, electronics and information technology (software engineering).
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In military aviation, a Control system is frequently used in place of a Ground Control Station when describing an Unmanned Aircraft System control element which may be located anywhere, not just on the ground.
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The efficiency of an entity (a device, component, or system) in electronics and electrical engineering is defined as useful power output divided by the total electrical power consumed (a fractional expression).
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Safety is the state of being "safe" (from French sauf), the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm
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For delivered electrical power, see .

Electric power is defined as the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.

When electric current flows in a circuit with resistance, it does work.
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Nikola Tesla
Никола Тесл?

I have harnessed the cosmic rays and caused them to operate a motive device.
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Electricity generation is the first process in the delivery of electricity to consumers. The other processes are electric power transmission and electricity distribution which are normally carried out by the electrical power industry.
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Electricity distribution is the penultimate stage in the delivery (before retail) of electricity to end users. It is generally considered to include medium-voltage (less than 50 kV) power lines, electrical substations and pole-mounted transformers, low-voltage (less than 1000 V)
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Electricity (from New Latin ēlectricus, "amberlike") is a general term for a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. This includes many well-known physical phenomena such as lightning, electromagnetic fields and electric currents,
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transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled wires. A changing current in the first circuit (the primary
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electrical generator is a device that converts kinetic energy to electrical energy, generally using electromagnetic induction. The reverse conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy is done by a motor, and motors and generators have many similarities.
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electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. The reverse process, that of converting mechanical energy into electrical energy, is accomplished by a generator or dynamo.
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Power electronics is the technology associated with the efficient conversion, control and conditioning of electric power by static means from its available input form into the desired electrical output form.
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Three-phase electric power is a common method of electric power transmission. It is a type of polyphase system mainly used to power motors and many other devices. A three-phase system uses less conductor material to transmit electric power than equivalent single-phase, two-phase,
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alternating current (AC) is an electrical current whose magnitude and direction vary cyclically, as opposed to direct current, whose direction remains constant. The usual waveform of an AC power circuit is a sine wave, as this results in the most efficient transmission of
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Motto
"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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In electrical engineering, single-phase electric power refers to the distribution of electric power using a system in which all the voltages of the supply vary in unison. Single-phase distribution is used when loads are mostly lighting and heating, with few large electric motors.
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Induction Motor (IM) is one kind of AC motor where power is supplied to the rotating device by induction. An electric motor converts electrical power to mechanical power in its rotor (rotating part). There are several ways to supply power to the rotating part of the motor.
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Voltage (sometimes also called electric potential difference or electrical tension) is the potential similarity of electrical potential between two points of an electrical or electronic circuit, expressed in volts.
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electrical substation is a subsidiary station of an electricity generation, transmission and distribution system where voltage is transformed from high to low or the reverse using transformers.
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Fossil fuels or mineral fuels are hydrocarbons found within the top layer of the earth’s crust. They range from very volatile materials with low carbon:hydrogen ratios like methane, to liquid petroleum to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon, like
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Coal (IPA: /ˈkəʊl/) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation.
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