The economics of central station generation improved greatly when unified light and power systems, operating at a common frequency, were developed. DC systems with a service radius of a mile (kilometer) or so were necessarily smaller, less efficient of fuel consumption, and more labor-intensive to operate than much larger central AC generating stations.ĭynamos and engine installed at Edison General Electric Company, New York 1895ĪC systems used a wide range of frequencies depending on the type of load lighting load using higher frequencies, and traction systems and heavy motor load systems preferring lower frequencies. The war of the currents eventually resolved in favor of AC distribution and utilization, although some DC systems persisted to the end of the 20th century.
In 1886 George Westinghouse began building an alternating current system that used a transformer to step up voltage for long-distance transmission and then stepped it back down for indoor lighting, a more efficient and less expensive system which is similar to modern systems. Because of the DC distribution, the service area was small, limited by voltage drop in the feeders. The station used reciprocating steam engines to turn direct-current generators. The station ran until destroyed by fire in 1890. In September 1882 in New York, the Pearl Street Station was established by Edison to provide electric lighting in the lower Manhattan Island area. Johnson arranged for the supply cable to be run overhead, via Holborn Tavern and Newgate. Another important customer was the Telegraph Office of the General Post Office, but this could not be reached through the culverts. The customers included the City Temple and the Old Bailey. This supplied electricity to premises in the area that could be reached through the culverts of the viaduct without digging up the road, which was the monopoly of the gas companies. A Babcock & Wilcox boiler powered a 93 kW (125 horsepower) steam engine that drove a 27-tonne (27-long-ton) generator. In 1890 the world's first coal-fired public power station, the Edison Electric Light Station, was built in London, a project of Thomas Edison organized by Edward Johnson.
The electricity supplied power to lights, heating, produced hot water, ran an elevator as well as labor-saving devices and farm buildings. It used water from lakes on his estate to power Siemens dynamos. In 1878, a hydroelectric power station was designed and built by William, Lord Armstrong at Cragside, England.
FINAL DRAFT 9 CUSTOMER NUMBER GENERATOR GENERATOR
In early 1871 Belgian inventor Zénobe Gramme invented a generator powerful enough to produce power on a commercial scale for industry.
0 kommentar(er)
