Stoneridge Engineering Home |
I just found your 'high voltage arcs & sparks' video download section. This is utterly incredible and I never thought I would see something like this on video. I was lucky enough to experience a 500kV disconnect 'hot' open on one phase to an unloaded transformer, in Virginia. This was not a rotary switch, but a horizontal-to vertical knife-blade type, simular to those on your '345kV' video, but this one has large metal arc 'globes' on the end of the blade and on the switch cradle. The resulting arc was much like the one you have here on video, but was ungodly loud to experience in person. A faulty rotary sf6 puffer switch was to blame, all have been replaced. These were the 'old-style' types with the giant beer-keg looking barrel atop the long bushing. These are rapidly dissapearing now with the event of the new smaller horizontal high pressure bottles. BTW, I notice on the main interuptor stacks in a 765kV station 100 miles to my southwest, these are 6 in series per phase. IMAGINE watching a 765kV arc!
I was wondering on the 'second largest jacobs ladder' voltage. Is that meant to be 34.5kV? The insulator stack is way too short for 345kV.
Please feature more of these type videos if you can find them. Also I am looking for another utility-made video on a helicopter disaster. I'm told it was shown on TV a few years back: it shows the little coptor w/platform and lineman in his suit approaching and coupling to a phase of (what was said to be 800kV). Everything is OK until the copter gets to close and the blades get close to the top mounted ground wires. The full load arc (only for a split second because sf6 interuptors upstream instantly killed the power) kills the copters pilot, but the poor lineman on the platform was the worst, the voltage went directly through him, and I'm told he actually exploded into pieces (I assume the amperage caused his body fluids to flash to steam) I have never seen this video, but have heard others talking about it. Do you know of it?
And your substation explosion video is amazing. That 'low voltage' side arc must have been anywhere from 19.9kV up to 33 or more kV. It is a violent & nasty sounding arc, and all the black smoke coming up before the transformer let go, must have been the arc working on a circuit breaker or small transformer, or something with oil. As I am NOT a lineman, but only a 'fan' of ehv/uhv electricity, tell me about the 'expulsion fuse' that finally cut off the high-voltage. I would like very much to know how it works. I note that it only goes once the transformer's oil plume ignites, as fire is a conductor, and it looks like the fire actually started away from the arcing fault, nearer to the hV side of the station. Wow! Thanks, for any help you can give me here, and KEEP UP the good work!
Fred
Message Thread
« Back to index | View thread »