How does a substation work?
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- Опубліковано 21 лип 2024
- Hey Everyone !
I've had a ton of questions from the public lately asking about substations. A simplified explanation of how a substation works without using any confusing terminology so the average Joe can understand! So here's the basics ...
Maybe another time I'll get into tap changers, capacitors, high tension fuses, relays and all that other stuff ... but for now I wanted to make a video just explaining a few of the main components of a basic substation setup !
Comment with any of your questions below !
#lineman #substation #lineworker
I changed out the battery in my car once. I’m right there with ya buddy.
Glad we can relate! 👊🙌🍻
@@Bobsdecline are you a line worker
tee bone yes
@@Bobsdecline 1
Same bro, i changed batteries in my remote ✊
02:34 - Why SF6 used is actualy not only its density, but also the fact it likes to keep its own electrons bound to itself very tight, thus it's very hard to get it ionized.
03:39 - The oil is also one of the insulating materials (as well as that in the low voltage side oil breakers).
Great video, thanks! 👍
And here I thought I was a total badass😎 dealing with a paltry 40kv in the TV sets back in the day.
@@InsideOfMyOwnMind - Flybacks are fun. ⚡⚡✨Played with them a lot years ago, powered with a DIY ZVS driver.
Just found your channel. As a 30 year veteran of the power company (17 in substation) I really appreciate your ability to teach these things in a way that really sheds light for the layman. When I was a new hire in 1990, one of the old guys told me, "never ever stop learning." That advice kept me safe and up-to-date throughout my career. I try to learn something new every week if not every day.
Excellent advice! Thanks for sharing Eric
Can you give me your number or your email? I want to ask you something
I love the passion you linemen put into your work. Much respect.
These videos are amazing. I love how through the power of the internet one can pick a camera and start talking about a niche topic that is viewed by 28K viewers. As if no one really know how interesting a topic is until it is exposed freerly to the users.
ua-cam.com/video/EQQhF4fuGts/v-deo.html
As ELECTRICAL SUPERVISOR at construction site , Im still learning from you , keep it up bro .LETS WE POWER UP OUR WORLD !!!
👊👊 Cheers man!
Just came here after Elec 2602 lecture in Carleton Uni. My Prof used your video to explain about sub station. Was really helpful. Do more videos in elec stuff.
Thank you.
Great vid. As a electricity fan myself, I could watch these vids all day and learn something new
Thanks fritzy! That's a great thing about our work... We continue to learn throughout our entire career!
Might sound dumb, but "electricity fan" makes me think of a tablefan for some reason. So I chuckled thinking I am reading a comment written by a table fan. And now I am replying to that comment. Internet of things, they said. Didn't know this is what they meant. Imma' head out now.
I prefer "power line nerd," myself. Though I guess I'm an electrical nerd as well. I already know most of the stuff presented in this videos, but I like seeing equipment and soaking in info!
Dude you nailed it! It felt like an internet car sale with a virtual tour. If it were, I'd be signing paperwork right now. Great video!👍
You know its the big stuff when they call 7200 volts the low voltage side.
Still wrapping my head around that, the 14kv substations and transformers in my plant scare the hell outta me. The hum from those bastards make the floor shake
You should feel a 500/220kv bank. That is extremely unsettling.
We have 345kv to 138kv. The 138kv there is called the low side
I think, in this context, the "low" was simply relative as it is a _step-down_ transformer.
@@silverdoggg The physical mechanism that generates that hum is also fascinating. The strong magnetic fields in the core of the transformer literally vibrate parts of it, especially the iron/ferrite core.
Extremely enlightening, Sir. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!" Thank you for posting. Subscribed.
Great video, but much more factual and science based than magic. The more you understand, the less magical.
This type of stuff has always interested me. I did two years as an electrician's apprentice and it made that interest even stronger. Even though I deal with computers and security cameras, I still have a deep interest in electricity and it's wonders. I clicked the old subscribe button and I will watch for more of your videos. Greetings from Texas.
We’ve all seen that old UA-cam video of one of those switches being opened and the crew yelling “whoo”.
From a 4th commercial electrician, much
respect to you linemen! Working with 347/600V is scary enough.
Keep it up!!! Enjoyed your video..Im a trainee electrical engineer in a 1223 MW CCPP station currently posted on a 500KV switchyard operations
500kV ? wow, would be cool to see that. Plant Farley which is 90-100 miles from me in AL has a 500kV line, always fascinated when I travel HWY 231/431 and see it cross over. I always wander how far the line can go, before it's "stepped up" again because of voltage drop. Be safe!
Having always been intrigued by electrical infrastructure, many years ago as a boy I had the opportunity to watch a couple of linemen from set up a demo on the basics of power transmission, and more importantly the dangers of contacting that infrastructure/downed lines, etc presented by the local REMC. It was tremendously informative, learning about cut-outs, fuses, reclosers and such, but it obviously focused mainly on the 7200v side of things. I’d always wondered about all of the strange equipment surrounding the transformers at substations - thank you so much for satisfying my curiosity about many of these things after around 45 years!
Your videos are very well done and very informative - thank you, and please keep them coming!
How could anyone give a thumbs down on this video?
Thank you for posting this, I've always been curious about substations and our electrical grid here in Texas.
Thank you so much for simplifying all this complicated engineering.
Wow thanks for the great feedback!👊 Cheers to you in Texas!
@@Bobsdecline I have a question: when y'all are working on above ground power lines such as 3 phase, y'all connect all three together with cables, why is this? Wouldn't that cause a "short" (if short is the correct term).
@@Antny1973 yes,they open the line and then connect it to the neutral wire which is tied to ground and that drains any induction in the lines because the lines can hold a charge and is very dangerous if not grounded,that is also for if the line would become energized it would blow the fuses or open the recloser because it's a dead short
You're the man. As an apprentice, all of your videos are very helpful. thanks brother
Hats up to you for shooting while this energy monsters are on.
For some reason, I always LOVE the sound of 60Hz hum from those places. There are a few places where I live that have high voltage lines that cross the street where I go for a walk a times, where I can hear the sound of the power when there isn’t too much traffic. It’s amazing just how the power grid is. Just imagine what a substation that deals with 750Kv looks like.
Thank you for this video. Im an inside wireman. I recent got a job in a high voltage shop. They will train me. But this was a great intruduction to substations
If I watch this video enough times I'll understand it. I do find it so interesting. Your voice is strong and chill, which helps keep the listener focused on you and not freaking out. Above the brand new SDSU stadium in San Diego off Mission Village Dr then turn left to the dirt trails, lies poles that are still being used today with active lines flowing to each one. But these power poles are different and unique. The true history of poles are right there on that ridge. There are old wooden poles then simple metal ones, then they grow larger and taller with complex branches so to speak. At least 6 different designs, very impressive.
Do you have any questions? The flow of power through each half of the substation is pretty straightforward:
Tap from the high voltage line - Isolation switch - Branch off to switch to link both sides of the substation together - Load-breaking circuit breaker - Across lightning arrestors - Into 138000V to 7200V transformer - Several isolation switches - Circuit recloser - Down into underground distribution feeders.
UA-cam algorithms... Just suggested this right at the end of June 2020 as new upload, I would have subscribed sooner had I seen it. Great videos for the couple I've checked out, easy to go to overly advance but you cover complex equipment with explaining it in several levels of learning. So those that don't know about it can understand it and those that know enough to be dangerous still learn . Which makes you great teacher, thank you for taking the time to make and upload your videos.
As a mere consumer of electricity I have observed in my area that on a hard fault where service is interrupted for repairs there will be typically two dips in the power followed by the outage. I am enjoying your explanations of the raw basics.
Not a pro, but on another video it was said that the sub-station's circuit breaker, on being triggered, initiates a disconnect, then reconnects automatically. It does so a couple of times. And if the fault is still not cleared out by then, it disconnects one last time, shutting down for human intervention. So the dips in power you mention are probably that.
Yes! That's exactly it 👊👊. To correct some of the wording, the substation circuit breaker is our Sf6 gas interrupter that protects the power transformer in the sub. It doesn't automatically reclose as when it goes off, there's a good chance it's something major.
The reclosing devices are the cabinet circuit breakers, oil reclosers, vacuum reclosers, intellirupters etc...
Exactly as you just described 🙌
I like your videos. I worked in a power utility for almost 43 years before retiring. If seen some pretty wicked arcs created when switches open. We actually had load break disconnects to switch power lines or equipped. 500 KV arcs are pretty wicked to see. The arcs from induced voltages can be pretty bad .
We had in my area (and some other areas) in 2015 a large power outage. There was a motor malfunction in a switch in the substation. A thinking error of a employer after the discovery caused a short resulting in the power outage. The power outage lasted about 1 to 4 hours, depending of the area.
Almost forgot to mention: They did do a test, what they sometimes do. Only this time, something did go wrong.
Idk how I got to this part of youtube because the closest I get to being a lineman is plugging in a fan. But this is hella interesting.
What does idk mean?
@@K1OIK I don't know.
@@RustyRogers If you don't know why did you answer?
Burt Fisher idk means “I don’t know”...
@@burtfisher7059 ye, he doesn't know
I used to work for a company that contracted with two of our area's power companies spraying substations for weeds. The one company in particular I had to call their dispatch desk to inform them I was accessing their substations so they wouldn't operate any remote switches. The other company didn't have that requirement so we had to be extra mindful around the equipment because they could switch it at anytime. I was standing near a Cap Switcher when it closed and it sounded like a Shotgun went off.
Substations could range in size from 0.1 acres and a bank of 3 transformers all the way up to 30 and 40 acres monsters that had dozens of transformers and hundreds of pieces of equipment
Some high voltage substations do have permanent staff non-stop on site. But yeah, a lot of ones powering small towns is fully automated for very long time (since 80s probably).
Had you been hurt the other company could have been held liable for any and all damages to you and your equipment.
Very cool! Never had any idea that the insulators would have gas in them!!
As he mentioned, it _looks_ like an insulator, but it's not. It's an enclosed load-breaking switch.
Just started building substations and your videos are helpful. Thanks
great job explaining the sub station and how it works
Good stuff, got to work on two powerhouse jobs in my career, nice to hear some explanation of what’s actually going on ! Lol in my defense I had a lineman ask me how to wire a receptacle one time :)
Definitely one of your good ones, felt like I could understand everything you were trying to show 👍🏼
I am curious, where does the power come from for the cooling fans on the bug transformer? Is there a little auxiliary transformer someplace that drops the voltage down from 7200 volts for stuff like that?
Yes exactly! Sometimes it's built into the power transformer. This one has a pole mounted one hanging on the steel you can see on the right hand side about 3/4 through the video
You can see the pole mounted transformer at 05:21. 😊
@@rascalszx2 Exactly. It is called a "station service" transformer.
What if the main power is cut?
@@df0rce that fine most things can run for a bit. There is usually a DC battery bank (132vdc) for critical equipment. The fans don't need to be running unless there is load through the transformer.
My full time job is working in substations and we’re pretty close to what you have for equipment. We use Grounding switches on line terminals but interesting to see you have them on the high side switches of a XFMR. We also have low Side breakers prior to the low side switch you show in this video prior going to all the Distribution feeders.
I'll be on site soon and will get to see what's inside a substation. Can't wait.
Excellent explanation!
Very interesting. Thank you for the walk through.
This is the best of them because you speak clearly and slowly. For us with diminished hearing it's easy to understand when guys like you are clean shaven so we can observe your lips and facial expressions. Thanks for your style. BTW please get softer soled shoes, the crunching is disturbing to some of us.
Really informative with excellent detail and point-on videography.
A guideline?! These videos?! Their so well done and informative I thought this was THE Linesman's College course!
Brilliant video! Love this geeky stuff. Substations are cool. That hum is like music!
Thanks for sharing. I teach industrial maintenance and electricity and this helps slot with the big picture.
Thanks for the video. I did not know CBs could be that small.
First year apprentice as an inside wireman. But I love high/medium voltage, it is so interesting to me.
Sir, your videos are very interesting. I would like to commend you for being specific about this not being a training video. I'm a truck driver who watches many truck driving how to videos. I am particularly infuriated with one person who produces videos that are total garbage, yet he promotes them as "how to" or otherwise, educational videos. He in my opinion is creating dangerous situations. Having a liability disclaimer is essential when producing any type of video that others might use as a learning resource.
So well done sir! You're content is excellent. You audio and video is excellent. Keep up the great content!
Subscribed!
Neat, I knew lightning arresters were a thing but I didn't realize they shunt the voltage to ground rather than break the circuit, it makes sense.
Cool calm and collected, thanks my man
Love these videos. I have always been fascinated by electricity.
Excellent explanation! Thank you so much!
an EE student here, that was great. Thank you.
Thank you for the INFORMATION!
Pretty cool thank You for sharing it was very interesting. Be safe!
Very cool - my old apartment was next to a substation and I often wondered what a lot of the various extra bits were and why they existed between the lines going in/out and the transformers. I'd love to hear more about the re-closer things why they are in which locations, and I understand there's also some kind of automatic voltage regulating devices in some places as well as capacitors tho no idea how they fit into the mix or what it would look like.
As distribution lines get further from the substation, the voltage drops. It drops both from the distance and the load put on the lines. A voltage regular is just a fancy big transformer that can change the ratio automatically to output a consistent voltage (e.g. 7200 volts or whatever) no matter the input voltage.
Capacitor banks are designed to correct inductive reactance. Over long lines, the internal capacitance of the lines themselves begins to inhibit the free flow of electricity.
Love this kinda vid.
I'd love to see you do the same at a generating station like hydro or something.
I once visited (as a 10yo kid), a high voltage (7 400kV feeds, 13 200kV) substation close to major power plant (8 generators). It is a major station for the country and cross-border distribution network as well. It was (and still is) massive. It had huge control room (more like a building), a lot of monitoring, and permanent staff there 24/7. It was built in 1975, and modernized in late 90s to be highly computerized, and modernized again and extended in 2015-2020. It is 20ha (200,000m2), about 50 acres. It is huge, I couldn't enter the switch yard (nor the person that was accompanying me), and as kid I couldn't see a horizon, because of some many lines, equipment and buses. The control system was also pretty amazing. The nearby power plant tour I got in 1996, was also amazing. It was like a small town, and the generator hall was enormous. :)
So yes, I would love to visit or see it again, now when I understand things a much better.
Learned a lot. Awesome video!
that was absolutely brilliant explanation..
Wow, great stuff. I work for one of the big phone companies and I wouldn't be video around our central office or distribution gear. This would not go over well with management. Out here in BC distribution is 14.4k volts phase to ground, 25 phase to phase.
"Pretty Simple Setup" Lmao... Great Video! Thank you.
Good video and a lot of information 👍🏻⚡️
More substation videos. I am a substation designer and love them.
I live about half a block from a substation, and I can hear the humming from my back yard. That, and common metallic clunks. In 2015, power went out in my neighborhood - and nowhere else. Power company said a circuit loop recloser was stuck open.
That was good , helps a little, but a white stick pointing on camera to which part you were talking about would have been excellent. lovee the way you know what you are looking at. Thanks for video. I could not figure out about the switch in the beginning then I watched video again, can only open with no load, now that made sense. The more I watch the more it makes sense, awesome. That was cool now I can look and figure what is happening.
If you have any specific questions, ask. The only part I thought could be ambiguous is the primary side of the transformer. 4:03. The tall, bumpy-looking items held out far away from the transformer are the lightning arresters. The ones right over the big transformer are the input bushings for the transformer. The tall bushings provide for lots of surface area separation of the high voltage electricity from the grounded metal case of the transformer.
Shocking how simple some of these devices are. Gives a real surge of energy seeing it in operation. Hard to resist watching another video but ohhhhhm time for bed. Need to recharge my batteries if I want to reach my full capacity tomorrow. Electricity.
Awesome video man always wondered how these work
I’m autistic and very open minded so I hyperfixate on things and this stuff is my hyperfixation at the moment
One can never gain enough knowledge😉 good for you!
I have an innocent question for you. Have you found that the things autism brings with it get better with time as you learn more about how you are affected by it or is it just what it is? Best to you.
@@InsideOfMyOwnMind Hi there. I am not the same autistic person as Megan but the answer to your question is that it depends greatly on the individual and just how high of function they maintain. I also used to obsess over power distribution systems, phone lines, etc. But I can say that for many of us higher functioning individuals it can in fact get better if we get the help we need and we grow up in an understanding environment. For example, I used to draw a lot. I have thousands of drawings of systems like power distribution and the other stuff that I have mentioned. I eventually was able to (with help) translate it into a passion where I work on electronics both vintage and new. This is an example of the potential people with autism have. It's just I still struggle with empathy not because I don't understand others' emotions but rather because often times the emotions I feel are rooted in very different sources. Hopefully this answers the question for at least a few people who don't have much experience or understanding with the autistic community and how we tend to function.
you should study electricity, i not autistic but if im not learning i get bord easy. im a red seal tile installer. once i mastered that craft and have been doing it for 20 years i spent 8 months studying electricty went to school and took the first year exams. may never do my 4th year but it opend doors to give me something to continue learning about. i think ill do welding next (:
I'm autistic. I've always been, since I was very little, fascinated by pylons, substations and the infrastructure and how it all works. These videos are a wonderful explanation. Thank you.
The irony is that they also terrify me.....the buzzing freaks me out a tad......the clicking noise on the video, like a slow geiger counter. What is that?!
thank you so much for explaining 👍😊
Awesome video I have been waiting for this!
Me too!
thanks bobs decline
What a great video! Learnt a lot from that - very interesting. Subscribed!
Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to give some feedback! 👊👊
Bobsdecline - Lineman Awesome! Years ago, I was lucky enough to be allowed to take pictures inside a converter station in Kent, England where 270kV DC comes in from France. The guys there said I could go anywhere I liked within the compound except up... wise words! That place crackled and hummed and I kept getting little zaps off the tripod I was using - there was so much energy in the air ⚡️😀
Very helpful and educative.
Good job, couldn't have explained better myself.
Thanks!
Nice video. Very well explained!
Thanks!
Awesome video very informative!
The 345KV subs are even more fun, especially when they switch lines! I get a really big bang out of that!
But, in answer to your title: "How does a substation work?" Pretty well actually! ;o)
Congrats on a thousand plus subscribers bro!👍
Thanks Jeremy! Hope all is well down your way .. we've got a little tropical en route to hit us in a couple days! It doesn't look too bad yet tho!
Awesome explanation ❤
Awesome video, thanks man!
Always great information, BD
Very interesting. Thanks!
Like your videos. Keep them coming
I get a charge out of learning this stuff! :)
Very interesting video thank you!
Thanks!
Ty very handy very unique video and very informative.
Hi Bob beautiful video thanks for your cool explanation and be safe
Hey thanks Chandru! You as well 👊👊
What's the KvA on those transformers? Are they ever paralleled to increase the ampacity or would another one be added and the circuits split up between them to reduce load on any one transformer?
I used to be obsessed with these when i was like 6.
There was a couple days once I helped install the leads/ insulators (no clue of the name) that go into the transformer which transfers the power from the in and out lines down into the transformer leads themselves. Pretty cool stuff to learn. Being a crane op I was pretty nervous being super close to this type of power.
They're called bushings on the transformer. Lots of respect for the crane guys as well, that's a lot of skill in that job.
Great video! 👍
Nice substation tour! That is a tiny little yard. Clearly rural. I'm used to seeing massive 500KV / 230KV / 69KV / 12.47KV yards around Phoenix. Almost always a breaker-and-half configuration.
I find the engineering that goes it to the arc arresting systems very interesting.
At 1:55 in the video there is what looks like a light with a wierd thing below it, i have seen these at other substations. how are they powered and what is the wierd thing below it?
Great video! Thanks!!
Great video. Thanks !
Nicely Explained.
Thanks 4 the video.
Luvd it.
Ant
Thanks for the feedback!
Im curious as to what size lineman pliers are use to splice them high power lines?
Great video most of our Lineman dont know anything about the sub. What kind of relays do yall have? I am assuming SEL. I am a protection and control tech "RELAY TECH" for a large utility company in the Eastern US. I work on Distribution, Transmission and Generation facilities. Love your videos! Stay safe out there.
Watched this today in lineman class
Great vid with some great info. I'd be curious to see the nameplates of those massive transformers. Does your utility use a delta or a wye primary for these distribution transformer?
You can tell by the number of bushings.
So if there is a switch on the low side of the transformer and no breaker, does that mean you have to clear the entire low side bus if there is fault or problem with the transformer? Then send someone out to open the switch before feeding the low side bus from the other transformer in order to repair/inspect the faulted one? Most of our set ups (northern new england) use a low side breaker between the transformer and the bus.