Earthquake/Tsunami/Nuclear Disaster

[Sam KS2AM]

In the 50's I was getting juice on the Ontario Niagara Falls Grid which was twenty cycles per second where I would spend summers near London, Ontario learning everything about farming and how to repair it ourselves. Westinghouse first upgraded the American side, and only near the falls in Ontario. John, K1DEU

The hydroelectric plants at Niagara Falls used to deliver 25 cps to residential customers.  The power authority in Ontario spent a good part of the 1950's going door to door to convert residences to 60 cps.  This included changing motors - 7 million of them according to the Ontario Hydro One website http://www.hydroone.com/OurCompany/Pages/timeline.aspx .  My father recalls them changing the motor in our refrigerator.

Some industrial customers did not convert during the 50's and I believe that the 25 cycle generator at Niagara Falls did not get phased out until 2009.

Wikipedia page on utility frequencies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_frequency

[Bill, KD0HG]

In the Chicago of the 1950s, there were still places receiving Edison's 110 volts DC.

IIRC, it had to do with DC power still being needed for buildings with old time elevators.

Remember the appliances tagged, "110 volts, AC or DC"?

[W4EWH]

In the Chicago of the 1950s, there were still places receiving Edison's 110 volts DC.

IIRC, it had to do with DC power still being needed for buildings with old time elevators.

Remember the appliances tagged, "110 volts, AC or DC"?

My dad used to work for the subway system in Boston: he told me that they supplied 600V DC power to many downtown buildings, and that it was used to run the motors on the elevators. I assume that this meant the traction motors were driving the elevators directly, instead of via the hydraulic systems which are now common.

I remember the AC/DC motors: they had commutators and so could take pretty much any kind of power. When capacitors became cheap and reliable, the "brushless" AC motor became the norm.

One thing that has always puzzled me is how the number of poles on an AC generator determines the frequency. I'd appreciate a link to a site that explains this clearly.

73,

Bill W1AC

[Sam KS2AM]

In the Chicago of the 1950s, there were still places receiving Edison's 110 volts DC.

IIRC, it had to do with DC power still being needed for buildings with old time elevators.

Remember the appliances tagged, "110 volts, AC or DC"?

One thing that has always puzzled me is how the number of poles on an AC generator determines the frequency. I'd appreciate a link to a site that explains this clearly.

73,

Bill W1AC

Theres a good interactive explanation here:   http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/ViewObject.aspx?ID=IAU14108

[W4EWH]

Theres a good interactive explanation here:   
http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/ViewObject.aspx?ID=IAU14108

Well, that helped a lot, and thanks. If you know where one is available, I'd like to see an illustration of an actual Alternator (or is it "Generator"?), which has a lot more wire 'n stuff.

Thanks again.

Bill, W1AC

[W7TFO]

The old Audels books have great photos and text.

73DG

[Opcom]

You can see my pictures of hydro dam innards including the A.C. generators in great detail here: http://www.bunkerofdoom.com/travel/steelsoldiers4/index.html My friend was in charge of part of this job of replacing all of the hydro units. I spent about 8 hours there crawling in and out of one of them that had been taken offline and taking pics of all of it. I hope you like them.

These below are not alternators but they are 25Hz to 60Hz frequency changers from the 1920's. You could wait for enough of the building to be torn down then maybe go get one of them. Union labor in that area, not a cheap job no matter who does it, but there are not so many opportunities like this. These are from September of 2009 so I would have to check with him and see about the status.

" On another note, I thought you might be interested in the job we are currently bidding on. Ameren is wanting to salvage the Frequency Changers from the Page Avenue Station (in St. Louis). Seems as though they are some sort of 25hz to 60hz motor-generator sets from the 1920's.

 I have copied some info below:

 
Frequency Changers
Some need for 60-Hz power arose shortly after the completion of the Keokuk hydroelectric station. Accordingly, a 2.5-MW synchronous frequency changer was installed in 1918 in the main generator room of the Keokuk plant. This unit supplied 11-kV, 60-Hz power in Illinois via conduits across the adjacent dam to a substation in Hamilton where it was stepped up to 33 kV for transmission.
By 1930, the city of St. Louis was experiencing an increase in both 25-Hz and 60-Hz loads. The Keokuk station was a "run-of-river" plant, meaning that its ability to generate 25-Hz power varied according to the seasons of the year and the consequent variation in flow of the Mississippi River. Also, by this time, a large 60-Hz hydroelectric project was in operation on the Osage River about 130 mi southwest of St. Louis. Transmission lines from this development had been run to the Page Avenue substation in St. Louis, which was also the terminus for the 25-Hz lines from the Keokuk station. Consequently, it was decided that it would be advantageous to provide a substantial interconnection between the 25 and 60-Hz systems in St. Louis. This would enable the 60-Hz power from Osage to assist in supplying the 25-Hz system when the generating capacity of the Keokuk plant was lower than normal. Likewise, at other times, some 25-Hz power from Keokuk could be used to supply the rapidly increasing 60-Hz load in St. Louis. The solution was the installation of reversible frequency changer units at the Page Avenue substation. Accordingly, two 20-MW Scherbius frequency changers were installed at Page Avenue and operated by the Union Electric Light and Power Co. of St. Louis.
The Scherbius system of speed control for large ac machines had been developed by Arthur Scherbius, a German electrical engineer, and its use had been licensed to GE. (Scherbius was later responsible for the development of the "Enigma" code machine used extensively before and during World War II.) For a period of time, the Scherbius system was widely used for speed control of ac motors driving the roll stands of steel rolling mills. As applied to frequency changers, it allowed for the control of both kW and kvar flow in either direction.
The control of power factor was desirable for the Osage River transmission system. It had been determined that an installation of 50,000 kvar in synchronous condenser capacity at St. Louis otherwise would have been required (synchronous motors operating at leading power factor with overexcited fields).
The Scherbius control was applied to a wound-rotor induction motor. A specialized "polyphase regulating machine" was used to supply the rotor of the former machine with the appropriate voltage at the correct slip frequency. The control of load and power factor was achieved by means of a special ac exciter acting on the field windings of the regulating machine.
In the Scherbius type of frequency changer, such a wound rotor induction motor was coupled to a conventional synchronous machine whose power factor could be controlled by adjusting the field excitation supplied from a small dcexciter. Thesynchronous machine was connected to the 60-Hz system, and the stator of the wound rotor induction machine was connected to the 25-Hz system.
The Scherbius control allowed for minor frequency variations on both power systems, namely from 24.5 to 25.5 Hz and from 59.5 to 60.5 Hz. The speed of the set was, of course, fixed by the actual frequency of the 60-Hz system due to the synchronous machine. The frequency variations, then, were accommodated between the stator and the rotor of the induction machine.
Each of the two Page Avenue frequency changers was 60-ft long and composed of a total of seven distinct rotating machines supported by six bearings.
The individual machines were:

   1. a 5-kW sub-exciter for the synchronous machine
   2. a 192-kW main exciter for the synchronous machine
   3. a 28,600-kVA, 13.8-kV, 60-Hz synchronous machine
   4. a 1,200-hp, 60-Hz starting motor for the set
   5. a 28,700-hp, 25-Hz wound-rotor induction machine
   6. an 890-kVA, 285-V polyphase regulating machine
   7. an 8-kVA, 25-Hz ac exciter for the regulating machine.

These frequency changers were complex in their construction, but it was said that their operation was "simple."
Later Developments
In 1939, a third 20-MW Scherbius frequency changer set was added at the Page Avenue substation. This set was similarto the two existing sets except that the synchronous machine was on the 25-Hz end rather than on the 60-Hz end. This feature, in conjunction with the existing sets, meant that synchronous machines were available on both systems to simplify the control of reactive power flow on each. Power factor control by means of the Scherbius regulating machines was possible, but more complicated to implement.
In 1942, two of the 25-Hz generators at the Keokuk station were being rebuilt for 60-Hz operation using 116-pole windings and an operating speed of 62 r/min. By 1973, the six generators at the north end of the station were producing 60-Hz power at 13.8 kV. This was then stepped up to 69 kV for transmission to area substations.
The conversion of all 15 generators to 60-Hz operation was completed in 2002. The Scherbius frequency changers at the Page Avenue substation had remained in operation until that time, but then were retired and scrapped. Also, the original 110-kV, 25-Hz transmission lines to St. Louis have been retired. A current long-term power plant improvement is the installation of new stainless steel main turbine runners to replace the original cast iron runners (Figure 10).
Today, the Keokuk plant is operated by AmerenUE, which is the direct corporate descendant of the former Union Electric Light and Power Co.

 I have also attached a current picture (jpg) and three scanned vintage pictures (pdf) of the machines.

 It will be a shame to see them get cut up, but I have no other ideas for them. Actually, the entire building will be torn down next year and we are (hopefully) going to be responsible for removing the frequency changers prior to this."

The tearing down could have been delayed due to cost.

[W1AEX]

In the 12 minute video at the link below, two people measure radiation levels as they drive and hike back to Fukushima. It's an eerie journey that starts 30km away and proceeds to a point 1.5km from the Fukushima power plant catastrophe. The scenes have an eerie "end of the world" kind of feeling with cracked roads, abandoned towns, wandering livestock and dogs searching for food. The devastating horrors that the evacuated residents have gone through, and continue to suffer from, is something to ponder.

The HD video can be viewed at a resolution of 1080p in full-screen if your internet connection can supply the bandwidth. Lower resolutions are available in the YouTube player drop-down menu if you'd rather not pull down the 550 meg 1080p version. The two radiation meters squawk, beep, and chirp rather incessantly as the levels steadily increase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp9iJ3pPuL8

[flintstone mop]

In the Chicago of the 1950s, there were still places receiving Edison's 110 volts DC.

IIRC, it had to do with DC power still being needed for buildings with old time elevators.

Remember the appliances tagged, "110 volts, AC or DC"?

YEA Bill
Death traps.......one side of the AC line tied to the chassis and we did not have polarized plugs................don't stand bare feet on a concrete floor and the chassis. NASTY

There are now efforts to recover the pets left behind and starving in the evacuated area.