Germany to go HVDC
Mickster
Posts: 2,693
A local electrician brought this to my attention and I couldn't help wonder if he'd misunderstood something but...
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/renewables/germany-takes-the-lead-in-hvdc
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/renewables/germany-takes-the-lead-in-hvdc
Comments
The pictures do not appear to be not IGBT modules themselves, but a stack of assemblies that include peripherals, cooling, etc.
At one point, I had to go through airport security carrying a 1700V 1800A IGBT. Thankfully the TSA agent looked at it and asked, "rectifier module?". Close enough ... got out of there without a hassle.
DC microgrids seem to be getting attention in various industries, at the much more tame 380V level.
Surely not.......LOL
They read me the riot act for a small tube of toothpaste in my carry-on....I said that I didn't need it because my hotel provides this stuff anyway.
I suggested that she throw it away but she insisted on placing it in a ziploc bag and handed it back to me with a smile. I wanted to say "oh it's an explosion proof ziploc?" but common sense got the better of me.
I don't know the specific reason for original choosing of DC back in the 1960's but it does have the distinct benefit of keeping the two main islands on independent synchronisations, ie: No major re-engineering of the downstream grids from the DC-link. I suspect that is probably it. The transformer is AC's best asset at robustly carrying high power, but at great distances the direct coupled transformer also becomes it's achilles heel.
Replace the clutch with a torque converter and you can run the motor and wheels with slippage between them. It's not quite as efficient but the control becomes not only simpler but, crucially, more inherently stable.