1 May
2012
1 May
'12
3:02 p.m.
s?n 2012-04-29 klockan 19:14 -0700 skrev Chuck Guzis:
Aluminum is still code for high-current appliance wiring, where multi-
strand cable is used. Indeed, it's still used for power drops in
some locales as well as high-tension power distribution. FWIW, my
house was built in the 1980s. The feed from the transformer sitting
in the front yard going to the distribution panel is aluminum and it
was replaced about 8 years ago. I'd be surprised if there weren't a
fair amount of use of aluminum throughout the world for high-current
distribution.
Here in Sweden alu is used in the main high tension (400 kV) net.
It is used everywhere from 10 kV and upwards.
In substations and distribution stations including customer owned (for
an example an industry) copper is used for the power buses (3-phase so 3
rails.)
The overhead power cable on the railway (15 kV one phase) is 60 mm^2
copper.
It is a bit peculiar considering its characteristics because of this:
one electric locomotive pulls somewhere around 5 MW of electric power
and
it does so thru a rather long cable, many 10s of km in fact which makes
for staggering distribution losses.