Switching Equipment for Power Control

Abstract

SOME of the most important problems with which the engineer of a large power station has to deal are in connexion with the switches and control apparatus of his distribution system. Information on this subject can be found in a very condensed form in several text-books, but there is a demand for more detailed information, and in particular there is a great demand for a definite statement of the physical principles on which many of these devices are supposed to act. In Mr. S. Q. Hayes' book detailed information is given of many types of switchgear of American manufacture, but as a rule the descriptions are similar to the descriptions we get in manufacturers' catalogues, and in some cases they are actually taken directly from these catalogues. The author is one of the leading experts on switchgear, and occasionally the reader is gratified by a brief description of the theory on which the device is founded, but in many cases no hint is given. In our opinion the value of the book would be very; greatly increased by additional brief descriptions of! the physical laws which govern the action of many of the devices used by engineers. For example, a table of the rating factors by which the voltage of a given circuit breaker must be multiplied so as to get its rating at; various heights above the sea level is given. It would be useful to give the theory used by the General Electric Company of America in getting these numbers.

Switching Equipment for Power Control.

By S. Q. Hayes. Pp. vii + 463. (New York and London: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1921.) 20s.