Abstract
IN the early days of electricity supply, the chief engineer of the station was in charge at the main switchboard. To this, all the generators and the supply mains were connected. The engineer was responsible not only for the condition of the machines, but also for putting them into operation at the right times so as to obtain the maximum economy. Now that many stations of very different types are linked together, a suitable staff and a ‘load-dispatching’ plant are necessary in order to run the system economically. The office and plant may be part of one of the stations or may be quite separate. A paper on this subject was read by Dr. Sleicher to the Institution of Electrical Engineers on May 3. He gave an account of modern practice in Germany and in other European countries of the supervisory control systems as applied to large interconnected supply areas. He showed how important the work of the load-dispatchers is to the prosperity of the undertaking. They must know the right number of machines to be started and the time required to start them. In the Berlin municipal works, for example, the period of preparation from the moment of the order of starting until the opening of the stop valve is from 8 to 35 minutes. The time from the opening of the valve until full speed is attained is from 15 to 90 minutes according to the size of the turbines. The time for the synchronising and switching on to the system is very short in comparison with the starting-up period. A sudden demand for power cannot be met by turbines. When surplus water-power is available it is most useful when peak loads have to be carried. Eleven pumping stations are already in use in Germany for this purpose.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
The Load-Dispatcher. Nature 134, 453 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/134453a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/134453a0