Observant readers will notice a change of photograph on the comment page this month. After more than a decade as editor of Nuclear Engin- eering International, a sister title of Modern Power Systems within the Wilmington Energy Group, I have taken the opportunity, like many others in the nuclear business, to diversify into other energy sources.
In taking over as managing editor, my first task is to pay tribute to my predecessor David Smith. Readers will be reassured to know, as I am, that David, in his role as consulting editor, is remaining on the staff of the magazine. Coincidentally, David himself has also worked on Nuclear Engineering International, from 1968 to 1978. But since then has established himself as perhaps the leading journalist in the international power sector. He also has a strong track record as a powerful innovator, having thought-up and launched no less than three successful magazines: International Power Generation; Modern Power Systems, which he founded in 1981; and latterly Power Economics, another member of the Wilmington Energy Group. We look forward to his continuing input of ideas to the Wilmington energy portfolio.
Innovation of another sort has been going on in the Swedish arm of ABB, indeed conventional electrical engineering wisdom is being quietly turned on its head – an exhilarating thing to witness. Conventional wisdom dictates that electricity generation is done at relatively low voltages, with step-up transformers being used to get up to the kinds of voltages needed for economic transmission. Not so! say the high voltage engineers of Västerås – and they are building a 10 MWe prototype to prove the point at Porjus in northern Sweden.
Their proposal seems absurdly simple: take advantage of modern cable technology (with XLPE insulation) and replace the square-section conductors traditionally used in the stators of conventional generators with circular-section ones (i.e. with normal high voltage cable). This enables you to generate at up to 400 kV and means you can connect your generator directly to the power line, dispensing with all the bother of step-up transformers and their associated cooling systems.
Among the claimed advantages are: higher efficiency; lower maintenance costs; simplified plant engineering, with fewer components; more compact layout; operational benefits such as improved network stability; reduced environmental impact; and better safety because the fire risk of oil-immersed transformers is eliminated. Flux and field calculations become much easier and the conductor material is not stressed as it is more uniformly loaded.
Considerable market potential is seen in the backfitting of existing plants as well as in new stations, particularly in the developing countries.
The idea, called PowerformerTM, is the brainchild of Mats Leijon, manager, Department of High Voltage Engineering, ABB Corporate Research, who has been working on it for six years. The concept started from a simple notion but is now protected by no less than 200 patents.
He says that early on in his career in high voltage at ABB he "discovered that the technology we were working with was quite simply poor and marred by too many shortcomings". He likens the current practice in power generation to using square wheels for cars, spawning large industries providing technologies such as shock absorbers and road maintenance and creating vested interests resistant to the introduction of round wheels. He also believes there have been too many watertight compartments between the electrical engineering disciplines and too little cross-fertilisation between areas such as power generation, cable and transmission.
Nevertheless the ABB senior management seems to have been remarkably supportive from the outset. Leijon recalls presenting the idea about four years ago to the then chief executive of Swedish ABB (Bert-Olof Svanholm): "He immediately perceived the future prospects and potential of my idea and at once supported it. How much money do you want, was his first question. Ten or a hundred million kronor?" Powerformer is set to have major repercussions for the electric power industry. The full implications are, as yet, difficult to estimate but this is an innovation that few of us can afford to ignore.
Linkedin
