Switchgears for the Uniniated
There may be several reasons why you’re reading this article on switchgears. You might be doing a school project or report on our electrical system. You might want to be a bit more knowledgeable about how our electrical system works. You could also be a gearhead who was looking for like minded females and came upon this article instead. Whatever your reasons are for chancing upon this article, it should illuminate those who are in the dark about how our electrical system works. (Get it? Tough crowd.) Read on to get educated about a vital part of any electrical system, from your apartment building to your city.
Switchgears? What Are Those?
Um, no. A switchgear is an amalgam of fuses, boxes, circuit breakers and other equipment that is kept from the main structure. This main structure could be residential in nature, a municipal building or a more expansive system, such as that of your school or town.
The purpose of switchgears is twofold: to stop the flow of electricity so that repairs on the system can be done by workers. It can also correct any aberrant currents. Switchgears are important if the rest of the electrical system is to operate properly as they are the reason that workers are able to do their duties without the risk of injury by means of electricity.
The Evolution of Switchgears
In the early days, before iPods and Angry Birds, switchgears were largely operated by an apparatus called a knife switch. A knife switch was normally composed of a lever which was to be inserted into an opening called a jaw. Electricity flowed when the lever went into the jaw.
When electrical voltages got too high to be handled by men, they were then enclosed by metal and operated electrically offsite. Nowadays, most of them are insulated by gas, vacuum or air.
Insulation of Switchgears
Switchgears used to be insulated by oil, which would contain and control the current. This method was soon replaced by gas, vacuum and air insulation. Air insulation blows out the current. In some instances, compressed air and the current is put into a chamber that is sealed. The compressed air then extinguishes the current.
Switchgears insulated by gas uses a magnetic field and its own properties to blast away currents. Currents in vacuum insulated switchgears are eliminated when the temperature gets too cold to retain its chemical characteristics.
You should have learned something in your long Internet search for switchgears, electricity or random knowledge. You may not think switchgears are as important as your next iPod download, but without them, electrical workers couldn’t do their jobs without grave danger in the background. Plus, you’d be walking over those huge switchgear structures on the way to school, instead of marveling at their gigantic size in an out of the way place outside of town. It’s better that way.
Maria is an electrical engineer who specializes in power system maintenance.
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