05-07-2013, 01:05 PM
Synchronous Condenser (SC) Description
Synchronous Condenser.pdf (Size: 13.29 KB / Downloads: 27)
• A SCis a device that controls voltage on an electric utility’s
transmission or distribution system. Voltage is the “pressure”
needed to deliver electricity through such a system.
• Another device that controls voltage is a capacitor. Capacitors
have no moving parts. Their simple design keeps their costs
and maintenance requirements low.
• SCs have internal parts that spin like a motor or generator.
Their sophisticated design results in higher maintenance
requirements and higher costs than those of capacitors.
• This higher cost may be justified because SCs are more
effective than capacitors at controlling and stabilizing voltage.
• SCs are located in utility substations, inside buildings or
protective enclosures. They tend to run for long periods
(weeks or months), make significantly less noise than
generators, and produce no smoke or emissions.
• SCs do not make electric power like a generator, so they are
not mechanically connected to a source of propulsion like an
engine or water wheel. They have only electrical connections
(to the system whose voltage they control). They take in a
very small amount of electric power to operate.
• One type of SC uses a special material in its windings (i.e.
internal coils of wire). When the windings are bathed in liquid
nitrogen to cool them, they have no electrical resistance, a
property known as superconduction. This lowers the alreadyminimal
power requirements of the SC, often making it even
more cost effective than a conventional design, over the
course of its life.