I can't help but wonder if guys running the big amps in these places
(below) have big-time voltage regulation problems. More info on this earth
return goofyness:
At:
http://csf.colorado.edu/archive/1996/energy/0757.html
Is the following:
<<START QUOTE
From: Andrew McIver <Andrew.McIver@eng.monash.edu.au>
> From: Ian Woofenden <ppc@pacificrim.net>
>
> At 08:04 AM 10/29/96, you wrote:
>
> >You may not believe this, but in many parts of rural Alberta (Canada)
> >there are single phase AC systems which run with one (1) wire only. The
> >AC neutral is (you guessed it) the Ground. Line voltages are typically
> >14.4 kV for such systems.
> >
> >Jason Edworthy
> >President, Nor'wester Energy Systems Ltd.
>
> What are the applications?
This is the standard distribution method in rural Australia. It's
known as single wire earth return (SWER) and supplies most rural
customers. It is generally designed for a total feeder load of around
1-5MW with individual loads of up to 250kW. Usually, the 12.8kV
supply is stepped down to 240V for the customer using a pole mounted
transformer.
I can only assume that the grounding for the earth return is very
good since even in the dry soils of Australia, I've never heard of
anyone getting hurt by it.
Cheers
Andrew
END QUOTE>>
At 07:07 PM 12/20/2001 -0500, Jerry Flanders wrote:
>Talk of canadian pole pigs reminds me of something strange I saw in Canada
>a few years ago and verified again last summer: Some places in central
>Canada (I think it was MB or perhaps the contiguous province west of it)
>have soil conductivity so high that the local power company uses earth as
>the return conductor for AC power distribution!
SNIP
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