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I  am sure there are capacitors installed somewhere around, I have never  really noticed them. In many areas around me electric distribution is  underground (US DOE, 2014);

Con Edison serves about 3.3 million  residential, commercial, and industrial customers in New York City and  surrounding areas, operates more than 700 MW of electric generation, and  manages an electric distribution system that is 86% underground.

I remember going over this topic in theory for power in AC circuits.  Other than that exposure, and a general knowledge of electricity, I have  no other experience.

The electrical engineering text from theory offered some interesting  notes on the reactive power flow and power-factor correction (Hambley,  2014);

The power flow back and forth to  inductances and capacitances is called reactive power. Reactive power  flow is important because it causes power dissipation in the lines and  transformers of a power distribution system.

I feel like this explanation short cuts this weeks readings. Although  I found it fairly difficult to perform circuit analysis with phasors  and complex impedances, the subject was very interesting. Other than  protecting the distribution system, power factor is not taken into  account in charging consumers at residential rates. Industrial consumers  likely pay attention to this difference between real and apparent  power. Hambley offered a note on the effects seen in distribution  systems and why industrial consumers may wish to increase their power  factor by placing capacitors in parallel with inductive loads (Hambley,  2014);

In heavy industry, many loads are partly  inductive, and large amounts of reactive power flow. This reactive power  causes higher currents in the power distribution system. Consequently,  the lines and transformers must have higher ratings than would be  necessary to deliver the same average power to a resistive load. Energy  rates charged to industry depend on the power factor, with higher  charges for energy delivered at lower power factors … A common approach  is to place capacitors in parallel with an inductive load to increase  the power factor.

Apparently as part of Con Edison's smart grid upgrade they have installed a number of capacitors on poles (US DOE, 2014);

A large portion of Con Edison’s overhead  4kV distribution grid will be modernized at the completion of this  subproject, with many feeders equipped with capacitors and automated  controls ... Installations include a combination of fixed and switchable  pole-mounted capacitors. Con Edison has installed 416 distribution  capacitors on the 4 kV system (71.5 MVAR), and 33 distribution  capacitors on the 13 KV system (10.5 MVAR).

capacitors.JPG

My new pastime will be hunting a pole with these mounted on it.

References

Using smart grid technologies to modernize distribution infrastructure in New York.  (August, 2014). U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE). [PDF File].  Retrieved from  https://www.smartgrid.gov/files/Using-SmartGrid-Technologies-Modernize-Distribution-Infrastructure-New-York.pdf

Hambley, A. R. (2014). Electrical engineering: Principles and applications (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

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