Posted on 03/10/2014 9:10:50 AM PDT by null and void
Transformers are the most vulnerable components in the power grid and they are under attack.
The main components in our power grid distribution system are transformers. They step up the generated voltage to a higher level for more efficient transport over very long lines. Then they step the voltage back down in several stages for final consumption. These transformers are located at the power plants and thousands of substations. They are big and right out in the open. Weather does not bother them, but bullets do. They are the weak links in our power grid.
Last year someone decided to shoot out the transformers at PG&E’s Metcalf substation in Silicon Valley taking the substation out of service. Luckily, PG&E was able to reroute the power to prevent a total blackout. But it took months to get replacement transformers and restore service.
This is a major wake up call to the utilities. Terrorists, or disgruntled customers, can easily take down a substation with a rifle at long range and get away with it. The transformers are defenseless as they are not covered or protected in any way. Furthermore, replacement transformers are hard to come by.
Power transformers are not an off-the-shelf item. Most are custom made to match the utility’s system. Each transformer is unique so requires special manufacturing efforts. It takes months to make small transformers and as many as two years for the big transformers. And they cost a fortune with small ones going for up to $1 million and as much as $10 million for the big ones. In addition, transportation is an issue. How do you ship a monster transformer weighing a couple hundred thousand pounds? So while replacements are possible, it takes a significant amount of time. This could cause a black out for months or longer.
On top of all that, there are only about seven transformer manufacturers in the U.S. And most of these are not typically that busy. Even so it would be a major problem to get fast service from a U.S. company for custom products. Not that many of them make the really big high voltage transformers. However, there are other transformer companies worldwide but service would no doubt be slow, and let’s not mention shipping costs.
Something needs to be done about this, fast. You know how you feel during even a short few hour blackout. It is miserable. Think of all the businesses, hospitals, and government services that depend upon power. It is a scary thought to think we could go without power for months. No doubt the utilities are already taking that California event as a wakeup call. I have not heard what they are doing about it. And just what can be done anyway? Special housings? Bullet proof shielding? Kevlar vests? Utilities could keep a spare or two of the smaller cheaper transformers, but it would be too costly to stock a spare of the larger ones.
Most substations are not that secure. They usually have a chain link fence and maybe even video surveillance but neither of these help when your enemy is a sniper a hundred yards away. Even armed guards are no help. It would not take much of a complex or expensive effort to really disrupt electrical service nationwide. Just ask hurricane and icy winter survivors how bad it is without power for a long time. So what is the solution?
Since the terrorists now know of this cheap and easy way to hurt us, we had better develop some protection. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to get yourself a good generator for back up.
Nice thing about FR, we got folks on staff who know everything....
“How difficult is it to repair/reman the ones shot up?”
Depends. You have a tank that contains oil for heat dissipation; cooling fins, or, external loops containing cooling oil (like a radiator in a car) and a multi-layer (huge) coil of wire inside.
A bullet (or even golf-ball) sized hole through the cooling fins = nothing.
A hole through only the tank with no damage to the internals; not the biggest of big deals in terms of an actual physical repair, no doubt a bigger deal because the tranny has to be inspected (to be sure there is no such internal damage) and the oil inside has to be removed per all manner of HazMat regulations before a patch is welded onto the can. Whether that can be done in the field versus disconnecting and dragging the whole thing back to some shop somewhere, I don’t know.
If the bullet(s) penetrated into the core then the thing is probably shot, no pun intended. The thing is that if a patch job was done, the number of ways it could fail and the idea that the things are supposed to sit there for thirty years basically without maintenance...probably leans towards replacement if there’s any doubt of the integrity.
Point being, for anything other than superficial cooling-fin damage, you better be looking to replace the thing.
Everybody talks about how long and painful it would be to procure new transformers
= = = = = = = = = = = =
Like every so often ‘we’ come up with a brand new idea.
“Lets drill for oil on ________(the North Slope, East Coast, West Coast, Gulf etc etc) fill in the blank”.
“THEY” respond with “No sense in doing that it will be 10 years before we can be using any oil”.
Probably a ‘rational, sane’ response EXCEPT we/they have been ‘playing that game’ for 50 years.......(give or take)
Yes. That would stop damage from an attack on the vulnerable radiators, piping and pumps.
A shot into the transformer itself would short out the windings and provoke a catastrophic arc, welding windings together and possibly starting a fire, if not an explosion.
The transformer is much more robust that the radiator, though.
My solution?
Plant trees around the substations. They prevent clear sighting of a rifle, and branches would cause random deflections of any shots fired.
Perhaps not as elegant as a technological solution, nor a permanent a solution as eliminating every terrorist, but something cheap, easy and esthetically pleasing to the global warming crowd...
It's pretty tough to kill a transformer..................
.......or at least think they do.................
They are big and right out in the open. Weather does not bother them, but bullets do. They are the weak links in our power grid.
They are not the only weak link that's right out in the open.................
As we used to say back in the TV repair biz: “A $200 picture tube will blow to protect a 15¢ fuse.”
They also go on that anyone who believes that such a attack would cause any serious damage to the grid either are fashion models for tinfoil hats or bed wetters.
Preppers’ PING!!
I am sure if it was easy to do that it would already be done.
The difference between supplying a little bit of DC power from standard household voltage and the massive amount of high voltage AC power handled by a substation is substantial.
Short answer: No. Long answer: No.
If they were designed for robustness, rather than initial cost, it should be simple to make them modular. Stack ‘em in series to step up voltage, in parallel to increase amperage, and some combination of both. The basic unit might be something like a 25 kV, 1000 AMP block. Plumb the cooling independently as well.
Good. I’ll stop worrying then.
They had to move one to Phoenix that way about ten years ago, after “barging” it down from Oregon.
If you put a bullet into the windings, the whole thing will be molten/vaporized copper in a fraction of a second.
Short answer: No. Long answer: No.
I remember when I sold Laserdiscs I asked a Pioneer rep if they were working on a Laserdisc player that would also play the newfangled CD’s. He said they were different enough that it was not possible.
Yeah, and the next year the Pioneer laserdisc player also played CD’s. Oh, and they are no longer $1200. ;-)
I suppose technically a similar technique could be used at power substations, but it wouldn't be efficient or practical at the very high voltages and power levels required.
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