[NTLUG:Discuss] OT: Hz

[Mike Hart]

My .00002 cents worth on the frequency issue:


Follow the money: 


Smart meters are affected by frequency (I surmise, but from what I understand about power metering this is a true statement), so the issue with a relaxation of regulations is about revenue generation and not about costs.

IE if (during the summer) they seek to meet 60.000 hz by running at 70hz during the day and 52 hz during the night, the hours 10am - 5pm effectively have 70 minutes in them, while the nights only have 52 minutes. Obviously this is an exaggeration in the variability being considered, but it serves to illustrate the reasoning behind a big $$$$ lobby on the issue.  


If you do the math on this issue, you'll see that it adds up to Billions in revenue for TXU to spin their turbines faster during peak loads, especially with the variable rates based on time of day. 


In order to even consider this 
relaxation viable, considerable infrastructure has to be invested to 
monitor the line and attempt to match the rate. That is, when you have half  your turbines set to output at 60hz, and half set to output 50hz, you get wild swings in line voltage. In order to prevent disruptive cycle issues, a lot of technology has to go into synchronizing the grid to a variable cycle, where before the 
target was ALWAYS 60hz. 

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My thoughts on the symptoms described:

Other things to look for:  At work we had wacky happenings that were eventually traced to voltage on the ground circuit (540volts in that case, so it was pretty serious, and lucky that noone died.)  It's easy to test with a voltage meter, but not so easy to track down if it exists. The culprit could be anywhere in the loop, but from what you've described could be from a miswired repair on the dryer the first time.  That is, a different problem, poorly fixed caused further issues.