response 99 of 99:

Aug 30 13:30 UTC 2003

Re #73:  Keeping service running appears to be the mantra, and the
grid operators do not like systems which can malfunction and bring
things down.  Blackouts make customers very unhappy and trigger
penalty clauses.
                                                                               
                                       
I largely disagree with the assertions of the governor of New Mexico and others
who claim that we have a third-world electrical grid.  Far from it!  Ours is as
good as anywhere in the world.  What we have, unfortunately, is a *dumb*
electrical grid, with dumb appliances connected to it.  The only way to remedy
a sudden loss of generation is to cut customers off.  There is no segregation
of loads into critical (like computers, medical equipment and traffic lights)
and non-critical (like air conditioners, washing machines and outdoor sign
lamps).  Some office buildings have such distinctions in their wiring (certain
circuits on a generator feed), but that only makes a difference once the grid
power has gone off.

If Cleveland could have dumped half their air-conditioners at the
first sign of trouble and modulated demand to keep their plants and
wires running within limits, there would have been no problem; most
people probably wouldn't ever have noticed.  A given wire carries
power from zero to max to zero in 8.33 milliseconds, but the system's
intelligence takes a goodly fraction of a minute to do anything on a
really good day.  If we are going to keep cutting margins in the
name of market efficiency, that has to change.
                                                                               
                                       
Syncing an alternerator is about as easy as Tod represents.  All you need to do
is connect it to the line through a resistor, and it will be automatically
pulled into phase.  (This is assuming you aren't using something like a
grid-synchronous inverter, which you can buy off the shelf in ratings of a
couple hundred watts on up.)  So long as you aren't applying more power than
the line impedance can carry without losing sync, you're fine.  Once the
alternator is in phase you can cut the resistance to zero and start making
serious power.

Some generators, such as induction generators, take their sync from
the line and require no attention in that regard.  However, they can't
run stand-alone without some fairly sophisticated measures.
                                                                               
                                       
Re #85:  If I do not misunderstand, California was reduced to a set of islands
by various failures last decade.  It seems likely that the eastern seaboard was
also islanded by the failure of 8/14.  Those islands certainly were
synchronized, quickly and professionally.