Power engineering

[deontologician]

Power engineering concerns itself with the generation, transmission, distribution and utilization of electrical power.

Generators

A source of electricity for the system.

• Heat-rate curve: efficiency per power output isn't linear, since heat is given off more at high power
• Economic dispatch: allocating required load between generators so that cost of operation is minimized
• Emission dispatch: allocation required load between generators so that emissions are minimized.

  Transmission

Transportation of electricity from generators to load centers

• Bulk transmission: interconnect between generators, between areas of the network, and transfer of energy from generators to load centers.
• sub-transmission: connects bulk transmission and distribution system
• Substation equipment
  • Transformers: transfer energy from one circuit to another. Also step up voltage on transmission line to reduce power loss to dissipation
  • Relays: a level detector. Perform a switching action when voltage or current exceeds a specified value
  • Circuit Breakers: automatic cut-off switch to protect a circuit from being damaged by overload or short-circuit
• Power flow limitation causes:
  • Thermal overload: excessive current in a circuit causing overheating
  • Voltage instability: when power required to maintain acceptable voltage level is not available (underpowered grid)
  • Rotor Angle Instability: A dynamic problem that may occur following faults. Can happen long after a fault due to poorly damped or undamped oscillatory response of rotor motion. As long as equal area criteria is maintained, the interconnected system will remain stable. If violated, the unstable component should be separated from the rest of the system.

[deontologician]

Will be editing original issue when there's more to add. Still up: distribution and utilization

[deontologician]

I should also mention, this isn't what would go into the wiki in the final game. To implement it, we need a but better understanding of this stuff than the player. Ultimately, they should be able to get something working with a bit of trial and error.

We'll need to decide which aspects of this should factor in, and which should be simplified for the sake of a fun game