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Power Grid Operation Classes

Power Grid Operation Classes: Electric power plants are scattered across North America comprising two major and three minor alternating current (AC) power grids, or “interconnections.”

The Eastern Interconnection reaches from Central Canada Eastward to the Atlantic coast (excluding Québec), South to Florida and West to the foot of the Rockies (excluding most of Texas).  All of the electric utilities in the Eastern Interconnection are electrically tied together during normal system conditions and operate at a synchronized frequency operating at an average of 60Hz.

The Western Interconnection stretches from Western Canada South to Baja California in Mexico, reaching eastward over the Rockies to the Great Plains. All of the electric utilities in the Western Interconnection are electrically tied together during normal system conditions and operate at a synchronized frequency operating at an average of 60Hz.

The Texas Interconnection covers most of the state of Texas. All of the electric utilities in the Texas Interconnection are electrically tied together during normal system conditions and operate at a synchronized frequency operating at an average of 60Hz.

The other two North American grids are the Alaska and Quebec interconnections.

Electricity is produced at an electric power plant. Some fuel source, such as coal, oil, natural gas or nuclear energy produces heat. The heat is used to boil water to create steam. The steam under high pressure is used to spin a turbine. The spinning turbine interacts with a system of magnets to produce electricity. The electricity is transmitted as moving electrons through a series of wires to homes and business.

Regardless of the power source, traditional power plants have a number of components in common including:

  • Boiler Unit: Almost all of power plants operate by heating water in a boiler unit into super-heated steam at very high pressures.
  • Turbine-Generator:The super-heated steam is used to spin the blades of a turbine, which in turn is used in the generator to turn a coil of wires within a circular arrangement of magnets. The rotating coil of wire in the magnets results in the generation of electricity.
  • Cooling Water:After the steam travels through the turbine, it must be cooled and condensed back into liquid water to start the cycle over again. Cooling water can be obtained from a nearby river or lake. The water is returned to the body of water 10 -20 degrees higher in temperature than the intake water. Alternate method is to use a very tall cooling tower, where the evaporation of water falling through the tower provides the cooling effect.

Power Grid Operation Classes

Tonex offers Power Grid Operation Training, a 2-day class that provides the basic foundations of generation plants (or generators), their control, concepts of economic dispatch, and power flow analysis. This course gives you sufficient knowledge about generator dynamics, and concept of stability in power system operation.

Who Should Attend

  • All individuals who need to understand how electricity is generated in power plants and how the stable operation is achieved in power systems.
  • Faculty members from academic institutes who want to teach the power system operation course.
  • Investors and contractors who plan to make investments in this industry.
  • Marketing people who need to know the background of the products they sell.
  • Technicians, operators, and maintenance personnel who are or will be working at power plants or power system generation companies.
  • Managers, accountants, and executives of power system industry.
  • Scientists or non-electrical engineers involved in power system operation related projects or proposals.

Why Tonex?

–So far we have helped over 20,000 developers in over 50 countries stay up to date with cutting edge information from our training categories.

–Reasonably priced classes taught by the best trainers is the reason all kinds of organizations from Fortune 500 companies to government’s most important agencies return for updates in courses and hands-on workshops.

–Tonex is socially responsible and not just another online training business. Tonex donates millions of dollars to worthy causes. Its origins are aligned with universities with emphasis on education rather than purely profit.

–Ratings tabulated from student feedback post-course evaluations show an amazing 98 percent satisfaction score.

Contact us for more information, questions, comments.

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