THE ROLE OF SCIENCE IN THE ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY 



By M. W. Smith 



Member American Institute of Electrical Engineers, Vice President in Charge 

 of Engineering, WestingJiouse Electric & Manufacturing Company 



[With 1 plate] 



Behind the phenomenal growth of the electrical industry lies an important 

 fact: "The industry has consistently accepted and adapted to its own use the 

 new ideas and developments of science." 



The story of the electrical industry is one of growth in giant, 

 breath-taking strides and great technical advances. Turbine- 

 generator units have progressed to the stage where ratings of 100,000 

 kv.-a. at 3,600 r.p.m. and 300,000 kv.-a. at 1,800 r.p.m. can now be 

 built. Hydraulic generators, the size of which may ultimately be 

 limited by manufacturing facilities because of their large diameters, 

 have exceeded 100,000-kw. rating. Efficiencies of some of the large 

 hydrogen-cooled turbine generators, synchronous condensers, and 

 frequency changers have approached 99 percent in individual units. 

 Transformers have increased to present-day ratings of over 150,000 

 kv.-a. per bank, and efficiencies of well over 99 percent have been 

 realized. Circuit breakers are capable of interrupting several million 

 kilovolt-amperes— equal to that of the short-circuit capacity of some 

 of the large interconnected systems. Lightning arresters ^ are avail- 

 able with sufficient capacity to handle a direct lightning stroke of 

 over 100,000 amperes and yet limit the voltage to safe values. 



Behind this growth, the rate of which has shown no diminution 

 since the birth of the industry, lies a significant, important fact. 

 The industry has consistently accepted and adapted to its own use 

 the new ideas and developments of science. In fact the industry has 

 fostered and encouraged fundamental research to the point that the 

 research laboratory has become an integral part of the industry 

 itself. It also recognizes the value and importance of the scientific 

 accomplislmients of the universities and other research institutions, 

 and maintains a close contact with their work. 



' Reprinted by permission from Electrical Engineering, vol. 59, No. 2, February 1940. 



"A liglitning arrester is an electrical device used to protect electrical equipment from 

 daiuage wtien exposed to lightning or other voltages that are higher than that for which 

 the equipment was designed to operate. 



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