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A brief history of Transformers (not robot type)

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I always have they did not like the excessive claims of close scientific and technical advances, such as cheap fusion, cheap supersonic travel, and the terraforming of other planets. But I like simple devices that do so much of the essential work of modern civilization, especially those that make it so humble — or invisible.

No device fits this description better than a transformer. Non-engineers may vaguely know that these devices exist, but they don’t know how they work and are absolutely necessary for everyday life. (A transformer is a device that transfers electricity between two circuits, which is the “pressure” of the power of the electric current).

The theoretical basis was laid in the early 1830s, with the independent discovery of electromagnetic induction by Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry. They showed that a variable magnetic field can generate a higher voltage (known as a “rise”) or a lower voltage (a “drop”). But it took another half century for Lucien Gaulard, John Dixon Gibbs, Charles Brush and Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti to design the first useful prototypes of the transformers. Later, a trio of Hungarian engineers — Ottó Bláthy, Miksa Déri, ​​and Károly Zipernowsky — improved the design by building a toroid (donut-shaped) transformer that they showed in 1885.

The following year, a trio of American engineers presented a better design: William Stanley, Albert Schmid, and Oliver B. Shallenberger, who were working at George Westinghouse. The device soon took the form of the classic Stanley transformer, which has since been retained: an iron core core made of thin silicon steel lamination, one part “E” shaped and the other “I” shaped to facilitate wound copper coils to slip into place.

When it was addressed to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1912, Stanley was reasonably surprised at how the device provided “a complete and simple solution to a difficult problem.” It embarrasses all mechanical attempts at regulation. It handles with ease, certainty and economy the energy batteries that are immediately supplied or removed. He is so reliable, strong and confident. In this mix of steel and copper, the extra forces are balanced, in a way that is almost unexpected. “

The greatest modern incarnations of this sustainable design have made it possible to distribute electricity over long distances. In 2018, Siemens delivered the first of seven records among 1,100 kilovolt transformers, which will connect electricity to several Chinese provinces connected to a nearly 3,300-kilometer-long, high-voltage DC line.

The sheer number of transformers has risen above all that Stanley could have imagined, thanks to the explosion of portable electronic devices that need to be charged. In 2016, the global output of smartphones was more than 1.8 billion units, each backed by a charger with a small transformer. You don’t have to unplug your phone charger to see the heart of this little device; The complete dismantling of the iPhone charger is published on the Internet, with the transformer being one of the biggest components.

But many chargers have smaller transformers. They are non-Stanley devices that take advantage of the piezoelectric effect (i.e., they are not wires), they have the ability of a narrow crystal to generate current, and the ability of a current to filter or deform a crystal. Sound waves that affect such a crystal can create a current, and a current that passes through that crystal can produce sound. One current can be used to create another current with a very different voltage in this way.

And the latest innovation is electronic transformers. Compared to traditional units, volumes and masses are greatly reduced and will be particularly important for integrating intermittent power sources (wind and solar) into the grid and enabling the DC microgrid. Without a transformer we would not be in the age of ubiquitous electricity, and we would be stuck in the age of oil lamps and telegraphs.


Since The numbers don’t lie Published by Vaclav Smil, Published by Penguin Books, Trace of Penguin Publishing Group, Division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2020 Vaclav Smil.


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