What is a SUBSTATION ?. . These are excellent questions! Let’s deal with them one at a time. What...

What is a SUBSTATION ?

.

These are excellent

questions!

Let’s deal with them one at a

time.

What is a substation? … what does it do?

… how does it work?

but first....

What is a voltage? (Only 1st 6

minutes of the video is necessary)

Voltage is the measure of force in an electric current.

.

Electricity is transported at a

very high, powerful

voltages. A substation safely

changes the electricity from

very high voltage to lower voltage

we can use.

What does a substation do?

.

Water comes from the water plant in very big pipes, yet

it comes out in your kitchen

or bathroom in much smaller

pipes.

Think of it like a connector for different sized water pipes.

What is a substation?

.

Substations have HUGE

power poles to bring in the high

voltage electricity.

How does a substation work?

.

The substation then takes

electricity from a very high voltage and

lowers it to the voltage we use in our homes &

businesses.

What is a substation?

7

.

Substations are have complex circuit

breakers, switches,

relays, capacitors,

and transformers.

How does a substation work?

.

Transformers ‘step down’ the electricity from the high voltage

needed to economically transmit the electricity.

How does a substation work?

.

There are detectors for fire and line

breaks.

There is automatic fire suppression.

How does a substation work?

A quick picture of how substation works

Can a substation harm me?. The short

answer is YES!

That’s why there are

fences around them. They

can electrocute

people.

.

We need them to cheaply transfer

electricity. Substations are a part of what

we call essential infrastructure.

So why do we have substations?

Essential Infrastructure

Streets &

highways

Radio, cell phone &

microwave towers

Railroads & bridges

Pipelines for natural gas &

other chemicals

Water & wastewater treatment plants

How would you...

explain the need for substations to a 6 year old?

demonstrate what a substation does?

describe how voltages need to be changed for use to use it safely?