MATERIALS FOR LINE CONDUCTORS.
Copper, aluminum, iron, and bronze are all used for conductors in
long-distance electric transmissions, but copper is the standard metal
for the purpose. An ideal conductor for transmission lines should
combine the best electrical conductivity, great tensile strength, a high
melting point, low coefficient of expansion, hardness, and great
resistance to oxidation. No one of the metals named possesses all of
these properties in the highest degree, and the problem is to select the
material best suited to each case. Aluminum suffers very slightly by
exposure to the weather, copper and bronze suffer a little more, while
iron and steel wire are attacked seriously by rust.
Iron, copper, and bronze are all so hard that little or no trouble has
occurred from wires of these metals cutting or wearing away at the
points of attachment to insulators. Aluminum, on the other hand, is so
soft that swaying of the wire may, in time, cause material wear at the
supports, or it may be cut by tie wires. But lines of aluminum wire have
not been in use long enough to determine how much trouble is to be
expected from its lack of hardness.
A small coefficient of expansion is desirable in transmission wires,
because the strain on the wire itself and on its supports varies rapidly
with the amount of vertical deflection of each span, becoming greater as
the deflection decreases. Taking the expansion of copper as unity, that
of aluminum is 1.4; of bronze, 1.1; and of iron and steel, 0.7. From
these figures it follows that iron and steel wires show the least
variation in the amount of sag between supports, and aluminum wire shows
the most.
Wrought iron melts at about 2,800°, steel at 2,700°, copper at 1,929°,
bronze at about the same point as copper, and aluminum at 1,157°
Fahrenheit. This low melting point of aluminum may prove a source of
trouble by opening a line of that material where some foreign wire falls
on it. This, according to a report, was illustrated at a sub-station on
a 30,000-volt transmission line where a destructive arc was started at
the switchboard. Not being able to extinguish the arc in any other way,
a lineman threw an iron wire across the aluminum lines just outside of
the sub-station, and these lines were immediately melted through by the
iron wire, thus opening the circuit. The trouble may have warranted so
desperate a remedy in this case; but, as a rule, it does not pay to cut
a transmission line in order to get rid of a short circuit.
In the ordinary construction of transmission lines on land the tensile
strength of wire is secondary in importance to its electrical
conductivity, because supports can be spaced according to the strength
of the conductor used. When large bodies of water must be crossed,
tensile strength is a prime requirement. Thus a 142-mile line from
Colgate to Oakland, in California, crosses the Straits of Carquinez in
the form of steel cables, each seven-eighths of an inch in diameter and
4,427 feet long. Steel wire was selected for this long span, probably
because it can be given a greater tensile strength than that of any
other metal. Annealed iron wire has a tensile strength between 50,000
and 60,000 pounds per square inch. Steel wires vary all the way from
50,000 to more than 350,000 pounds per square inch in strength, but mild
steel wire with a strength ranging from 80,000 to 100,000 pounds per
square inch is readily obtained.
Soft copper shows a tensile strength between 32,000 and 36,000 pounds
per square inch, and hard-drawn copper between 45,000 and 70,000 pounds,
depending on the degree of hardness. Silicon-bronze wires vary in
strength from less than 60,000 to more than 100,000 pounds per square
inch, and phosphor-bronze has a tensile strength of about 100,000
pounds. Bronze wires, like those of most alloys, show a much wider range
of strength than those of iron or copper.
In silicon-bronze wire the electrical conductivity decreases as the
tensile strength increases. The tensile strength of aluminum wire is
lower than that of any other used in transmission lines, being only
about 30,000 pounds per square inch. Solid aluminum wires of large size
have given trouble by breaking under strains well within their nominal
strength, due probably to imperfections or twists. This trouble is now
generally avoided by the use of aluminum cables.
In that most necessary property of a transmission
line--conductivity--copper excels all other metals except silver. Taking
the conductivity of soft copper wire at 100, the conductivity of
hard-drawn copper is 98; that of silicon-bronze ranges from 46 to 98;
that of aluminum is 60; of phosphor-bronze, 26; of annealed iron wire,
14; and of steel wire of 100,000 pounds tensile strength per square
inch, 11. Copper wire, both soft and hard, as regularly made, does not
vary more than one per cent from the standard, and aluminum and annealed
iron wires also show high uniformity as to resistance. Silicon-bronze
and steel wires, on the other hand, fluctuate much in electrical
conductivity. For any particular transmission line the resistance is
usually determined by considerations apart from the metal to be used as
a conductor, so that a line of given resistance or conductivity must be
constructed of that material which best conforms to the requirements as
to size of wire, weight, strength, and cost.
Allowing the weight of any definite mass of copper to represent unity,
the weight of an equal mass of wrought iron is 0.87; of steel, 0.89; of
aluminum, 0.30; while that of bronze is very nearly equal to that of the
copper. The smallest line wire that can be used for a given length and
resistance is one of pure, soft copper. Next in cross-sectional area
come hard-drawn copper and some silicon-bronze, either of which need be
only two per cent larger than the soft copper for an equal resistance.
Some other silicon-bronze wire of greater tensile strength per square
inch would require a sectional area of 2.17 times that of the soft
copper.
Aluminum wire with 60 per cent of the conductivity of copper requires
1.66 of its section for wires of equal resistance. As phosphor-bronze
has only 26 per cent of the conductivity of copper, the section of the
bronze must be 3.84 times that of the copper wire if their lengths and
resistance are to be equal. An annealed iron wire is equal in resistance
to a copper wire of the same length when the iron has 7.14 times the
section of the copper. Steel, with 11 per cent of the conductivity of
copper, must have 9.09 times the copper section in order that wires of
the same length may have equal resistances.
It is not desirable to use a copper wire smaller than No. 4 B. & S.
gauge for transmission lines, because of the lack of tensile strength in
smaller sizes. When the conductivity of a copper wire smaller than No. 4
is ample, an iron wire will give the required conductivity, with a
strength far greater than that of the copper. For a line of given length
and conductivity of any other metal the weight compared with that of a
copper line is represented by the product of the figures for relative
section of the two lines and of the weight of unit mass of the metal in
question compared with that of copper.
Thus, for the same conductivity the weight of a certain length of iron
wire is 0.87 × 7.14 = 6.21 times the weight of a copper wire. For the
steel wire above named the weight is 0.89 × 9.09 = 8.09 times that of a
copper line of equal conductivity. Phosphor-bronze in a line of given
length and resistance has 3.84 times the weight of soft copper.
Silicon-bronze for a transmission line must weigh from 1.02 to 2.17
times as much as soft copper for a given length and conductivity.
Aluminum for a line of fixed length and conductivity will weigh 1.66 ×
0.3 = 0.5 times as much as copper. For a line of fixed length and
resistance, hard-drawn copper will weigh about two per cent more than
soft copper.
Taking the tensile strength of soft copper at 34,000 pounds per square
inch, hard-drawn copper at 45,000 to 70,000, silicon-bronze at 60,000 to
100,000, phosphor-bronze at 100,000, iron at 55,000, steel at 100,000,
and aluminum at 30,000 pounds, the relative strengths of wires with
equal sectional areas compared with the soft copper are, for hard-drawn
copper, 1.32 to 2.06; silicon-bronze, 1.76 to 2.94; phosphor-bronze,
2.94; iron, 1.62; steel, 2.94; and for aluminum, 0.88.
Comparing wires on the basis of equal resistances for equal lengths,
with soft copper again the standard, the tensile strength of each as to
it is as follows: A hard-drawn copper line has 1.02 × 1.32 = 1.34 to
1.02 × 2.06 = 2.10 times the strength of a line of soft copper. With
silicon-bronze the strength of line wire would range between 1.02 × 1.76
= 1.79 and 2.17 × 2.94 = 6.38 times that of copper. Iron would give the
line a strength as to soft copper represented by 7.14 × 1.62 = 11.56.
Steel of 100,000 pounds tensile strength per square inch will give a
line 9.09 × 2.94 = 26.70 times as strong as it would be if composed of
soft copper. With aluminum the strength of the line would be 1.66 × 0.88
= 1.46 times that of copper. For phosphor-bronze the figures are 3.84 ×
2.94 = 11.29.
From the foregoing it may be shown how many times the price of soft
copper per pound may be paid for each of the other metals to form a line
of given length and resistance at a cost equal to that of a soft copper
line. These prices per pound for the several metals relative to that of
soft copper are as follows: Taking the price of soft copper as one, the
price for hard-drawn copper must be 1 ÷ 1.02 = 0.98. For silicon-bronze
the price may be as high as 1 ÷ 1.02 = 0.98, or as low as 1 ÷ 2.17 =
0.46 of the price of soft copper wire. Phosphor-bronze may have a price
represented by only 1 ÷ 3.84 = 0.26 that of copper. The price of iron
wire should be 1 ÷ 6.21 = 0.16 of that of copper, and for steel wire of
the quality stated the price can only be 1 ÷ 8.01 = 0.12. Aluminum wire
alone may have a higher price per pound than soft copper for the same
resistance and cost of line, the figure for the relative cost of this
metal being 1 ÷ 0.5 = 2.
From the foregoing it appears that for a line of given cost, length, and
resistance, soft copper has the least cross-section and tensile
strength; steel, the greatest cross-section, weight, tensile strength,
and lowest permissible price per pound; and aluminum, the least weight
and highest price per pound.
RELATIVE PROPERTIES OF WIRES HAVING EQUAL LENGTHS AND RESISTANCES.
+--------------------+---------+--------+----------+----------+
| |Relative |Relative| Relative | Relative |
| Metal in Wire. | Cross |Weights.| Tensile |Prices per|
| |Sections.| |Strengths.|Pound for |
| | | | |Same Total|
| | | | | Cost. |
+--------------------+---------+--------+----------+----------+
|Soft Copper | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1. | 1.00 |
|Hard Copper | 1.02 | 1.04 | 1.34 | .98 |
|Very Hard Copper | 1.02 | 1.02 | 2.10 | .98 |
|No. 1 Silicon-Bronze| 1.02 | 1.02 | 1.79 | .98 |
|No. 2 Silicon-Bronze| 2.17 | 2.17 | 6.38 | .46 |
|Aluminum | 1.66 | .50 | 1.46 | 2.00 |
|Phosphor-Bronze | 3.84 | 3.84 | 11.29 | .26 |
|Annealed Iron | 7.14 | 6.21 | 11.56 | .16 |
|Mild Steel | 9.09 | 8.09 | 26.70 | .12 |
+--------------------+---------+--------+----------+----------+
The relative cross sections and weights of both iron and steel wires are
so great as to prevent their general use because of the labor and cost
of their erection.
So far as the first cost of the wire alone is concerned, iron may be
approximately equal to copper in some metal markets. The only practical
place for an iron wire, however, is one where copper would be too small
or not strong enough. Steel wire finds a place, in spite of its high
resistance, in those exceptional cases where a single span of several
thousand feet must be made, requiring high tensile strength. In such
cases it is usually better to give the steel span a greater resistance
than an equal length of the main portion of the line, so as to avoid
excessive size and weight of the span. Even when this is done the
resistance of the steel span would be very small compared with that of a
long transmission line.
Phosphor-bronze finds little use as conductors in transmission systems
because of its relatively high electrical resistance. If great tensile
strength is wanted, iron or steel will supply it at a fraction of the
cost of phosphor-bronze. As a conductor simply, phosphor-bronze is worth
only 0.26 as much per pound as soft copper, while its actual market
price is greater than that of copper.
Silicon-bronze of relatively high resistance, requiring 2.17 times the
section and weight of copper for equal conductivity, is entitled to
little or no consideration as a transmission line material. This alloy,
in order to give equal conductivity at equal cost with copper, must sell
at only 0.46 of the price of copper per pound. But the price of
silicon-bronze is equal to, or greater than, the price of copper, so
that the cost of the high-resistance silicon-bronze for a line of given
resistance will be more than twice that of copper. For this more than
double cost the bronze gives 6.38 times the tensile strength of a soft
copper line of equal conductivity.
Taking the market price of steel at one-fifth that of copper, which is
amply high for the steel, as a rule, a steel wire of equal conductivity
with the copper will cost only 1.6 times as much and will have 26.7
times the tensile strength of the copper, or four times the tensile
strength of a wire of equal conductivity made from the high-resistance
silicon-bronze. From this it is clear that steel offers a cheaper
combination of conductivity and strength than does silicon-bronze of
high resistance. That grade of silicon-bronze having the lowest
resistance may cost 0.98 as much per pound as soft copper, and will have
1.79 times the strength of the copper for equal conductivity. This
bronze actually costs more per pound than copper, so that it cannot give
equal conductivity at equal cost.
Very hard-drawn copper has a conductivity equal to that of the best
silicon-bronze, and the tensile strength of this copper is seventeen per
cent greater than that of the bronze. Silicon-bronze costs more per
pound than hard copper, but even with equal prices the hard copper gives
equal conductivity and higher strength at the same cost. Furthermore,
the conductivity of silicon-bronze is much more liable to serious
variations than that of hard copper. Between hard-drawn copper and steel
there is very little apparent place for any grade of bronze in electric
transmission lines.
The hardest copper wire is very stiff, and is more liable to crack when
twisted or bent than is wire of only medium hardness. Such medium-hard
copper has a tensile strength of thirty-four per cent greater than soft
copper of equal conductivity, and is much used on long transmission
lines. Aluminum is the only metal which, for given conductivity in a
transmission line, combines a smaller weight, a greater tensile
strength, and a higher permissible price than soft copper for the same
total cost. For equal conductivity an aluminum wire has a greater
tensile strength than one of medium-hard copper, and costs less than
copper of any grade when the price per pound of the aluminum is less
than twice that of copper, which is usually the case.
These properties make aluminum by far the most important competitor of
copper in electric transmission and have led to its use in a number of
cases, notably for the two longest lines in the world, namely, between
Colgate and Oakland and between Electra and San Francisco, in
California.
It has not been found practicable to solder joints in aluminum wires
because of the resulting electrolytic action when aluminum is in contact
with other metals. Joints of aluminum wires are usually made by slipping
the ends past each other in an oval aluminum sleeve and then giving the
sleeve and wires two or three complete twists, or by a process of cold
welding with a sleeve joint.
Long transmission lines are in nearly all cases run with bare wire
supported by poles. Where very high voltages are employed no insulation
that can be put on the wire will make it safe to handle, and the cost of
such insulation would add materially to that of the entire line. It is,
therefore, the practice to run transmission lines above all other wires
and to rely entirely on the supports for insulation.
The considerations thus far noted apply alike to wires carrying
continuous and alternating currents, but there are some other factors
that apply solely to alternating lines. Owing to the inductive effects
of alternating currents in long, parallel wires, such wires should be
transposed between their supports at frequent intervals. The induction
between wires increases with the frequency of the current carried, and
decreases with the distance between the wires. According to these
conditions, wires should be transposed as often as every eighth of a
mile in some cases, and at intervals of one mile or more in others.
An alternating current when passing along a line tends to concentrate
itself in the outer layers of the wire, leaving the centre idle. This
unequal current distribution increases with the frequency of the current
and with the area of the cross section of the wire. The practical effect
of this unequal distribution is to make the resistance of a wire a
little higher for alternating than for continuous currents. In existing
transmission lines the increase of resistance due to this cause seldom
amounts to one per cent.
When an alternating current passes through a circuit, the action termed
self-induction sets up an electromotive force in the circuit that
opposes the flow of current, as does the resistance of the wire, and
this is called the inductance of the circuit. The ratio of this
inductance to the resistance of a circuit increases with the number of
periods per second of the alternating current used and with the
sectional area of the wires composing the circuit. For a circuit of No.
6 B. & S. gauge wire the inductance amounts to only five per cent of the
line resistance, but for a circuit of No. 000 wire the inductance
consumes as much of the applied voltage as does the resistance, with
60-cycle current.
Both the unequal distribution of alternating current over the
cross-section of a conductor and the inductance of circuits make it
desirable to keep the diameters of transmission wires as small as other
considerations permit. As soft copper has greater conductivity per unit
of area than any of the other available metals, it clearly has an
advantage over all of them as to inductance and increase of resistance
with alternating current.
At very high voltages there is an important leakage of energy between
the conductors of a circuit, and this loss varies inversely with the
distance between these conductors. Thus it happens that inductance makes
it desirable to bring the parallel wires of a circuit close together,
while the leakage of energy from wire to wire makes it desirable to
carry them far apart.
To provide greater security from interruption, the conductors for
important transmissions are in some cases carried on two independent
pole lines. Even where all the conductors are on a single line of poles
it is frequent practice to divide them up into a number of comparatively
small wires, and this decreases inductance.
Data of a number of transmission lines presented in the appended table
illustrate the practice in some of the more recent and important cases
as to the materials, size, number, and arrangement of the wires. The
plants of which particulars are given include the greatest power
capacities, the longest distances, and the highest voltages now involved
in electrical transmissions. Each of the lines named is worked with
alternating current of two- or three-phase. Each three-phase line must
have at least three wires, and each two-phase line usually has four
wires.
On ten of the lines the number of wires is greater than three or four,
thus reducing the necessary size of each wire for a given conductivity
of the line. The Butte, Oakland, and Hamilton lines are run on two sets
of poles for greater security, and a second pole line has been added to
the Niagara and Buffalo system to carry additional wires.
The largest wire used in any of these lines is the aluminum cable of
500,000 circular mils between Niagara Falls and Buffalo. This cable has
1.66 times the area in cross section of a copper cable of equal
conductivity.
SIZES AND MATERIALS OF WIRES ON SOME AMERICAN TRANSMISSION LINES.
+----------------------------+----+------+----------+--------+-------+
| | | | | |Length |
| | |Number| Size of | | of |
| Location of Transmission. |Line|Wires.| Each Wire|Metal in|Trans- |
| | +-+ +--+ B. & S. | Wire. | mis- |
| |Volt- | | Gauge. | | sion. |
| |age. | | | |Miles. |
+----------------------------+------+-+-------------+--------+-------+
|Cañon Ferry to Butte |50,000|6| 0 | Copper | 65 |
|Colgate to Oakland |40,000|3| 00 | Copper |142 |
| | |3| 000 |Aluminum|142 |
|Electra to San Francisco |40,000|3|471,034 C. M.| „ |147 |
|Santa Ana R. to Los Angeles |33,000|6| 1 | Copper | 83 |
|Apple River to St. Paul |25,000|6| 2 | „ | 25 |
|Welland Canal to Hamilton |22,500|3| 1 | „ | 35 |
| | |3| 00 | „ | 37 |
|Cañon City to Cripple Creek |20,000|3| 3 | „ | 23-1/2|
|Madrid to Bland |20,000|6| 4 | „ | 32 |
|White River to Dales |22,000|3| 6 | „ | 27 |
|Ogden to Salt Lake City |16,000|6| 1 | „ | 36-1/2|
|San Gabriel Cañon to Los | | | | | |
| Angeles |16,000|6| 5 | „ | 23 |
|To Victor, Col |12,600|3| 4 | „ | 8 |
|Niagara Falls to Buffalo |22,000|6|350,000 C. M.| „ | 23 |
| „ „ „ |22,000|3|500,000 C. M.|Aluminum| 20 |
|Yadkin River to Salem |12,000|3| 1 | Copper | 14.5 |
|Farmington Riv’r to Hartford|10,000|3|336,420 C. M.|Aluminum| 11 |
|Wilbraham to Ludlow Mills |11,500|6|135,247 C. M.| „ | 4.5 |
|Niagara Falls to Toronto |60,000|6|190,000 C. M.| Copper | 75 |
+----------------------------+------+-+-------------+--------+-------+
Aluminum lines are now employed for the three longest electrical
transmissions in North America. In the longest single line, that from
Electra power-house to San Francisco, a distance of 147 miles, aluminum
is the conductor used. The 142-mile transmission between Colgate and
Oakland is carried out with three aluminum and three copper line wires.
For the third transmission in point of length, that from Shawinigan
Falls to Montreal, a distance of 85 miles, three aluminum conductors are
employed.
The three transmissions just named have unusually large capacities as
well as superlative lengths, the generators in the Electra plant being
rated at 10,000, in the Colgate plant at 11,250, and in the Shawinigan
plant at 7,500 kilowatts. Weight and cost of such lines are very large.
For the three No. 0000 aluminum conductors, 142 miles each in length,
between Colgate and Oakland, the total weight must be about 440,067
pounds, costing $132,020 at 30 cents per pound. Between Electra and
Mission San José, where the line branches, is 100 miles of the 147-mile
transmission from Electra to San Francisco. On the Electra and Mission
San José section the aluminum conductors comprise three stranded cables
of 471,034 circular mils each in sectional area and with a total weight
of about 721,200 pounds. This section alone of the line in question
would have cost $216,360 at 30 cents per pound. The 85-mile aluminum
line from Shawinigan Falls to Montreal is made up of three-stranded
conductors each with a sectional area of 183,708 circular mils. All
three conductors have a combined weight of about 225,300 pounds, and at
30 cents per pound would have cost $67,590.
Aluminum lines are not confined to new transmissions, but are also found
in additions to those where copper conductors were at first used. Thus,
the third transmission circuit between the power-house at Niagara Falls
and the terminal house in Buffalo, a distance of 20 miles by the new
pole line, was formed of three aluminum cables each with an area of
500,000 circular mils, though the six conductors of the two previous
circuits were each 350,000 circular mils copper.
From these examples it may be seen that copper has lost its former place
as the only conductor to be seriously considered for transmission
circuits. Aluminum has not only disputed this claim for copper, but has
actually gained the most conspicuous place in long transmission lines.
This victory of aluminum has been won in hard competition. The decisive
factor has been that of cost for a circuit of given length and
resistance.
From the standpoint of cross-sectional area aluminum is inferior to
copper as an electrical conductor. Comparing wires of equal sizes and
lengths, the aluminum have only sixty per cent of the conductivity of
the copper, so that an aluminum wire must have 1.66 times the sectional
area of a copper wire of the same length in order to offer an equal
electrical resistance. As round wires vary in sectional areas with the
squares of their diameters, an aluminum wire must have a diameter 1.28
times that of a copper wire of equal length in order to offer the same
conductivity.
The inferiority of aluminum as an electrical conductor in terms of
sectional area is more than offset by its superiority over copper in
terms of weight. One pound of aluminum drawn into a wire of any length
will have a sectional area 3.33 times as great as one pound of copper in
a wire of equal length. This follows from the fact that the weight of
copper is 555 pounds while that of aluminum is only 167 pounds per cubic
foot, so that for equal weights the bulk of the latter is 3.33 times
that of the former metal. As the aluminum wire has equal length with and
3.33 times the sectional area of the copper wire of the same weight,
the electrical conductivity of the former is 3.33 ÷ 1.66 = 2 times that
of the latter. Hence, for equal resistances, the weight of an aluminum
is only one-half as great as that of a copper wire of the same length.
From this fact it is evident that when the price per pound of aluminum
is anything less than twice the price of copper, the former is the
cheaper metal for a transmission line of any required length and
electrical resistance.
The tensile strength of both soft copper and of aluminum wire is about
33,000 pounds per square inch of section. For wires of equal length and
resistance the aluminum is therefore sixty-six per cent stronger because
its area is sixty-six per cent greater than that of a soft copper wire.
Medium hard-drawn copper wire such as is most commonly used for
transmission lines has a tensile strength of about 45,000 pounds per
square inch, but even compared with this grade of copper the aluminum
wire of equal length and resistance has the advantage in tensile
strength. While the aluminum line is thus stronger than an equivalent
one of copper, the weight of the former is only one-half that of the
latter, so that the distance between poles may be increased, or the
sizes of poles, cross-arms, and pins decreased with aluminum wires. In
one respect the strain on poles that carry aluminum may be greater than
that on poles with equivalent copper lines, namely, in that of wind
pressure. A wind that blows in a direction other than parallel with a
transmission line tends to break the poles at the ground and prostrate
the line in a direction at right angles to its course. The total wind
pressure in any case is obviously proportional to the extent of the
surface on which it acts, and this surface is measured by one-half of
the external area of all the poles and wires in a given length of line.
As the aluminum wire must have a diameter twenty-eight per cent greater
than that of copper wire of equal length, one-half of the total wire
surface will also be twenty-eight per cent greater for the former metal.
This carries with it an increase of twenty-eight per cent in that
portion of the wind pressure due to wire surface. In good practice the
number of transmission wires per pole line is often only three, and
seldom more than six, so that the surface areas of these wires may be no
greater than that of the poles. It follows that the increase of
twenty-eight per cent in the surface of wires may correspond to a much
smaller percentage of increase for the entire area exposed to wind
pressure. Such small difference as exists between the total wind
pressures on aluminum and copper lines of equal conductivity is of
slight importance in view of the general practice by which some straight
as well as the curved portions of transmission lines are now secured by
guys or struts at right angles to the direction of the wires.
Vibration of transmission lines and the consequent tendency of
cross-arms, pins, insulators, and of the wires to work loose is less
with aluminum than with copper conductors as ordinarily strung, because
of the greater sag between poles given the former and also probably
because of their smaller weight. An illustration of this sort may be
seen on the old and new transmission lines between Niagara Falls and
Buffalo. The two old copper circuits consist of six cables of 350,000
circular mils section each on one line of poles, and are strung with
only a moderate sag. In a strong wind these copper conductors swing and
vibrate in such a way that their poles, pins, and cross-arms are thrown
into a vibration that tend to work all attachments loose. The new
circuit consists of three 500,000 circular mil aluminum conductors on a
separate pole line strung with a large sag between poles, and these
conductors take positions in planes at large angles with the vertical in
a strong wind, but cause little or no vibration of their supports. One
reason for the greater sag of the aluminum over that of the copper
conductors in this case is the fact that the poles carrying the former
are 140 feet apart while the distance between the poles for the latter
is only seventy feet, on straight sections of the line.
The necessity for greater sag in aluminum than in copper conductors,
even where the span lengths are equal, arises from the greater
coefficient of expansion possessed by the former metal. Between 32° and
212° Fahrenheit aluminum expands about 0.0022, and copper 0.0016 of its
length, so that the change in length is 40 per cent greater in the
former than in the latter metal. The conductors in any case must have
enough sag between poles to provide for contraction in the coldest
weather, and it follows that the necessary sag of aluminum wires will be
greater than that of copper at ordinary temperature.
In pure air aluminum is even more free from oxidation than copper, but
where exposed to the fumes of chemical works, to chlorine compounds, or
to fatty acids the metal is rapidly attacked. For this reason aluminum
conductors should have a water-proof covering where exposed to any of
these chemicals. The aluminum line between Niagara Falls and Buffalo is
bare for most of its length, but in the vicinity of the large chemical
works at the former place the wires are covered with a braid treated
with asphaltum. Aluminum alloyed with sodium, its most common impurity,
is quickly corroded in moist air, and should be carefully avoided. All
of the properties of aluminum here mentioned relate to the pure metal
unless otherwise stated, and its alloys should not, as a rule, be
considered for transmission lines. As aluminum is electropositive to
most other metals the soldering of its joints is quite sure to result in
electrolytic corrosion, unless the joints are thoroughly protected from
moisture, a result that is hard to attain with bare wires. The regular
practice is to avoid the use of solder and rely on mechanical joints. A
good joint may be made by slipping the roughened ends of wires to be
connected through an aluminum tube of oval section, so that one wire
sticks out at each end, then twisting the tube and wires and giving each
of the latter a turn about the other. Aluminum may be welded
electrically and also by hammering at a certain temperature, but these
processes are not convenient for line construction. Especial care is
necessary to avoid scarring or cutting into aluminum wires, as may be
done when they are tied to their insulators. Aluminum tie wires should
be used exclusively. To avoid the greater danger of damage to solid
wires and also to obtain greater strength and flexibility, aluminum
conductors are most frequently used in the form of cables. The sizes of
wires that go to make up these cables commonly range from No. 6 to 9 B.
& S. gauge for widely different cable sections. Thus the 183,708
circular mil aluminum cable between Shawinigan Falls and Montreal is
made up of seven No. 6 wires, and the 471,034 circular mil cable between
Electra and Mission San José contains thirty-seven No. 9 wires. From the
Farmington River to Hartford each 336,420 circular mils cable has
exceptionally large strands of approximately No. 3 wire. It appears from
the description of a 43-mile line in California (vol. xvii., A. I. E.
E., p. 345) that a solid aluminum wire of 294 mils diameter, or No. 1 B.
& S. gauge, can be used without trouble from breaks. This wire was
tested and its properties reported as follows:
Diameter, 293.9 mils. Pounds per mile, 419.4. Resistance per mil
foot, 17.6 ohms at 25° C. Resistance per mile at 25° C., 1.00773
ohms. Conductivity as to copper of same size, 59.9 per cent. Number
of twists in six inches for fracture, 17.9. Tensile strength per
square inch, 32,898 pounds.
This wire also stood the test of wrapping six times about its own
diameter and then unwrapping and wrapping again. It was found in tests
for tensile strength that the wire in question took a permanent set at
very small loads, but that at points between 14,000 and 17,000 pounds
per square inch the permanent set began to increase very rapidly. From
this it appears that aluminum wires and cables should be given enough
sag between poles so that in the coldest weather the strains on them
shall not exceed about 15,000 pounds per square inch. This rather low
safe working load is a disadvantage that aluminum shares with copper.
From the figures just given it is evident that the strains on aluminum
conductors during their erection should not exceed one-half of the
ultimate strength in any case, lest their sectional areas be reduced.
ALUMINUM CABLES IN TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS.
+----------------------------+-------+-----+--------+-------+----------+
| | | | | | Size of |
| | Number|Miles|Circular|Strands| Strands. |
| Locations. | of | of |Mils of | per |B. & S. G.|
| |Cables.|Each.| Each. |Cable. | Approx- |
| | | | | | imate. |
+----------------------------+-------+-----+--------+-------+----------+
|Niagara Falls to Buffalo | 3 | 20 | 500,000| .. | .. |
|Shawinigan Falls to Montreal| 3 | 85 | 183,708| 7 | 6 |
|Electra to Mission San José | 3 |100 | 471,034| 37 | 9 |
|Colgate to Oakland | 3 |144 | 211,000| 7 | 5-6 |
|Farmington River to Hartford| 3 | 11 | 336,420| 7 | 3 |
|Lewiston, Me. | 3 | 3.5| 144,688| 7 | 8 |
|Ludlow, Mass. | 6 | 4.5| 135,247| 7 | 7 |
+----------------------------+-------+-----+--------+-------+----------+
This table of transmission systems using aluminum conductors is far from
exhaustive. Aluminum is also being used to distribute energy to the
sub-stations of long electric railways, as on the Aurora and Chicago
which connects cities about forty miles apart. The lower cost of
aluminum conductors is also leading to their adoption instead of copper
in city distribution of light and power. Thus at Manchester, N. H., the
local electric lines include about four miles each of 500,000 and
750,000 circular mil aluminum cable with weather-proof insulation. The
larger of these cables contains thirty-seven strands of about No. 7
wire.
As may be seen from the foregoing facts, the choice of copper or
aluminum for a transmission line should turn mainly on the cost of
conductors of the required length and resistance in each metal. So
nearly balanced are the mechanical and electrical properties of the two
metals that not more than a very small premium should be paid for the
privilege of using copper. As already pointed out, the costs of aluminum
and copper conductors of given length and resistance are equal when the
price per pound of aluminum wire is twice that of copper. During most of
the time for several years the price of aluminum has been well below
double the copper figures, and the advantage has been with aluminum
conductors. With the two metals at the same price per pound aluminum
would cost only one-half as much as equivalent copper conductors. When
the price of aluminum is fifty per cent greater per pound than that of
copper, the use of the former metal effects a saving of twenty-five per
cent. For the new Niagara and Buffalo line, completed early in 1901,
aluminum was selected because it effected a saving of about twelve per
cent over the cost of copper. All of the aluminum lines here mentioned,
except the short one near Hartford, were completed during or since 1900.
Most of the facts here stated as to the line between Niagara Falls and
Buffalo are drawn from vol. xviii., A. I. E. E., at pages 520 and 521.
The greater diameter of aluminum over equivalent copper conductors has
advantages in transmission with alternating current at very high
voltages. At high voltages, say of 40,000 or more, the constant silent
loss of energy from one conductor to another of the same circuit through
the air tends to become large and even prohibitive in amount. This loss
is greater, other factors being constant, the smaller the diameter of
the conductors in the line. It follows that this loss is more serious
the smaller the power to be transmitted, because the smaller the
diameter of the line wires. The silent passage of energy from wire to
wire increases directly with the length of line and thus operates as a
limit to long transmissions.