All substations take in energy and break it down. Substations all consists of all transformers. All or most transformers are very similar; they all take in energy and break it down. They take energy from a bigger substation and send it into the transformer and it break it down to a lower voltage.
 |
 |
|
| This is a picture of the East Rockhill Substation of Perkasie Electric. It uses transformers to break down the energy and send it to the community. | Power purchased from Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) comes into the substation on large wires. | |
 |
 |
|
| A control room is filled with gauges and dials monitoring the system. | Parts of the system can be turned on or off in the control room. |
Most substations have the similar equipment; substations have power lines, pipes, control boxes, switches to control the amount of energy going out, and many different sizes of transformers. They always have a back up line to make sure that everyone still gets the electricity that they need.
Back up lines are also used if the regular line is broken or not working. Fuse box protectors are also used so that they don't break up the energy flow.
| Above the substations are rods called Lightning Arresters. They are a major part of this substation. If they are struck by lightning, these rods prevent the lightning from reaching the ground and from destroying the entire substation or from blowing up any transformers. |  |
On the poles near the substation, wires are extended, and they are connected to the substation. There are three wires per pole: 'A' phase, 'B' phase, and 'C' phase. The wires carry 69,000 volts through the area. It is parallel with Pennsylvania Power & Light (PPL) Electric.
TRANSFORMERS
Transformers may be affected by the weather. On hot days (example - over 85 degrees) the oil inside the transformer rises. So there is a gap inside of the transformer. They use hydrogen to fill that gap. On cold days, the oil gets lower inside of the transformer, so there is a gap in there. So again they put hydrogen inside of the transformer.
All transformers at the East Rockhill substation basically work the same way. For each transformer, you will have to take a certain number of voltage in and a certain number out. However, with 69000 volt transformers, you need nitrogen to prevent moisture occurring in the transformer tank.
 |
 |
|
| At the substations, big transformers break energy down to put it into smaller lines; the electricity is taken to another transformer to break down the energy again, and the process repeats itself until as it takes the electricity out to homes and businesses. | Some of these transformers have thin oil, also. At the top of the transformers, there is an air gap and it is constant. On a very hot day, the oil heats up and rises. However, on a cold day, the oil level lowers. This gap prevents the oil from exploding. Another thing, there is a "pressure release valve" that actually releases pressure to prevent explosion. |
DANGER - HIGH VOLTAGE !
There are many dangers at an electrical substation. For this reason, people are protected from the large quantities of electricity at the substation by security fences and warning signs. Birds flying into a transformer, or squirrels jumping from a tree onto a transformer, will not survive the shock.
 |
 |
 |
||
| As the electricity is transformed it is divided. | Electricity is sent out to different sections of the service area. | This section of the substation shows part of a large circuit that goes to the Park Avenue section of Perkasie., PA. |
| TRANSFERRING ELECTRICITY HOME PAGE |
|