TABLE OF CONTENTS P.F.Albrecht
G.D.Breuer [*]
K.Clark
R.C.Degeneff
H.J.Fielder
C.W.Flairty
D.W.Houghtaling
E.T.Jauch
J.J.LaForest
E.V.Larsen
J.C.Mclver
F.Nozari
R.L.Rofini
H.M.Schneider
J.D. Stickler
J.Urbanek
L.E.Zaffanella
The authors are all presently or formerly with the General
Electric Company
[*]Principal author of current edition.
From the beginning of electric power history, dc lines and cables have been less expensive than those for 3-phase ac transmission. Alternating current, however, is more advantageous than direct current for generation, transformation to high voltage for transmission, and then transformation to low voltage for distribution and electric power consumption.
To utilize the savings dc offers, generated ac power must be converted to dc power at a converter station and then transmitted over a dc line to another converter station where it is converted back to ac. The lack of reliable high-voltage power-conversion equipment made the application of dc systems impractical until the mid-1950s, when the development of the high-voltage mercury-arc valve resulted in a commercially competitive position for dc transmission.
Over the years, many attempts have been made to develop converters for high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission. The best-known was developed by the Swiss engineer Thury in 1889. Thury's system consisted of dc generators and motors connected in series on the dc side and was used in Europe from 1890 to 1937. Converters based on mechanical switches were tested in England and Sweden in the 1920s and 1930s. In the United States, the General Electric Company built converters for dc lines during the 1930s. These converters used mercury-arc...
