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Low-Voltage Cables "Transmission and Distribution Electrical Engineering" breaks down transmission and distribution cables into five separate categories. The most basic category is "low voltage." This includes cables used for telephone wires, as well as fire-retarded and resistant cables. These cables have the lowest maximum voltage of the four groups, ranging from 50 to 1,000 volts. Medium-Voltage Cables Medium-voltage cables --- which have a maximum capacity ranging from three to 7.2 kilovolts --- are the next class of transmission and distribution lines. These cables are typically used for solid dielectric and MI/MIND purposes. High-Voltage Cables The third class of transmission and distribution cables is high voltage. These power lines can carry a maximum voltage capacity of 10 to 150 kilovolts. While these cables can be used for the same purposes as low- and medium-voltage cables, their higher threshold makes them less cost-efficient than lower-grade wires. The main purposes of high-voltage wires include oil-filled cables, as well as gas-pressure or gas-insulated ducts. Very High-Voltage Cables Like medium- and high-voltage cables, very high-voltage lines are used for solid dielectric, oil-filled and gas-insulated ducts, but in situations where a higher maximum voltage is required. These cables have a maximum capacity of 150 to 300 kilovolts. Because of their very high-voltage capacity, these are typically transmission lines and not distribution lines.

American Superconductor Corp., which makes equipment for power producers, on Monday said it has agreed to pay $265 million to buy The Switch Engineering Oy, a Finnish company that makes components for wind turbines.

It is part of a £3m Copper Kingdom tourism project, which will also see buildings like the Cornish Beam Engine House, renovated.

Ultimately, the industry is plagued with a variety of challenges that create a difficult market in which to operate and thrive in. In essence, increasing productivity and reducing costs are the keys to success in surviving the sector and, as a result, mining organisations are now increasingly looking to contain and reduce costs to sustain profitability, primarily through improvements in machine performance, reliability and efficiency.

Luvata, a world leader in metal solutions manufacturing and related engineering services, confirms it has received Board approval for an expansion into India through its Heat Transfer Solutions division. The group anticipates a first large production facility aimed at the domestic market. Luvata is one of the world’s biggest producers of coils and coolers for applications including commercial, industrial and mobile refrigeration.

According to Siemens, while electric motors represent over 65 per cent of the total industrial power demand, approximately 70 per cent of the installed motors today do not use optimal motor control - which is bad news for a greener world.

For buyers of plant and machinery who appreciate that the cost of ownership is more significant than the purchase price, energy efficiency is a very important factor. Alistair Rae reports on the European Minimum Energy Performance Standard scheme for electric motors, and highlights some of the most efficient motors currently available.

Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) have not yet met commercial expectations from a decade ago, and now hot on its heels is graphene. Graphene is considered a hot candidate for applications such as computers, displays, photovoltaics, and flexible electronics. IDTechEx market forecasts indicate that CNT and graphene transistors may be commercially available in volume from 2015 onwards, according to the new report \"Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene for Electronics Applications 2011-2021\". According to IDTechEx, the biggest opportunity for both materials is in printed and potentially printed electronics, where the value of these devices that partly incorporate these materials will reach over $44 billion in 2021.

Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Sandia National Laboratories have added something new to a family of engineered, high-tech materials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs): the ability to conduct electricity. This breakthrough—conductive MOFs—has the potential to make these already remarkable materials even more useful, particularly for detecting gases and toxic substances.

since as you make the body lighter, then the chassis can also be lighter, the engine can be smaller, smaller fuel tank or fewer batteries, smaller brakes etc., this is the weight reduction spiral.

“While the old pejorative attitude is still somewhat of a problem, aluminum conductors have experienced a significant increase in use for building wire over the last 10 years,” she said. “Contractors, engineers and owners have gained confidence based on the fact that AA-8000 series aluminum alloy conductors have been installed and operating reliably for over 40 years.”


Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio say that they have produced a new phase map of the copper-nickel nanoalloy – a technologically important catalyst used in a wide range of industrial processes – that goes a long way in explaining how the size and shape of the nanoparticles affect the alloy’s melting temperature. The map could allow engineers to make specific types of Cu-Ni structures depending on the application required by simply tuning alloy synthesis parameters.