What is a feeder in electrics?

Personnel who work with an electrical network with a voltage of less than 1000 volts do not always understand what is happening “at the other end of the wire”. However, an electrician must have an understanding of the power supply scheme for a district or village. In electrical engineering, you can often find such an expression as an electric feeder. If we take a translation from England, then this means supply or food. In simple terms, this is a cable line that connects equipment to power plants or substations.

In fact, there are several variants of the concept of this word. So what is it and what does an electric feeder look like? It can be a network that feeds transformer substations, connecting them to a certain circuit breaker, which is used in highways from 6 to 10 kV. If the cable that connects the transformer to the breaker is damaged, it means that the electrical feeder is damaged.

In electrics, this term is remembered when a general switch is turned off at a substation, leaving all transformers without power. Then the workers say that the load on the power grid has been removed. The diagram below shows what such a device is and where it is located:

There are many opinions as to which part of the lines should be called feeders. Or will it be the entire supply line, or will it be just the main section that reaches the first substation? The general meaning implies the entire network going from the equipment to the substation. More narrowly, this is the part of the cable that goes to the first transformer. This term is considered more appropriate for cable networks. In the overhead transmission line, as such, there is no main section, since the cables run radially and are designated by simple numbers.

If you look at the designations by industry, then in the electric power industry, an electric feeder is an air a line that connects two substations to each other or connects a substation with a distribution mechanism. At the same time, do not forget about the fact that this device has a connection with the power supplied to the electrical equipment. Therefore, it is also customary to call it a backbone, which connects the substation directly to the distribution unit.

In the case when the electrical network is being designed, then this definition is called the cable through which the power goes to the consumer from the switchgear. Alternatively, power can be supplied from one distribution unit to another. The same lines that are diverted further from the switchgear are called "branch".

Electric feeders can be of two types: cable and air. But this does not change the fact that they serve as a connection between the busbars that are present in the distribution nodes. substations (whether converter or transformer) and directly the electrical network itself (consumer or distribution).

For example, in power supply, such a definition was given to a section of a traction network, which combines a traction substation with a cantata power grid thanks to voltage buses. The electric feeder is equipped with a special protective device that protects against overloads and short circuits thanks to the presence of circuit breakers. These switches disconnect the catenary if an overshoot occurs. A high-voltage disconnector can also do this.

The equipment that is directly related to this device is called feeder equipment. For example, it can be a feeder automation or a disconnector and feeder protection. An electric feeder in electricity can also be called a distillation or stationary. Only if it is used in traction power grids. And it will depend on those consumers who receive power from the network through a specific feeder. In such cases, each line receives its own personal number.

It should be noted that such a concept can be safely replaced by the simple word "power line", since the device is a kind of a kind of power line. And, despite the fact that such a line is considered the main one, it is also defined as a section of the power grid, which connects a certain number of remote devices to the main power line.

That is, more precisely, a power line is called a feeder, which connects the primary distribution node with a secondary node or with a large number of distribution devices. It can also act as a connection between a secondary distributor and one or more consumers. We hope you now understand what an electric feeder is!

We recommend reading:

  • How electricity is transmitted over long distances
  • What is a load break switch for?
  • Protection zones of power lines
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