Current Equipment and Transformer-Rectifiers

With impressed current stations on privately owned sites, it is advisable to conclude contracts with the property owner in order to guarantee access to the installation at all times, to prevent damage to the cables and to exclude construction or modifications in the area of the anode beds. 

In choosing a site for protection installations for steel-water structures, decisive factors are the location in the harbor area and the need to keep the lengths of cable to the protected object and anode as short as possible where very high protection currents are involved. 

The units and ancillary equipment must be protected from mechanical damage and the effects of weather to ensure the reliable operation of an impressed current station. This is achieved by installing it in a weatherproof plastic housing (see Fig. 8-2). Sufficient ventilation must be provided to disperse heat. The ventilation holes should be protected with brass gauze to keep out animals. Transformer-rectifier units must be connected to a circuit that is continuously energized, especially if they are in a building where the current is turned off at night, e.g., gas stations that are not open for 24 h. 

In work places, T-R units should be installed where there is no danger of explosion, since explosion-proof measures are very costly and units in such installations are difficult to service and maintain. It is more convenient to bear the 

8-2 Impressed current unit in a plastic housing with a meter panel. 

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Impressed Current Equipment and Transformer-Rectifiers 239 Table 8-2 Troubleshooting at cathodic protection stations... 

Manually Controlled System A manually controlled system comprises one or more transformer-rectifiers each with its associated control panels which supply the d.c. to the various anodes installed in the water box spaces. Each transformer-rectifier is provided with its own control panel where each anode is provided with a fuse, shunt and variable resistor. These enable the current to each anode to be adjusted as required. Reference cells should be provided in order to monitor the cathodic protection system. In the case of a major power station, one transformer-rectifier and associated control panel should be provided for separate protection of screens, circulating water pumps and for each main condenser and associated equipment. 

Power Supply Electrical precipitators are generally energized by rectified alternating current of commercial frequency. The voltage is stepped up to the required value by means of a transformer and then rectified. The rectifying equipment has undergone an evolution which began with the synchronous mechanical rectifier in 1904 and was... 

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