We should have a more specific answer about what happened during Hurricane Sandy to trigger the tran

Last night, a transformer exploded at a Con Edison plant in lower Manhattan, sparking a flurry of tweets, texts and Facebook posts from residents who witnessed or caught the event on camera. Power failed from 39th Street all the way to the southern tip of Manhattan, and the affected area likely will not regain power for up to a week. So far, authorities don t know whether los angeles night clubs the explosion was directly related to the storm since it happened just as Con Ed intentionally los angeles night clubs cut power to 65,000 customers in an effort los angeles night clubs to protect equipment, los angeles night clubs CBS News writes .
When flooded with too much electricity, the sudden los angeles night clubs surge can cause a transformer explosion. As transformers detect an energy los angeles night clubs spike, they re programmed to turn off, but it can take up to 60 milliseconds for the shutdown. However fast those milliseconds may seem, they still may be too slow to stop the electrical overload.
A chamber full of several gallons of mineral oil keeps the circuits cool, but given too much electricity, the circuits fry and melt, failing in a shower los angeles night clubs of sparks and setting the mineral oil aflame. Mineral oil, in turn, combusts explosively and rockets transformer scything los angeles night clubs into the air.
Salt from sea water, los angeles night clubs for example, can create hazardous conditions for underground electrical systems since it acts as a corrosive agent. Old transformers los angeles night clubs can explode when their insulating materials begin to fail, too.
We should have a more specific answer about what happened during Hurricane Sandy to trigger the transformer explosion soon, but hopefully the thousands without electricity will have their power restored even sooner.
WHAT CAUSED THE EXPOSION OF THE POWER TRANSFORMER(S)IN MANHATTAN S ELECTRICAL SUBSTATION AT THE HEIGHT los angeles night clubs OF SANDY HURRICANE los angeles night clubs WAS INDEED A NIGHTMARE AND WHICH RESULTED INTO BIG HEADACHES TO ALL NOTWITHSTANDING THE HARM IT DOES IN THE POPULACE AS POWER WAS CUT-OFF BRINGING THOUSANDS IN DARK DESPAIR. THERE ARE MANY CAUSES OF THESE POWER TRANSFORMERS EXPLODING WHICH MAY BE MAN MADE, BY NATURE AND OVERLOADING AND EVENTUALLY SHORT CIRCUITS BOTH EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL INTO IT.
THE MOST PROBABLE CAUSE MIGHT BE THE L-G FAULT AT THE TRANSFORMERS HIGH SIDE TERMINALS WHICH ARE EXPOSED TO THE ENVIRONMENT AS THE RAINS DUE FROM SANDY WERE DAMPING ON THESE TERMINALS CAUSING A CREEPING VOLTAGE los angeles night clubs BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THE INSULATED HIGH VOLTAGE TERMINAL BUSHING DOWN THE TO THE TRANSFORMER S METALLIC FRAME AND TANK CONNECTED los angeles night clubs TO EARTH AS THE FRAME IS (SINCE MOST OFTEN THAN NOT ALL OR MOST OF THESE POWER TRANSFORMERS ARE INSTALLED OUTDOOR WHICH ARE EXPOSED FROM THE ELEMENTS SUCH AS RAIN OR SMALL ANIMALS)AND SINCE SALTY RAIN WATER IS CONDUCTIVE AND AS IT DRIPS DOWN SO DOES A DIRECT SHORT CIRCUIT WILL HAPPEN AND WILL CAUSE HIGH CURRENTS TO FLOW TO THE TRANSFOMER FRAME BODY WHICH INTURN CAUSES EDDY CURRENTS OF HIGH FREQUENCY TO FLOW IN THE TANK AND HEATING THE TANK, ITSELF. THEN AS IT HEATS UP, THE BIG VOLUME OF OIL INSULATION INSIDE THE TRANSFORMER TANK ALSO HEATS UP (ACTING NOW JUST LIKE INDUCTION PAN) WHICH DEVELOPS HIGH PRESSURE INSIDE. THERE IS USUALLY AN OVERPRESSURE DEVICE WHICH SENSE THIS ABNORMALITIES THERBY IT ACTS TO QUICKLY DE-ENERGIZED THE TRANSFORMER INPUT POWER BUT AS THIS MAY HAVE ACTED SLOWLY THE RESULTING RATE OF RISE OF OVERPRESSURE BUILDS-UP RATHER QUICKLY AND OVERTOOK IT AND THEN EXPLOSION WAS TRIGGERED DUE TO OVERPRESSURE AND HIGH TEMPERATURE los angeles night clubs COMBINED. NOW HERE S THE LESSON TO LEARN. THESE MAIN POWER TRANSFORMERS SHOULD HAVE BEEN PROVIDED WITH SUNSHADE OR CANOPY JUST AS GOOD ENOUGH FOR THESE TRANSFORMERS TO BE PROTECTED FROM THE FALLING RAIN SPECIALLY DURING HIGH WINDY RAINS CAUSED BY HURRICANE AND EVEN DURING NORMAL RAINY DAYS. THESE CANOPYS ARE NOT COSTLY BUT IT DO PREVENT MOSTLY SUCH INCIDENTS THEREBY SAVING los angeles night clubs AND ABBETING THE CAUSE AND EFFECT OF SUCH KIND. FURTHER, POWER TRANSFORMER S ARE NOT PROGRAMMED TO DETECT BY ITSELF BUT ONLY THE BUILT-IN DEVICES SUCH AS BUCHHOLZ RELAY, OVERTEMPERATURE SENSOR DEVICE, los angeles night clubs ETC. AND THE PROTECTION RELAYS WHICH DETECTS ELECTRICAL FAULTS AND OF COURSE, NOT WITHSTANDING THE ASSOCIATED C.T.DEVICES.
Now more than two months later I wonder if Con Ed ever answered the original question? The answer will impact hundreds, los angeles night clubs if not thousands, of people wanting to make insurance claims. If flooding was the cause many will be disqualified.
Comments are moderated, and will not appear until Smithsonian.com los angeles night clubs has approved them. Smithsonian reserves the right not to post any comments that are unlawful, threatening, offensive, defamatory, invasive of a person's privacy, inappropriate, confidential or proprietary, political messages, product endorsements, or other content that might otherwise violate any laws or policies.
Smithsonian.com expands on Smithsonian magazine's in-depth coverage of history, science, nature, the arts, travel, world culture and technology. Join us regularly as we take a dynamic and interactive approach to exploring modern and historic perspectives on the arts, sciences, nature, world culture and travel, including videos, blogs and a reader forum.