Single-wire power transmission

History, experiment and practice of introducing the transfer of electrical energy through a single wire of minimum cross-section without loss.

A bit of history

An experiment conducted by a Serbian scientist Nikola Tesla back in 1892, still haunts domestic scientists. The motivation is completely understandable. If you can use only one and very thin conductor instead of two, then this is a huge savings in copper and aluminum. If we take into account that in our country, only last year, the cost of copper wires doubled - a monument of copper was erected to successful inventors during their lifetime.

Russian science

Successful experiments in Russia were carried out in 1990, then an engineer Stanislav Avramenko He managed to transfer electric power through a single-wire line with a length of about 3 meters, sufficient to operate a 1.3 kW load. Its installation was a generator with a frequency of 3-15 kHz with a step-up transformer.

Experiment description

One end of the secondary winding of the transformer remained free. The load was connected to the second end in the form of a transmission line with a diode bridge and an incandescent lamp or without a diode bridge. There were options when, instead of a diode bridge, a circuit was used, later called the Avramenko plug. These are two diodes connected in counter-parallel. At one end they are connected to the transmission line, between the other ends, the load and the capacitor parallel to it are turned on.

Intriguing features

Of particular interest in the experiments was that the power transmitted through a single-wire line depended little on its resistance. For example, instead of a copper wire, a wire of tungsten 15 microns thick was used. Moreover, this wire was practically not heated. It seems that we are dealing with superconductivity at room temperature ?!

Instead of a conductor, you can use water, earth, plastic. An insulated wire torn and tied in a knot without electrical contact also works as a conductor. So far, no clear scientific theory of the phenomena has been presented. Although it is possible, we are dealing with the phenomenon of high-voltage breakdown of air as in a school electrophore machine. Perhaps this is the passage of high-frequency currents through stray capacitances formed by the hands and body of the experimenter, the ground, and other installation objects. Possibly, phenomena similar to induced currents, as in a microwave oven.

Present

Unfortunately, there have been few significant advances in theory and experiments since then. Although, during the Luzhkov administration in Moscow, they wanted to make an experimental transport system using the Avramenko effect. It is difficult to say whether it was a real project, or another cut of money. In RuNet, a roller with a toy railway and a plastic boat still hangs, which supposedly demonstrate such an opportunity.

Implementation difficulties

There are other difficulties. Take, for example, electromagnetic compatibility. Imagine how the wires will whistle on the air through which currents with a frequency of tens of kilohertz are driven. Who remembers the Cold War jammers will understand.

Moreover electromagnetic radiation high power has a detrimental genetic and somatic effect.

Disappointing conclusions

So, experiments are experiments, and life is life. The longer I live, the more I become convinced that it would be better for Russia to go in for its agriculture. There are so many untoward and unknown that enough for everyone ... But this is a completely different story. However, go for it, because the longest way begins with the first step.