13.010 Electric Arcs, Science Service Historical Image Collection

1943 - Workmen hoisting a transformer to trip the giant electrical switch

BLAST OF AIR BLOWS OUT HIGH VOLTAGE ELECTRIC ARC

CD 2478073 E&MP13.010

Electric Arcs

January 23, 1943

Capable of blowing out a high voltage electric arc in a fraction of a second with a blast of air moving at the speed of sound, this compressed air circuit breaker, largest ever built by the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, protects part of an important power system in Western Pennsylvania.

Workmen are shown hoisting into position a current transformer that takes a small amount of power from the transmission line to trip the giant electrical switch.

This new protective device for power lines was described today by B.P. Baker, Westinghouse engineer, and H.A.P. Langstaff, of the West Penn Power Company, at the winter meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.