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# Electric power & transmission & distribution FAQ

## Reference Library

 What are good references for a Power Engineer? by davidbeach faq238-1287 Posted: 10 Dec 06 (Edited 2 Jan 12) There are many good references that an Electrical Power Engineer might want to keep handy.  Where a work is primarily available from a single source I have tried to include a web site where it is available; where a work is generally available I have not listed a source but I have found all of them at amazon.com except the Clarke and Wagner & Evens works.  The reference library includes:General PowerFor those working in the ANSI world, the IEEE Color Book Series are excellent references.  Go to http://shop.ieee.org/ieeestore/ and enter "color books" (minus the quotes) in the search box.  These are available in both hard cover and PDF format.The Color Books are:IEEE Std 141-1993 (R1999) (The Red Book - Power Distribution) IEEE Std 142-2007 (The Green Book - Grounding) IEEE Std 241-1990 (R1997) (The Gray Book - Commercial Buildings) IEEE Std 242-2001 (The Buff Book - Protection and Coordination) IEEE Std 399-1997 (The Brown Book - Power Systems Analysis) IEEE Std 446-1995 (The Orange Book - Emergency and Standby Power) IEEE Std 493-1997 (The Gold Book - Reliable Design) IEEE Std 551-2006 (The Violet Book - Short-Circuit Currents)IEEE Std 602-2007 (The White Book - Health Care Facilities) IEEE Std 739-1995 (The Bronze Book - Energy Management) IEEE Std 902-1998 (The Yellow Book - Maintenance, Operations, and Safety) IEEE Std 1015-2006 (The Blue Book - Low-Voltage Circuit Breakers) IEEE Std 1100-2005 (The Emerald Book - Electronic Equipment)A good Power System Analysis text can answer many questions.  There are many different books with this same title; authors to look for include Grainger & Stevenson (and each individually), Gross, Glover, Bergen & Vittal, Das.  Also Electric Power Systems by B.M. WeedyThe historical Gold Standard of Power System Analysis books are volumes 1 and 2 of Edith Clarke's Circuit Analysis of A-C Power Systems.  Unfortunately these are long out of print and not readily available.A more intense treatment in the analysis of what can go wrong is Paul Anderson's Analysis of Faulted Power SystemsConrad St. Pierre self publishes A Practical Guide to Short-Circuit Calculations which is available at http://www.epc-website.com/.Another fault calculation book, but likely to be as elusive as the Clarke and Wagner & Evans books is Fault Calculations by C.H.W. Lackey.A somewhat dated but still quite useful book, if you can handle the asking price (US$250 in the US, US$275 elsewhere), is the Electrical Transmission and Distribution Reference Book, originally by Westinghouse and now being produced by ABB, available at https://www.orderliterature.com/ABB/.  While not thoroughly updated for several decades, the present edition does include a PDF version of the book, allowing full word searches.Industrial Power System Handbook by Donald Beeman. A bit dated, but another classic book packed full of information. You will find this one referenced many times in other books and papers.Industrial Power System Grounding Design Handbook is a recent book by J.R. Dunki-Jacobs with co-authors Frank Shields and Conrad St. PierreAnother comprehensive book, often mentioned, is the McGraw-Hill Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers.  The latest version is the 15th edition, the first was published in 1907.A source of what might otherwise be hard to find informations is available from ABB at http://snipurl.com/1bwix.A comprehensive page of links can be found at http://www.p-r-eng.com/industrylinks.Schneider Electric has a series of papers known as the Cahiers Techniques.  There are 17 papers on various topics, all with an IEC slant.  Available at www2.schneider-electric.com/corporate/en/products-services/technical-publications/technical-papers.page?.Somewhat more limited in scope, just motors and such, is Blador Motor's Cowern Papers available at http://www.baldor.com/pdf/manuals/PR2525.pdf.Symmetrical ComponentsOne concept that shows up repeatedly in the above volumes will be Symmetrical Components.The original reference to Symmetrical Components is a paper by C. L. Fortescue titled Method of Symmetrical Co-ordinates Applied to the Solution of Polyphase Networks.  This paper, and four other classic papers could be found at http://www.power.uwaterloo.ca/papers.htm.  Fortunately the Fortescue paper is still there, but only one of the other four also remains.The historic reference on Symmetrical Components is Symmetrical Components by Wagner and Evans.  Like the Clarke books above, this one may be difficult to come by.A more readily available book is Symmetrical Components for Power Systems Engineering by J. Lewis Blackburn.The Anderson Analysis of Faulted Power Systems book mentioned above has considerable material on symmetrical components.Power System ProtectionThe standard text seems to be J. Lewis Blackburn's Protective Relaying: Principles and Applications.A more "classic" work is C. Russell Mason's The Art and Science of Protective Relaying available for download at http://www.geindustrial.com/pm/notes/artsci/artsci.pdf.A more substantial tome is Paul Anderson's Power System Protection.Available as a free download is Alstom's Network Protection & Automation Guide, for further information see http://snipurl.com/21egfes.  Where to find this seems to move around a fair amount, so it may be best just to go the Alstom web site for your area of the world and search for "Network Protection and Automation Guide".  Registration is required.A newer work, somewhat more commercial that the Alstom book, but also a welcome succsessor to the works previously published by GE and Westinghouse is Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories' Modern Solutions for Protection, Control, and Monitoring of Electrical Power Systems, edited by Hector J. Altuve Ferrer and Edmund O. Schweitzer, III.  Available from SEL at http://www.selinc.com/bookstore/.  If you happen to take your copy to the Western Protective Relay Conference you might even get the editors' autographs.A protection series with a British take is the four volume Power System Protection series available from http://www.theiet.org/publishing/books/pow-en/19306.cfm.A couple more protection books from the IEC world are Power System Relaying (2nd ed) Stanley H Horowitz and Arun G. Phadke and Protection of Electricity Distribution Networks (2nd ed) by Juan M. Gers and Edward J Holmes.The US Army Corps of Engineers has a downloadable book, Coordinated Power Systems Protection available at http://artikel-software.com/file/power%20system%20protection%20coordination.pdf.Protection of generators is covered in Donald Reimert's Protective relaying for power generation systems.  This is available in both hardcover and e-book formats.Distribution System DesignThe USDA Rural Electrification Service has many publications available at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/RDU_Bulletins_Electric.html.  Of particular interest might be the Design Guide for Rural Substations (1724E-300).  Lots of other information about line construction and related subjects, browse the whole list.Electric Power Distribution Handbook by T.A. Short.  A comprehensive book packed with everything you need to know about distribution systems. Comparable and an updated version of the Westinghouse "Green" Utility Distribution HandbookElectrical Distribution System Protection by Cooper Power Systems. A practical guide to distribution system protection, also now available in an updated version.Distribution System Modeling And Analysis by William Kersting is published by the CRC Press.Rating of Electric Power Cables(1997) and Rating of Electric Power Cables in Unfavorable Thermal Environment(2005) by George J. Anders cover the cable rating field.A British series on "Modern Power Station Practice" exists, but doesn't seem to be readily available.  This is an 11 volume set with the following volumes:Volume A: Station Planning and Design Volume B: Boilers and Ancillary Plant Volume C: Turbines, Generators and Associated Plant Volume D: Electrical Systems and Equipment Volume E: Chemistry and Metallurgy Volume F: Control and Instrumentation Volume G: Station Operation and Maintenance Volume J: Nuclear Power Generation Volume K: EHV Transmission Volume L: System Operation Volume M: IndexConductorsSouthwire has published three books on conductors, the Building Wire & Cable Handbook, the Power Cable Manual, and the Overhead Conductor Manual.  These seem to be available only by contacting a Southwire Rep.  They may also be available on the used book market.Information on copper busbars, with a British slant, is available at http://www.copperinfo.co.uk/busbars/pub22-copper-for-busbars/homepage.shtml.Information on aluminum conductors is available in the Aluminum Electrical Conductor Handbook at http://www.aluminum.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=20101&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=30772.  Each chapter is its own PDF file.TransformersThe J&P Transformer Book has been mentioned in various posts as an excellent reference.  The book is about 950 pages long and will set you back US\$275 for a new copy at Amazon.ABB has four transformer books available at http://www.abb.com/product/ap/db0003db004283/2334c264f3bea3b3c12576f40010ff70.aspx.  The books are a Transformer Handbook, a Service Handbook for Transformers, a book on Testing of power transformers and shunt reactors, plus a new Short-circuit Duty of Power Transformers.The IEEE/PES Transformer Committee is on line at http://www.transformerscommittee.org/.  They have a transformer bibliography at http://www.transformerscommittee.org/info/Bibliographybooks.pdf.Other transformer books suggested by a Transformer Engineer who frequents this forum include Transformer Design Principles: With Applications to Core-Form Power Transformers by Feeney etal; Electric Power Transformer Engineering by James H. Harlow; Transformer Engineering: Design and Practice by Kulkarni & Khaparde; Large Power Transformers by Karsai, Kerenyi, and Kiss; and an older, out of print work, Transformer Engineering by Blume, Bayajian, etal.Electrical EquipmentA book on the testing of all manner of electrical equipment is Paul Gill's Electrical Power Equipment Maintenance and Testing.Manuals for many things old and electrical can be found at http://www.electricalmanuals.net/.Some books about circuit breakers include Vacuum Switchgear by Allan Greenwood; and Handbook of Switchgears by Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited.Power System Commissioning & Maintenance Practice by Keith Harker and published in the UK by the IEE.Power Electronics & DrivesPower Electronics: Converters, Applications and Designs by Mohen, Undeland, and Robbins.Principles of Electric Machines and Power Electronics by P. C. SenElectrical Machines, Drives, and Power Systems by Theodore WildiAn Introduction to Power Electronics by B.M. Bird, K.G. King, and D.A.G. PedderElectrical System Transients and StabilityAllan Greenwood's Electrical Transients in Power SystemsRheinhold Rudenberg's Transient Performance of Electric Power Systems Phenomena in Lumped NetworksJ.C. Das' Transients in Electrical Systems: Analysis, Recognitions, and MitigationEdward Wilson Kimbark Power System Stability, Volumes I, II, IIIThanks to the following Eng-Tips members for their contributions to this list:prc, dbaird, Zogzog, umrpwr, ScottyUK, magoo2, BJC, RalphChristie, Busbar, SSLA, dpc, stevenal, umrpwr, sibeen Back to Electric power & transmission & distribution FAQ Index Back to Electric power & transmission & distribution Forum

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