Transformers move power at Dry Fork Station

Traffic is heavy on the Dry Fork Station plant site. Crates coming in from Korea carry the pieces for the power plants transformers.

Wheatland T-S-Ms Kevin Ven Huizen and Tyler Lindholm are unpacking bushings, radiators, everything that will be attached to the Generator Step-up Transformer.
Several T-S-M crews have just finished putting the pieces on the reserve auxiliary transformer.
(Bruce Wolff/Wheatland TSM): All the guys know this stuff pretty well. But to assemble one from the start, it was a learning experience.

Its here in the generator where the mechanical energy made by the steam turbine is converted to electrical energy. The electricity moves down a floor, to the isophase bus duct. Inside that, theres a conductor thatll move the power out of the building to the generator step-up transformer. So the power moves through the isophase bus duct which will be coming through that square cutout you can see on the side of the building to the G-S-U, the generator step-up transformer. At that point, the power is stepped up to 230,000 volts of electricity. From there it moves to the plants substation, where most of the power heads out onto the transmission grid. However, some of it will head back toward the plant to the RAT, the reserve auxiliary transformer, which is sitting there right to the left of the GSU. At that point, the power is stepped down to 13,800 volts. The electricity goes into the plant to be used for things such as lights, motors, fans and computers.

Bruce Wolff works for Wheatland T-S-M. What theyre doing is called dressing the transformers.

(Bruce Wolff): We installed all the radiators, the fans, the lightning arresters, the brackets, the bushings, those bushing towers, the conservator tank

It takes a dozen people about a month and a half to dress both the Generator Step-up and the reserve auxiliary.

(Bruce Wolff): Weve worked on lots of them, where weve changed gaskets and changed bushings and a lot of this stuff. But weve never totally dressed one out like this before.

The transformers play a big part in getting electricity to where its needed whether thats in a home or in the plant.

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Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Basin
• Electric
• Power
• Cooperative
• Bismarck
• North
• Dakota
• Dry
• Fork
• Station
• Gillette
• Wyoming
• WY
• coal
• power
• plant
• generator
• step
• up
• transformer
• reserve
• auxiliary

[TrangKaze]

Do people really pronounce 'turbine' like 'turbin' in America or is that just a because of a clueless reporter?

[pc2drth]

@TrangKaze Yes, we say it 'turbin.' Some people, though, also say it like 'turbine.' We get a lot of comments on that.

[heartlessvietboy]

What do Transformers really do?? There is no such thing as mechanical energy. Its called "when a turbine spins" by using steam pressure. That spinning then cranks a magnetic generator causing magnets to spin. Spinning magnets create an electrical field sending that electricity to the transformer. From transformer goes to peoples houses.