The History of the Transformer
E.W. Rice Jr. lights a lightbulb using W. Stanley's original 1885 transformer
IntroductionWhat is a Transformer? A: A transformer is is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils.
How is it used? A: A transformer is used to bring voltage up or down in an AC electrical circuit. A transformer can be used to convert AC power to DC power. There are transformers all over every house, they are inside the black plastic case which you plug into the wall to recharge your cell phone or other devices. These types are often called "wall worts". They can be very large, as in national utility systems, or it can be very small embedded inside electronics. It is an essential part of all electronics today.
Who invented the transformer? A: William Stanley, his work was based off of Gaulard and Gibbs, see the next question for more details.
When was the transformer invented? A: The property of induction was discovered in the 1830's but it wasn't until 1886 that William Stanley, working for Westinghouse built the first practical transformer. His work was built upon some rudimentary designs by the Ganz Company in Hungary (1878), and Lucien Gaulard and John Dixon Gibbs in England. Nikola Tesla did not invent the transformer as some dubious sources have claimed. The Europeans mentioned above did the rough work, and Stanley made the final and important design features that make his transformers clearly resemble modern transformers.
William Stanley's First Transformer built in 1885
Stanley's first transformer which was used in the electrification of Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1886
Where were the first transformers used? The first AC power system that used the modern transformer was in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1886. The predecessor to the transformer was used in Austro-Hungary 1878-1880s and 1882 onward in England.
Click on the link below to learn about the Great Barrington Electrification:
Transformer development timeline: 1830s - Joseph Henry and Michael Faraday work with electromagnets and discover the property of induction
1836 - Rev. Nicholas Callan of Maynooth College, Ireland invents the induction coil (source wikipedia)1876 - Pavel Yablochkov uses induction coils in his lighting system
1878 -1883 - The Ganz Company uses induction coils in their lighting systems with AC incandescent systems.
1882 - Lucien Gaulard and John Dixon Gibbs built a transformer with open iron core, the invention had a poorefficiency when it was first used in a public exhibition in Italy in 1884. They sold the patents to Westinghouse.
Ottó Bláthy, Miksa Déri, Károly Zipernowsky created the "Z.B.D Transformer"1884 - In Hungary Ottó Bláthy had suggested the use of closed-cores, Károly Zipernowsky the use of shunt connections, and Miksa Déri had performed the experiments. They create a more practical design.
1885 - William Stanley experiments with Gibb's design: "Stanley's first patented design was for induction coils with single cores of soft iron and adjustable gaps to regulate the EMF present in the secondary winding. (See drawing at left.) This design was first used commercially in the USA in 1886"
1886 - William Stanley uses his transformer in the electrification of downtown Great Barrington, MA
1889 - Russian-born engineer Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky developed in Germany at AEG the first three-phase transformer.
1880s - today - Transformers are improved by increasing efficiency reducing size, and increasing capacity.
The graphic to the left shows the progression and advancement of the transformer over the years.
We will include more information on the history of the Transformer as time goes on, please visit this page again as we actively update information.
Large Westinghouse transformers from 1917 at the Hydro-power plant at Folsom, California.
Electronics Explained:
The Problem of Transmitting Power:DC power was mainly in used in the 1880's and it was hard to transmit over distance because:
-To transmit over long distance you need high voltage on a skinny wire or low voltage on a wide wire. High voltage on DC is very dangerous, and with low voltage the wire would have to be so thick that it would not be practical. Also with high voltage you couldn't not step down the voltage so it could be used with home light bulbs.Using the water analogy: imagine that a small wire with high voltage is like a garden hose with high pressured water moving fast inside. Imagine that this hose fills 2 gallon jugs of water in one minute. Now think of a 6" wide drain pipe filled with water. You can deliver the same amount of water to the destination in the same time period without needing so much pressure.
With AC power you also use high voltage to move the electricity down a long wire. AC becomes more practical because once you send the power to the destination, you can use a transformer to change the voltage down to a manageable level. The power is stepped down several times by the time it reaches you home. The power line coming into your home is at 240 volts, from your breaker box it is split into lines of 120 volts for most of your home sockets and 240 for appliance sockets. (The main home socket in Europe and other parts of the world is 240 volts).
Transformer - a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another circuit using inductively coupled conductors. In other words by putting two coils of wire close together while not touching, the magnetic field from the first coil called the primary winding effects the other coil (called the secondary coil). This effect is called "inductance". Inductance was discovered by Joseph Henry and Michael Faraday in 1831.
Now if you would like to change the voltage on a powerline, you could do this by changing current going into the primary coil (voltage stays high). The current level affects the induced voltage on the secondary coil. A changing magnetic field induces a changing electromagnetic force (EMF) or "voltage". To put it simply: by changing the current you can obtain the desired voltage on the other side.Visit the William Stanley biography page
Related Topics:
HOME
copyright 2010 Edison Tech Center
