"J.B. Wood"  wrote in   
   news:r459rt$nba$1@gioia.aioe.org:   
      
   > Hello, all.  I'm an EE by trade but have never worked with, nor   
   > designed, AC power distribution systems.  On overhead   
   > medium-voltage (say up to 69 kV) lines one often sees banks of   
   > subject capacitors on the utility pole.  While I certainly   
   > understand why they are used, I've never understood how engineers   
   > decide exactly where to place them along the distribution line.   
   > Is this done by first making a power factor measurement at the   
   > candidate utility pole location or by just guestimating based upon   
   > expected downstream inductively reactive loads? Thanks for your   
   > reply and comment.  Sincerely,   
   >   
      
     It is done by knowing how many busuness and industrial zoned areas   
   are nearby and what their consumption is comprised of.   
      
     A place with a lot of boiling water heaters is a resistive load (as   
   I am sure you know), but a place full of high HP electric motors and   
   other inductive loads 'raises eybrows'.  So I am guessing here when I   
   say that I feel reasonbly sure that they map it out by usage,   
   constantly updated, and mount banks on poles as needed and sized as   
   needed too.  So small banks in some places on the fringes of an   
   industrial area and huge banks within.   
      
     But I could be wrong, of course.  They could simply mount huge   
   banks at certain points and rest assured they have a lead on the   
   current waveform.  Guess number two.   
      
     Don't worry though, we'll al probably die before we find out.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)