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From: simnet@ssc-vax.UUCP (Mark R Poulson)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics,sci.energy
Subject: Re: Gold saves energy.
Summary: Solid or plated?
Keywords: gold
Message-ID: <4069@ssc-bee.ssc-vax.UUCP>
Date: 5 Jun 91 21:39:27 GMT
References: <sehari.676081817@du248-12.cc.iastate.edu> <43275@fmsrl7.UUCP>
Organization: Boeing Aerospace & Electronics, Seattle WA
Lines: 22

In article <43275@fmsrl7.UUCP>, wreck@fmsrl7.UUCP (Ron Carter) writes:
> In article <sehari.676081817@du248-12.cc.iastate.edu> sehari@iastate.edu (Sehari Babak) writes:
> >... I am curious that haw much energy would we save. If
> >we gold plate all Al wires that is used for transportation of the energy?

Do you want to plate the wires or make them solid gold? Plating is only going
to help where the cable is terminated. Solid gold conductors would be quite
expensive. Note that power lines are rather large cable carrying tens (or is
it hundreds?) of amperes and gold ones couldn't be a much smaller gauge.

If you think that because the current is AC (so most of the current is carried
on the outside of the cable) you should notice that 60Hz AC is not too effected
by the skin effect so current flows throughout all of the cable.

Resistance in terminations could be overcome by making much larger terminations
out of cheap aluminum instead of small expensive gold ones.

I think you would save more money by using larger diameter aluminum cable (or
parallel cables of the size used now) to give a lower resistive loss.


		Mark