Prática de Shadowing: How Do Substations Work? - Aprenda a falar inglês com vídeo
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When you plug in an electric device, it's easy not to even consider where the electricity actually comes from.
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The simple answer is a power generating station, also known as a power plant, usually someplace far away.
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But the reality is much more complicated than that.
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Generation is only the first of many steps our power takes on its nearly instantaneous journey from production to consumption.
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The behavior of electricity doesn't always follow our intuitions, which means the challenges associated with constructing,
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operating, and maintaining the power grid are often complicated and sometimes unexpected.
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Many of those challenges are overcome at a facility which, at first glance, often looks like a chaotic and dangerous mess of wires and equipment,
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but which actually serves a number of essential roles in our electrical grid.
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The substation.
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I'm Grady and this is Public Works, my video series on infrastructure and the human-made world around us.
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More on that later.
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As simple as it is to imagine, the power grid isn't just an interconnected series of wires to which all power producers and users collectively connect.
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In reality, the electricity normally makes its way through a series of discrete steps on the grid, normally divided into three parts.
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Generation, or production of electricity.
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Transmission, or moving that electricity from centralized plants to populated areas.
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And distribution, or delivering the electricity to every individual customer.
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If you consider the power grid a gigantic machine, and many do, substations are the linkages that connect the various components together.
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One of the cool parts about our electrical infrastructure is that most of it is out in the open, so anyone can have a look.
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I'm somewhat of an infrastructure tourist, a regular beholder of the constructed environment, and my goal is for you to be able to mentally untangle this maze of modern electrical engineering
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so that the next time you feast your eyes on a substation, you will be able to appreciate it as much as I do.
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Originally named for smaller power plants that were converted for other purposes,
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substation is now a general term for a facility that can serve a wide variety of critical roles on the power grid.
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Those roles depend on which parts of the electrical grid are being connected together.
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and the types, number, and reliability requirements of the eventual customers downstream.
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And the first and often simplest of these roles is switching.
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The general layout of a substation consists of some number of electric lines called conductors
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if you want to fit in with the electrical engineers coming into the facility.
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These high voltage conductors connect to a series of some
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or many pieces of equipment before heading out to their next step in the power grid.
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As a junction point in the grid, a substation often serves as the termination of many individual power lines.
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This creates redundancy, making sure that the substation stays energized even if one transmission line goes down.
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But it also creates complexity.
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The connections to these various devices are called buses, often rigid overhead conductors that run along the entire substation.
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The arrangement of the bus is a critical part of the design of any substation
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because it can have a major impact on the overall reliability.
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Like all equipment, substations occasionally have malfunctions or things that simply require regular maintenance.
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To avoid shutting down the entire substation, we need switches that can isolate equipment, transfer load, and control the flow of electricity along the bus.
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This may seem obvious, but turning on and off high voltage lines isn't as simple as flipping a light switch.
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At high voltages, even air can act like a conductor, which means even if you create a break in the line, electricity can continue flowing in a phenomenon known as an arc.
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Not only does arcing defeat the purpose of the switch, it is incredibly dangerous and damaging to equipment.
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So switching in a substation is a carefully controlled procedure with specially designed equipment to handle high voltages.
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Switches are often just called switchgear, in addition to the equipment that serves another important role in a substation, protection.
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I mentioned earlier that much of our electrical infrastructure is exposed and out in the open.
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That's nice for people like me who enjoy having a look, but it also means being vulnerable to an endless number of things that can go wrong.
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From lightning strikes to rogue tree limbs, wind storms to squirrels, grid operators contend with so many threats to their infrastructure on a day by day basis.
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When something causes a short circuit on the power grid, also called a fault, it can severely damage power lines and other equipment.
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Not only that, because of the overwhelming complexity of the power grid, faults can and do cascade in unexpected and sometimes uncontrollable ways,
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leaving huge populations without power for hours or days.
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Many of the ways we protect equipment from faults are handled at a substation.
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One of the most common types of electrical fault is a short circuit to ground.
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This type of fault creates a low resistance path for current to flow
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and leads to an overload of power lines and equipment.
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The simplest way to protect against this type of fault is with a fuse, a device that physically burns out at a certain current threshold.
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Fuses are dead simple and don't require much maintenance but they do have some disadvantages too.
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They are one time use, and they can't be used to interrupt current for other types of faults.
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On the other hand, circuit breakers are a class of devices that serve similar roles as fuses, but provide more sophistication for dealing with a wide variety of faults.
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Like disconnect switches, circuit breakers need to be carefully designed to interrupt huge voltages and currents without damage.
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As soon as contacts within a circuit breaker are moved apart from one another, an electrical arc forms.
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This arc needs to be extinguished as quickly as possible to prevent damage to the breaker or unsafe conditions for workers.
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Extinguishing the arc is accomplished by a material called dielectric that doesn't conduct electricity.
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For lower voltages, the circuit breakers can be located in a sealed container under vacuum to avoid electricity conducting in the air between the contacts.
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For higher voltage, breakers are often submerged in tanks filled with non-conductive oil or dense dielectric gas.
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These breakers give grid operators more control about how and when current gets interrupted.
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Not every fault is the same
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and sometimes operators even know about a disturbance ahead of time and can trigger breakers early to prevent cascading failures.
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Many faults are temporary, like lightning strikes or swaying tree branches.
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A special kind of circuit breaker, called a recloser, can interrupt current for a short period of time
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and re-energize the line to test if the fault has cleared.
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Reclosers usually trip and reclose a few times, depending on their programming, before deciding that a fault is permanent and locking out.
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If electricity demand on the grid gets so high that it can't be met by the utility, substations may also be used to shed load.
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Rolling blackouts are used to lower the total electrical demand to avoid bigger failures on the grid.
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One of the most important parts on the power grid is that different segments flow at different voltages.
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Voltage is a measure of electrical potential, somewhat equivalent to the pressure of a fluid in a pipe.
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At large power plants, electricity is produced at a somewhat low voltage of around 10 to 30 volts or kV.
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From there, the voltages increase much higher so that it can travel along transmission lines.
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Using a higher voltage reduces the losses along the way, making them more efficient, but also much more dangerous.
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This is why overhead transmission lines are so tall, to keep them out of the way of trees and human activities.
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But when transmission lines reach the populated areas which they serve, it's not feasible to keep them so high in the air.
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So prior to distribution, the voltage of the grid needs to be brought back down, using transformers located within a substation.
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A transformer is an extremely simple device that relies on the alternating current of the grid to function.
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It consists of two adjacent coils of wire.
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As the voltage in one coil changes, it creates a magnetic field.
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This field couples with the other coil, inducing a voltage.
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The incredible part of a transformer has to do with the number of loops in each coil.
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The induced voltage will be a function of the ratio of the loops.
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For example, if the transmission side of a transformer has 1000 loops, while the distribution side has 100, the voltage on the distribution side will be 10 times less.
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This simple but incredible fact makes it possible for us to step up
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or down voltage as necessary to balance the safety and efficiency along each part of the power grid.
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The simplicity of transformers is great in a lot of ways, but it also means it can be difficult to make fine adjustments to the power leaving the substation.
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Because of this, many substations include equipment for monitoring and controlling the power on the grid.
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Instrument transformers are small transformers used to measure the voltage or current on the grid or provide power to system monitoring devices.
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Depending on the varying transmission and distribution losses, the voltage on the grid can also swing outside an acceptable range.
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Regulators are devices with multiple taps that can make small adjustments up
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or down to the distribution voltage on feeder lines leaving the substation toward customers.
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If you look closely, you can sometimes see the regulator dial indicating the tap position.
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All that different equipment requires lots of maintenance.
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The final and most important role of a substation is that it'd be safe for electricians and linemen to inspect, repair, and replace equipment.
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Substations are usually the only locations where extra high voltage power lines get close to the ground, so safety is absolutely critical.
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The buswork running along the substation is protected from short circuit by large insulators to avoid arcs to ground.
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Even the connections into each piece of equipment are done through a device called a bushing, which maintains a safe distance between energized lines and the grounded metal housings.
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Some substations have large concrete walls to serve as fire barriers between equipment.
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All substations are built with a grid of grounding rods and conductors buried below the surface.
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In the event of a fault, the substation needs to be able to sink lots of current into the ground to trip the breakers as quickly as possible.
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The grounded grid also makes sure that the entire substation and all its equipment are kept at the same voltage level,
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called an equipotential, so that touching any piece of equipment doesn't create a flow of electricity through a person.
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Finally, substations are surrounded by large fences and warning signs to make absolutely sure that any wayward citizens know to stay out.
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In many ways the grid is a one size fits all system, a gigantic machine to which we all connect, spinning in perfect synchrony across, in some cases, an entire continent.
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On the other hand, our electricity needs, including when we need it, how much we need, and how reliably it should be delivered, vary widely.
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Power requirements are vastly different between a sensitive research facility and a suburban residential neighborhood, between a military base and a country club golf course,
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and between a steel mill and a bowling alley.
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Likewise every electrical substation is customized to meet the needs of the infrastructure it links together.
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As the grid gets smarter, as demand patterns change, and as we hopefully continue to replace fossil fuel generation with sources of renewable energy to curb global warming,
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managing our electrical infrastructure will only get more challenging.
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So substations will continue to play a critical role in controlling and protecting the power grid.
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Just like electricity on the grid, internet traffic goes through several steps along the way.
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Thank you for watching and let me know what you think!
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Vocabulário e dicas de fala para esta lição
Esta aula de conversação de nível C1 usa o vídeo “How Do Substations Work?”. As palavras que mais se repetem: substation, grid, voltage, equipment, electricity. Este vídeo tem 131 frases e 2268 palavras para praticar shadowing. A fala dura 12:22. O falante fala rápido, cerca de 183 palavras por minuto, então espere sons ligados e reduzidos. Apenas 76% das palavras estão entre as 3.000 mais comuns do inglês, por isso o vocabulário é exigente.
Vocabulário principal deste vídeo
As 15 palavras mais avançadas do vídeo, com pronúncia e significado:
| Palavra | Pronúncia | Significado |
|---|---|---|
| substation substantivo | /sʌbˈsteɪʃən/ | subestação |
| voltage substantivo | /ˈvəʊltɪd͡ʒ/ | tensão, voltagem |
| transformer substantivo | /tɹænsˈfoɹməɹ/ | transformador |
| conductor substantivo | /kənˈdʌktɚ/ | maestro, maestrina |
| interrupt verbo | /ˌɪntəˈɹʌpt/ | interromper |
| fuse substantivo | /fjuːz/ | pavio, rastilho |
| coil substantivo | /kɔɪl/ | espiral |
| dielectric substantivo | /ˌdaɪ.ɪˈlɛk.tɹɪk/ | dielétrico |
| energize verbo | /ˈɛnəd͡ʒaɪz/ | estimular |
| populate verbo | /ˈpɒp.jʊˌleɪt/ | povoar |
| regulator substantivo | /ˈɹɛɡ.ju.leɪ.tɚ/ | regulador |
| gigantic adjetivo | /d͡ʒaɪˈɡæntɪk/ | gigantesco |
| adjustment substantivo | /əˈd͡ʒʌst.mənt/ | ajustamento, ajuste |
| reliability substantivo | confiabilidade, fiabilidade | |
| overhead substantivo | /ˈəʊvəˌhɛd/ | overhead |
Phrasal verbs que você vai ouvir
| Palavra | Significado |
|---|---|
| get off verbo | sair |
| run along verbo | partir |
| come up with verbo | pensar (em), alcançar |
| go down verbo | descer |
| lock out verbo | trancar para fora |
| shut down verbo | apagar, encerrar |
Gramática neste vídeo
As estruturas que o falante mais usa, com as palavras exatas do vídeo:
| Estrutura | No vídeo |
|---|---|
| Voz passiva be + particípio passado — o foco está no que acontece, não em quem faz | are often complicated · are overcome · is sponsored |
| Orações relativas who / which + oração — informação extra sobre uma pessoa ou coisa | intuitions, which means · conductor, which means · nefariously, which is |
| Present perfect have/has + particípio passado — uma ação passada que ainda importa agora | has cleared · have come |
Pronúncia para ficar de olho
O falante usa 17 contrações e formas reduzidas, como don't, I'm, doesn't. Diga-as na forma curta, do jeito que você ouve.
- Os sons de “th”: bandwidth /ˈbændwɪdθ/, threshold /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/
- Os sons de “sh” e “zh”: substation /sʌbˈsteɪʃən/, termination /tɚmɪˈneɪʃən/, junction /ˈd͡ʒʌŋkʃən/, specially /ˈspɛʃəli/, threshold /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/
- Palavras longas — acerte a sílaba tônica: dielectric /ˌdaɪ.ɪˈlɛk.tɹɪk/, regulator /ˈɹɛɡ.ju.leɪ.tɚ/, complexity /kəmˈplɛk.sɪ.ti/, termination /tɚmɪˈneɪʃən/, eventual /ɪˈvɛn.t͡ʃu.əl/
Como praticar com este vídeo
- Ouça o vídeo inteiro uma vez sem falar e anote as palavras que você não conhece.
- Comece na velocidade 0,75×, faça shadowing frase por frase e volte à velocidade normal quando ficar fácil.
- Grave a sua voz e compare com o original, prestando atenção a palavras como substation, voltage, transformer.
O que é a Técnica de Shadowing?
Shadowing é uma técnica de aprendizado de idiomas com base científica, originalmente desenvolvida para o treinamento de intérpretes profissionais. O método é simples, mas poderoso: você ouve áudio em inglês nativo e repete imediatamente em voz alta — como uma sombra seguindo o falante com 1-2 segundos de atraso. Pesquisas mostram melhora significativa na precisão da pronúncia, entonação, ritmo, sons conectados, compreensão auditiva e fluência na fala.