電流戰爭

電流戰爭是19世紀80年代後期，托馬斯·愛迪生推廣的直流輸電系統，與喬治·威斯汀豪斯（總部設在賓夕法尼亞州匹茲堡的西屋公司的老闆）以及幾家歐洲公司所倡導的交流^[1]輸電系統之間的一場商業鬥爭。

托馬斯·愛迪生, 美國發明家、商人，擁有眾多重要的發明專利，被傳媒授予「門洛帕克的奇才」稱號，推動了直流輸電網絡的發展

在配電系統發明初期，愛迪生的直流輸電系統是當時美國的標準，而且愛迪生也不想失去他所有的專利使用費。^[2]直流電對於當時的主要負載——白熾燈和電機來說工作的很好。直流電可以直接連接到蓄電池上，提供負載的平衡，當發電機停電時還能作為備用電源來工作。直流發電機可以輕鬆地並聯，當電能需求小的時候可以關掉一些發電機以節約能源，並且多個發電機並聯可以提高整體的可靠性。在愛迪生引入這套直流系統的時候，還沒有能夠實用的交流電動機。愛迪生發明了一種電能表，讓用戶可以根據消耗電能的多少來付費，但是這種電能表只能在直流電下工作。當年的開式核心雙極變壓器（open-core bipolar transformers）的效率非常低。早期的交流電系統使用串聯的電流分配系統，這個根本上的缺陷使得關掉或斷開線路上的單一負載會造成迴路中其他設備電壓的變化。^[3] 在1882年，直流輸電系統沒有這些缺點，在當時有很大的優勢。

交流電最初由Guillaume Duchenne（英語：Guillaume Duchenne）(19世紀50年代)，Ganz Works（英語：Ganz Works）（19世紀70年代），Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti（英語：Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti）（19世紀80年代），Lucien Gaulard（英語：Lucien Gaulard）和加利萊奧·費拉里斯在歐洲開發。

1884年秋天，匈牙利的「Z.B.D」團隊（Károly Zipernowsky（英語：Károly Zipernowsky），Ottó Bláthy（英語：Ottó Bláthy）和Miksa Déri（英語：Miksa Déri））在Ganz Works（英語：Ganz Works）發明了一種效率很高的閉式變壓器。^[4]^[5] Z.B.D 發明的新變壓器比Lucien Gaulard（英語：Lucien Gaulard）和John Dixon Gibbs發明的單相開式變壓器的效率提高了3.4倍^[6]今天我們使用的變壓器與當年三位發明家所發明的變壓器的基本原理是一樣的。^[7]他們的專利還包括一個很大的革新：在輸電系統中使用並聯代替串聯。^[8]^[9] Ottó Bláthy 還發明了交流電能表以彌補交流電與直流電競爭上的劣勢。^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]1886年，在使大都市羅馬電氣化後，交流電的可靠性得到了很大的提高。^[15]

在北美，相信交流電這一新技術的人是喬治·威斯汀豪斯，他願意投資這項技術，並僱傭了威廉·史坦雷來研發新型的升壓和降壓變壓器以應用在輸電系統中。^[16]在史坦雷離開西屋公司後，Oliver B. Shallenberger（英語：Oliver B. Shallenberger）接管了交流電項目。1888年7月，威斯汀豪斯得到了尼古拉·特斯拉的多相交流感應電機和變壓器專利許可，並聘請特斯拉作為顧問在西屋公司匹茲堡實驗室工作一年。^[17]威斯汀豪斯購買了加利萊奧·費拉里斯的一個感應電機的專利，希望能夠取代特斯拉的專利，因為他認為他不得不花很多的錢來確保特斯拉的專利許可。^[18]威斯汀豪斯還另外購買了Lucien Gaulard（英語：Lucien Gaulard）和John Dixon Gibbs的交流變壓器專利。^[19] 「電流戰爭」通常被理解為威斯汀豪斯與愛迪生之間的鬥爭，但是實際上遠遠不止這些。「電流戰爭」涉及到很多美國和歐洲公司，這些公司都在電力分配系統中有巨額投資，他們都希望自己的電力分配系統能取得更大的市場份額。^[20]

參與競爭的傳輸系統

愛迪生的直流系統包括發電站和連接負載（電燈和電機）很粗的導線。整個系統採用相同的電壓，比如客戶使用的100V電燈連接在輸出電壓為110V的發電機上，這種電壓差允許發電機與負載之間有一些損耗，也就是電壓降。選擇這樣的電壓是為了方便當時電燈的製造，因為高阻抗的碳燈絲能承受100V的電壓，並足夠經濟以保證與煤氣燈之間競爭的優勢。當時的人們認為100V不會帶來顯著的致命觸電風險。

2019年美國電影《電流大戰》

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AC Power History: http://www.edisontechcenter.org/AC-PowerHistory.html （頁面存檔備份，存於網際網路檔案館）

[2] [2]
McNichol, Tom. AC/DC: the savage tale of the first standards war. John Wiley and Sons. 2006: 80 [2020-09-15]. ISBN 978-0-7879-8267-6. （原始內容存檔於2017-02-02）.

[3] [3]
Friedrich Uppenborn: History of the transformer (1889)

[Halacsy_(1961)-4] [4]
Halacsy, A. A.; Von Fuchs, G. H. Transformer Invented 75 Years Ago. IEEE Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. April 1961, 80 (3): 121–125 [Feb 29, 2012]. doi:10.1109/AIEEPAS.1961.4500994. （原始內容存檔於2013-06-16）.

[5] [5]
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[Jeszenszky-6] [6]
Jeszenszky, Sándor. Electrostatics and Electrodynamics at Pest University in the Mid-19th Century (PDF). University of Pavia. [Mar 3, 2012]. （原始內容存檔 (PDF)於2012-03-07）.

[7] [7]
Nagy, Árpád Zoltán. Lecture to Mark the 100th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Electron in 1897 (preliminary text). Budapest. Oct 11, 1996 [July 9, 2009]. （原始內容存檔於2012-11-25）.

[Ideal_(2008)-8] [8]
Hungarian Inventors and Their Inventions. Institute for Developing Alternative Energy in Latin America. [Mar 3, 2012]. （原始內容存檔於2012-03-22）.

[BUTE-OMIKK-BlathyOtto-9] [9]
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[12] [12]
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[13] [13]
The Electrician, Volume 50. 1923

[14] [14]
Official gazette of the United States Patent Office: Volume 50. (1890)

[15] [15]
Ottó Bláthy, Miksa Déri, Károly Zipernowsky. IEC Techline. [Apr 16, 2010]. （原始內容存檔於2010-12-06）.

[16] [16]
Great Barrington Historical Society, Great Barrington, Massachusetts

[17] [17]
John W. Klooster, Icons of Invention: The Makers of the Modern World from Gutenberg to Gates, page 305. [2013-05-06]. （原始內容存檔於2013-05-09）.

[18] [18]
Jill Jonnes, Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World, Edison Declares War. [2013-05-06]. （原始內容存檔於2013-06-03）.

[19] [19]
Crane, Frank. George Westinghouse: His Life and Achievements, 1925. Kessinger Publishing. 2003: 25 [2013-05-06]. ISBN 978-0-7661-6705-6. （原始內容存檔於2013-06-03）.

[20] [20]
Deutsches Museum

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[9]

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[11]

[12]

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[14]

[15]

[16]

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[18]

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[20]

參與競爭的傳輸系統

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電流戰爭

參與競爭的傳輸系統

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