Electricity: The concept of Power outage explained under the "Big Three"
steemstem·@mrbreeziewrites·
0.000 HBDElectricity: The concept of Power outage explained under the "Big Three"
<hr /> It was on an afternoon when I was playing soccer on the hostel pitch that the electricity got restored. There has been a power outage for about two weeks in the school hostel. This has compelled students to survive on kerosene stoves and gas cooker (for the rich ones). At the sight of the light, everyone ran helter-skelter away from the pitch in order to claim a space in the kitchen. I was on the front foot - thanks to my athleticism. I immediately carried my pot containing the already picked beans and placed it on the electric cooker. The emergence of the red-hot color of the cooker's ring planted a smile on my face - knowing that my beans would be done soon. But it only took 10mins before the unfortunate occurred. The bulb suddenly dropped in incandescence to a brownish color and my electric cooker began to lose its red-hot color and the heat reduced greatly. Everyone began to shout, 'not again, not again', I can't believe the 'low current' light is back. I could only stand watching with a sad face knowing that I would probably starve that night for I have no alternatives. The event left me with mutters of the phrase "low current" and later, I found myself on the web researching about it. To my surprise, I found more interesting things than planned. Firstly, the drop in incandescence of the bulb wasn't from a low current supply but rather a low voltage supply. Again, I found the right term usually used to describe the brownish light emerging from the bulb. It is called 'brownout'. So this led to the topic of today which I'll describe in paragraphs below. <hr /> **INTRODUCTION** Over the years, electricity has been one of the major factors of the world revolution. Almost every aspect of our lives involves the use of electricity. Almost all our home appliances, gadgets, machines and equipment are powered by electricity. It contributes greatly to the economy of any country as industrial operations and other functional systems depend greatly on electricity. Therefore, it's consistent availability is of great importance and highly regarded.  <center>[Hurricane Sandy New York Blackout 2012](https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hurricane_Sandy_New_York_Blackout_2012.JPG) </center> **CONCEPT OF POWER OUTAGE** Power outage simply means unavailability or loss of electric power supply to an area, facility or operation. It might be a short-term or long-term term loss. It could be due to a damage to a power station, a transmission line or a fault in the distribution grid or substations. Power outage to a great extent affect operation of many functional activities and its effects can be very severe in some areas where there is high dependency especially in health and production lines. **WHAT ARE THE BIG THREE?** I know you're probably thinking about what the big three could be. Well, I'm sure not going to be talking about any superhero or superstar. My big three under the concept of a power outage are **'Brownout'**, **'Dumsor '** and **'Blackout'.** **BROWNOUT** A Brownout is simply a term that describes the dimming effects on incandescent bulbs when there is a drop in voltage supply. Technically, is it defined as an intentional or unintentional drop in voltage of an electrical power supply. Intentional dip in voltage is sometimes employed in reduction of electrical load during emergency and load shedding.  <center>[Image Source](https://pxhere.com/en/photo/861757) </center> The effect of a Brownout goes beyond the dimming of incandescent bulbs. It could be very dangerous and damaging to some electrical circuits. The response of experienced in different circuits differs in many ways. Some could be severely affected; some slightly affected while some aren’t affected at all. In electric heaters, the heat output is greatly affected at the smallest voltage reduction or sag. The heat generation drops significantly and may damage the components of the heater if it remains so for long hours. Incandescent lamps are also affected considerably well because there would be low incandescence due to reduced heat generation in the lamp filament and also a low heat to light conversion. Electric motors run at reduced speed in response to a brownout while induction motors absorb more current and in turn experiences overheating and probably a burnout. Brownout is dangerous to industrial machines as it would make them run at low speeds and could damage their components. It deserves attention whenever it arises and should be rectified quickly so as to avoid irrevocable damages and shutdowns. **DUMSOR** Dumsor is a Ghanaian term that is commonly used in describing an irregular, inconsistent and unpredictable electrical power outage. It was coined from two native Ghanaian words – “dum” and “so”. “Dum” translates to “off” while “So” means “on” and are jointly used to mean “off and on” which is the main concept of Dumsor. <center>  </center> <center>[Image Source](https://pixabay.com/p-273644/?no_redirect)</center> The term Dumsor gain wide usage in the year 2012 when the Ghanaian electric supply problem which earlier became erratic in 2001 worsened. The incumbent president that year announced that a ship anchor has cut the West African Gas Pipeline and has led to a forced shutdown of the gas turbines. This led to a load shedding power supply which basically involves intentional power outage for some part of the day and restoration at a later time. This concept generally aims at maximizing the distribution of electric power in a reduced power capacity system. So, by putting it off for some time or part operation of the available facility the energy is preserved and proportionately distributed. The effects of this phenomenon cannot be underemphasized as it has great social and economic consequences. Its practice would unavoidably leave a gap in the efficient operations of industries and bodies. The health and food industries will also face problems of their own due to this development as facilities and equipment which depends greatly on constant electric supply would be affected. Refrigerated foods will spoil and health services will be interrupted due to unavailability of light. **BLACKOUT** This is interchangeably defined to mean total power outage or power failure. It terms of unavailability of power supply, it is related to Dumsor but it could be for longer time and isn’t used for load regulation but rather, it arises due to damages to power stations, a cut in transmission line or more secure conditions.  <center>[Power outage](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjornegil/16371502796/)</center> Blackout are very critical at places where environmental and public safety are at risk. Hospitals, mines, shelters, sewage plant and the likes would be greatly affected if there is a blackout. Another field where a blackout could be critical is in the telecommunication area. It would lead to numerous disconnection from the service and can result to great losses from failed transactions and other related activities. Those are my big three, I hope you find it useful. Do drop your comments You can read more at: * [Wikipedia | Brownout](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownout_(electricity)) * [Wikipedia | Dumsor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumsor) * [Wikipedia | Blackout](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_outage)