AC transformer and distribution
Transformador y distribución en corriente alterna
- Date
- 1884–1886 · confidence high
- Place
- Budapest, Hungary
- Credited to
- Zipernowsky, Bláthy and Déri (Ganz, Budapest, 1885); Lucien Gaulard and John Gibbs (1881-1884); William Stanley (Great Barrington, 1886)
- People
- 👤 Károly Zipernowsky1853–1942👤 Lucien Gaulard1850–1888👤 Miksa Déri1854–1938👤 Otto Blathy1860–1939👤 William Stanley1829–1909
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Closed-core transformer that steps up voltage to transmit power over long distances with low losses, and steps it down again for consumption. It solved the range limit of direct current.
Gaulard and Gibbs patented a 'secondary generator' in 1882; the Ganz team created the modern closed-core transformer; Stanley refined it for Westinghouse.
What it led to
- Regional and national electricity grids
- Power stations sited away from cities (hydroelectric)
- Victory of alternating current in the War of the Currents