Reference Library

What are good references for a Power Engineer? faq238-1287 Posted: 10 Dec 06 (Edited 22 Mar 10) There are many good references that an Electrical Power Engineer might want to keep handy. Where a work is primarily available from a single source I have tried to include a web site where it is available; where a work is generally available I have not listed a source but I have found all of them at amazon.com except the Clarke and Wagner & Evens works. The reference library includes: General Power For those working in the ANSI world, the IEEE Color Book Series are excellent references. Go to http://shop.ieee.org/ieeestore/ and enter "color books" (minus the quotes) in the search box. These are available in both hard cover and PDF format. The Color Books are: IEEE Std 141-1993 (R1999) (The Red Book - Power Distribution) IEEE Std 142-2007 (The Green Book - Grounding) IEEE Std 241-1990 (R1997) (The Gray Book - Commercial Buildings) IEEE Std 242-2001 (The Buff Book - Protection and Coordination) IEEE Std 399-1997 (The Brown Book - Power Systems Analysis) IEEE Std 446-1995 (The Orange Book - Emergency and Standby Power) IEEE Std 493-1997 (The Gold Book - Reliable Design) IEEE Std 551-2006 (The Violet Book - Short-Circuit Currents) IEEE Std 602-2007 (The White Book - Health Care Facilities) IEEE Std 739-1995 (The Bronze Book - Energy Management) IEEE Std 902-1998 (The Yellow Book - Maintenance, Operations, and Safety) IEEE Std 1015-2006 (The Blue Book - Low-Voltage Circuit Breakers) IEEE Std 1100-2005 (The Emerald Book - Electronic Equipment) A good Power System Analysis text can answer many questions. Authors to look for include Grainger & Stevenson (and each individually), Gross, Glover, Bergen & Vittal, Das. Also Electric Power Systems by B.M. Weedy The historical Gold Standard of Power System Analysis books are volumes 1 and 2 of Edith Clarke's Circuit Analysis of A-C Power Systems. Unfortunately these are long out of print and not readily available. A more intense treatment in the analysis of what can go wrong is Paul Anderson's Analysis of Faulted Power Systems Conrad St. Pierre self publishes A Practical Guide to Short-Circuit Calculations which is available at http://www.epc-website.com/. Another fault calculation book, but likely to be as elusive as the Clarke and Wagner & Evans books is Fault Calculations by C.H.W. Lackey.

A somewhat dated but still quite useful book, if you can handle the asking price (US$250 in the US, US$275 elsewhere), is the Electrical Transmission and Distribution Reference Book, originally by Westinghouse and now being produced by ABB, available at http://www.orderliterature.com/ABB/. While not thoroughly updated for several decades, the present edition does include a PDF version of the book, allowing full word searches. Industrial Power System Handbook by Donald Beeman. A bit dated, but another classic book packed full of information. You will find this one referenced many times in other books and papers. Industrial Power System Grounding Design Handbook is a recent book by J.R. DunkiJacobs with co-authors Frank Shields and Conrad St. Pierre Another comprehensive book, often mentioned, is the McGraw-Hill Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers. The latest version is the 15th edition, the first was published in 1907. A source of what might otherwise be hard to find informations is available from ABB at http://snipurl.com/1bwix. A comprehensive page of links can be found at http://www.p-r-eng.com/industrylinks. Symmetrical Components One concept that shows up repeatedly in the above volumes will be Symmetrical Components. The original reference to Symmetrical Components is a paper by C. L. Fortescue titled Method of Symmetrical Coordinates Applied to the Solution of Polyphase Networks. This paper, and three other classic papers can be found at http://www.power.uwaterloo.ca/papers.htm. The historic reference on Symmetrical Components is Symmetrical Components by Wagner and Evans. Like the Clarke books above, this one may be difficult to come by. A more readily available book is Symmetrical Components for Power Systems Engineering by J. Lewis Blackburn. The Anderson Analysis of Faulted Power Systems book mentioned above has considerable material on symmetrical components. Power System Protection The standard text seems to be J. Lewis Blackburn's Protective Relaying: Principles and Applications. A more "classic" work is C. Russell Mason's The Art and Science of Protective Relaying available for download at http://www.geindustrial.com/pm/notes/artsci/artsci.pdf. A more substantial tome is Paul Anderson's Power System Protection. Available as a free download, or for purchase as a CD, is Areva's Network Protection & Automation Guide, for further information see http://tinyurl.com/2f3t9s.

A protection series with a British take is the four volume Power System Protection series available from http://www.theiet.org/publishing/books/pow-en/19306.cfm. A couple more protection books from the IEC world are Power System Relaying (2nd ed) Stanley H Horowitz and Arun G. Phadke and Protection of Electricity Distribution Networks (2nd ed) by Juan M. Gers and Edward J Holmes. The US Army Corps of Engineers has a downloadable book, Coordinated Power Systems Protection available at http://www.usace.army.mil/publications/armytm/tm5-811-14/. A level up at http://www.usace.army.mil/publications/armytm/ is a list a information about many diverse subjects. Distribution System Design The USDA Rural Electrification Service has many publications available at http://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/bulletins.htm#submanual. Of particular interest might be the Design Guide for Rural Substations. Lots of other information about line construction and related subjects, browse the whole list. Electric Power Distribution Handbook by T.A. Short. A comprehensive book packed with everything you need to know about distribution systems. Comparable and an updated version of the Westinghouse "Green" Utility Distribution Handbook Electrical Distribution System Protection by Cooper Power Systems. A practical guide to distribution system protection, also now available in an updated version. Distribution System Modeling And Analysis by William Kersting is published by the CRC Press. A British series on "Modern Power Station Practice" is available at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/28192/description#description. This is an 11 volume set with the following volumes: Volume A: Station Planning and Design Volume B: Boilers and Ancillary Plant Volume C: Turbines, Generators and Associated Plant Volume D: Electrical Systems and Equipment Volume E: Chemistry and Metallurgy Volume F: Control and Instrumentation Volume G: Station Operation and Maintenance Volume J: Nuclear Power Generation Volume K: EHV Transmission Volume L: System Operation Volume M: Index Conductors Southwire has published three books on conductors, the Building Wire & Cable Handbook, the Power Cable Manual, and the Overhead Conductor Manual. These can be found at http://www.electricsmarts.com/catalog/catalog.aspx?rid=5&tid=7. As I write this, the Overhead Conductor Manual is out of print but the other two are available for $100 and $150; when I got mine Southwire was giving them away, you might check with a Southwire Rep.

Information on copper busbars, with a British slant, is available at http://www.cda.org.uk/Megab2/elecapps/pub22/index.htm. Transformers The J&P Transformer Book has been mentioned in various posts as an excellent reference. The book is about 950 pages long and will set you back US$275 for a new copy at Amazon. ABB has three transformer books available at http://www.abb.com/product/us/9AAC750000.aspx?country=USs. The books are a Transformer Handbook, a Transformer Service Handbook, and a book on Testing of Power Transformers. The IEEE/PES Transformer Committee is on line at http://www.transformerscommittee.org/. They have a transformer bibliography at http://www.transformerscommittee.org/info/Bibliographybooks.pdf. Electrical Equipment A book on the testing of all manner of electrical equipment is Paul Gill's Electrical Power Equipment Maintenance and Testing. Power System Commissioning & Maintenance Practice by Keith Harker and published in the UK by the IEE. Power Electronics & Drives Power Electronics: Converters, Applications and Designs by Mohen, Undeland, and Robbins. Principles of Electric Machines and Power Electronics by P. C. Sen Electrical Machines, Drives, and Power Systems by Theodore Wildi An Introduction to Power Electronics by B.M. Bird, K.G. King, and D.A.G. Pedder Electrical System Transients Allan Greenwood's Electrical Transients in Power Systems Rheinhold Rudenberg's Transient Performance of Electric Power Systems Phenomena in Lumped Networks Thanks to the following Eng-Tips members for their contributions to this list: prc, dbaird, Zogzog, umrpwr, ScottyUK, magoo2, BJC, RalphChristie, Busbar, SSLA, dpc