Can DC current be transported via wires over long distances?

Answer 1

Absolutely and in fact it frequently is. The highest voltage transmission lines for distribution of electrical power on the national electric grid are DC transmission lines. DC has the advantage of uniform current density in the transmission wire unlike AC which suffers from skin effect. Skin effect is an electrical phenomena where as the frequency of the signal increases, the depth to which current is conducted decreases effectively increasing the line losses at higher frequency. In the case of 60 Hz (the normal frequency for the powered delivered to homes and businesses in the US) the skin depth is about 1 inch meaning that about 63 percent of the current is found in the outer 1 inch of the wire. The draw back of DC is most electricity is created by rotating machinery which produces AC power most efficiently so that needs to be converted to DC with some loss of efficiency. To justify that efficiency loss the power lines must be long enough that the efficiency gained using DC over AC in the distribution must exceed the losses in converting the AC to DC at the power plant and then converted back to AC again at the load or substation.

Answer 2

DC is frequently used to transport electricity over long distances as it can be more economical. In cases where you frequently step down the voltage to supply a home or business, AC makes sense because it works with transformers, which are relatively cheap. However, if you're moving electricity a long distance, from one grid to another, DC works better because there is less loss of energy. See my source for more info.

Answer 3

Until recently, with solid state devices, it was too expensive to change voltage levels with DC. DC is actually more efficient on a given wire than AC because the leakage and sparking effects come from the peaks of AC, while the power carried is from the average (below the peak), while DC can carry all its power near the maximum the insulators can take.

Answer 4

Yes, but there is a voltage drop based on the impedance of the wire.

Example.
16V DC on 1000 foot twisted 600 ohm pair of wire.
Voltage drop measured to be -7 volts, or 9DC.
Product operates but intermittent. Ohm law say, if the voltage drops, the current rises. What it would be fair to say if you have a analog or digital device, it may get warm, but will function, but not as well.
If you have surface mount technology, pf capacitance is too low, and as a result with have a thermal run-a-way and burn out.

Answer 5

Depends on what 'long distance' means. Edison lost out to Tesla's AC because AC naturally goes long distances without needing boosts. And simple transformers can bring the voltage down to useful levels. DC requires periodic boosts depending on the resistance of the transmission lines.

Answer 6

Yes.

There are DC lines from Hoover dam to Los Angeles, and elsewhere in the country.

There is actually a certain distance at which it is cheaper to transmit DC than AC, but it is a "long" distance. It's because of infastructure: towers are cheaper for DC, fewer insulators are needed (3-phase vs. 1 line/earth).

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Answer 7

no dought. dc current can. its just ac is more easy to produce than dc thats why ac is more abundant in use for long wires. almost all natural sources can readily produce ac.

Answer 8

Yes but it is MUCH more expensive to do so then AC current..which is why AC current won as the standerd power current in America

Answer 9

Yes, but it is much more expensive to convert voltage with DC. Hence, why we use AC.

Answer 10

Why not?