The International Electrical Congress was a series of international meetings, from 1881 to 1904, in the then new field of applied electricity . The first meeting was initiated by the French government, including official national representatives, leading scientists, and others. Subsequent meetings also included official representatives, leading scientists, and others. Primary aims were to develop reliable standards, both in relation to electrical units and electrical apparatus.
38-452: In 1881, both within and across countries, different electrical units were being used. There were at least 12 different units of electromotive force, 10 different units of electric current and 15 different units of resistance. A number of international Congresses were held, and sometimes referred to as International Electrical Congress, Electrical Conference, and similar variations. Secondary sources make different judgments about how to classify
76-607: A combination of public and private sector, and some are private sector only. About 90% of those who prepare IEC standards work in industry. IEC Member countries include: In 2001 and in response to calls from the WTO to open itself to more developing nations, the IEC launched the Affiliate Country Programme to encourage developing nations to become involved in the commission's work or to use its International Standards. Countries signing
114-494: A pledge to participate in the work and to encourage the use of IEC Standards in national standards and regulations are granted access to a limited number of technical committee documents for the purposes of commenting. In addition, they can select a limited number of IEC Standards for their national standards' library. Countries participating in the Affiliate Country Programme are: International Electrotechnical Exhibition The 1891 International Electrotechnical Exhibition
152-485: A three-phase alternator with a revolving field. The alternator revolved at 150 revolutions per minute , and had a rotating field magnet with 32 poles. It was rated at 300 hp and had a terminal voltage of 55 volts . The frequency of the current was 40 Hz . Power from the alternator was stepped up to 8000 volts for transmission by oil-insulated transformers . Later tests were carried out with transmission voltage up to 25,000 volts (between phases). The transmission line
190-812: A vast range of technologies from power generation, transmission and distribution to home appliances and office equipment, semiconductors, fibre optics, batteries, solar energy , nanotechnology , and marine energy, as well as many others. The IEC also manages four global conformity assessment systems that certify whether equipment, system or components conform to its international standards. All electrotechnologies are covered by IEC Standards, including energy production and distribution, electronics, magnetics and electromagnetics , electroacoustics , multimedia , telecommunications and medical technology , as well as associated general disciplines such as terminology and symbols, electromagnetic compatibility, measurement and performance, dependability, design and development, safety and
228-749: Is also available as EN 60034. Standards developed jointly with ISO, such as ISO/IEC 26300 ( Open Document Format for Office Applications (OpenDocument) v1.0 ), ISO/IEC 27001 ( Information technology, Security techniques, Information security management systems, Requirements ), and ISO/IEC 17000 series, carry the acronym of both organizations. The use of the ISO/IEC prefix covers publications from ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 – Information Technology , as well as conformity assessment standards developed by ISO CASCO (Committee on conformity assessment) and IEC CAB (Conformity Assessment Board). Other standards developed in cooperation between IEC and ISO are assigned numbers in
266-456: Is made up of members, called national committees, and each NC represents its nation's electrotechnical interests in the IEC. This includes manufacturers, providers, distributors and vendors, consumers and users, all levels of governmental agencies, professional societies and trade associations as well as standards developers from national standards bodies. National committees are constituted in different ways. Some NCs are public sector only, some are
304-629: Is published online as the Electropedia . The CISPR ( Comité International Spécial des Perturbations Radioélectriques ) – in English, the International Special Committee on Radio Interference – is one of the groups founded by the IEC. Currently, 89 countries are IEC members while another 85 participate in the Affiliate Country Programme, which is not a form of membership but is designed to help industrializing countries get involved with
342-550: The American Institute of Electrical Engineers , and others, which began at the 1900 Paris International Electrical Congress, , with British engineer R. E. B. Crompton playing a key role. In 1906, Lord Kelvin was elected as the first President of the International Electrotechnical Commission. The IEC was instrumental in developing and distributing standards for units of measurement, particularly
380-756: The British Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting Held 4–9 August, in connection with the Swiss National Exposition [ de ] . Insufficient and late communication about the organization of the Congress hampered widespread participation, so that the conference had about 200 participants, mostly from Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Belgium. International Conference on Electric Units and Standards . Held in October. Organized by
418-500: The International Electrotechnical Exhibition (Die Internationale Elektrotechnische Ausstellung 1891), organized by Elektrotechnische Gesellschaft . Galileo Ferraris was a vice-president at the conference. There were 715 participants (473 from Germany and 243 from other countries, including Austria, United Kingdom, USA, and France). An official report of the conference was published. Held in connection with
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#1732837319562456-742: The International Exposition of Electricity . Adolphe Cochery , Minister of Posts and Telegraphs of the French Government, was the Chairman. At the Congress, William Thomson (United Kingdom), Hermann von Helmholtz (Germany), and Gilbert Govi [ it ] (Italy) were elected as foreign vice-presidents. About 200-250 persons participated, and a proceedings was published in 1882. Notable participants included: Helmholtz , Clausius , Kirchhoff , Werner Siemens , Ernst Mach , Rayleigh , and Lenz , among others. The three main topics for
494-595: The former western stations between the city and the new main station , which had been completed in 1888. Prompted by the Paris " Exposition Universelle " ( World Fair ) of 1889, Leopold Sonnemann , publisher of the Frankfurter Zeitung newspaper, interested the Electrotechnical Society in the idea of an exhibition. The Society expressed an interest and started preparations in the same year. However, there
532-679: The gauss , hertz , and weber . It was also first to promote the Giorgi System of standards, later developed into the SI , or Système International d'unités (in English, the International System of Units). In 1938, it published a multilingual international vocabulary to unify terminology relating to electrical, electronic and related technologies. This effort continues, and the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary
570-406: The 80000 series, such as IEC 82045–1. IEC Standards are also being adopted by other certifying bodies such as BSI (United Kingdom), CSA (Canada), UL & ANSI / INCITS (United States), SABS (South Africa), Standards Australia , SPC / GB (China) and DIN (Germany). IEC standards adopted by other certifying bodies may have some noted differences from the original IEC standard. The IEC
608-725: The Commission on Electric Units and Standards of the International Electrotechnical Commission Held 10–17 September, organized by Associazione elettrotecnica italiana [ it ] and the Italian Electrotechnical Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission Was to be held 13–18 September, and organized by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers , but was cancelled because of
646-421: The Congress were: electrical units, improvements in international telegraphy, and various applications of electricity. The Congress resolved to endorse the 1873 British Association for the Advancement of Science proposal for defining the ohm and the volt as practical units, and also made resolutions to define ampere , coulomb and farad , as units for current, quantity, and capacity respectively, to complete
684-581: The Congresses. In this article, the Congresses with representatives from national governments are identified as International Electrical Congress . Other Congresses — often addressing the same issues — are identified here as Concurrent Related International Electrical Congresses . Some of these related conferences were devoted to preparing for an International Electrical Congress. In 1906 the International Electrotechnical Commission
722-680: The IEC. Originally located in London , United Kingdom, the IEC moved to its current headquarters in Geneva , Switzerland in 1948. It has regional centres in Africa ( Nairobi , Kenya), Asia ( Singapore ), Oceania ( Sydney , Australia), Latin America ( São Paulo , Brazil) and North America ( Worcester, Massachusetts , United States). The work is done by some 10,000 electrical and electronics experts from industry, government, academia, test labs and others with an interest in
760-578: The United States ( National Bureau of Standards ), the United Kingdom ( National Physical Laboratory ), and the official standards commissions in Austria and Belgium to an informal conference on electrical standards and units. Additionally Mascart (France), Rayleigh (United Kingdom) and Carhart (USA) were invited because of their expertise and influence. Thirteen of the fifteen invited persons participated in
798-399: The administrative capital, Heilbronn , thus making it the first place to be equipped with a power supply using three-phase AC. The name of the local power company (ZEAG) bears testimony to this event. The Frankfurt city council constructed its own power station near the harbour; yet another was built by a private company in the suburb of Bockenheim . A hydraulic turbine at Lauffen powered
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#1732837319562836-438: The arch: the one to the right carrying the name of the " Allgemeine Electricitätsgesellschaft " ("AEG" – General Electricity Company), which had been founded in 1887; the left-hand panel displayed the name of the " Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon " (Oerlikon Engineering Works). The entire entrance was illuminated with 1000 light bulbs and an electrically powered waterfall provided a further attraction. With 1,200,000 visitors from all over
874-785: The conference, six from the Reichsanstalt, two from the Belgian Commission on Electrical Units, two from the Austrian Commission on Standardization, Richard Glazebrook from the National Physical Laboratory, Mascart, and Carhart. The non-attendees were Samuel Wesley Stratton , director of the National Bureau of Standard, who sent three papers outlining the positions and proposals of the Bureau, and Rayleigh. A proceedings
912-598: The environment. The first International Electrical Congress took place in 1881 at the International Exposition of Electricity , held in Paris. At that time the International System of Electrical and Magnetic Units was agreed to. The International Electrotechnical Commission held its inaugural meeting on 26 June 1906, following discussions among the British Institution of Electrical Engineers ,
950-469: The exhibition to demonstrate a commercially viable method for the transmission of electricity. Three-phase current with a minimal loss of 25% would be transmitted at high voltage from Lauffen am Neckar to Frankfurt. This took centre stage at the exhibition and was evidenced in the large three-section entrance gate. The central section took the form of an arch bearing the inscription "Power Transmission Lauffen–Frankfurt 175 km." Rectangular panels flanked
988-634: The official Electrical Congresses. These events are listed here. Conférence international pour la détermination des unités électriques (International Conference for Determination of Electrical Units) Held 16–26 October. Was motivated by a resolution from the 1881 International Electrical Congress. A verbal transcript of the conference was published. International Conference for Determination of Electrical Units International Congress of Electricians Held 24–31 August, in connection with Exposition universelle de 1889 . About 530 participants from at least 11 countries. Held 7–12 September, in connection with
1026-644: The outbreak of World War I. Internationale Konferenz über Elektrische Masseinheiten (International Conference on Electrical Units) Held 23–25 October at Physikalisch-Technischen Reichsanstalt at Charlottenburg . The 1904 Congress recommended holding an international conference to address discrepancies in the electrical units and their interpretation. Emil Warburg , president of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt in Germany, invited representatives from corresponding national laboratories in
1064-567: The practical system. It also resolved that an international committee should conduct new tests to determine the length of the column of mercury for measuring the ohm. Held from 21 to 25 August, in connection with the World's Columbian Exposition , with almost 500 participants. Elisha Gray was the Congress president. A proceedings was published. Held in 18–25 August in connection with the Paris Exposition Universelle . Éleuthère Mascart
1102-497: The range 60000–79999 and their titles take a form such as IEC 60417: Graphical symbols for use on equipment . Following the Dresden Agreement with CENELEC the numbers of older IEC standards were converted in 1997 by adding 60000, for example IEC 27 became IEC 60027. Standards of the 60000 series are also found preceded by EN to indicate that the IEC standard is also adopted by CENELEC as a European standard; for example IEC 60034
1140-711: The subject. IEC Standards are often adopted as national standards by its members. The IEC cooperates closely with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) . In addition, it works with several major standards development organizations, including the IEEE with which it signed a cooperation agreement in 2002, which was amended in 2008 to include joint development work. IEC Standards that are not jointly developed with ISO have numbers in
1178-521: The world, the exhibition was an out-and-out success. The cost of a one-day entry ticket for an adult amounted to a considerable 15 marks . As far as Germany was concerned, the International Electrotechnical Exhibition settled once and for all the question of the most economical means of transmitting electrical energy . When the exhibition closed, the power station at Lauffen continued in operation – providing electricity for
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1216-728: The world. The "Elektrotechnische Gesellschaft" (Electrotechnical Society) was founded in Frankfurt in 1881 with the aim of promoting electricity and, in particular, furthering research into its application for industry and technology. Three years later, some ten manufacturers of electrical equipment had set themselves up in the city. In around 1890, some of the enterprises were established which would later become major firms in Frankfurt: Hartmann & Braun, Staudt & Voigt (from 1891 Voigt & Haefner) and W Lahmeyer & Co (from 1893 Elektrizitäts-AG, previously W Lahmeyer & Co). And it
1254-441: Was another consideration apart from the setting up of an international exhibition – Frankfurt had an urgent problem to solve. The construction of a central power station had been under discussion in the city's political and technical committees since 1886. However, agreement had still to be reached over the type of current, and opinions were divided between direct current , alternating current and three-phase current . It fell to
1292-419: Was created. Congresses were organised under its auspices were also sometimes referred to as International Electrical Congress . In this article, Congresses organized by the Commission are listed under International Electrotechnical Congresses , while other related Congresses are listed under Related International Electrotechnical Conferences . Source: Held from 15 September-5 October 1881, in connection with
1330-511: Was held between 16 May and 19 October on the disused site of the three former Westbahnhöfe ( Western Railway Stations ) in Frankfurt am Main , Germany . The exhibition featured the first long-distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electric current , which was generated 175 km away at Lauffen am Neckar . As a result of this successful field trial, three-phase current became established for electrical transmission networks throughout
1368-534: Was in Frankfurt that the Second Industrial Revolution began to emerge – a revolution that would bring about fundamental changes similar to those created 100 years previously by the introduction of the steam engine to the world of work. In 1891, the German electrical industry was ready to demonstrate its capabilities to the world at the International Electrotechnical Exhibition. A site was chosen – that of
1406-563: Was published. Held 14–19 September, in connection with the L'exposition internationale des applications de l'électricité. A three-volume proceedings was published. International Electrotechnical Commission The International Electrotechnical Commission ( IEC ; French : Commission électrotechnique internationale ) is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical , electronic and related technologies – collectively known as " electrotechnology ". IEC standards cover
1444-577: Was the congress president. There were more than 900 participants, about half of which were from France, and about 120 technical papers presented. A two-volume proceedings was published in 1901 Held from 12 to 17 September 1904, in connection with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition During the period that the Electrical Congresses were held, other conferences and international Congresses were held, sometimes in preparation to
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