Voltage drops and/or short circuits: estimating can be easy-sometimes!

There are many occasions when an engineer may have an opportunity to provide a valuable service by quickly estimating: (a) voltage drop(s) associated with adding a load on a industrial power system; or (b) Short circuit amperes available at an industrial power system location. This does not necessarily call for precision values such as those obtained by a full-fledged study, but may be the first step in quantifying a problem which can result in a detailed study requirement. The author offers some quick and simple short cuts for such calculations, using a minimum of data and a handheld computing device. Several examples are included for radial distribution systems, and some guidance offered on more complex power systems