Patent ID: 6861825

Claim:
A method of transmitting power though a transmission system comprising three or more conductors and associated terminal equipment, all subject to a DC voltage, wherein each conductor and its associated terminal equipment has a nominal thermal limit to its current-carrying capacity, the method comprising: transmitting current over one or more of the conductors and each such conductor's associated terminal equipment at a level which may be temporarily above the nominal thermally-limited current-carrying capacity of each conductor and its associated terminal equipment, and at an essentially constant voltage; returning the transmitted current through the remaining conductors and their associated terminal equipment, wherein the total transmitted and return currents are nominally equal; and periodically altering the current level among the conductors and their associated terminal equipment so as to rotate higher and lower levels of current among the conductors and their associated terminal equipment, such that, over time, the resistance heating of none of the conductors and none of the associated terminal equipment exceeds its thermal limit.