Generator Blog

Hydro power generators have become a major source of energy for millions of people around the world and can be found in both industrial as well as residential forms. These generators are responsible for providing massive amounts of electricity, simply by utilizing the natural water flows that are created through rivers, streams or other water sources.

The most common form of hydro power generation around the world today is an industrial application of the concept in the form of hydroelectric energy generating dams. These dams channel natural flows of water from rivers into power generating turbines that forced the water into propellers that generate electricity. These generators are normally quite large scale and require large amounts of water to generate power on a regular basis, and as such are mostly found along major rivers. The largest hydroelectric producing water dam in the world currently under construction is the Three Gorges Dam located in China that is set to be completed in the near future. Once finished it will join the world’s currently operating hydroelectric generation sources and help contribute to what is already roughly 20% of the world’s energy consumption at this time.

With improvements in our hydro power generation technology a number of smaller scale power energy generators have also become more popular amongst homeowners worldwide that live near natural water flows they can utilize effectively. This has allowed homeowners to use their natural surroundings to a greater efficiency while realizing a reduction in energy costs and provide energy for their homes and surrounding areas each year. While of course this is not a viable option for all homeowners as a reliable regular flow of water is required to power a hydroelectric generator for those lucky homeowners who have source readily available it is an excellent alternative to other alternative power generation sources as solar and wind turbine energy.

The primary benefits of hydro power generators are that they produce virtually no waste at all during the course of the operation (aside from potential leakage of lubricants into water, which is minimal at best) and have significantly limited carbon dioxide emissions compared to other conventional energy generation processes. Further, they rely upon a naturally occurring and virtually limitless source of fuel to power them, making them an ideal alternative to most conventional power sources. The only major drawbacks revolve around the fact that for the establishment of most hydro power generation facilities natural habitats and ecosystems must initially be disturbed or rendered unusable due to flooding and other issues in the creation of either industrial hydro power dam or smaller scale installations, and the initial cost of constructing such a structure may be unfeasible in certain areas. Further, for larger scale energy production a significant amount of water flow is required on a regular basis, therefore this further limits the application of hydro power to only a select few rivers or streams may be capable of supporting the needs of the power plant regularly.

Regardless, hydro power has played an ongoing major role in supplying for the energy consumption needs of the world’s population and will continue to do so in the future. As technology continues to progress we may also be able to see additional applications of hydro power generation sources to smaller tributaries or streams that may have been unfeasible for power generation in the past that will therefore lead to greater usage worldwide in the coming years as generators can become smaller and more efficient in their power generation process.

If you live in an area prone to earthquakes, hurricanes or tornadoes, it’s a good idea to buy a backup power generator. Sometimes it doesn’t even take a disaster to knock out your power. In Los Angeles a 2006 heat wave caused power failures across the region. One hundred and forty deaths were blamed on the heat.

To choose a backup power generator, take these steps.

Trident Energy’s plans to create power from sea waves suffered a setback after an 80-tonne floating generator capsized off the coast of Suffolk.

Trident Energy’s experimental device was being towed out to sea to begin a year-long offshore trial when the accident happened on Monday, 21 September near Southwold, Suffolk, eastern England.

The technology was being tested in the sea to gather detailed information on how the machine performed.

The generator was to have been placed 8km off Southwold for the year-long evaluation that may lead to new wave farms being developed that are capable of powering 60,000 homes.

Coastguards alerted local shipping as the 18-metre-tall machine drifted with the tide until tugs could secure lines and take it to nearby Dunwich Bay.

Trident Energy confirms that the generator has been grounded and made secure, about 5km east of Southwold harbour.

A spokeswoman for Trident Energy said that the company is in the process of making arrangements to move the platform to a suitable location where any damage can be fully assessed before determining next steps.

The spokeswoman added: “Trident Energy can confirm that the incident was in no way related to its patented technology to convert sea wave energy into electricity.”

The technology, developed by Trident, is designed to stand on giant legs that sit on floating pontoons anchored to the seabed. This enables special floats between the legs to move up and down with the waves and drive a turbine, which generates electricity.

It is not known at this stage whether the machine was badly damaged.

 MHD (magneto hydrodynamic) power plants offer the potential for large-scale electrical power generation with reduced impact on the environment. Since 1970, several countries have undertaken MHD research programs with a particular emphasis on the use of coal as a fuel. MHD generators are also attractive for the production of large electrical power pulses.

The MHD generator or dynamo transforms thermal energy or kinetic energy directly into electricity. MHD generators are different from traditional electric generators in that they can operate at high temperatures without moving parts. MHD was developed because the exhaust of a plasma MHD generator is a flame, still able to heat the boilers of a steam power plant. So high-temperature MHD was developed as a topping cycle to increase the efficiency of electric generation, especially when burning coal or natural gas. It has also been applied to pump liquid metals and for quiet submarine engines.

The basic concept underlying the mechanical and fluid dynamos is the same. The fluid dynamo, however, uses the motion of fluid or plasma to generate the currents which generate the electrical energy. The mechanical dynamo, in contrast, uses the motion of mechanical devices to accomplish this. The functional difference between an MHD generator and an MHD dynamo is the path the charged particles follow.

MHD generators are now practical for fossil fuels, but have been overtaken by other, less expensive technologies, such as combined cycles in which a gas turbine’s or molten carbonate fuel cell’s exhaust heats steam for steam turbine. The unique value of MHD is that it permits an older single-cycle fossil-fuel power plant to be upgraded to high efficiency.

Natural MHD dynamos are an active area of research in plasma physics and are of great interest to the geophysics and astrophysics communities. From their perspective the earth is a global MHD dynamo and with the aid of the particles on the solar wind produces the aurora borealis. The differently charged electromagnetic layers produced by the dynamo effect on the earth’s geomagnetic field enable the appearance of the aurora borealis. As power is extracted from the plasma of the solar wind, the particles slow and are drawn down along the field lines in a brilliant display over the poles.

In electricity generation, an electrical generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy, generally using electromagnetic induction.

The reverse conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy is done by a motor; motors and generators have many similarities. A generator forces electric charges to move through an external electrical circuit, but it does not create electricity or charge, which is already present in the wire of its windings. It is somewhat analogous to a water pump, which creates a flow of water but does not create the water inside. The source of mechanical energy may be a reciprocating or turbine steam engine, water falling through a turbine or waterwheel, an internal combustion engine, a wind turbine, a hand crank, compressed air or any other source of mechanical energy.

Today, the technology of electrical generator is to come to maturity, but its historic developments are complicated.

Before the connection between magnetism and electricity was discovered, electrostatic generators were invented that used electrostatic principles. These generated very high voltages and low currents. They operated by using moving electrically charged belts, plates and disks to carry charge to a high potential electrode. The charge was generated using either of two mechanisms:

Electrostatic induction

The turboelectric effect, where the contact between two insulators leaves them charged.

Because of their inefficiency and the difficulty of insulating machines producing very high voltages, electrostatic generators had low power ratings and were never used for generation of commercially-significant quantities of electric power. The Wimshurst machine and Van de Graff generator are examples of these machines that have survived.

In 1827, Hungarian Anyos Jedlik started experimenting with electromagnetic rotating devices which he called electromagnetic self-rotors. In the prototype of the single-pole electric starter (finished between 1852 and 1854) both the stationary and the revolving parts were electromagnetic. He formulated the concept of the dynamo at least 6 years before Siemens and Wheatstone but didn’t patent it as he thought he wasn’t the first to realize this. In essence the concept is that instead of permanent magnets, two electromagnets opposite to each other induce the magnetic field around the rotor. Jedlik’s invention was decades ahead of its time.

In 1831-1832 Michael Faraday discovered the operating principle of electromagnetic generators. The principle, later called Faraday’s law, is that a potential difference is generated between the ends of an electrical conductor that moves perpendicular to a magnetic field. He also built the first electromagnetic generator, called the ‘Faraday disc’, a type of homopolar generator, using a copper disc rotating between the poles of a horseshoe magnet. It produced a small DC voltage, and large amounts of current.

The Dynamo was the first electrical generator capable of delivering power for industry. The dynamo uses electromagnetic principles to convert mechanical rotation into a pulsing direct electric current through the use of a commutator. The first dynamo was built by Hippolyte Pixii in 1832.

A dynamo machine consists of a stationary structure, which provides a constant magnetic field, and a set of rotating windings which turn within that field. On small machines the constant magnetic field may be provided by one or more permanent magnets; larger machines have the constant magnetic field provided by one or more electromagnets, which are usually called field coils.