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Alternator
An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.Gordon R. Selmon, ''Magnetoelectric Devices'', John Wiley and Sons, 1966 no ISBN pp. 391-393 Occasionally, a linear alternator or a rotating armature with a stationary magnetic field is used. In principle, any AC electrical generator can be called an alternator, but usually the term refers to small rotating machines driven by automotive and other internal combustion engines. An alternator that uses a permanent magnet for its magnetic field is called a magneto. Alternators in power stations driven by steam turbines are called turbo-alternators. Large 50 or 60 Hz three-phase alternators in power plants generate most of the world's electric power, which is distributed by electric power grids. History Alternating current generat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magneto
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, although it is usually considered distinct from most other alternators, which use field coils rather than permanent magnets. Hand-cranked magneto generators were used to provide ringing current in telephone systems. Magnetos were also adapted to produce pulses of high voltage in the ignition systems of some gasoline-powered internal combustion engines to provide power to the spark plugs. Use of such ignition magnetos for ignition is now limited mainly to engines without a low-voltage electrical system, such as lawnmowers and chainsaws, and to aircraft engines, in which keeping the ignition independent of the rest of the electrical system ensures that the engine continues running in the event of alternator or battery failure. For redu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generator (device)
In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, gas turbines, water turbines, internal combustion engines, wind turbines and even hand cranks. The first electromagnetic generator, the Faraday disk, was invented in 1831 by British scientist Michael Faraday. Generators provide nearly all of the power for electric power grids. In addition to electromechanical designs, photovoltaic and fuel cell powered generators utilize solar power and hydrogen-based fuels, respectively, to generate electrical output. The reverse conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy is done by an electric motor, and motors and generators have many similarities. Many motors can be mechanically driven to generate electricity; frequently they make acceptable manual generators. Terminology Electromagnetic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electrical Generator
In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external electrical circuit, circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, gas turbines, water turbines, internal combustion engines, wind turbines and even hand crank (mechanism), cranks. The first electromagnetic generator, the Faraday disk, was invented in 1831 by British scientist Michael Faraday. Generators provide nearly all of the power for electric power grids. In addition to electromechanical designs, photovoltaic and fuel cell powered generators utilize solar power and hydrogen-based fuels, respectively, to generate electrical output. The reverse conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy is done by an electric motor, and motors and generators have many similarities. Many motors can be mechanically driven to generate electricity; frequently they make acceptable manual genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linear Alternator
A linear alternator is essentially a linear motor used as an electrical generator. An alternator is a type of alternating current (AC) electrical generator. The devices are often physically equivalent. The principal difference is in how they are used and which direction the energy flows. An alternator converts mechanical energy to electrical energy, whereas a motor converts electrical energy to mechanical energy. Like most electric motors and electric generators, the linear alternator works by the principle of electromagnetic induction. However, most alternators work with rotary motion, whereas ''linear'' alternators work with ''linear'' motion (i.e. motion in a straight line). Theory When a magnet moves in relation to an electromagnetic coil, this changes the magnetic flux passing through the coil, and thus induces the flow of an electric current, which can be used to do work. A linear alternator is most commonly used to convert back-and-forth motion directly into electrical e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three-phase
Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3φ) is a common type of alternating current used in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. It is a type of polyphase system employing three wires (or four including an optional neutral return wire) and is the most common method used by electrical grids worldwide to transfer power. Three-phase electrical power was developed in the 1880s by multiple people. Three-phase power works by the voltage and currents being 120 degrees out of phase on the three wires. As an AC system it allows the voltages to be easily stepped up using transformers to high voltage for transmission, and back down for distribution, giving high efficiency. A three-wire three-phase circuit is usually more economical than an equivalent two-wire single-phase circuit at the same line to ground voltage because it uses less conductor material to transmit a given amount of electrical power. Three-phase power is mainly used directly to power large induction mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternating Current
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in which electric power is delivered to businesses and residences, and it is the form of electrical energy that consumers typically use when they plug kitchen appliances, televisions, fans and electric lamps into a wall socket. A common source of DC power is a battery cell in a flashlight. The abbreviations ''AC'' and ''DC'' are often used to mean simply ''alternating'' and ''direct'', as when they modify '' current'' or ''voltage''. The usual waveform of alternating current in most electric power circuits is a sine wave, whose positive half-period corresponds with positive direction of the current and vice versa. In certain applications, like guitar amplifiers, different waveforms are used, such as triangular waves or square waves. Audio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armature (electrical Engineering)
In electrical engineering, the armature is the winding (or set of windings) of an electric machine which carries alternating current. The armature windings conduct AC even on DC machines, due to the commutator action (which periodically reverses current direction) or due to electronic commutation, as in brushless DC motors. The armature can be on either the rotor (rotating part) or the stator (stationary part), depending on the type of electric machine. The armature windings interact with the magnetic field ( magnetic flux) in the air-gap; the magnetic field is generated either by permanent magnets, or electromagnets formed by a conducting coil. The armature must carry current, so it is always a conductor or a conductive coil, oriented normal to both the field and to the direction of motion, torque (rotating machine), or force (linear machine). The armature's role is twofold. The first is to carry current across the field, thus creating shaft torque in a rotating machine o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Direct Current
Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even through a vacuum as in electron or ion beams. The electric current flows in a constant direction, distinguishing it from alternating current (AC). A term formerly used for this type of current was galvanic current. The abbreviations ''AC'' and ''DC'' are often used to mean simply ''alternating'' and ''direct'', as when they modify '' current'' or '' voltage''. Direct current may be converted from an alternating current supply by use of a rectifier, which contains electronic elements (usually) or electromechanical elements (historically) that allow current to flow only in one direction. Direct current may be converted into alternating current via an inverter. Direct current has many uses, from the charging of batteries to large po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commutator (electric)
A commutator is a rotary electrical switch in certain types of electric motors and electrical generators that periodically reverses the current direction between the rotor and the external circuit. It consists of a cylinder composed of multiple metal contact segments on the rotating armature of the machine. Two or more electrical contacts called " brushes" made of a soft conductive material like carbon press against the commutator, making sliding contact with successive segments of the commutator as it rotates. The windings (coils of wire) on the armature are connected to the commutator segments. Commutators are used in direct current (DC) machines: dynamos (DC generators) and many DC motors as well as universal motors. In a motor the commutator applies electric current to the windings. By reversing the current direction in the rotating windings each half turn, a steady rotating force ( torque) is produced. In a generator the commutator picks off the current generat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arc Lamp
An arc lamp or arc light is a lamp that produces light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc). The carbon arc light, which consists of an arc between carbon electrodes in air, invented by Humphry Davy in the first decade of the 1800s, was the first practical electric light. It was widely used starting in the 1870s for street and large building lighting until it was superseded by the incandescent light in the early 20th century. It continued in use in more specialized applications where a high intensity point light source was needed, such as searchlights and movie projectors until after World War II. The carbon arc lamp is now obsolete for most of these purposes, but it is still used as a source of high intensity ultraviolet light. The term is now used for gas discharge lamps, which produce light by an arc between metal electrodes through a gas in a glass bulb. The common fluorescent lamp is a low-pressure mercury arc lamp. The xenon arc lamp, which produces a high ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yablochkov Candle
A Yablochkov candle (sometimes electric candle) is a type of electric carbon arc lamp, invented in 1876 by the Russian electrical engineer Pavel Yablochkov. Design A Yablochkov candle consists of a sandwich of two electrodes, which are long carbon rods, approximately 6 by 12 millimetres in cross-section, separated by a block of inert and insulating material such as plaster of Paris or kaolin. There is a small piece of fuse wire or carbon paste linking the two carbon rods at the top end. The assembly is mounted vertically into a suitable insulated holder. On application of the electric supply, the fuse wire "blows" and strikes the arc. The arc then continues to burn, gradually consuming the carbon electrodes and the intervening plaster, which melts at the same pace. The first candles were powered by a Gramme machine. The drawback of using direct current was that one of the rods would burn at twice the rate of the other. This problem was initially solved by preparing the san ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ganz Works
The Ganz Works or Ganz ( or , ''Ganz companies'', formerly ''Ganz and Partner Iron Mill and Machine Factory'') was a group of companies operating between 1845 and 1949 in Budapest, Hungary. It was named after Ábrahám Ganz, the founder and the manager of the company. It is probably best known for the manufacture of tramcars, but was also a pioneer in the application of three-phase alternating current to electric railways. Ganz also made ships (''Ganz Danubius''), bridge steel structures (''Ganz Acélszerkezet'') and high-voltage equipment (''Ganz Transelektro''). In the early 20th century the company experienced its heyday, it became the third largest industrial enterprise in Kingdom of Hungary after the ''Manfréd Weiss Steel and Metal Works'' and the ''MÁVAG'' company. Since 1989, various parts of ''Ganz'' have been taken over by other companies. History Before 1919, the company built ocean liners, dreadnought type battleships and submarines, power plants, automobiles and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
