How does motors and generators work

It reduces wear and tear, and ensures durability of the engine. The CIS is not an expensive feature but it plays an important role in engine durability especially if you need to use your generator often or for long durations. It contains an assembly of stationary and moving parts encased in a housing. The components work together to cause relative movement between the magnetic and electric fields, which in turn generates electricity. It contains a set of electrical conductors wound in coils over an iron core.

The rotor generates a moving magnetic field around the stator, which induces a voltage difference between the windings of the stator.

This produces the alternating current AC output of the generator. The following are the factors that you need to keep in mind while assessing the alternator of a generator:. Plastic housings get deformed with time and cause the moving parts of the alternator to be exposed. This increases wear and tear and more importantly, is hazardous to the user. The fuel tank usually has sufficient capacity to keep the generator operational for 6 to 8 hours on an average.

For commercial applications, it may be necessary to erect and install an external fuel tank. All such installations are subject to the approval of the City Planning Division. Click the following link for further details regarding fuel tanks for generators.

Common features of the fuel system include the following: a Pipe connection from fuel tank to engine — The supply line directs fuel from the tank to the engine and the return line directs fuel from the engine to the tank.

When you refill the fuel tank, ensure metal-to-metal contact between the filler nozzle and the fuel tank to avoid sparks. The fuel pump is typically electrically operated. Voltage Regulator As the name implies, this component regulates the output voltage of the generator. The mechanism is described below against each component that plays a part in the cyclical process of voltage regulation.

The voltage regulator then feeds this DC current to a set of secondary windings in the stator, known as exciter windings. The exciter windings are connected to units known as rotating rectifiers. This cycle continues till the generator begins to produce output voltage equivalent to its full operating capacity.

As the output of the generator increases, the voltage regulator produces less DC current. When you add a load to a generator, its output voltage dips a little. This prompts the voltage regulator into action and the above cycle begins. The cycle continues till the generator output ramps up to its original full operating capacity.

It is essential to have a cooling and ventilation system to withdraw heat produced in the process. Hydrogen is sometimes used as a coolant for the stator windings of large generator units since it is more efficient at absorbing heat than other coolants. The purpose of an electric motor is to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. This mechanical energy can then be used to power everything from heavy, industrial machinery to everyday tools and appliances such as hair dryers. Electric motors in Lethbridge use electricity as an input and create motion as an output.

The motion is the result of electromagnetic induction caused by magnets inside of the motor. The structure of an electric motor consists of two basic parts. There is a rotor, which is made up of coiled wires. The rotor is situated in the middle of a component known as the stator, which is lined with magnets or with coil windings. There is a small air gap between the two. When an electrical current is applied to the motor, the magnets or windings create a magnetic field that both attracts and repels the rotor, causing it to spin.

The spinning motion of the rotor drives the shaft that it is mounted on, which in turn can deliver the mechanical power wherever it is needed. An electric generator is the exact opposite of an electric motor. Thus, the force on the top segment is downward, which produces no torque on the shaft. Repeating this analysis for the bottom segment—neglect the small gap where the lead wires go out—shows that the force on the bottom segment is upward, again producing no torque on the shaft.

Consider now the left vertical segment of the loop. Again using the right-hand rule, we find that the force exerted on this segment is perpendicular to the magnetic field, as shown in Figure This force produces a torque on the shaft. Repeating this analysis on the right vertical segment of the loop shows that the force on this segment is in the direction opposite that of the force on the left segment, thereby producing an equal torque on the shaft.

The total torque on the shaft is thus twice the toque on one of the vertical segments of the loop. To find the magnitude of the torque as the wire loop spins, consider Figure Notice that, as the loop spins, the current in the vertical loop segments is always perpendicular to the magnetic field. Because there are two vertical segments, the total torque is twice this, or.

If we have a multiple loop with N turns, we get N times the torque of a single loop. This is the torque on a current-carrying loop in a uniform magnetic field. This equation can be shown to be valid for a loop of any shape. Thus, the torque changes sign every half turn, so the wire loop will oscillate back and forth. Consider now what happens if we run the motor in reverse; that is, we attach a handle to the shaft and mechanically force the coil to rotate within the magnetic field, as shown in Figure However, charges in the vertical wires experience forces parallel to the wire, causing a current to flow through the wire and through an external circuit if one is connected.

A device such as this that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy is called a generator. Because current is induced only in the side wires, we can find the induced emf by only considering these wires. The total emf around the loop is then.

Although this expression is valid, it does not give the emf as a function of time. This can also be expressed as. In between, the emf goes through zero, which means that zero current flows through the light bulb at these times. Thus, the light bulb actually flickers on and off at a frequency of 2 f , because there are two zero crossings per period.

Since alternating current such as this is used in homes around the world, why do we not notice the lights flickering on and off? In the United States, the frequency of alternating current is 60 Hz, so the lights flicker on and off at a frequency of Hz. Also, other factors prevent various different types of light bulbs from switching on and off so fast, so the light output is smoothed out a bit. Use this simulation to discover how an electrical generator works.

Control the water supply that makes a water wheel turn a magnet. This induces an emf in a nearby wire coil, which is used to light a light bulb. You can also replace the light bulb with a voltmeter, which allows you to see the polarity of the voltage, which changes from positive to negative. Set the number of wire loops to three, the bar-magnet strength to about 50 percent, and the loop area to percent.

Note the maximum voltage on the voltmeter. Assuming that one major division on the voltmeter is 5V, what is the maximum voltage when using only a single wire loop instead of three wire loops? In real life, electric generators look a lot different than the figures in this section, but the principles are the same. The source of mechanical energy that turns the coil can be falling water—hydropower—steam produced by the burning of fossil fuels, or the kinetic energy of wind.

Another very useful and common device that exploits magnetic induction is called a transformer. Transformers do what their name implies—they transform voltages from one value to another; the term voltage is used rather than emf because transformers have internal resistance. For example, many cell phones, laptops, video games, power tools, and small appliances have a transformer built into their plug-in unit that changes V or V AC into whatever voltage the device uses.

Notice the wire coils that are visible in each device. The purpose of these coils is explained below. The two wire coils are called the primary and secondary coils. In normal use, the input voltage is applied across the primary coil, and the secondary produces the transformed output voltage. Not only does the iron core trap the magnetic field created by the primary coil, but also its magnetization increases the field strength, which is analogous to how a dielectric increases the electric field strength in a capacitor.

Since the input voltage is AC, a time-varying magnetic flux is sent through the secondary coil, inducing an AC output voltage.