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azland00123
Newbie
Joined: 24/02/2008
Location: United StatesPosts: 23 |
| Posted: 12:56pm 24 Feb 2008 |
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What is the difference between a turbine and a generator? I always thought they were the reaching the same goal through different means. Then I read where some one was saying that his new design was for the turbine not the generator. does a small wind mill have to have both?
Bob |
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Gill
Senior Member
Joined: 11/11/2006
Location: AustraliaPosts: 669 |
| Posted: 01:27pm 24 Feb 2008 |
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G'day Bob,
Good to have you with us.
I never thought much about it before. As I understand it the turbine is the driver and the generator is the driven. So I guess you could have a turbine driving something besides a generator, maybe a compressor or a pump. Likewise a generator could be driven by say a petrol engine. I think a turbine is generally considered to be high speed.
I guess if my general understanding is not accurate enough or you want to check it out further there is always the dictionary. But I'll leave that for you to follow up on.
was working fine... til the smoke got out.
Cheers Gill _Cairns, FNQ |
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azland00123
Newbie
Joined: 24/02/2008
Location: United StatesPosts: 23 |
| Posted: 08:01pm 24 Feb 2008 |
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Gill,
Thank you for taking the time to address the Questions from a newbie. I am also A newbie to wind mill as well. given your response then the stator must be taking place of a generator on the mill. I am not sure of how the seven phase works. What kind of signal does it generate ac or dc?
Bob |
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wind-pirate
Senior Member
Joined: 01/02/2007
Location: CanadaPosts: 101 |
| Posted: 08:32pm 24 Feb 2008 |
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Hi Bob:
None of us were born with this knowlage. We gained it through excelent fourms "like this one" And trial and lots of error.
The stator is just part of the generator. It contains the coils of copper wire. They make power when the magnets are pasted over them. This power is A.C. If it is used to charge a battery then it is converted to D.C.
Ron
THE Pirate.
stealing wind & solar energy is fun |
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azland00123
Newbie
Joined: 24/02/2008
Location: United StatesPosts: 23 |
| Posted: 10:05pm 24 Feb 2008 |
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thanks Ron,
Do most people convert it to D.C. and charge a battery or just modify the A.C signal to be a true sine wave? That is assuming that the signal is erratic. It would seem that if it is converted to D.C. you would loose a lot of power converting it back to A.C.
Bob |
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MyCattMaxx
Newbie
Joined: 24/02/2008
Location: United StatesPosts: 8 |
| Posted: 11:21pm 24 Feb 2008 |
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Howdy AZ,
I would suspect most of us small people go to DC. For AC we would use an inverter as the AC voltage and frequency would be to erratic to run say a computer or tv directly. Now for heating you could use the ac but you would need to use a controller to let the voltage rise to a preset level or the load on the alt would keep the mill stalled out. Hope that helps.
Maxx Edited by MyCattMaxx 2008-02-26 |
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azland00123
Newbie
Joined: 24/02/2008
Location: United StatesPosts: 23 |
| Posted: 11:33pm 24 Feb 2008 |
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Thanks maxx,
I have a 220 volt dc motor that generates 12 vdc
I have not received it yet so I have not been able to run any tests. I don't know what kind of power I should expect from this motor. The inverter I bought is an 1800/3500 watt inverter. do I need any protection between the generator and the motor? Also between the battery and the inverter?
Bob |
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GWatPE
Senior Member
Joined: 01/09/2006
Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
| Posted: 12:03am 25 Feb 2008 |
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Hi Bob,
traditionally, a generator produces DC directly by rotating an armature in a magnetic field and using a segmented commutator and brushes to produce DC. Modern generators produce AC and are called alternators. The output AC voltage is rectified to produce DC. The brushes/commutator/armature is replaced, by rotating the permanent magnets and then rectifying the AC produced by the fixed coils. [7 phase F&P is same principle]
The number and type of electrical conversions will depend on factors like, is storage needed, the type of appliances used, grid available, other sources of power, etc.
Windmills typically produce "wild" AC. [varying voltage and frequency]. This is probably the most difficult to directly utilize in a domestic environment. Typically the power is stored in a battery and then an inverter powers the loads.
Acceptable power losses is subjective. A lot of RE producers are not grid connected. If a system shuts down when excess power is available then system conversion losses have little meaning. Efficiency may come down to using the power when it is available, rather than attempting to store it. Lifestyle and convenience are important factors.
Individual circumstances will dictate acceptable losses.
cheers, Gordon.
become more energy aware |
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azland00123
Newbie
Joined: 24/02/2008
Location: United StatesPosts: 23 |
| Posted: 12:13am 25 Feb 2008 |
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Thanks GWatPE
I take it a "wild" A.C. voltage would charge a battery faster then a D.C. voltage because the Current would be higher when it was converted to D.C.
Bob |
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azland00123
Newbie
Joined: 24/02/2008
Location: United StatesPosts: 23 |
| Posted: 12:29am 25 Feb 2008 |
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I plan to use the power to run my heating and A/C system. I am going to hook this up so that it is not connected to the grid but the heater and A/C can switch to the grid when power is not available.
My problem is when I begin to generate 12V from the motor do I hook it directly to the battery or Do I need any protection between the generator and the battery?
What will happen when the battery is full will the power feed back into the generator and burn it up?
Bob |
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GWatPE
Senior Member
Joined: 01/09/2006
Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
| Posted: 05:51am 25 Feb 2008 |
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Hi Bob,
what you are intending to do will require a licensed electrician. I suggest you contact a local one and talk a bit about what you intent to do.
You will require blocking diodes between the battery and the windmill if you use a DC motor as a generator.
"Wild AC" will not charge a battery without being converted to DC first.
I suggest you do some more reading. There are many contributors on this forum and much information has already been presented by them in other threads.
cheers, Gordon.
become more energy aware |
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azland00123
Newbie
Joined: 24/02/2008
Location: United StatesPosts: 23 |
| Posted: 06:38pm 25 Feb 2008 |
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Thank you for your concern Gordan. I will continue to read the other threads in this forum.
I don,t expect to be able to hook my system up any time in the near future.
As Gills greeting says Everything should go OK until the smoke comes out. I just don't want it to come out of my furnace.
I have a lot to learn and a lot of testing to do.
Bob |
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