Traffic Stats
Electricity in large scale cannot be produced by chemical cells, and has to be done the magnetic way. Make a conductor cut a magnetic line, and wa la, you get a current flow in it. So, in a large scale, it has to be generated at Power stations, where huge amounts of energy is present or is diverted to from other energy sources. These sources can be heat, and gravity, or light(though not in a large scale), or Wind (not the one that comes out of you).
The hydro electric power station uses gravity. It uses gravity to transport water from a Dam to the turbines, and then turn them to produce power.
Water seems to be indespensable when it comes to generating electricity in huge volumes in most places. Hydro electric plants, as the name suggests uses water, and so does the Thermal and Nuclear Power stations.
Thermal Power Stations
Thermal power stations have huge boilers dedicated for each generator that they have. These boilers are structures made with solid metal made with extreme care and perfection that they can hold steam in pressures equivalent to that of the water pressure that is 5 KM below the sea level. If a live man is put inside it, he would die of the heat first, and then his body would be compressed to a hair strand in seconds.
The bottom of these boilers are pumped with water and recycled steam from the turbines (so as not to waste energy), and the source of heat in these power stations are coal or lignite that burn in a huge furnace built at the bottom of the boiler. The heat in these furnaces can reach over 1000 degrees Celsius, hot enough to melt iron. Luckily these boilers are made with alloys that can withstand the heat.
Coal or lignite what ever is used, is ground into fine dust and is sprayed with great force into the furnace with a blower, ideally mixed with pure air that has a lot of oxygen. This produces very high effeciency, and makes sure that each and every particle of the coal is burnt, and the furnace is built so well that the heat is effected fully on the boiler, and the smoke, after loosing most of its heat to the boiler and flows out thru the chimney. Ofcourse, government regulations are in place to make sure that the smoke that leaves the furnace are filtered so well off the carbon so that it doesnt pollute the air.
Thus, the water is boiled and converted into steam, and the steam is held in high preassure inside the boiler, which is something like a massive pressure cooker. The outlet of the boiler is usually at its top, and steam is directed thru pipes controlled by automated regulatory valves, which is similar to the governor valves found in Hydro Electric power plants, and is passed on to the turbine chamber.
The turbine chamber is a highly enclosed areo dynamic circular chamber into which the steam is passed, and made to blow into the blades of the turbine, and after a full rotation, it is let out and is passed back to the boiler where it is recycled.
The speed of the generator is controlled by the valve which controls the flow of the steam.
Contd…….
Where does electricity come from? Does it come from the atoms that are split at the nuclear power stations? Does it come from the water from hydro electric power stations? Or does it come from the coal and lignite that is burns at the thermal power stations, or the heat? Or does it come from the Sun’s Light? Or from diesel that is burnt at Diesel Power Stations?
No, it comes from Generators and Alternators. And the energy that is required to turn and rotate the rotors of the generators is derived from the means mentioned above. Electricity has a magically binding contract with Magnetism. According to some scientist’s law, forgot his name unfortunately, being a hyper-active Alter Ego of B L Thereja himself, that when ever a Conductor, a metal that conducts electricity comes in the path of a magnetic line, an electric flow is induced in it, meaning that the free electrons in the conductor are moved around from atom to atom, and when it is made to cut a sufficient number of the magnetic lines of forces, the conductor can be used as a source of electricity such as a battery of cells, either ends of the conductors being the opposite polarities.
So, when bars and bars of conductors are placed between big poles of electromagnets and rotated in an armature, and wired properly, we get an excellent DC output, with ripples ofcourse, which can be filtered out with condensers or capacitors. When a magnetic pole is rotated between 3 static windings of coil in a stator, you get a 3 phase Alternating Current.
Contd……….