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64-525: A second dam was completed in 1978 and the original structure was demolished. Although the dam itself is located in Power County , its reservoir also stretches northeastward into both Bingham County and Bannock County . A lava dam created a broad shallow lake in the area of the Raft River during the late Pliocene , over one million years ago. Much of the basin filled with fine sand, silt, and gravel; then

128-635: A steam power plant . The first practical design was the AVCO Mk. 25, developed in 1965. The U.S. government funded substantial development, culminating in a 25 MW demonstration plant in 1987. In the Soviet Union from 1972 until the late 1980s, the MHD plant U 25 was in regular utility operation on the Moscow power system with a rating of 25 MW, the largest MHD plant rating in the world at that time. MHD generators operated as

192-698: A topping cycle are currently (2007) less efficient than combined cycle gas turbines . Induction AC motors may be used as generators, turning mechanical energy into electric current. Induction generators operate by mechanically turning their rotor faster than the simultaneous speed, giving negative slip. A regular AC non-simultaneous motor usually can be used as a generator, without any changes to its parts. Induction generators are useful in applications like minihydro power plants, wind turbines, or in reducing high-pressure gas streams to lower pressure, because they can recover energy with relatively simple controls. They do not require another circuit to start working because

256-479: A British electrician, J. E. H. Gordon , in 1882. The first public demonstration of an "alternator system" was given by William Stanley Jr. , an employee of Westinghouse Electric in 1886. Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti established Ferranti, Thompson and Ince in 1882, to market his Ferranti-Thompson Alternator , invented with the help of renowned physicist Lord Kelvin . His early alternators produced frequencies between 100 and 300 Hz . Ferranti went on to design

320-434: A female householder with no husband present, 23.6% were non-families, and 19.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 3.39. The median age was 33.2 years. The median income for a household in the county was $ 40,843 and the median income for a family was $ 46,391. Males had a median income of $ 35,674 versus $ 29,844 for females. The per capita income for

384-436: A foot pump, such generators can be practically used to charge batteries, and in some cases are designed with an integral inverter. An average "healthy human" can produce a steady 75 watts (0.1 horsepower) for a full eight hour period, while a "first class athlete" can produce approximately 298 watts (0.4 horsepower) for a similar period, at the end of which an undetermined period of rest and recovery will be required. At 298 watts,

448-456: A generator and load is shown in the adjacent diagram. The generator is represented by an abstract generator consisting of an ideal voltage source and an internal impedance. The generator's V G {\displaystyle V_{\text{G}}} and R G {\displaystyle R_{\text{G}}} parameters can be determined by measuring the winding resistance (corrected to operating temperature ), and measuring

512-630: A high potential electrode. The charge was generated using either of two mechanisms: electrostatic induction or the triboelectric effect . Such generators generated very high voltage and low current . Because of their inefficiency and the difficulty of insulating machines that produced very high voltages, electrostatic generators had low power ratings, and were never used for generation of commercially significant quantities of electric power. Their only practical applications were to power early X-ray tubes , and later in some atomic particle accelerators . The operating principle of electromagnetic generators

576-446: A magnetic field produces a current which changes direction with each 180° rotation, an alternating current (AC). However many early uses of electricity required direct current (DC). In the first practical electric generators, called dynamos , the AC was converted into DC with a commutator , a set of rotating switch contacts on the armature shaft. The commutator reversed the connection of

640-403: A million amperes , because the homopolar generator can be made to have very low internal resistance. A magnetohydrodynamic generator directly extracts electric power from moving hot gases through a magnetic field, without the use of rotating electromagnetic machinery. MHD generators were originally developed because the output of a plasma MHD generator is a flame, well able to heat the boilers of

704-478: A series of discoveries, the dynamo was succeeded by many later inventions, especially the AC alternator , which was capable of generating alternating current . It is commonly known to be the Synchronous Generators (SGs). The synchronous machines are directly connected to the grid and need to be properly synchronized during startup. Moreover, they are excited with special control to enhance the stability of

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768-487: A sliding magnet moves back and forth through a solenoid , a copper wire or a coil. An alternating current is induced in the wire, or loops of wire, by Faraday's law of induction each time the magnet slides through. This type of generator is used in the Faraday flashlight . Larger linear electricity generators are used in wave power schemes. Grid-connected generators deliver power at a constant frequency. For generators of

832-434: A small DC voltage . This design was inefficient, due to self-cancelling counterflows of current in regions of the disk that were not under the influence of the magnetic field. While current was induced directly underneath the magnet, the current would circulate backwards in regions that were outside the influence of the magnetic field. This counterflow limited the power output to the pickup wires and induced waste heating of

896-450: A stable power supply. Electric scooters with regenerative braking have become popular all over the world. Engineers use kinetic energy recovery systems on the scooter to reduce energy consumption and increase its range up to 40-60% by simply recovering energy using the magnetic brake, which generates electric energy for further use. Modern vehicles reach speed up to 25–30 km/h and can run up to 35–40 km. An engine-generator

960-417: A water- or wind-powered generator to trickle-charge the batteries. A small propeller , wind turbine or turbine is connected to a low-power generator to supply currents at typical wind or cruising speeds. Recreational vehicles need an extra power supply to power their onboard accessories, including air conditioning units, and refrigerators. An RV power plug is connected to the electric generator to obtain

1024-562: Is an industrial facility that generates electricity . Most power stations contain one or more generators, or spinning machines converting mechanical power into three-phase electrical power . The relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor creates an electric current . The energy source harnessed to turn the generator varies widely. Most power stations in the world burn fossil fuels such as coal , oil , and natural gas to generate electricity. Cleaner sources include nuclear power , and increasingly use renewables such as

1088-400: Is done by an electric motor , and motors and generators are very similar. Many motors can generate electricity from mechanical energy. Electromagnetic generators fall into one of two broad categories, dynamos and alternators. Mechanically, a generator consists of a rotating part and a stationary part which together form a magnetic circuit : One of these parts generates a magnetic field,

1152-412: Is land and 38 square miles (98 km ) (2.7%) is water. Power County's commissioners are: As of the census of 2000, there were 7,538 people, 2,560 households, and 1,968 families living in the county. The population density was 5 people per square mile (1.9 people/km ). There were 2,844 housing units at an average density of 2 units per square mile (0.77 units/km ). The racial makeup of

1216-497: Is provided by one or more electromagnets, which are usually called field coils. Large power generation dynamos are now rarely seen due to the now nearly universal use of alternating current for power distribution. Before the adoption of AC, very large direct-current dynamos were the only means of power generation and distribution. AC has come to dominate due to the ability of AC to be easily transformed to and from very high voltages to permit low losses over large distances. Through

1280-415: Is self- excited , i.e. its field electromagnets are powered by the machine's own output. Other types of DC generators use a separate source of direct current to energise their field magnets. A homopolar generator is a DC electrical generator comprising an electrically conductive disc or cylinder rotating in a plane perpendicular to a uniform static magnetic field. A potential difference is created between

1344-405: Is the ability to independently supply electricity, allowing the units to serve as backup power sources. A generator can also be driven by human muscle power (for instance, in field radio station equipment). Human powered electric generators are commercially available, and have been the project of some DIY enthusiasts. Typically operated by means of pedal power, a converted bicycle trainer, or

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1408-485: Is the combination of an electrical generator and an engine ( prime mover ) mounted together to form a single piece of self-contained equipment. The engines used are usually piston engines, but gas turbines can also be used, and there are even hybrid diesel-gas units, called dual-fuel units. Many different versions of engine-generators are available – ranging from very small portable petrol powered sets to large turbine installations. The primary advantage of engine-generators

1472-781: The Deptford Power Station for the London Electric Supply Corporation in 1887 using an alternating current system. On its completion in 1891, it was the first truly modern power station, supplying high-voltage AC power that was then "stepped down" for consumer use on each street. This basic system remains in use today around the world. After 1891, polyphase alternators were introduced to supply currents of multiple differing phases. Later alternators were designed for varying alternating-current frequencies between sixteen and about one hundred hertz, for use with arc lighting, incandescent lighting and electric motors. As

1536-407: The Faraday disk , was invented in 1831 by British scientist Michael Faraday . Generators provide nearly all the power for electrical grids . In addition to electricity- and motion-based designs, photovoltaic and fuel cell powered generators use solar power and hydrogen-based fuels, respectively, to generate electrical output. The reverse conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy

1600-576: The Idaho Power Company built the dam's current power plant which consists of three generators with a capacity to produce 112,420 kilowatts (112 MW) of hydroelectricity . In 1976, the upstream Teton Dam failed during filling, causing spring snowmelt to race downstream into the Teton River , a tributary of the Snake, demolishing several towns along its path. In an attempt to contain this flood, water

1664-668: The Air ), medical and other needs in remote stations and towns. A tachogenerator is an electromechanical device which produces an output voltage proportional to its shaft speed. It may be used for a speed indicator or in a feedback speed control system. Tachogenerators are frequently used to power tachometers to measure the speeds of electric motors, engines, and the equipment they power. Generators generate voltage roughly proportional to shaft speed. With precise construction and design, generators can be built to produce very precise voltages for certain ranges of shaft speeds. An equivalent circuit of

1728-523: The American Falls Dam. Core samples taken in the early 1960s of the concrete of the original structure revealed deterioration resulting in impaired durability and strength caused by a chemical reaction between components of the concrete. The solution was to replace the original dam with a second dam built downstream in 1978. Replacement of the original dam was authorized by a congressional act of December 28, 1973 (87 Stat. 904, Public Law 93-206). In 1976,

1792-613: The Idaho State Land Board. In 1902 the National Reclamation Act was signed into law and federal funds from the sale of public lands became available to create and maintain irrigation projects in the Western United States. The first power plant was built in 1902 on the falls and was acquired by the Idaho Power Company in 1916. Damming the rivers became the preferred method for harnessing the abundant water of

1856-427: The age of 18 living with them, 63.40% were married couples living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.10% were non-families. 20.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.38. In the county, the population was spread out, with 33.80% under

1920-469: The age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 25.40% from 25 to 44, 22.00% from 45 to 64, and 10.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $ 32,226, and the median income for a family was $ 36,685. Males had a median income of $ 29,676 versus $ 20,930 for females. The per capita income for

1984-473: The armature winding to the circuit every 180° rotation of the shaft, creating a pulsing DC current. One of the first dynamos was built by Hippolyte Pixii in 1832. The dynamo was the first electrical generator capable of delivering power for industry. The Woolrich Electrical Generator of 1844, now in Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum , is the earliest electrical generator used in an industrial process. It

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2048-436: The armature winding. When the generator first starts to turn, the small amount of remanent magnetism present in the iron core provides a magnetic field to get it started, generating a small current in the armature. This flows through the field coils, creating a larger magnetic field which generates a larger armature current. This "bootstrap" process continues until the magnetic field in the core levels off due to saturation and

2112-402: The assistance of power electronic devices, these can regulate the output frequency to a desired value over a wider range of generator shaft speeds. Alternatively, a standard generator can be used with no attempt to regulate frequency, and the resulting power converted to the desired output frequency with a rectifier and converter combination. Allowing a wider range of prime mover speeds can improve

2176-458: The average "healthy human" becomes exhausted within 10 minutes. The net electrical power that can be produced will be less, due to the efficiency of the generator. Portable radio receivers with a crank are made to reduce battery purchase requirements, see clockwork radio . During the mid 20th century, pedal powered radios were used throughout the Australian outback , to provide schooling ( School of

2240-409: The bicycle's tire on an as-needed basis, and hub dynamos which are directly attached to the bicycle's drive train. The name is conventional as they are small permanent-magnet alternators, not self-excited DC machines as are dynamos . Some electric bicycles are capable of regenerative braking , where the drive motor is used as a generator to recover some energy during braking. Sailing boats may use

2304-597: The center of the disc and the rim (or ends of the cylinder), the electrical polarity depending on the direction of rotation and the orientation of the field. It is also known as a unipolar generator , acyclic generator , disk dynamo , or Faraday disc . The voltage is typically low, on the order of a few volts in the case of small demonstration models, but large research generators can produce hundreds of volts, and some systems have multiple generators in series to produce an even larger voltage. They are unusual in that they can produce tremendous electric current, some more than

2368-436: The copper disc. Later homopolar generators would solve this problem by using an array of magnets arranged around the disc perimeter to maintain a steady field effect in one current-flow direction. Another disadvantage was that the output voltage was very low, due to the single current path through the magnetic flux. Experimenters found that using multiple turns of wire in a coil could produce higher, more useful voltages. Since

2432-555: The county had a population of 7,878. The county seat and largest city is American Falls . The county was created by the Idaho Legislature on January 30, 1913, by a partition of Cassia County . It is named for an early hydroelectric power plant (1902) at the American Falls . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 1,443 square miles (3,740 km ), of which 1,404 square miles (3,640 km )

2496-506: The county was $ 14,007. About 10.80% of families and 16.10% of the population were below the poverty line , including 20.10% of those under age 18 and 12.70% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 United States Census , there were 7,817 people, 2,641 households, and 2,019 families living in the county. The population density was 5.6 inhabitants per square mile (2.2/km ). There were 2,944 housing units at an average density of 2.1 units per square mile (0.81 units/km ). The racial makeup of

2560-754: The county was $ 18,412. About 8.3% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line , including 13.7% of those under age 18 and 12.3% of those age 65 or over. School districts include: 42°41′N 112°50′W  /  42.69°N 112.84°W  / 42.69; -112.84 Electric generator In electricity generation , a generator is a device that converts motion-based power ( potential and kinetic 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,

2624-472: The county was 75.1% white, 2.3% American Indian, 0.4% Asian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 19.5% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 29.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 16.7% were German , 16.7% were English , and 7.2% were American . Of the 2,641 households, 40.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.6% were married couples living together, 10.1% had

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2688-401: The county was 83.78% White , 0.09% Black or African American , 3.29% Native American , 0.32% Asian , 0.04% Pacific Islander , 11.10% from other races , and 1.38% from two or more races. 21.73% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 18.0% were of German , 17.6% English and 10.9% American ancestry. There were 2,560 households, out of which 40.90% had children under

2752-604: The dam was breached and the lake drained. These sediments (called the Raft Formation) lie beneath most of the present-day American Falls Reservoir. At other times the Snake River was dammed completely by basalt flows extruded from vents. One lava dam a few miles downstream from the present American Falls Dam formed a reservoir in which more than 80 feet (24 m) of sediments (clay, silt, and sand) were deposited. This series of basalt flows and original sediments were covered by

2816-413: The first major industrial uses of electricity. For example, in the 1870s Siemens used electromagnetic dynamos to power electric arc furnaces for the production of metals and other materials. The dynamo machine that was developed consisted of a stationary structure, which provides the magnetic field, and a set of rotating windings which turn within that field. On larger machines the constant magnetic field

2880-476: The generator reaches a steady state power output. Very large power station generators often utilize a separate smaller generator to excite the field coils of the larger. In the event of a severe widespread power outage where islanding of power stations has occurred, the stations may need to perform a black start to excite the fields of their largest generators, in order to restore customer power service. A dynamo uses commutators to produce direct current. It

2944-513: The lands of the Fort Hall Bottoms. Native Americans have inhabited this region for at least 10,000 years and the area is an important resource for them. Many scientists were opposed as well because of the loss of natural habitat and access to fossil records of the Bottoms. Power County, Idaho Power County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho . As of the 2020 Census ,

3008-646: The new lake bed sediments and are named the Snake River Group and the American Falls Lake Beds. These events occurred up until the late Pleistocene , less than one million years ago. The Snake River has continued to erode its channel in the basalt and modify the lake bed sediments until the present time. The dam at American Falls is on the Snake River Plain at an elevation of 4,357 feet (1,328 m) above sea level . The topography near

3072-467: The other has a wire winding in which the changing field induces an electric current: The armature can be on either the rotor or the stator, depending on the design, with the field coil or magnet on the other part. Before the connection between magnetism and electricity was discovered, electrostatic generators were invented. They operated on electrostatic principles, by using moving electrically charged belts, plates and disks that carried charge to

3136-413: The output voltage is proportional to the number of turns, generators could be easily designed to produce any desired voltage by varying the number of turns. Wire windings became a basic feature of all subsequent generator designs. Independently of Faraday, Ányos Jedlik started experimenting in 1827 with the electromagnetic rotating devices which he called electromagnetic self-rotors . In the prototype of

3200-443: The overall energy production of an installation, at the cost of more complex generators and controls. For example, where a wind turbine operating at fixed frequency might be required to spill energy at high wind speeds, a variable speed system can allow recovery of energy contained during periods of high wind speed. A power station , also known as a power plant or powerhouse and sometimes generating station or generating plant ,

3264-472: The power system. Alternating current generating systems were known in simple forms from Michael Faraday 's original discovery of the magnetic induction of electric current . Faraday himself built an early alternator. His machine was a "rotating rectangle", whose operation was heteropolar : each active conductor passed successively through regions where the magnetic field was in opposite directions. Large two-phase alternating current generators were built by

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3328-399: The requirements for larger scale power generation increased, a new limitation rose: the magnetic fields available from permanent magnets. Diverting a small amount of the power generated by the generator to an electromagnetic field coil allowed the generator to produce substantially more power. This concept was dubbed self-excitation . The field coils are connected in series or parallel with

3392-401: The river is gently rolling, with differences in elevation of less than two hundred feet (60 m). The original falls occur where the river channel narrows to about 600 feet (180 m) and cascades about fifty feet (15 m) in several 6-to-10-foot (2 to 3 m) drops over highly jointed basalt. The final drop is a plunge of about fifteen feet (4.6 m). The city of American Falls

3456-449: The single-pole electric starter (finished between 1852 and 1854) both the stationary and the revolving parts were electromagnetic. It was also the discovery of the principle of dynamo self-excitation , which replaced permanent magnet designs. He also may have formulated the concept of the dynamo in 1861 (before Siemens and Wheatstone ) but did not patent it as he thought he was not the first to realize this. A coil of wire rotating in

3520-510: The stator field. Wheatstone's design was similar to Siemens', with the difference that in the Siemens design the stator electromagnets were in series with the rotor, but in Wheatstone's design they were in parallel. The use of electromagnets rather than permanent magnets greatly increased the power output of a dynamo and enabled high power generation for the first time. This invention led directly to

3584-476: The substitute site. The first dam at American Falls was begun in 1925 by the Bureau of Reclamation and was completed in 1927. The river was temporarily impounded while the new concrete structure was put in place. The Oregon Short Line Railroad bridge over the river had to be raised to allow for crossing the new reservoir. This dam was designed by Frank A. Banks . The existing dam is the second structure to be called

3648-611: The sun , wind , waves and running water . Motor vehicles require electrical energy to power their instrumentation, keep the engine itself operating, and recharge their batteries. Until about the 1960s motor vehicles tended to use DC generators (dynamos) with electromechanical regulators. Following the historical trend above and for many of the same reasons, these have now been replaced by alternators with built-in rectifier circuits. Bicycles require energy to power running lights and other equipment. There are two common kinds of generator in use on bicycles: bottle dynamos which engage

3712-476: The synchronous or induction type, the primer mover speed turning the generator shaft must be at a particular speed (or narrow range of speed) to deliver power at the required utility frequency. Mechanical speed-regulating devices may waste a significant fraction of the input energy to maintain a required fixed frequency. Where it is impractical or undesired to tightly regulate the speed of the prime mover, doubly fed electric machines may be used as generators. With

3776-421: The turning magnetic field is provided by induction from the one they have. They also do not require speed governor equipment as they inherently operate at the connected grid frequency. An induction generator must be powered with a leading voltage; this is usually done by connection to an electrical grid, or by powering themselves with phase correcting capacitors. In the simplest form of linear electric generator,

3840-445: The western rivers. The reservoirs could then provide year-round downstream irrigation via canals, even during traditional low water times. The use of eminent domain by the government to appropriate the original townsite in 1923 resulted in several lawsuits. One in particular, BROWN v. U S, 263 U.S. 78 (1923) allowed that the property valuation should include the value of the streets and improvements which would need to be replaced in

3904-427: Was discovered in the years of 1831–1832 by Michael Faraday . The principle, later called Faraday's law , is that an electromotive force is generated in an electrical conductor which encircles a varying magnetic flux . Faraday also built the first electromagnetic generator, called the Faraday disk ; a type of homopolar generator , using a copper disc rotating between the poles of a horseshoe magnet . It produced

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3968-496: Was first platted in the early 1880s. It was named for the waterfall on the Snake River near the settlement. During the last part of the 19th century, privately financed irrigation canals were created to sustain the emerging agriculture industry in southern Idaho and other parts of the west. The Carey act (1894) paved the way for private investment in irrigation projects. By 1895, the American Falls irrigation project came before

4032-517: Was released from American Falls Dam as quickly as possible. If the dam were to fail, the other Snake River dams would experience a flood they were not designed to cope with, although the lower Columbia River dams would most likely survive. The American Falls reservoir filled, but its level did not even rise to its spillway crest. When the second dam was planned, members of the Shoshone and Bannock communities opposed expansion as it would further flood

4096-590: Was used by the firm of Elkingtons for commercial electroplating . The modern dynamo, fit for use in industrial applications, was invented independently by Sir Charles Wheatstone , Werner von Siemens and Samuel Alfred Varley . Varley took out a patent on 24 December 1866, while Siemens and Wheatstone both announced their discoveries on 17 January 1867 by delivering papers at the Royal Society . The "dynamo-electric machine" employed self-powering electromagnetic field coils rather than permanent magnets to create

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