Outstanding presentation. I'm a former electronics technician and engineer, electricity fascinates me to this day. How wonderful that Switzerland had the sense to preserve this piece of technological history and keeps it not only in working order but available for the public to view and enjoy and learn from.
I really enjoy the era when machines were adorned as works of art, tributes to the scientists and engineers who made them. They are much more inspiring than the anonymous gray boxes typical of the 21st century.
Amazing! and it LOOKS LIKE NEW! My old high school in Argentina, the Escuela Tecnica Otto Krause, maintains and runs a comparable steam generator every year. It is a bigger compound machine, made in Germany in 1913. It was used to provide electricity to government buildings in Buenos Aires, and remained operational as an educational and historical piece all this years. It produced short of 80 kW during the test run I attended to, dumped onto rows of banks of incandescent bulbs. The limiting factor is, I believe, the state of the rusty old boiler, which was not entirely safe at the working pressure (~12 kg/cm2).
Machines of the late 18 and early 1900s were so much more stylish than they are today. I used to work at 312 N. Spring St. in Los Angeles, CA on the 15th floor where one of two elevator rooms was stationed. Once in a while, the maintenance guy would do some work on the 1930s era equipment. I would poke my head into the room and look at all of the machinery, and it looked so good by today's standards. The same is true for this generator equipment. Very nice.
It may be small compared with the turbo-alternators that I operated and maintained in my former career, but it is a beautiful machine. It looks in great condition, and well maintained.
The machine runs 3x for roughly 10 minutes, 3 or 4 times per year for the public to see. It's a museum piece, efficiency is not the goal here (if it was, it would have been dismantled a long time ago)
Beautiful! I have spent over 40 years working on hydroelectric generators dating back as far as 1896 that are still in operation today. Many of the dams and turbines date back further, before the advent of AC.
You lucky buggar, that is so interesting. The local hydro plant here( Tully N.Q. Australia) had 4 X 17 or 18 Mega watts alternators before the upgrade, then after the upgrade the new Alternators have 24 Megawatts in the same size somehow with only one inch nozzles @ 2000 Psi, that's a scary pressure when you look at the size of the pipelines. Anyway I liked it before the upgrade because they had the Flyball governors out in the open just spinning around but now it's all electronic. You know how it is, progress isn't always a good thing but they did it for accuracy's sake & automation. Such an impressive place built into the side of a mountain.
Thank you to everyone involved in bringing these videos together. It's the first time in my experience the whole power generation sequence has been not only explained but shown as well.
In the Netherlands a steam powered pumping station, which has been decommissioned a long time ago, is still being used as a backup for the new pumps. When there is high demand, it is fired up. So, a museum but still having an economical value. It’s the Wouda gemaal in Lemmer Friesland. You can visit it and once in a while it is powered up for maintenance and training. Being fed by coal at first but now oil burning.
It's been so long since I studied electromechanical systems, but it is changing magnetic lines of force cutting across the wires of a coil that produces electromotive force. This would require orienting your stator coil/coils 90 degrees into the plane of the drawing from what you've shown, with allowance of course for the shaft to pass.
You know that was a great video with excellent details for those of us that know what we're looking at by that I mean showing us the ID plate and 215 Kva is way more power than I thought it was capable of. That is nearly capable of running a small town. Also very cruide voltage regulation and as you know it's done with an AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulator) these days. Such an impressive machine, I would really like to see it in person one day.
It looks cool and I love it , but there truly is no comparison between what we can do today compared to a century ago when it comes to machining or designing.
There is no way that thing could run non-stop at a real coal or nuclear power plant. It appears to be a reciprocating engine, which has much less moving parts than a typical steam turbine.
That's beautiful and really well kept, another interesting topic would be syncronization to the grid or other generators but looks like it would impossible to show it with this one being disconnected
a loot of mountains, a lot of streams, very small population, i would say its more logical than anything else, any country with identical condition does that, because its basically free electricity.
Old good alternator with DC exciter generator but to be honest there even were alternators getting excitation from exciter generator which also have even smaller sub-exciter DC generator. (Sorry if I named them wrong because English isn't my native language) I love All those old machinery and as an engineer I really admire by predecessors work. Isn't it a wonder having a weaker theoretical knowledge and less computational power ( logarithmic rule instead of modern computers) they made all things that power our world.
I'm building a 1:25 scale model of a Three Phase generator coupled with a 25mm pelton turbine, I was struggling A LOT trying to understand how to wind up the three phase coils. Your video is really helpful because it confirms my zig-zag hypothesis. I think I should put 4/5 wires for each phase and be able to turn on some 2v LEDs. A smaller cc motor will provide for the inductor coils, again, coupled with a pelton turbine
@@fanplant no. they probably indicate the operation of various things like the exciter. A synchroscope is a needle type instrument where basically put, 2 motors are connected together via a differential gear (like in a car). One motor is connected to the power plants generator, the other to the grid. Usually there are also light bulbs connected to indicate the phase angle error. When the generator is in sync with the grid, the needle of the synchroscope should be at the 12 o'clock position, and not move. There is also the option of the needle being stationary at the 6 o'clock position, which would indicate that the generator and grid are 180° out of phase. If the generator is tied to the grid with a phase error, the generator will be forcefully moved to be in sync. This will draw significant current as it tries to phase advance or retard in a single rotation to match the grid. If this happens the grid ties trip (basically big circuit breakers) and the generator is taken offline again. In case of the lights mentioned previously, they will be off when in phase and frequency, and brightly illuminated if 180° out of phase, and slowly oscillate from bright to dark by the frequency error, same goes for the synchroscope needle. Basically put, the grid ties engage all 3 phases simultaneously, else the generator will run out of sync and try to shake its self apart if the ties do not trip (overcurrent). If you want to see what that looks like, look for the video "Gen 1 Desync" by "GITsL9l". Its a short where you can see what happens when a generator falls out of sync due to the turbines (presumably) slowing down too much.
@@fanplant true, its unusual to see someone that knows what it is and how it works. My point with the switches below the lights and that one being lit all the time, still stands.
I am a electrical engineering graduate but I unable to understand fully ie 100% after watching 3 times, I can only understand around 70%, but I think u have done a perfect job on this video, my whole career profession is on factory operations management, I have more thing to learn on electric engineering.
Sure the kid have been loving turning that power. Maybe he doesn't know but he has been "manipulated" in a good way to become an engineer. Great explanation and nice dad job in a same time
I would hook up the generator to the whole building... using that to power those few lights is like useing a American freight train generator to power a house (almost no load at all)
Is it still possible to regulate the governor precisely and the voltage to synchronise it to tge swiss grid (via the transformer mentioned in the other comment). Because synchronising to grid is always the most fun and most tricky part of a generator (and, of done manually, the part you destroy it if you fail to badly)
Theoretically yes. There is a converter (not shown in the video) that brings the voltage to grid levels, so it would probably technically work. However, it would likely be a regulation nightmare.
I was thinking producing steam with a parabolic solar-thermal generator during the day, saving it in a boiler, and using it at after sunset all through the night.
Oh, wow! What a beautiful piece of old machinery! I suspect that it never looked this gorgeous when it was new. The restorers used different bright colors and polished it up, making it look new and shiny, only better. Added bonus... totally impervious to an EMP attack because it has no electronics to get fried. The keepers of the grid should go back to old school steam engines and steam driven generators, just like this one. There should be absolutely zero energy shortage, since North America has lots of coal to fire the steam engines with.
I can assure you that it looked just as as nice when was new, we even have the old photos to prove that. Sulzer were proud of there engineering and they wanted to show that.
My area is powered by various sources of electric power, but since we're swimming in natural gas (Intermountain West), lots of it is coming from not coal gas, but natural gas. It's a good peak handling source.
Thank you! I'm still fascinated by ropeways, so there are good chances for another one to come up in the future! I usually have more contact with those in the winter (due to skiing), but I have several such projects in the backlog which are not that easy to get acces too. Let's see what the future brings 🙂
Just remember, since 1904 the ferromagnetic materials carrying the magnetic flux, improved a lot. Also, the formulas for designing electric transformers, motors and generators, were perfected. So, when you use an electric generator from 1904, the problem is not the steam engine, is the generator itself. In university I followed the specialization for designing electric motors, transformers and generators, so I know what I am writing.
i might be wrong here, but the howling might be caused by eddie currents in the field coils, and they even out, im surprised the machine hasn't been kept as a backup generator
very good, expert explanation.... the exhaust steam of the engine is just expelled in the air...Was the machine original not condensing the exhaust steam ?
Thanks! Appearently 60hz is more efficient for longer distance transmission, but I doubt that is the historical reason why international grids run at a given frequency.
@@caoimhin7122 While this would certainly be an interesting video, It wouldn't fit the "Mighty Machines" format unfortunately. In this playlist, I present actual machines from my own footage, not focusing on historical anecdotes.
That generator is beautiful. Magnificent engineering and it's 120 years old.
Outstanding presentation. I'm a former electronics technician and engineer, electricity fascinates me to this day. How wonderful that Switzerland had the sense to preserve this piece of technological history and keeps it not only in working order but available for the public to view and enjoy and learn from.
Personally, I could watch this equipment working all day. It's simple but magnificent, and it's satisfying to see it in action.
Best and simplest explanation of power generation that I have ever heard.
The makers of this machine must be very proud that this machine is still being used to generate electricity.
I'm afraid, they're dead (or 150+ years old)
@@sandro-here 😢😂
@@sandro-here Yes I know, assuming there is some afterlife but most likely it is not the case.
@@arcticpilotshow4440 I'm an engineer, I happily leave that discussion to other people 😀
@@sandro-hereздравствуйте у меня есть безтоплевный генератор который работает от искуственого созданого давления воды
I saw one of these running at a museum in the USA as a kid, I am glad to learn how it works!
On internet, there are two kinds of videos 1) where people do broken dances for a song and get likes, and 2) awesome videos like this
I really enjoy the era when machines were adorned as works of art, tributes to the scientists and engineers who made them. They are much more inspiring than the anonymous gray boxes typical of the 21st century.
The description of how everything worked was really well done and easy to follow.
Amazing! and it LOOKS LIKE NEW! My old high school in Argentina, the Escuela Tecnica Otto Krause, maintains and runs a comparable steam generator every year. It is a bigger compound machine, made in Germany in 1913. It was used to provide electricity to government buildings in Buenos Aires, and remained operational as an educational and historical piece all this years. It produced short of 80 kW during the test run I attended to, dumped onto rows of banks of incandescent bulbs. The limiting factor is, I believe, the state of the rusty old boiler, which was not entirely safe at the working pressure (~12 kg/cm2).
I will remember this and when my ship gets in I'll get them a titanium boiler made.
Machines of the late 18 and early 1900s were so much more stylish than they are today. I used to work at 312 N. Spring St. in Los Angeles, CA on the 15th floor where one of two elevator rooms was stationed. Once in a while, the maintenance guy would do some work on the 1930s era equipment. I would poke my head into the room and look at all of the machinery, and it looked so good by today's standards. The same is true for this generator equipment. Very nice.
It may be small compared with the turbo-alternators that I operated and maintained in my former career, but it is a beautiful machine. It looks in great condition, and well maintained.
They should use the resistor load to pre-heat the boiler water.
The machine runs 3x for roughly 10 minutes, 3 or 4 times per year for the public to see. It's a museum piece, efficiency is not the goal here (if it was, it would have been dismantled a long time ago)
@@sandro-here Sorry I didn't mean to sound critical. It's very cool.
I want to make a scaled down version of this!!!!
@@milolouis No offense taken 🙂
They should connect it to the grid
Beautiful equipment. As a machinist for 46 yrs, I've always admired the Swiss.
Beautiful! I have spent over 40 years working on hydroelectric generators dating back as far as 1896 that are still in operation today. Many of the dams and turbines date back further, before the advent of AC.
Tesla and Westinghouse won the current war in 1893. 1896 was the time of AC.
You lucky buggar, that is so interesting. The local hydro plant here( Tully N.Q. Australia) had 4 X 17 or 18 Mega watts alternators before the upgrade, then after the upgrade the new Alternators have 24 Megawatts in the same size somehow with only one inch nozzles @ 2000 Psi, that's a scary pressure when you look at the size of the pipelines. Anyway I liked it before the upgrade because they had the Flyball governors out in the open just spinning around but now it's all electronic. You know how it is, progress isn't always a good thing but they did it for accuracy's sake & automation. Such an impressive place built into the side of a mountain.
Absolutely beautiful!!! Thank you for taking the time to film this and share it with the rest of us!!!
Very interesting video and so nice to see this machine preserved. I used to work with Oerlikon on railway brake systems.
Thank you to everyone involved in bringing these videos together. It's the first time in my experience the whole power generation sequence has been not only explained but shown as well.
You did an excellent job explaining and showing how everything is done.
Excellent, clear concise and informative.
Very informative.
At one time, someone figured out how to build an original, small, prototype in their garage or shed.
Like the bootstrapping idea. Very clever.
Truly a wonderful work of art... Worthy of traveling there to visit if possible ❤
UNDE SE AFLĂ ACEASTĂ MAȘNĂ GENERATOR .ESTE ÎN ELVEȚIA ? DAȚI RĂSPUNS CORECT .
I love the look of old machines like this, that museum staff keeps clean, polishing the brass and keeping it running.
Extremely fascinating 😮 Thank You for letting us see this museum piece on RUclips ❤
These guys know how to restore and maintain a machine. So cool. Subbed here.
In the Netherlands a steam powered pumping station, which has been decommissioned a long time ago, is still being used as a backup for the new pumps. When there is high demand, it is fired up. So, a museum but still having an economical value. It’s the Wouda gemaal in Lemmer Friesland. You can visit it and once in a while it is powered up for maintenance and training. Being fed by coal at first but now oil burning.
"Alternative current", must be one of those new age things... ;) Teasing aside, great video, I do love those large diameter low RPM AC generators!
Hahaha yeah ran straight into that one :-D thanks though!
It's been so long since I studied electromechanical systems, but it is changing magnetic lines of force cutting across the wires of a coil that produces electromotive force. This would require orienting your stator coil/coils 90 degrees into the plane of the drawing from what you've shown, with allowance of course for the shaft to pass.
You know that was a great video with excellent details for those of us that know what we're looking at by that I mean showing us the ID plate and 215 Kva is way more power than I thought it was capable of. That is nearly capable of running a small town. Also very cruide voltage regulation and as you know it's done with an AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulator) these days. Such an impressive machine, I would really like to see it in person one day.
I would like to see a modern electronic and digital gizmo work after 120 years 👍
Excellent video very well educational Not too complicated that someone would have trouble understanding but not too simple so that i'm bored.
That generator and engine are magnificent, thanks for the video.
Thanks to the Swiss for keeping part of history that help create this advanced society. 😊
A bulky generator from ancient times until now it still works, that's great, it's the premise for today's generators, thank you for sharing.
your videos are always fun to watch!
That is an amazing machine, clearly still working and probably better built then its modern counterparts, traditional engineering IS the best.
Well industrial grade is still OK. Just consumer grade is the problem
It looks cool and I love it , but there truly is no comparison between what we can do today compared to a century ago when it comes to machining or designing.
There is no way that thing could run non-stop at a real coal or nuclear power plant. It appears to be a reciprocating engine, which has much less moving parts than a typical steam turbine.
Yes!
And I bet it produces a nice clean waveform
That's beautiful and really well kept, another interesting topic would be syncronization to the grid or other generators but looks like it would impossible to show it with this one being disconnected
Beautiful. Thank you.
Superb 'state of the art' turn of the century example of a power station.
Engineering and technology at its finest! Brilliant minds can accomplish anything and everything.
Another excellent video Sandro. Thank you.
Great video! Much historical and scientific knowledge, I learned a lot. Thank You!
We have one of those at our abandoned steel plants, exposed too the elements as it was replaced by a gas plant for the mill a few decades later
What a beautiful gem!!! not to mention rare!
amazing
its first time for me seeing working rotary converter
Wow - more than half your nation's power comes from Hydro? That is admirable, be proud!
Some of the biggest rivers in Europe arise in Switzerland, so hydro power is an abundant source of energy there.
a loot of mountains, a lot of streams, very small population, i would say its more logical than anything else, any country with identical condition does that, because its basically free electricity.
❤ beautiful thank you so very much for sharing it with us..
This was a really great video!!! Thumbs UP!
Really interesting! Thank you for this one!
Beautiful Machine!
That was very educational for me. Now i understand how 3 fs power is made...
Great video.
Old good alternator with DC exciter generator but to be honest there even were alternators getting excitation from exciter generator which also have even smaller sub-exciter DC generator.
(Sorry if I named them wrong because English isn't my native language)
I love All those old machinery and as an engineer I really admire by predecessors work.
Isn't it a wonder having a weaker theoretical knowledge and less computational power ( logarithmic rule instead of modern computers) they made all things that power our world.
تسلم على هالمعلومات الممتازه عن المولدات الكهربائيه
I'm building a 1:25 scale model of a Three Phase generator coupled with a 25mm pelton turbine, I was struggling A LOT trying to understand how to wind up the three phase coils. Your video is really helpful because it confirms my zig-zag hypothesis.
I think I should put 4/5 wires for each phase and be able to turn on some 2v LEDs.
A smaller cc motor will provide for the inductor coils, again, coupled with a pelton turbine
Very cool! Will you do a video?
A fine explanation , Thank You
they should install grid tie switches and a synchro scope to allow it to use the grid as load.
Is that what those 3 lightbulbs are for?
@@fanplant no. they probably indicate the operation of various things like the exciter. A synchroscope is a needle type instrument where basically put, 2 motors are connected together via a differential gear (like in a car). One motor is connected to the power plants generator, the other to the grid. Usually there are also light bulbs connected to indicate the phase angle error. When the generator is in sync with the grid, the needle of the synchroscope should be at the 12 o'clock position, and not move. There is also the option of the needle being stationary at the 6 o'clock position, which would indicate that the generator and grid are 180° out of phase. If the generator is tied to the grid with a phase error, the generator will be forcefully moved to be in sync. This will draw significant current as it tries to phase advance or retard in a single rotation to match the grid. If this happens the grid ties trip (basically big circuit breakers) and the generator is taken offline again. In case of the lights mentioned previously, they will be off when in phase and frequency, and brightly illuminated if 180° out of phase, and slowly oscillate from bright to dark by the frequency error, same goes for the synchroscope needle.
Basically put, the grid ties engage all 3 phases simultaneously, else the generator will run out of sync and try to shake its self apart if the ties do not trip (overcurrent). If you want to see what that looks like, look for the video "Gen 1 Desync" by "GITsL9l". Its a short where you can see what happens when a generator falls out of sync due to the turbines (presumably) slowing down too much.
@@lbochtler sorry I'm aware what a syncroscope is and it can be done with 3 bulbs.
@@fanplant true, its unusual to see someone that knows what it is and how it works. My point with the switches below the lights and that one being lit all the time, still stands.
@@lbochtler I watched it again and agree you are correct. Good eye
Very interesting and very well explained!
Amazing I sent this video to myself i have planned to make one but out of my big dryer That came to me for free nice video
Thanks for sharin manh, beautiful videos manh, good luck man 🌹
Inertial wheels of death are my favorite momentum thingies.
I am a electrical engineering graduate but I unable to understand fully ie 100% after watching 3 times, I can only understand around 70%, but I think u have done a perfect job on this video, my whole career profession is on factory operations management, I have more thing to learn on electric engineering.
Exceptionally good machine work especially when you take in to consideration it's date of mfg. The original manufacturers were excellent craftsmen.
Sure the kid have been loving turning that power. Maybe he doesn't know but he has been "manipulated" in a good way to become an engineer. Great explanation and nice dad job in a same time
I would hook up the generator to the whole building... using that to power those few lights is like useing a American freight train generator to power a house (almost no load at all)
very cool stuff no cap
Good stuff. Thank you.
Salue! Danke fuer diese einfache vom Laien verstehbare Erklaerung....!
one further explanation: the difference between VPeak to Peak and V RMS Voltages...!
Such a beautiful machine
Very well explained 🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤
Back in the 70s I worked at Mohawk Rubber in Akron OH where we ran very similar aynchronous motors to run the 74 inch Mill Lines and Banberry mixers
I love this!
Spectacular.
magnifique !! Indestructible !
Is it still possible to regulate the governor precisely and the voltage to synchronise it to tge swiss grid (via the transformer mentioned in the other comment). Because synchronising to grid is always the most fun and most tricky part of a generator (and, of done manually, the part you destroy it if you fail to badly)
Theoretically yes. There is a converter (not shown in the video) that brings the voltage to grid levels, so it would probably technically work. However, it would likely be a regulation nightmare.
I was thinking producing steam with a parabolic solar-thermal generator during the day, saving it in a boiler, and using it at after sunset all through the night.
2:12 the physical relation between the coil and the magnet is wrong. The magnet would need to rotate back to front to induce voltage in the coil.
50hz is my kick drum sample
Oh, wow! What a beautiful piece of old machinery!
I suspect that it never looked this gorgeous when it was new.
The restorers used different bright colors and polished it up, making it look new and shiny, only better.
Added bonus... totally impervious to an EMP attack because it has no electronics to get fried.
The keepers of the grid should go back to old school steam engines and steam driven generators, just like this one.
There should be absolutely zero energy shortage, since North America has lots of coal to fire the steam engines with.
I can assure you that it looked just as as nice when was new, we even have the old photos to prove that. Sulzer were proud of there engineering and they wanted to show that.
My area is powered by various sources of electric power, but since we're swimming in natural gas (Intermountain West), lots of it is coming from not coal gas, but natural gas. It's a good peak handling source.
Very cool. Since it's for demonstration only, If they had powered a resistive water heater they could cut down on their fuel costs for making steam
Very nice electricity generator
Love your videos, do you plan on doing more ropeway content in the future?
Thank you! I'm still fascinated by ropeways, so there are good chances for another one to come up in the future! I usually have more contact with those in the winter (due to skiing), but I have several such projects in the backlog which are not that easy to get acces too. Let's see what the future brings 🙂
5:03 sagt 220 V zwischen den Phasen. Müsste das nicht 400 V sein?
5:03 sagt 220 V zwischen den Phasen. Müsste das nicht 400 V sein?
normal sind es 230v zwischen l und n und 400v zwischen zwei phasen. der generator produziert halt was anderes. oder es ist ein fehler@@MarcQuiclic
@@MarcQuiclic 127 V (L-N) (220V 3 phase)
Just remember, since 1904 the ferromagnetic materials carrying the magnetic flux, improved a lot. Also, the formulas for designing electric transformers, motors and generators, were perfected. So, when you use an electric generator from 1904, the problem is not the steam engine, is the generator itself.
In university I followed the specialization for designing electric motors, transformers and generators, so I know what I am writing.
Excellent video thankyou
A work of art.
Excelente gracias
i might be wrong here, but the howling might be caused by eddie currents in the field coils, and they even out, im surprised the machine hasn't been kept as a backup generator
Easier to rent a Cat (Caterpillar) at 200 plus kw then all it needs is diesel fuel and one push button to start it though ...
He talks like this is unusual but we still have coal fired generators running here to power Phoenix.
If you want to see another like it but bigger, there's one in electropolis in Mulhouse
So interesting!
very good, expert explanation.... the exhaust steam of the engine is just expelled in the air...Was the machine original not condensing the exhaust steam ?
Thanks! Yes it was, but I explain that in part 1, along with why it's currently just expelled.
Very interesting!🇨🇦
Depends on the generator attached to it
I wish I could own something this amazing
Awesome video! Question: isn’t 60Hz more efficient from a production standpoint?
Thanks! Appearently 60hz is more efficient for longer distance transmission, but I doubt that is the historical reason why international grids run at a given frequency.
@@sandro-here It would be an interesting subject for a future video.
By the way, Nikola Tesla advocated for 240v at 60Hz.
@@caoimhin7122 While this would certainly be an interesting video, It wouldn't fit the "Mighty Machines" format unfortunately. In this playlist, I present actual machines from my own footage, not focusing on historical anecdotes.
Excellent!
There are some of those Gens, in US but they are mounted vertically. and still in PRODUCTION.....