"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Tag: Mechanical Engineering
Copper Losses
01/04/18
“How is electricity lost in copper?”
Current flow is one of the basis of operation for transformers. However, when the current will heat up the transformer, causing energy losses. These are known as Copper Losses and must be taken into account during transformer design.
Synchronous Compensators
01/02/18
“How can we use synchronous motors to stabilize the grid?”
Synchronous Motors are great for precision control applications. But their usage can be applied to grid stabilizations. Since voltage in a grid can fluctuate, by running synchronous motors at no-load speeds we can effectively have a load that adds inertia to the system, therefore mellowing out the voltage fluctuation. These devices are known as a Synchronous Compensators and are a vital part of the modern grid.
LNG Engines
12/22/18
“How can vehicles be powered by Liquid Nitrogen Gas?”
Most cars these days are powered by petroleum. But there exists technology which allows for Natural Gas to be used. This works by holding Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in a very cold (Between -140 and -130 degrees C) isolation chamber, pushing it out through a pressurized nozzle when desired, converting it to a gasified form, feeding it through a tank that changes the temperature and pressure to desired levels and then moving it into an Internal Combustion Engine. These are known as LNG Engines and may serve a transitory role before the mass advent of electric vehicles.
Accelerometers
12/13/18
“How can we measure the acceleration of an object?”
Acceleration can be one of the most important things for an engineer to measure. But we will need a tool to accomplish this. This is how we can use accelerometers, which measure the stresses on piezoelectric material to determine acceleration.
Gyroscopes
12/12/18
“How can we measure angular velocity and distance traveled?”
When working with machines that undergo angular movement such as motors, it is very useful to know their rotational velocity. This can be accomplished with the use of Gyroscopes. The velocity of a gyroscope can be integrated to find the distance traveled.
Image credit Wikipedia
The European Union Has Just Unveiled It’s Zero Carbon Emission Plan
11/29/18
“How will the EU become carbon neutral?”
Breaking news. The European Union, accounting for 10 % of carbon emissions globally, has recently unveiled its long-term plan to cut its carbon emissions to zero by 2050. Although its 2030 goals will not be changed, it does give more focus to the following decades. This will be an extremely exciting event for years to come.
How Battery Storage can help Black Starts
11/27/18
“How can battery storage help with black starts?”
In order to recover from power outages, black starts are a necessary firsts step. This can be helped with battery storage since their geographically distributed nature will make them more resilient. This is How Battery Storage can help Black Starts.
