Recent Applications of DC Shunt generator?

Question

hi,

Thanks for your help in advance,

Need more information on recent trends in applications of DC shunt generator. Kindly help.

thank you

Answer 1

For quite some time, the trend in rotating machinery has been to do away commutators. There is still a share of applications served by commutator motors, but that share gets smaller every year. The applications for commutator generators appears to be something between few and none. If there are a few around, they are going to be hard to find. They may be limited to educational use and hobbiest conversion of commutator motors to generators.

Re additional details:

This seems to me to be a rather peculiar assignment. Applications for shunt generators are more a historical matter than anything else.

Here are the historic applications for commutator generators. I assume that most of these would be shunt generators. All of these applications can be performed by some combination of AC generators and semiconductor rectifiers or electronic control systems. Most if not all of the former DC generator applications are now predominately performed by other means. I doubt very much that any effort is being made to improve the use of DC generators in former applications or to investigate new applications. In a few cases, new DC generators (or motors used as generators) are still being sold for these applications. There are probably examples of nearly all of these applications that are still in use if only as historical exhibits.

DC generators have been used:

to generate utility power for illumination, motor operation and heat production,

to generate power for electric railway systems,

to generate power for charging the electric starter battery, and powering the ignition system, headlights and other auxiliary items in vehicles,

as exciters for a synchronous generator to provide DC current to the field coils,

in Ward-Leonard motor-generator-motor systems for variable speed operation of elevators and industrial equipment,

for engine-generator-motor systems used in diesel-electric locomotives to generate power for DC traction motors in a system similar to the Ward-Leonard drive system,

as tachometer generators to provide an accurate speed indicating signal for control purposes,

As dynamometers to provide a controlled load for testing engines and motors,

For recharging batteries in electric motor propelled submarines.