Turbo-electric transmission uses electric generators to convert the mechanical energy of a turbine

(steam or gas) into electric energy and electric motors to convert it back into mechanical energy to
power the driveshafts.

Turbo-electric drives are used in some rail locomotives (gas turbines, e.g. with the first TGV) and ships
(steam and more recently gas turbines). An advantage of turbo-electric transmission is that it allows
the adaptation of high-speed turning turbines to the slowly turning propellers or wheels without the
need of a heavy and complex gearbox. It also has the advantage of being able to provide electricity for
the ship or train's other electrical systems, such as lighting, computers, radar, and communications
equipment.

In electricity generation, a generator[1] is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy)
into electrical power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam
turbines, gas turbines, water turbines, internal combustion engines and even hand cranks. The first
electromagnetic generator, the Faraday disk, was invented in 1831 by British scientist Michael
Faraday. Generators provide nearly all of the power for electric power grids.

The reverse conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy is done by an electric motor, and
motors and generators have many similarities. Many motors can be mechanically driven to generate
electricity and frequently make acceptable manual generators.

The operating principle of electromagnetic generators 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.

He 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 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 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 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.

Jedlik and the self-excitation phenomenon[edit]

Independently of Faraday, the Hungarian Ányos Jedlik started experimenting in 1827 with the
electromagnetic rotating devices which he called electromagnetic self-rotors. In the prototype of 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,[2]
which replaced permanent magnet designs. He also may have formulated the concept of the dynamo
in 1861 (before Siemens and Wheatstone) but didn't patent it as he thought he wasn't the first to
realize this.[3]

Direct current generators[edit]

Main article: Dynamo

A coil of wire rotating in 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 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.[4] It was used by the firm of Elkingtons for commercial
electroplating.[5][6][7]

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, the latter delivering a paper on his discovery to the Royal Society.

The "dynamo-electric machine" employed self-powering electromagnetic field coils rather than
permanent magnets to create the stator field.[8] 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.[9] 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 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 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.

Synchronous generators (alternating current generators)[edit]

Main article: Alternator

Ferranti alternating current generator, c. 1900.

Through 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.[10] Moreover, they are excited with special control
to enhance the stability of the power system.[11]

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.[12]

Large two-phase alternating current generators were built by 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.[13]

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.[14] His early
alternators produced frequencies between 100 and 300 Hz. Ferranti went on to design 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 fir