See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/273946299

FUELLESS GENERATING SET: DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION & PERFORMANCE

EVALUATION

Conference Paper · August 2014

CITATIONS READS

6 45,030

2 authors, including:

Engr. Idowu OLUGBENGA Adewumi

Federal College Of Agriculture Ibadan
26 PUBLICATIONS   28 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Renewable Energy Research View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Engr. Idowu OLUGBENGA Adewumi on 24 March 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Engineering
and Technology Research August 5 - 7, 2014 ISBN: 978-2902-58-6 Volume 3

FUELLESS GENERATING SET: DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION &

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

Ajav, E.A1* and Adewumi, I.O1

(1 Department of Agricultural & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Technology,

University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Correspondence: adexio@yahoo.com, adexio2010@gmail.com, 2348023821869)

Abstract: Power generation and distribution has been an indispensable factor in the progress
of an economy, ranging from manufacturing, banking, media, health care, aviation, etc.
Environmental pollution which leads to degradation or depletion of ozone layer is one of the
major problem caused by the use of generator with fossil fuels. Increase in the cost of fossil
fuel which has been one of the major prime movers in the internal combustion engine (ICE)
has been noticed. This can be accounted for based on the rapid decrease in the level of oil
well. Hence, there is need for development of a power generating set that will not make use
fuel to produce voltage. This study deals with the design, construction and performance
evaluation of 1000W (1KVA) fuelless power generating set to serve as an alternative source
of energy.
The materials used for the project work include d c motor, alternator, connecting shaft,
coupling, 12V/75Ah battery, charging panel (Transformer, diode, and capacitor), and frame.
The methods involved fabrication of a connecting rod with boring of a reasonable hole that
was conveniently fitted into the DC motor with threaded hole for bolting. The crank casing of
the alternator was inserted and the armature of the alternator was fixed. The generator
frame was then constructed to provide support and rigidity. The diode was connected to
green cables and capacitors to the yellow cable. The terminal of the DC motor was
connected to the battery, with red cables to the mains as output.
The machine consists of five different units; the power supply, conversion, control, output
and charging units. The components parts includes 12V battery, D.C motor, alternator,
connecting shaft, bolts and nuts, transformer, diode, and noise damper.
The result of the performance evaluation of the fuel-less power generating set shows that
the machine has an average efficiency of 56.43% at load of 600W for continuous operation.
The peak efficiency of the constructed fuel-less power generating set was 89.1% at load of
100W. For comparison, the result obtained from Power inverter, has clearly confirmed that
the highest efficiency recorded is at 96.27% which is more than that of the fuel-less power
generating set which is at 89.1%, at a load of 100W respectively.
Keywords: Generator, fuelless, Power Inverter, alternative energy

1 INTRODUCTION

The exert nature of electricity is not known but investigation indicate that it consist of small
negative charge called Electron, when this electron are standing still we have static

258
electricity” and when they are forced to traveled a movement of electron they are called
“Dynamic electricity. Power generation and distribution has been an indispensable factor in
the progress of an economy, ranging from manufacturing, banking, media, health care,
avaiation, etc. (Ulaby, 1999). It has however been proved that power skyrocket the
productivity of a country.

Since power has been defined by Knight (2004) as the rate of doing work; this simply means
that the productivity of a country will largely depend on the availability of power from
different source. Thus, Hassen (1989) cited in Ulaby (1999) states that majority of the
problems of Nigeria is traceable to the erratic power supply nature of the country, where
many activities has been paralyzed due to the power outage. Analysis has clearly showed
that Nigeria loose up to about N220 Billion annually, due to the unstable nature of the
country power supply which has poses a threat, hence reducing the capacity of industries to
increase productivity (James,2005).

Environmental pollution which leads to degradation or depletion of ozone layer is one of the
major problems caused by the use of generator with fossil fuels (Ajav, 2012). Other problem
includes land and water pollution, noise pollution, increase in price of fossil fuel year in year
out, among others. The famous Faraday energy generator can be modified for perpetual
electrical current maintenance (Adiyat et.al, 1993). The basic components the fuelless
engines consisted of are a set of fast spinning discs placed between two electromagnets. But
this scheme could never maintain current indefinitely, because the disc electrical charge is
weak to withstand the opposing resistance of the conductor.

Practically, the effective working fuel-less generator have to be built by each material that
have one thousand times the electrical conductivity of copper could generate and maintain
self-sustained current. It is suggested that increasing disc rotation to incomprehensible
velocity or huge component geometrical enlargements would have the same effect too
(Taufik, 2005). It is necessary to spin discs with the super-rapidity required to generate self-
sustaining electrical current.

The fuel-less engine usually runs very smooth and quiet and the best part of the design is
that it is free from air pollution, since there is no emission of dangerous gas like Carbon
monoxide (CO), carbon-dioxide (CO2), etc. The speed are adjustable or can be built to run at
one speed with engine which does not run on any type of gasoline, oil or other combustible
fuel. The free electrical energy produced by the fuel-less generators is replaced back into
the motor and reused by the motor (Maini, 1998). Heavy electrical machinery that starts
automatically or remotely generally makes use of contactors which rely on an
electromagnetic force to close them to start the machinery. This force is created by an
electric coil placed in the center of a laminated steel core. These coils are typically designed
to operate at fairly low voltages, ranging from 110 volts to as low as 12 volts. As these
machines themselves typically run on far higher voltages, this creates the need for a
separate control voltage feed. Instead of having to run separate cables or install extra sets
of bus bars, it is far simpler to use the main circuit voltage and step it down with a control
transformer to the appropriate control voltage (Wisegeek, 2013).

259
2 Chemical Reaction in Car Battery

Atere, (2009) explained that “Car battery is also referred to as a secondary cell or lead
accumulator”. The active materials are spongy lead, Pb (-ve plate), lead oxide, PbO2 for the
positive plate and sulphuric acid.

When the cell is giving current hydrogen irons thrift to the positive plate and SO42-irons to
the negative. In the process they attack the plates, and reduce the active materials of each
to lead sulphate. At the negative plate the reaction is:

Pb  SO42  electron  PbSO 4 (1)

The chemical reaction at the positive plate is generally given as:

(i) PbO2  2 H   2electron  PbO  H 2

(ii) PbO  H 2 SO4  H 2O

so altogether; we have

PbO2  H 2 SO4  2 H   2electrons  PbSO4  2 H 2O (2)

However, H2SO4 molecules do not exist in solution – they are dissociated into 2H+ and SO4
irons. We may therefore write equation 2 as:
2
PbO2  SO4  4 H   2electrons  PbSO 4  2 H 2O (3)

In this discharging reaction water (H2O) is former and sulphuric acid consumed; the
concentration of the acid, and therefore, its density, fall.

A battery consists of a container, calls, and electrolytes, positive poles. Usually, the cell has
tow unlike plates or poles, with chemicals between them. One pole, called the positive
(+ve) pole, so that current flows when they are joined by a wire.

Figure 1: Battery (Source: Atere, 2009)

260
2.1 Greenhouse Effect

With the increase in world population and the rise of living standards, the demand for
energy in the world is steadily increasing. Global environmental issues and exhaustion of
fossil resources also pose serious problems for energy consumption (Houghton, 1989).
Environmental friendly energy technology and a shift to non fossil energy resources such as
natural energy and biomass are expected.
Generally, from the past efforts of so many researchers it can be deduced that search for
renewable energy is important in terms of sustainable energy throughout the world. Hence
operating principle of electromagnetic generator such as fuel-less power generating set
design, construction and evaluation is of most important.

The objective of the study is to design, construct and evaluate the performance of 1KVA
Power fuelless generating set.

3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Fuel-less Power Generating Set Components Units

The fuel-less power generating set consists of five major units, which includes the following;

1. The power supply Unit

2. Conversion Unit

3. Control Unit

4. Output Unit

5. Charging Unit

3.2 The Power Supply Unit

12 volts battery was used as source of power supply unit to the D.C motor in order to induce
electromotive force (e.m.f). Lead acid battery is highly recommended for DC generating
system. This serves as storage device for the direct current which is to be induced.

261
Figure 2: 12V/75Ah Battery

3.3 Conversion Unit

This unit is the unit that distinguished the DC generator from the popular fuelled generating
set. The unit make use of DC motor, which will be responsible for all voltage, current and
power conversion.

3.4 Control Unit

This unit performs the following work; converts direct current (DC) to alternating current
(AC), removal of ripples, and rectification.

The size of the alternator been used, will determine the capacity of the generating set.

Mathematically; P = IV cos Ф

where,

P = Power output (watts) = ?

V = Voltage (Volts) = 220

I = Current (ampere) = 5.35A

Cos Ф = 0.85

Therefore, the capacity of the generating set, P = 5.35 x 220 x 0.85 = 1000W

The alternator which is a small domestic generator has three output lead cables which
supplies, the load, capacitor and the diode.

3.5 Crank Shaft

The crankshaft acts as a link between the DC motor and the alternator which transfer the
mechanical energy from the DC motor into the alternator to produce electric current. See
appendix for calculation on shaft diameter selection.

3.6 Output Unit

262
The use of the control circuit unit will make it possible to provide output voltage within the
range of 100V – 240V which is the standard voltage requirement for all appliances. The red
wire on the alternator was used to supply the household and offices as the mains.

3.7 Constructional Features

The constructional features are as discussed below:
3.7.1 The Frame
This part provides support to all components of the fuel-less generator. It serves as an
housing for all component parts of the machine. A piece of angle iron 40mm x 40mm x 5mm
was measured, cut to sizes and welded together to make a stand of length 61mm, width
40mm and height 19mm; brazed at different points for regularity with angle bar of 1.5mm x
1.5mm as shown in appendix
3.7.2 The motor seat
A piece of angle iron of dimension mentioned for the frame was cut into length 21mm x
10mm and which was welded to the main frame as shown in appendix.

3.7.3 Alternator Seat

A piece of angle iron of above dimension (1.5mm x 1.5mm) from the frame was cut into
length 20.5mm x 12mm and was welded to the frame.
3.7.4 Battery and Charging Panel Seat
The plate was measured and cut into the length of 60mm x 19mm and welded to the frame
to make up with the seat of battery and the self-charging panel of the generating set.
3.7.5 Alternator

A permanent magnet alternator is a power generating device that produces a sinusoidal

output when a mechanical input to its hub or shaft is applied. This device is constructed very
much like a brushless motor with the appropriate selection of insulation materials and
winding to match the environment and application.

Alternator used for this research work has the following nominal parameters as
specifications; Voltage = 12V,

Current = 5.3 A,

Speed = 6000 rpm,

Minimum speed for accumulator charging initiation = 1300 rpm.

They are produced in a variety of power and voltage levels and generally are always
examined from many points of view, such as reliability, efficiency, dimensions, weight and
costs.

A.C POWER
OUTPUT (220 –
240 V)

263

A.C MOTOR
UNIT
3.7.6 D.C Motor

Electric motors are electric generators reversed in function. They convert electrical energy
into mechanical energy- the continual stresses between two electromagnetic field relatively
moveable, just as generator convert into electromagnetic stresses, the mechanical energy
applied to them (Aremu, 2009). Power from the electric motor is transmitted into the
alternator via rotating shaft driven system. Electric motor used for this research work has
the following configuration; 9000rpm (Speed), 12V.

3.8 Design Procedure

In the design of the fuel-less generating set, the following procedural steps are used to
achieve the aims and objectives of the research work.

Step 1: Fabricating a crankshaft and boring a reasonable hole that will conveniently
fit in to the DC motor with thread hole for bolting the motor to the
crankshaft.

Step 2: Fitting the fabricated crankshaft in to the DC motor

Step 3: Inserting the DC motor with crankshaft into the crank casing of the
alternator.

Step 4: Fitting the armature of the alternator into the casing.

Step 5: Dropping the stator core of the alternator into the armature

Step 6: Inserting a long bolt through the bearing end of the stator and tighten firmly
to connect the motor and the alternator together.

Step 7: Replacing the cover of the alternator and fasten both the cover and the
crankcase together.

Step 8: Constructing a frame for the generator to provide support and rigidity

264
Step 9: Connecting the diode to green cables and capacitor to the yellow ones.

Step 10: Connecting the terminals of the DC motor to equivalent terminals of the
battery

Step 11: connecting the red cables to the mains as output.

4 Performance Evaluation
This evaluation is intended to establish the conversion efficiency between the fuel-less dc
source (PV) input and the ac output. This will include response to variations in input power,
input and output voltage, ambient temperature as revealed by Sandia (2004) according to
IEEE standard.

In all cases of the following tests, the ac output was measured on the utility side. In this
test, the generator efficiency is characterized as a function of array power, array voltage,
utility voltage, and ambient temperature.

The empty cells in Table 1 (Efficiency vs. Voltage Test Condition) will be filled with measured
or calculated results.

4.1 Machine Evaluation

The evaluation of the machine will be calculated using the formula below as stated by
output power
Akintunde et al (2004); Efficiency = 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑥 100

4.2 Output Efficiency for fuel-less Power Generator

Table 1 below shows the result of performance evaluation for the 1000W (1KVA) fuel-less
power generating set.

The load bank was connected to the fuel-less generator in order to power the light bulbs on
the bank, which was connected to the extension wire. Stop watch was used to record the
time at interval of 60 seconds for five different runs. While the multi-meter was used to
read the voltage output in Volts with Current in Ampere and the mean voltage with current
result was computed in the Table 1 below.

Output efficiency was computed using the data obtained after testing, according to Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, 1997) reported by Sandia Inverter (2004) as
shown in the Table 1 above. Load capacity used for this research work ranges from 0 watt to
1000 watts; that is from 0% to 100% loading. The speed of the motor used was 9000rpm
while that of the alternator was 6000rpm. This simply means that there is direct coupling of
the motor and the alternator since the speed is in ratio 1.5: 1. The power factor was kept
constant (Ф = 0.85), since the standard range from IEEE is between 1 – 0.7 and local load
bank was used in testing the machine which consist of light bulbs. Each test was replicated
five times. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, 1997) cited by Abass
(2013) was used as basis for comparison for a fuel-less power generator and Inverter
System.

265
 120

100

80
Frequency

60
Input Power (W)
40 Output Power (W)

20

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Number of trials (Power Loading)

Figure 4: Input and Output Power of fuelless generator

5 Conclusions

The following conclusions were drawn from the design, construction and performance
evaluation of 1000W (1KVA) fuel-less power generating set;

i. It can be deduced that the machine (fuel-less power generating set) had the peak
efficiency of 89.1% at a load of 100W and the lowest efficiency of 56.4% at a load of
600W with voltage output of 131V.

ii. It was also revealed that there is a decrease in the output of the machine when there
is a high increase in the load.

iii. After proper statistical analysis, the machine is said to have an average efficiency of
56.4%.

iv. The input voltage which is usually supplied by the battery ranges from 11.68V at load
of 1000W to 12.67 at 0W for fuel-less power generating set compare to 10.3V at
load of 1000W to 12.63V for power inverter. This can be accounted for due to the
fact that fuel-less generating set has self charging component while the inverter
system depends on main source (PHCN or Power Generating Set) for recharging the
battery.

v. Furthermore, the voltage output in the power inverter system is more stable than
that of fuel-less power generating set as inverter system records output voltage
which ranges between 146.8V at 1000W and 241.8V at 0W against the fuel-less
generating set that recorded 28.24V at 1000W to 225V at 0W respectively.

5.1 Recommendations

Based on the design, construction and performance evaluation test conducted on the fuel-
less power generating set, the following recommendations were made for further study;

266
(i) In order to obtain a good performance characteristic, a voltage well above 12V
battery voltage should be used to power the power generator.
(ii) Design of special d c motor, alternator and transformer for the purpose of
construction of fuelless power generating set has to be encouraged by engineers in
society in order to has clean and renewable energy especially for agricultural
production.
(iii) The appliance can be adopted and made available for use in agricultural
establishments.

REFERENCES

Abass, W.O (2013): Construction and Evaluation of a Power Inverter. Unpublished HND
Project, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal College of Agriculture,
Moor Plantation, Ibadan. (16)

Aditya, D., Kamesh, M., Arogyaswami, P. (2008): Receive Antenna Selection in MIMO
Systems using Convex Optimization,:115–120.

Ajav E.A (2012): Agricultural Pollution and Control. Being an M.Sc lecture note from
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Technology,
University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Aremu, D.O (2009): Design, Construction and Performance Evaluation of Motorized Maize
Shelling Machine. Unpublished B.Sc Project, Department of Agricultural and
Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of Ibadan. 41 – 45.

Atere (2009): Farm Electrification. Being a lecture note from Department of Agricultural
Engineering, Federal College of Agriculture, Moor Plantation, Ibadan. Oyo-State Nigeria. 5 –
16

Hansan, H. J. (1989). Types of fuels for electricity generation. Electrical Energy in Agriculture,
Henrik,M.I.(2000):“The Global Power Inverter”
http://www.05.abb.com/global/scot/scot271.nsf/ 369669d5dd6e6es1257ba5.
Accessed 12/10/2011

Houghton, R. A. (1989). Global circulation of carbon. Biomass Handbook, eds.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-generator-set.htm (assessed 03/02/2013)

IEEE (1999): Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers;www.ieee.org. Retrieved 2011-01-

28.

James, A. (2005) “ Introduction to Electric Circuit (5th ed.)” New York Press, United state

Knight, R.D (2004) “Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach. San Francisco

Maini, A.K. (1998) “Electronic Projects for Beginners” Pustak Mahal, 2nd Edition. An Indian
Publication. 211 – 213

267
Taufik, D. (2005). Introduction to Magnetic Design, EE445 Lecture Notes; San Luis Obispo,
CA: California Polytechnic State University

Ulaby, F.T (1999) “ Fundamental of Applied Electro-magnetic (1999 ed.) Upper Saddle River,
W. Hall, pp. 56–61. New York: Gordon & Breach

APPENDIX

Performance Evaluation of Fuel-less Power Generating Set

Time Load Input Output Input Output Input Output Efficiency

(Sec) (W) Voltage Voltage Current Current Power Power
(V) (V) (A) (A) (W) (W)
60 0 12.69 220 0 0 0 0 0
120 0 12.65 230 0 0 0 0 0
180 0 12.66 225 0 0 0 0 0
240 0 12.67 220 0 0 0 0 0
300 0 12.64 230 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 12.662 225 0 0 0 0 0

Time Load Input Output Input Output Input Output Efficiency

(Sec) (W) Voltage Voltage Current Current Power Power
(V) (V) (A) (A) (W) (W)
60 100 12.64 220 7.24 0.36 91.51 79.2 86.55
120 100 12.65 215 7.31 0.33 92.47 70.95 76.72
180 100 12.6 210 7.26 0.41 91.48 86.1 94.12
240 100 12.57 220 7.44 0.39 93.52 85.8 91.75
300 100 12.54 225 7.45 0.4 93.42 90 96.34
2 100 12.6 218 7.34 0.378 92.48 82.41 89.096

Table 1: Output Efficiency of Fuelless Generator

Time Load Input Output Input Output Input Output Efficiency

(Sec) (W) Voltage Voltage Current Current Power Power
(V) (V) (A) (A) (W) (W)
60 200 12.69 199 7.9 0.45 100.25 89.55 89.33
120 200 12.42 197 7.89 0.39 97.99 76.83 78.41
180 200 12.71 198 7.88 0.44 100.16 87.12 86.98
240 200 12.73 200 7.9 0.42 100.57 84 83.52
300 200 12.7 210 7.4 0.4 93.98 84 89.38
3 200 12.65 200.8 7.794 0.42 98.59 84.3 85.524

268
 Trials LoadInput Output Input Output Input Output Efficiency
(W) Voltage Voltage Current Current Power Power (%)
(V) (V) (A) (A) (W) (W)
1 0 12.662 225 0 0 0 0 0
2 100 12.6 218 7.34 0.378 92.48 82.41 89.1
3 200 12.65 200.8 7.794 0.42 98.59 84.3 85.5
4 300 12.804 188 7.07 0.396 90.514 74.238 82.0
5 400 12.748 153.6 8.16 0.484 104.026 74.308 71.5
6 500 12.716 144.6 7.8 0.436 99.184 62.936 63.4
7 600 12.474 131 6.748 0.362 84.176 47.496 56.4
8 700 12.6 92.948 5.282 0.296 66.558 27.454 41.2
9 800 12.376 42.92 4.552 0.238 56.368 10.194 18.2
10 900 12.344 27.264 3.532 0.212 43.67 5.766 13.4
11 1000 11.68 28.24 2.3 0.13 26.922 3.638 13.6

269

View publication stats