Redesigning the electrical engine for energy efficiency

The standard design of gasoline-powered and electrical engines hasn’t changed much during the last century. The motors have worked pretty well over the years, and no one has seemed to have the desire to tackle the process of making significant changes.

With more researchers looking at new green technologies for generating power, however, the traditional engine has almost become a scapegoat. The engine is to blame for the problems with pollution, some say. Companies are looking for ways to reduce emissions, spending billions of dollars researching these new methods of generating power.

However, one way to reduce emissions that is gaining more traction -- in part because it will be more cost effective -- is to make the existing engines more energy efficient. Car manufacturers have been doing this off and on for years, improving the gas mileage ratings of their vehicles.

An Iowa State University researcher is trying to bring similar improvements to electrical engines and generators. These improvements would provide a slight benefit in power generation, maybe up to 5%, but they certainly could lead to additional benefits down the road, if the research proves successful.

Some of the models for improvement that the researchers are considering, backed by a National Science Foundation grant, involves altering the way the motors and generators have the ability to work in two directions. While working in two directions is a nice feature, the problem is that many real-world uses for these motors don’t require bi-directional capabilities.

The researchers will be using many different techniques to try to change the shape of the units to result in better efficiency. By choosing to change the shape of the components, trying to make them work much more efficiently when going in a single direction, the engine should pick up a better performance level. For example, the researchers could take a gear on the generator that has a design with symmetrical teeth that could go in either direction. By redesigning the teeth to limit the rotation of the gear to one direction, and then focusing on improving the results in that single direction, it’s possible to provide an improved performance level.

Using this method of making slight changes to an engine could be applied to a variety of different manufacturing scenarios. By taking a new look at designs that have existed for many decades, better results could be achieved in many different arenas. What if designers could tweak the rotors on a harvester, allowing the engine to use less power to turn the rotors, while achieving the same harvesting speed and results?

It never hurts to take a fresh look at an old design, seeking better ways to make them work. Thanks to extremely powerful computing design software, it’s much easier to test the potential design changes on the computer screen first before taking the time and money to actually make the changes and test them in a physical manner. At Iowa State, the researchers will be using design software to run their initial tests on various ideas of generator redesigns.

Even though the Iowa State researchers are focusing on electric motors, the potential benefits are impressive. Because there are so many electric motors in use in a variety of industries, including power plants and wind turbines, even a slight improvement of only 5% could result in a significant overall energy savings across all industries.