Homopolar generator

A homopolar generator is a DC electrical generator comprising an electrically conductive disc or

cylinder rotating in a plane perpendicular to a uniform static magnetic field. A potential difference is
created between the center of the disc and the rim (or ends of the cylinder) with an electrical
polarity that depends on the direction of rotation and the orientation of the field. It is also known as
a unipolar generator, acyclic generator, disk dynamo, or Faraday disc. The voltage is typically low,
on the order of a few volts in the case of small demonstration models, but large research generators
can produce hundreds of volts, and some systems have multiple generators in series to produce an
even larger voltage.[1] They are unusual in that they can source tremendous electric current, some
more than a million amperes, because the homopolar generator can be made to have very low
internal resistance. Also, the homopolar generator is unique in that no other rotary electric machine
can produce DC without using rectifiers or commutators.[2]

Faraday disk, the first homopolar

generator

The Faraday disc

Faraday disc

The first homopolar generator was developed by Michael Faraday during his experiments in 1831. It
is frequently called the Faraday disc or Faraday wheel in his honor. It was the beginning of modern
dynamos — that is, electrical generators which operate using a magnetic field. It was very inefficient
and was not used as a practical power source, but it showed the possibility of generating electric
power using magnetism, and led the way for commutated direct current dynamos and then
alternating current alternators.

The Faraday disc was primarily inefficient due to counterflows of current. While current flow was
induced directly underneath the magnet, the current would circulate backwards in regions outside
the influence of the magnetic field. This counterflow limits the power output to the pickup wires, and
induces 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 around the
circumference, and eliminate areas where counterflow could occur.

Homopolar generator development

The remains of the ANU 500 MJ

generator

Long after the original Faraday disc had been abandoned as a practical generator, a modified
version combining the magnet and disc in a single rotating part (the rotor) was developed.
Sometimes the name homopolar generator is reserved for this configuration. One of the earliest
patents on the general type of homopolar generators was attained by A. F. Delafield, U.S. patent
278,516 (https://patents.google.com/patent/US278516) . Other early patents for homopolar
generators were awarded to S. Z. De Ferranti and C. Batchelor separately. Nikola Tesla was
interested in the Faraday disc and conducted work with homopolar generators,[3] and eventually
patented an improved version of the device in U.S. patent 406,968 (https://patents.google.com/pate
nt/US406968) . Tesla's "Dynamo Electric Machine" patent describes an arrangement of two parallel
discs with separate, parallel shafts, joined like pulleys by a metallic belt. Each disc had a field that
was the opposite of the other, so that the flow of current was from the one shaft to the disc edge,
across the belt to the other disc edge and to the second shaft. This would have greatly reduced the
frictional losses caused by sliding contacts by allowing both electrical pickups to interface with the
shafts of the two disks rather than at the shaft and a high-speed rim. Later, patents were awarded to
C. P. Steinmetz and E. Thomson for their work with homopolar generators. The Forbes dynamo,
developed by the Scottish electrical engineer George Forbes, was in widespread use during the
beginning of the 20th century. Much of the development done in homopolar generators was
patented by J. E. Noeggerath and R. Eickemeyer.

Homopolar generators underwent a renaissance in the 1950s as a source of pulsed power storage.
These devices used heavy disks as a form of flywheel to store mechanical energy that could be
quickly dumped into an experimental apparatus. An early example of this sort of device was built by
Sir Mark Oliphant at the Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National
University. It stored up to 500 megajoules of energy[4] and was used as an extremely high-current
source for synchrotron experimentation from 1962 until it was disassembled in 1986. Oliphant's
construction was capable of supplying currents of up to 2 megaamperes (MA).

Similar devices of even larger size are designed and built by Parker Kinetic Designs (formerly OIME
Research & Development) of Austin. They have produced devices for a variety of roles, from
powering railguns to linear motors (for space launches) to a variety of weapons designs. Industrial
designs of 10 MJ were introduced for a variety of roles, including electrical welding.[5] [6]

Description and operation

Disc-type generator

Basic Faraday disc generator

This device consists of a conducting flywheel rotating in a magnetic field with one electrical contact
near the axis and the other near the periphery. It has been used for generating very high currents at
low voltages in applications such as welding, electrolysis and railgun research. In pulsed energy
applications, the angular momentum of the rotor is used to accumulate energy over a long period
and then release it in a short time.

In contrast to other types of generators, the output voltage never changes polarity. The charge
separation results from the Lorentz force on the free charges in the disk. The motion is azimuthal
and the field is axial, so the electromotive force is radial. The electrical contacts are usually made
through a "brush" or slip ring, which results in large losses at the low voltages generated. Some of
these losses can be reduced by using mercury or other easily liquefied metal or alloy (gallium, NaK)
as the "brush", to provide essentially uninterrupted electrical contact.

If the magnetic field is provided by a permanent magnet, the generator works regardless of whether
the magnet is fixed to the stator or rotates with the disc. Before the discovery of the electron and
the Lorentz force law, the phenomenon was inexplicable and was known as the Faraday paradox.

Drum-type generator

A drum-type homopolar generator has a magnetic field (B) that radiates radially from the center of
the drum and induces voltage (V) down the length of the drum. A conducting drum spun from above
in the field of a "loudspeaker" type of magnet that has one pole in the center of the drum and the
other pole surrounding the drum could use conducting ball bearings at the top and bottom of the
drum to pick up the generated current.

Astrophysical unipolar inductors

Unipolar inductors occur in astrophysics where a conductor rotates through a magnetic field, for
example, the movement of the highly conductive plasma in a cosmic body's ionosphere through its
magnetic field. In their book, Cosmical Electrodynamics, Hannes Alfvén and Carl-Gunne Fälthammar
write:

"Since cosmical clouds of ionized gas are generally magnetized, their motion produces induced
electric fields [..] For example the motion of the magnetized interplanetary plasma produces
electric fields that are essential for the production of aurora and magnetic storms" [..]
".. the rotation of a conductor in a magnetic field produces an electric field in the system at rest.
This phenomenon is well known from laboratory experiments and is usually called 'homopolar ' or
'unipolar' induction.[7]

Unipolar inductors have been associated with the aurorae on Uranus,[8] binary stars,[9][10] black
holes,[11][12][13] galaxies,[14] the Jupiter Io system,[15][16] the Moon,[17][18] the Solar Wind,[19]
sunspots,[20][21] and in the Venusian magnetic tail.[22]
Physics

Working principle of a homopolar

generator: due to Lorentz force FL
negative charges are driven towards
center of the rotating disk, so that a
voltage shows up between its center
and its rim, with the negative pole at
the center.

Like all dynamos, the Faraday disc converts kinetic energy to electrical energy. This machine can be
analysed using Faraday's own law of electromagnetic induction. This law, in its modern form, states
that the full-time derivative of the magnetic flux through a closed circuit induces an electromotive
force in the circuit, which in turn drives an electric current. The surface integral that defines the
magnetic flux can be rewritten as a line integral around the circuit. Although the integrand of the line
integral is time-independent, because the Faraday disc that forms part of the boundary of line
integral is moving, the full-time derivative is non-zero and returns the correct value for calculating
the electromotive force.[23][24] Alternatively, the disc can be reduced to a conductive ring along the
disc's circumference with a single metal spoke connecting the ring to the axle.[25]

The Lorentz force law is more easily used to explain the machine's behaviour. This law, formulated
thirty years after Faraday's death, states that the force on an electron is proportional to the cross
product of its velocity and the magnetic flux vector. In geometrical terms, this means that the force
is at right-angles to both the velocity (azimuthal) and the magnetic flux (axial), which is therefore in
a radial direction. The radial movement of the electrons in the disc produces a charge separation
between the center of the disc and its rim, and if the circuit is completed an electric current will be
produced.[26]

See also

Barlow's wheel
 Electric generator
Energy portal
Electric motor

Homopolar motor

Faraday paradox

Faraday's law of induction

Wimshurst machine

References

1. Losty, H.H.W & Lewis, D.L. (1973) Homopolar Machines. Philosophical Transactions for the
Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences. 275 (1248), 69-75

2. Valone, Thomas (November 1994). The Homopolar Handbook, pg 1 (https://books.google.com/

books?id=8cs7Zb-5gF8C&q=Homopolar+generator) . ISBN 9780964107014.

3. Nikola Tesla, "Notes on a Unipolar Dynamo (http://www.andrijar.com/teslahom/index.html) ".

The Electrical Engineer, N.Y., Sept. 2, 1891. (Also available at tesla.hu, Article 18910902 (http://
www.tesla.hu/tesla/articles/18910902/index.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20
110517040938/http://www.tesla.hu/tesla/articles/18910902/index.htm) 2011-05-17 at the
Wayback Machine)

4. J.W. Blamey, P.O. Carden, L.U. Hibbard, E.K. Inall, R.A. Marshall and Sir Mark Oliphant, 'The large
homopolar generator at Canberra: initial tests', Nature, 195 (1962), pp. 113–114.

5. Thomas Valone, "The Homopolar Handbook" (https://books.google.com/books?id=8cs7Zb-5g

F8C&pg=PA43) , Integrity Research Institute, 1994, pg. 45

6. [1] (https://tulsaworld.com/archive/parker-has-the-power-firm-builds-super-energy-generators/
article_6fa54d5b-d9f8-5c6f-b28f-5ffca68bdf43.html)

7. Hannes Alfvén and Carl-Gunne Fälthammar, Cosmical Electrodynamics (1963) 2nd Edition,
Oxford University Press. See sec. 1.3.1. Induced electric field in uniformly moving matter.

8. Hill, T. W.; Dessler, A. J.; Rassbach, M. E., "Aurora on Uranus – A Faraday disc dynamo
mechanism (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1983P%26SS...31.1187H) " (1983) Planetary and
Space Science (ISSN 0032-0633), vol. 31, Oct. 1983, p. 1187–1198

9. Hannes Alfvén, "Sur l'origine de la radiation cosmique (http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k31

562/f1180.table) " (On the origin of cosmic radiation)" Comptes Rendus, 204, pp.1180–1181
(1937)
10. Hakala, Pasi et al., "Spin up in RX J0806+15: the shortest period binary (http://adsabs.harvard.e
du/abs/2003MNRAS.343L..10H) " (2003) Monthly Notice of the Royal Astronomical Society,
Volume 343, Issue 1, pp. L10–L14

11. Lovelace, R.V.E. "Dynamo Model of Double Radio Sources (http://www.astro.cornell.edu/us-ru

s/pdf/dinamo1976.pdf/1976Nature262,649) "

12. Burns, M. L.; Lovelace, R. V. E., "Theory of electron-positron showers in double radio sources (ht
tp://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1982ApJ...262...87B) " (1982) Astrophysical Journal, Part 1, vol.
262, Nov. 1, 1982, p. 87–99

13. Shatskii, A. A., "Unipolar Induction of a Magnetized Accretion Disk around a Black Hole (http://a
dsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003AstL...29..153S) ", (2003) Astronomy Letters, vol. 29, p. 153–157

14. Per Carlqvist, "Cosmic electric currents and the generalized Bennett relation (http://adsabs.har
vard.edu/abs/1988Ap%26SS.144...73C) " (1988) Astrophysics and Space Science (ISSN 0004-
640X), vol. 144, no. 1–2, May 1988, pp. 73–84.

15. Goldreich, P.; Lynden-Bell, D., "Io, a jovian unipolar inductor (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/196
9ApJ...156...59G) " (1969) Astrophys. J., vol. 156, pp. 59–78 (1969).

16. Strobel, Darrell F.; et al., "Hubble Space Telescope Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph
Search for an Atmosphere on Callisto: A Jovian Unipolar Inductor (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/a
bs/2002ApJ...581L..51S) " (2002) The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 581, Issue 1, pp. L51–
L54

17. "Sonett, C. P.; Colburn, D. S., "Establishment of a Lunar Unipolar Generator and Associated
Shock and Wake by the Solar Wind (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1967Natur.216..340S) "
(1967) Nature, vol. 216, 340–343.

18. Schwartz, K.; Sonett, C. P.; Colburn, D. S., "Unipolar Induction in the Moon and a Lunar Limb
Shock Mechanism (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1969Moon....1....7S) " in The Moon, Vol. 1,
p.7

19. Srnka, L. J., "Sheath-limited unipolar induction in the solar wind (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/ab
s/1975Ap%26SS..36..177S) " (1975) Astrophysics and Space Science', vol. 36, Aug. 1975, pp.
177–204.

20. Yang, Hai-Shou, "A force – free field theory of solar flares I. Unipolar sunspots (http://adsabs.h
arvard.edu/abs/1981ChA%26A...5...77Y) " Chinese Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 5,
Issue 1, pp. 77–83.
 21. Osherovich, V. A.; Garcia, H. A., "Electric current in a unipolar sunspot with an untwisted field (ht
tp://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1990GeoRL..17.2273O) " (1990) Geophysical Research Letters
(ISSN 0094-8276), vol. 17, Nov. 1990, pp. 2273–2276.

22. Eroshenko, E. G., "Unipolar induction effects in the Venusian magnetic tail (http://adsabs.harvar
d.edu/abs/1979CosRe..17R..93E) " (1979) Kosmicheskie Issledovaniia, vol. 17, Jan.–Feb.
1979, pp. 93–10

23. Jackson, John David (1998). Classical Electrodynamics (https://archive.org/details/classicalele

ctro00jack_449) (3rd ed.). Wiley. pp. 208 (https://archive.org/details/classicalelectro00jack_
449/page/n207) –211. ISBN 978-0471309321.

24. Valone, Thomas (November 1994). The Homopolar Handbook. Integrity Research Institute. p. 7.
ISBN 9780964107014.

25. Knoepfel, Heinz (11 July 2008). Magnetic Fields: A Comprehensive Theoretical Treatise for
Practical Use. Wiley. p. 324. ISBN 9783527617425.

26. Electromagnetic Field Theory (https://web.archive.org/web/20030917043122/http://www.plas

ma.uu.se/CED/Book/EMFT_Book.pdf) , 2nd ed. by Bo Thidé, Department of Physics and
Astronomy, Uppsala University, Sweden

General references

Don Lancaster, "Shattering the homopolar myths (http://www.tinaja.com/glib/muse117.pdf) ".

Tech Musings, October, 1997. (PDF)

Don Lancaster, "Understanding Faraday's Disk (http://www.tinaja.com/glib/muse121.pdf) ". Tech

Musings, October, 1997. (PDF)

John David Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, Wiley, 3rd ed. 1998, ISBN 0-471-30932-X

Arthur I. Miller, "Unipolar Induction: A Case Study of the Interaction between Science and
Technology," Annals of Science, Volume 38, pp. 155–189 (1981).

Olivier Darrigol, Electrodynamics from Ampere to Einstein, Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-
19-850594-9

Trevor Ophel and John Jenkin, (1996) Fire in the belly (https://web.archive.org/web/200605152323
14/http://wwwrsphysse.anu.edu.au/admin/php/fire_in_the_belly/Fire_in_the_Belly01.pdf) : the first
50 years of the pioneer school at the ANU Canberra : Research School of Physical Sciences and
Engineering, Australian National University. ISBN 0-85800-048-2. (PDF)
 Thomas Valone, The Homopolar Handbook : A Definitive Guide to Faraday Disk and N-Machine
Technologies. Washington, DC, U.S.A.: Integrity Research Institute, 2001. ISBN 0-964107-0-1-5

Further reading

Richard A. Marshall and William F. Weldon, "Parameter Selection for Homopolar Generators Used
as Pulsed Energy Stores", Center for Electromechanics, University of Texas, Austin, Jul. 1980. (also
published in: Electrical Machines and Electromechanics, 6:109–127, 1981.)

External links

Popular Science Monthly, Construction of Unipolar Dynamos, April 1916, pp. 624–626, Scanned
article available via Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?
id=hCYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA624

Robert Hebner, "Homopolar Generator (https://web.archive.org/web/20070510075826/http://www.u

texas.edu/research/cem/homopolar%20generators.html) ". Homopolar Welding, UT-CEM.

"K2-64: Unipolar generator (https://www.physics.umd.edu/lecdem/services/demos/demosk2/k2-64.

htm) ". physics.umd.edu.

Richard E. Berg and Carroll O. Alley, "The Unipolar Generator: A Demonstration of Special Relativity
(https://www.physics.umd.edu/lecdem/outreach/QOTW/arch11/q218unipolar.pdf) ", Department
of Physics, University of Maryland, 2005. (PDF)

Richard Fitzpatrick, "Magnetohydrodynamic theory ", The homopolar generator (http://farside.ph.ute

xas.edu/teaching/plasma/lectures/node70.html) . farside.ph.utexas.edu, 2006-02-16.

"5K10.80 Homopolar Generator (http://www.physics.brown.edu/physics/demopages/Demo/em/de

mo/5k1080.htm) ; Lecture Demonstrations.". physics.brown.edu

William J. Beaty, "Untried Homopolar Generator Experiments (http://www.amasci.com/freenrg/n-ma

ch.html) ". 1996.