Chapter 91: Generators and Electric Motors (Please Subscribe!)

Facts have proven that good things eventually come in pairs.

Not long after the Ceuta Treaty was signed, Gao Da received another piece of good news: after several months of hard work, Gramme's power laboratory had successfully manufactured an alternating current generator and a direct current generator, respectively.

Gao Da was not the least bit surprised by the speed at which the power laboratory produced the generators.

Previously, while in Falanxi, Gramme had already manufactured both types of generators and was already quite proficient in the principles and specific manufacturing processes of generators.

Although he had come to Xibanya, with Gao Da's strong support and the presence of some colleagues who had worked with him in Falanxi, the speed of manufacturing generators would not slow down; on the contrary, it would accelerate.

After all, the earliest generators did not require overly precise equipment, and these were small generators intended for experimental use; for Gramme, manufacturing such a generator was completely effortless.

Upon learning that the generators had been successfully manufactured, Gao Da was also quite excited.

Although the current generators might look quite crude to later generations, this was the first step in Xibanya's exploration of electrification.

As the saying goes, all beginnings are difficult; only after developing the generator could Xibanya's path to electrification be considered truly started.

With a generator, there is electricity; for Gao Da, figuring out how to utilize this new form of energy was not a difficult task.

To a certain extent, the principles of a generator and an electric motor are similar. It is just that one converts kinetic energy into electrical energy, while the other converts electrical energy into kinetic energy.

Besides the generator, Gao Da was even more familiar with another tool that makes extensive use of electrical energy: the light bulb.

Education from later generations allowed Gao Da to remember deeply that the material ultimately used in light bulbs was tungsten wire.

Although current technology might not be able to produce qualified tungsten wire for use in light bulbs, what did that have to do with Gao Da?

Gao Da's task was to propose the tungsten wire light bulb as a concept to the experts involved in developing light bulbs.

As for how to produce tungsten wire and experiment with tungsten wire light bulbs, that was a matter for scientists to consider, and had nothing to do with Gao Da, the Emperor.

Considering the importance of electricity to the future, the idle Gao Da decided to personally head to the power laboratory to see how the research was progressing.

Fortunately, the power laboratory was not far from the Madrid Palace. After boarding the royal luxury carriage and enjoying the attentive service of the maids, Gao Da soon arrived at the power laboratory in the suburbs.

"It is indeed much more spectacular than before." Sitting in the carriage, Gao Da could already see the entire newly completed experimental zone, which was much more refined than when he had visited last time.

Whether it was the power laboratory's power experiment building or the engine company's engine research room, they were all built quite properly.

Because they were new buildings, the overall appearance was quite impressive. The V-shaped complex in the center of the entire experimental zone looked particularly grand, standing out among the experimental buildings that were all under three stories high.

Leaving the two maids in the carriage, Gao Da took a portion of his guards and headed toward the power laboratory.

In order not to disturb the power experiments of Gramme and the others, Gao Da deliberately did not inform the power laboratory of his arrival, which resulted in no one being there to welcome him.

However, Gao Da did not care about such empty formalities. If the power laboratory had achieved research results, that would be something worth Gao Da's joy, and it was also the reason Gao Da founded the power laboratory.

Because he had visited the experimental zone before, Gao Da was quite familiar with the location of the power laboratory.

After ordering the troops stationed on the perimeter of the experimental zone to continue patrolling and not to make a scene, Gao Da headed into the power laboratory.

At this moment, the power laboratory was quite lively. After the two generators were manufactured, Gramme and his numerous colleagues began to discuss the utilization of electrical energy.

Relying on the generator, one could indeed generate electricity, but the problem was, how should this electricity be used?

Or to put it another way, how could one prove that electrical energy was a more effective and cheaper energy source?

Currently, there were two avenues of exploration for the role of electricity: one was lighting, and the other was motive power.

However, both of these explorations were in their initial stages, and it was difficult for electricity to prove its utility; this was also the reason why power practitioners had not been taken seriously until now.

Even if one could manufacture a generator and produce electricity, the problem was that the current electricity had no use at all.

One could rely on lead-acid batteries to store the generated electricity, but what was the point of that?

If electricity could not be put to good use, then it was useless.

Leaving a few guards to wait outside the laboratory door, Gao Da had just pushed the door open when he heard the heated discussion inside.

"Seems quite lively," Gao Da said with a smile.

Gramme and the others inside the laboratory also heard the sound of the door opening and Gao Da's voice. They hurriedly looked up and discovered that Gao Da had already entered the laboratory.

"Your Majesty!"

Everyone stopped their discussion and bowed to Gao Da.

There was no help for it; the current Gao Da was the big financier of the power laboratory. The research funds for the power laboratory all relied on Gao Da, which made everyone's respect for Gao Da heartfelt, wishing they could find various ways to get Gao Da to increase research funding.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty." Gramme also stepped forward appropriately to express his apologies: "I did not receive notification from the Wang Gong, which is why I did not go to welcome you."

"It's alright, Mr. Gramme. It was my order; your experiments are what matter." Gao Da smiled and nodded, not minding these empty formalities.

"I heard that both generators have been successfully manufactured?" Gao Da looked into the laboratory with curious eyes, searching for the sight of the generators.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Gramme hurriedly explained: "We have manufactured a direct current generator and an alternating current generator, and are currently exploring the use of electricity.

Please look, Your Majesty, these are the two generators we use for experiments; currently, tests show they can both generate electricity."

Gao Da looked at the two small pieces of equipment and did not look down on them; instead, he was full of curiosity and satisfaction: "Is there any equipment that can store electricity now?"

"There are lead-acid batteries, Your Majesty." Gramme continued to introduce: "Currently, this is the type of battery we use to store electrical energy, which can ensure that we have a certain amount of electricity available for experiments even when the generators are not working."

The lead-acid battery was born in 1859 and was invented by the Falanxi physicist Gaston Planté. It was originally something related to electricity, and since Gramme and the others had worked for Falanxi power companies, it was only natural that they had come into contact with lead-acid batteries.

After all, this was the only rechargeable battery in the world at present, more advanced than the earlier voltaic piles and Daniell cells, and more suitable for various research in the power laboratory.

"What stage has it reached now? Are there any difficulties at present?" Gao Da asked immediately after.

Although Gao Da's knowledge reserve in the field of electricity was not rich, if placed in 1870, more than 150 years ago, the bit of knowledge in his mind was still quite useful.

A tungsten wire light bulb alone would be enough to save Xibanya from taking several years of detours in lighting, as current light bulb research was basically leaning toward carbon filament light bulbs.

Electricity was slowly beginning to develop, and later there would be the war between Edison and Tesla over direct and alternating current.

In fact, direct current and alternating current each had their own advantages and disadvantages, and the scenarios in which they were applied were different. Even in later generations, although people mostly used alternating current in their daily lives, direct current was also used quite a bit in industry.

It was a pity that Tesla was still too young now; otherwise, Gao Da really had the intention of bringing Tesla to Xibanya to work in the power sector.

It would be just right to give Tesla a few years to grow, without over-interfering with his development. When Tesla reached adulthood in the future and began looking for work, it would not be too late for Gao Da to send someone to bring him to Xibanya.

Tesla's ability was quite extraordinary. In his lifetime, he obtained about 1, 00 invention patents, and his research fields included alternating current, radio, wireless power transmission, ball lightning, turbines, magnifying transmitters, particle beam weapons, solar engines, X-ray equipment, electrical meters, missile science, remote sensing technology, aircraft, cosmic rays, radar systems, and robotics, which seemed to be a wide variety.

For an ordinary scientist, specializing in just one of these would require most of their energy, and it would still require a bit of luck to discover some famous research results.

As for Tesla, he had contributions in almost all of these fields, and in some fields, he had quite outstanding contributions, which was rare and commendable.

It was just that later on, because he was somewhat stubborn in scientific research, he eventually earned the title of a mad scientist. Also, because he gave up the patent for alternating current, he remained poor and destitute, becoming one of the famous representatives of people who had outstanding scientific contributions but were poor, destitute, and lived a miserable life.

If Tesla had not given up the alternating current patent, for every horsepower of alternating current generated, one would need to pay Tesla a patent fee of about 2. dollars.

This was an extremely exaggerated income, but for someone with Tesla's relatively ordinary status, whether he could actually get this patent fee was also a question.

"Currently, we have conducted experiments on power generation and electricity storage, but regarding the application of electrical energy, there are still many problems." Gramme reported truthfully.

While reporting, Gramme's expression was still a bit awkward; he was clearly annoyed that he had not achieved major research results despite Gao Da's strong support.

"Speaking of which, regarding the application of electrical energy, I also have some ideas." Gao Da said with a smile: "Mr. Gramme, have you ever thought about using the principle of the generator in reverse?"

Gramme was stunned for a moment, his mind clearly blank, but the words continued to come out of his mouth: "Your Majesty, you mean?"

Gao Da nodded and explained with a smile: "Since kinetic energy can be used to generate electrical energy, why not try using electrical energy to generate kinetic energy?

A generator can generate electricity; why can't electricity be used in reverse? I think this is a very good line of thought; Mr. Gramme, why don't you try it?"

Gramme nodded sluggishly, then suddenly reacted, a very excited smile on his face, and he looked at Gao Da with gratitude: "My God! What a wonderful idea; why didn't I think of it?

Your Majesty, you are truly a genius! If you also worked in the power sector, I'm afraid those power scientists would have had no food to eat long ago."

Gao Da shook his head with a smile: "This was just a sudden thought of mine; whether it works or not still depends on the specific experiment."

Conducting the relevant experiment was actually very simple.

Gramme had people bring over two direct current generators and began the test on the generator and the electric motor.

The test principle was also very simple. The generator was originally for generating electricity; if the electricity generated by the first generator was transmitted to the second generator, what wonderful things would happen?

Under the focused gaze of everyone, Gramme began to wire the two generators.

After all the wires were connected and carefully checked, Gramme then ordered his subordinates: "Start the first generator!"

Following the countdown, the first generator was officially started.

"Electricity has been generated!" The current passed through the test circuit, and the experimental personnel successfully detected the generation of electricity.

Hearing that electricity had been generated, everyone hurriedly turned their eyes to the second generator.

They saw that after the current entered the armature coil of the second generator, it made this generator rotate at an extremely fast speed.

"God, this is real, this is simply unbelievable!" Gramme looked at the two generators running simultaneously with a look of madness, and tears were even welling up in the corners of his eyes.

The other experimental personnel were no better; they did not expect that the application of electrical energy would be realized by a magical idea from Gao Da.

"Your Majesty, I have a good idea, please wait a few minutes." Gramme, having discovered the electric motor, could no longer suppress his excitement and requested of Gao Da.

Gao Da nodded and waited quietly for Gramme to realize his idea.

The device Gramme wanted to manufacture was actually very simple; at least Gao Da could understand the principle.

A small waterfall device with a reservoir above and below the waterfall. After the upper reservoir released water, it made the hydraulic engine generate electricity.

And the electricity was transmitted to the electric motor below; the rotation of the electric motor could pump the water from the lower reservoir back up to the upper reservoir.

Of course, this was just to demonstrate the use of electrical energy and was not a perfect perpetual motion device. Such a device was not a perpetual motion machine; electricity would have extra consumption in the stages of generation and use, and Gramme's purpose in making such a device was only to more clearly demonstrate the roles of the generator and the electric motor.

Such a novel device immediately drew the admiration of everyone in the laboratory, and even Gao Da was quite surprised.

This also showed the brains and hands-on ability of the scientists of this era. As soon as the electric motor was discovered, they could manufacture a corresponding simulated usage scenario; Gao Da was even more curious about what kind of rapid progress the power industry would have next.

4, 00 words, second update, please support!

Fourth day of 10, 00 words per day, 6, 00/10, 00 updated, please support!

The remaining 4, 00 words might be finished after twelve o'clock and before two-thirty.

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(End of this chapter)