 |
| Golden Falls G 4 assembly. Main shaft guide bearing and oil pump. July 1948. Permission to reproduce image courtesy ESB Archives. © ESB Archives |
ESB
Archives have sent me some photos, dating from the 1940s, of the
electrical generating equipment in the Golden Falls hydroelectric power
station. The stator assembly of the generator can be seen around the
perimeter of the casing in two of the photos. Similar to the alternator
in your car, a rotor carrying field coils, driven by a shaft from the
turbine, turns within the outer stator. The field coils are excited by
DC to create a magnetic field and three-phase AC is drawn off the
stator. (The same thing happens in a car alternator, but the three-phase
AC at a frequency of several hundred hertz is rectified to DC. Older
cars used dynamos, that produced DC directly, but suffered from several
drawbacks). Also shown is a thrust bearing that would have been used at
the end of the rotor shaft. A thrust bearing is like a ball bearing,
but can take axial loads from a shaft pushing against it. (The shaft of
the generator and turbine is vertical, so a load acts downwards on the
bearing.) The blades of the turbine, which are driven by water flow, can
be seen in anther photo.
 |
| Golden Falls G4 assembly. General view of main bracket and thrust bearing in position. July 1948. Permission to reproduce image courtesy ESB Archives. © ESB Archives |
 |
| Golden Falls G 4 assembly. View of turbine without runner. July 1948. Permission to reproduce image courtesy ESB Archives. © ESB Archives |
 |
| Liffey Power Development 1942 - 1945, frame 15 - Golden Falls Main Set (H S) 10-01-1943. Permission to reproduce image courtesy ESB Archives. © ESB Archives |