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Generators – The Beating Hearts of Industry and Modern Living

Surprisingly, electrical phenomena were first recognised, if not understood, at least as long ago as 600 BC. However, the first real interest in the force we now know as electricity dates from the time of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth I, when her court physician, William Gilbert, published the results of his experiments with magnets and citing a phenomenon he christened “electrica” in 1600. His findings provided the inspiration for a flood of successors across Europe and just 60 years later, a German inventor, Otto von Guericke, constructed the first machine capable of producing static electricity on demand. Over the next two centuries, his findings would eventually result in the electrical generators upon which the bulk of humanity has since become so reliant.

In the interim, though, a number of other breakthroughs were to determine the future value of this mysterious force. Chief among these was the ability to conduct it via a wire and, once generated, to store it in a capacitor. Other efforts led to the discovery of a new form of the force that could be created by the chemical interaction of two metals to form the basis of the battery. Up until this point, electricity remained an interesting phenomenon, but one that offered little in the way of practical applications. All this was to change following years of work by Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry that resulted in generators with the ability to produce a constant flow of electrical current that could then be used to power various mechanical activities.

Today, we take it for granted that we are able to power lights, heaters, cookers, refrigerators, air-conditioners, and all manner of appliances at the touch of a switch. It is, however, a facility for which we are not only indebted to Edison and Tesla who, between them, were responsible for the means to distribute this electrical power, but also to companies such as Perkins, Cummins, Scania, Volvo and John Deere, the manufacturers of the powerful generators responsible for producing that power.

Consisting of two parts, that responsible for the conversion of mechanical energy into electricity and the engine required for the production of that mechanical energy, their uses extend way beyond that of making our domestic lives more convenient. Today, they have become a vital component of most industries. While smaller factories may satisfy their needs with a three-phase mains supply, in other cases, such a facility may be insufficient to meet its peak demands for power and may even be unavailable to projects located in some of the more remote areas of the country. In such circumstances, generators are vital to production. Without them, strategic industries such as automotive manufacturing and mining would be unable to operate.

Although, for industrial purposes, they are driven mainly by diesel engines; petrol and gas-driven models also play a role in supplementing or substituting for mains power where necessary, although the diesel-driven variety offers the greatest power output. Where the demand is high, they may be coupled to form an array with greater capacity allowing individual generators to be switched on or off as the demand for power varies. For maximum efficiency, the process is normally an automated one that, rather than relying on human intervention, is governed by means of a pre-programmed control panel.

That said, to determine the power requirements of a factory, whether huge or relatively small, will need a precise evaluation of the total load demand at start-up and when running. In addition, the strict standards governing the safe installation of units must be followed, which means it is a task best left to a generator specialist such as the PacB Group.

Recognised as a leader in its field for more than a decade, the group designs, assembles, installs and maintains, custom-built gensets, using models from the world-leading brands named above, as well as from Deutz and FAW.

Our qualified technicians offer support and advice in the selection of the right power solution for your needs by calculating your power requirements.

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