So i have been trying to educate myself in the fields of alternative energy and how it works. I've been looking at wind turbines and how they work.
This is a far out idea and I know very little about the actual viability of it. I just want to have someone tell me it won't work and why.

Magnets placed/made into the rotor itself in conjunction with coils in the rotor housings. As the rotors spin in the housing, electric current is generated such as a wind turbine does in the same way. (hybrid potential?)

I know this is out there and I'm not suggesting this would be possible for any one person to do. Just from a would this be possible, stand point?

 

It certainly is possible. However it's not practical and would not generate a benefit.

Generating energy takes energy. And in the case of generating electric current, you would have to use more energy (in the form of burning fuel) to create an increment of electricity.

I don't know the exact numbers, but just throwing number out there, you would have to use maybe 3-5hp for each 1hp of electrical current you gain. It might not be that severe of a gap, but unless it's a net positive, there isn't much of a reason to pursue it.

The hybrids that work get their electricity in much more efficient ways. For example energy recapture (braking, as seen in the Prius), or the engine specifically set up to be an electrical generator (like the Volt or Namir). Or the engine is parallel to the electrical drivetrain, and you aren't using both at the same time, just one or the other that don't really have a cross over (Prius).

 

Also keep in mind that magnetism works 'till a certain temperature. It's not the case inside of an engine
Moreover, why would you want magnets and coils when you could just attach a drive pulley to the shaft to feed a battery\alternator?
Even moreso, if the wind turbine is the main component why waste energy in the form of a trochoid vs a way simpler, round movement (standard electric engine)?

These are the main two downsides that come to mind

 

and i believe what he is saying is set it up like a series hybrid (i.e. diesel electric locomotive) but build the generator into the engine instead of having a separate generator turned by the output shaft

 

thanks for the quick responses guys and for being open minded..

 

The thing that's "free" is waste heat. Cummins Engine Company (among others) have done significant work toward using thermo-electric generation as a way of getting rid of the alternator, or at least reducing its load, with an anticipated net increase in fuel economy of 5%

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehicles...ock_2010_o.pdf

 

After you get done reinventing an inefficient generator you might want to then consider reinventing an inefficient wheel

 

We are all aboard the clueless express this evening.

 

thanks guys