Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wind Power

Back in the '20s when electrification was new there was a company called Wincharger that made and sold wind turbines. Of course everybody was familiar with the ubiquitous windmill that stood over the farm well and pumped water when there was wind, and some farmers even had a pump engine in the pump shed to take over when there was not enough wind to keep the cattle satisfied at the watering trough. And there were even some futuristic ones who had a combination Delco pump engine that ran a generator at the same time to charge the glass storage batteries. Usually this was for a 32 volt electric system, and at 2 volts per cell there needed to be 16 separate glass jars with the lead plates. Quite an imposing array when you understand that these clear glass jars were 12 to 16 inches high and about 7 by 9 inches in size. Then hang the lead plates on the lid and fill the unit with distilled water to within an inch or two of the top. A real imposing array to set on shelves behind the Delco. As well as interesting they were dangerous, because after all they were glass and tipable and the water was a strong sulphuric acid solution.

Two electrical posts at the top of each cell allowed it to be connected in series to all the batteries to bring the total voltage resistance to 32 VDC (direct current with a positive and a negative)-- or if the house or barn where the electricity was to be used was far enough away the shelf of batteries might total 36 volts. That would be because voltage drop is about one volt for each one hundred feet of wire. Another interesting thing about 32 volts is that the wires had to be heavier than those used for today's voltages; wire sizes being a function of amperes, and the lower the voltage the higher the amps needed to make up the wattage. Elementary electrical physics.

This is all vivid in my memory because our neighbours half way to school had such a well. Although our farm had a Fairbanks-Morse one cylinder pump engine and not a windmill, most of the farms around our area did have windmills. I am not sure if the farm half way to school had a windmill or not, but it did have the Delco combination pump engine and generator, so it was interesting to stop in there to keep warm and to view the wonderful equipment. Actually 32 volt electrics was the standard farm power in the West until the first Rural Farm Electrification program in Alberta at Linden was installed. That put a lot of used 32 volt stuff on the used market for the less advanced areas, until finally nobody wanted to generate their own power. At that time I had a Sunbeam shaver with an actual rotating motor in it, not the electromagnetic push-pulls that were common. And do you know what? When we were out in the country installing furnaces where they had 32 volt power I could use the same shaver and it would run at the same speed with no problems at all. So 32 volt direct current must have about the same coil resistance as 110 volt AC.

Now back to the Wincharger. I suppose that Dad knew more about the Delco than his kids did and a lot more about how it would improve things on the farm, but money was in short supply, so a 32 volt Delco system was not in the books. But the Wincharger Company specialized in making 32 volt wind units, and these could be mounted on the old windmill or on the roof of a building with the batteries inside. But on our farm there were 6 volt batteries around, and there were 6 volt bulbs and radios that would run on 6 volts, so Dad found that he could buy a 6 volt Wincharger on one of the trips he annually made to Great Falls for tractor fuel.

I remember the package of parts that came including the wooden propeller for the unit and the angle iron base that held the unit up above the house peak, and the shiny black generator. We put it together and mounted it on the top of the old shack and ran the wires to the battery and ammeter in the house below and waited for the wind to blow. There were perhaps a couple of car batteries in parallel so the unit could have lots of charging to do before we had to pull the cord that put on the brake and stopped the rotation.

I should also tell you about the governor/regulator that came with the Wincharger. Again it was made of shiny black metal. It was mounted on the rotating shaft along with the propellor with two arms that extended only about one quarter as far as the 6 foot propellor. These arms had hemispherical cups at their ends that were double jointed in such a way that at low speed they offered no wind resistance, and at high speed there was enough centrifugal force to turn them directly into the air so that their scoop against the air would slow down the rotation. This was necessary so that the unit would not overspeed and fly apart. We sure did not go up on the roof unless the brake was on, because it could swivel around and the blade was as sharp and impersonal as Mme LaGuillotine.

That was yesterday a long time ago, but today there is still lots of wind and there is a lot more science and technology to put it to work. To generate electricity with a modern wind charger is quite simple and easy, except that we do not have enough 6 volt batteries (or 12 volt) to store the power until someone uses it. In fact we need to be able to generate it only when it is needed. A comparison that illustrates the different ages and times would be like the old hundred pound bag of flour that the cook used to have in the pantry -- that is unheard of today because we can go to the corner and buy a cake mix right off the shelf and bake it now, or we might buy the already baked cake.

Just think. The 6 or 32 volt generator really does not care how fast it turns, rotation speed only means the battery is charged up faster or slower. Neither did the 32 volt motor on the milking machine care if the batteries were fully charged or not or if the voltage was out a bit. But your washing machine today does care, and so do your lights and the tv. I have always been fascinated by the technology that makes it possible to add wind power to the electric distribution system we now have.Remember, generation is easy, but adding it to the distribution pool is not. Since the power distribution system is an alternating current system where each power wire changes from positive to negative 60 times a second meaning that anything added to it cannot alternate at 61 or 59 or even a fraction away from 60. The most extreme bad example would be to try to add 110 volts negative to 110 volts positive. Besides canceling themselves out there might be fireworks and wastage. So unless you have a big bank of batteries at each windmill you must ensure that it is always turning at only one speed with no variation. Yes, even when nobody is drawing any power from it. The technology we have today can do it and it does, but it adds so much to the costs that wind power becomes more expensive than coal or gas. Nevertheless it is politically correct, so we must do it

We heard that they had started to install  a wind farm a few miles north of Three Hills, so David and I spent some time on Thanksgiving Monday to go to it. We found it on the crest of a rise and the closer we got the bigger it looked. Unfortunately, being a holiday, there was nobody there to tell us how close we could get or to ask questions of, so the pictures we took were distant ones. It seemed that there would be about ten or a dozen towers in the cluster not closer than about a quarter of a mile apart each way. And they looked big. Some of the pieces of the pylons looked like large cylinders with built in inside stairways and were still on trailers ready to be lifted into place. The seemed to be close to 10 feet in diameter at the base and then tapered up to the top. We understand that each of the three blades is over 30 feet (meters?) long. I did hear, but do not have the figures handy.

So there you have the story of the pictures.

Dad


Saturday, January 2, 2010

2010 Letter

What a privilege we have as fellow believers,

I can remember as a kid at New Year's time thinking what will it be like far into the future. That date is not fixed in my memory, although it was probably about 1935, but the far future date of 1975 I am very sure of. That seemed a long way off and there certainly would be changes. Buck Rogers and Howie Wing were doing things up in the sky and space that were very exciting. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the new President and der Fuhrer was thundering away. We had a couple of recently new kings, but very little new or interesting around home to remember. Wow! 1975 will be a loong time from now! (Then)

1941 although not a divisible by 5 year was a milestone that I had not planned. Oh yes, I had planned to leave home that year, and God knew this so He directed my path to Three Hills. Three Hills is where I had another birthday, a spiritual one, for here I heard that Jesus saves sinners and I was born again. If anyone be in Christ he is a new creature (creation). And since then I have been a new person with new desires and new plans and a new life. A life that will never end like the one I had wondered about lasting until 1975.

But when 1975 came, and it came quickly, it seemed that the new milestone would be 2000. If we ever reached there that would indeed be a long long time. But that came and went without all the predicted doomsday snags. Older by now so the next perceived goal would be 2005  -- and we did get there, although by now not able to do all we wanted to. Even Muriel got past that mile-stone year, although in mind she was going back to the earlier years. It is now just over four years that she has been in Heaven where time is not an enemy and where Jesus reigns.

Now another five year increment has passed and we are in 2010. It was off the map in 1935, but I am thankful to see it today. New Years day 2010!  Resolutions?  Sorry, I learned years ago that there will be enough failures and disappointments without setting yourself up for them. The day to day problems are not greater than God's grace, and that is what I have found. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by His righteousness we are made citizens of Heaven and by His grace we are kept until the last day of this life.

Now living alone in The Chateau where there are no real demands or challenges, and without family the days come and go almost effortlessly. Oh, yes there is the weekly schedule with Church twice on Sunday and prayer meeting on Tuesday.  This year I have not taught a class although I would like to have done so. Here we have good fellowship with likeminded believers, and opportunities to live for the Lord before those who have different world views. And there are books to read and the computer. Wonderful how much can be learned about what is really going on in the world with access to all views and countries.  Makes you realize how much political leaders depend on filtering the news to stay in control, and how our God who knows all the news is arranging the future for His glory.

I have been reading a book by Joel Rosenberg called “Inside the Revolution” where he sticks to the facts. The only thing fictional is some of the names he uses for real people whose experiences he relates. This is a big book divided in three sections. The first two sections dig into the thinking and doings of the Muslim world, both the Radicals and the Revivalists. Both of them, he says, believe that Islam is the way, but one insists that jihad is the method while the other denies terror. Amazingly he has been able to present unchallengeable documentation for these two positions that is fair and should not offend even the Muslim mind. He does not preach until he gets to the third section of the book where he documents what is happening in the Middle East because of the evangelicals and churches and revival. Then his philosophy shows that Islam is not the way but Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. The promise of millions coming to believe that Jesus is the way is real, so 2010 is a bright year when Jesus will be building His Church. We have not seen or heard anything like it before on this scale. The media are ignoring this Church growth in Iran and Iraq firstly because they have a different world view and second because they really cannot take it in or imagine it. We need to know what God is doing. The world needs to see and hear of God’s glory.

My resolution for 2010 is to stick close to home and do what I can here. The grandkids are all growing up as I am growing old. Makes you think what will they be when they are making their own way?  We pray that they all will follow the Lord closely and call upon Him for Salvation and sanctification.  Blessed are all those who put their trust in Jesus.

2 Cor 5:17 So that if any one is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old state of things has passed away; a new state of things has come into existence.
18 And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and has appointed us to serve in the ministry of reconciliation.
19 We are to tell how God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not charging men's transgressions to their account, and that He has entrusted to us the Message of this reconciliation.
20 On Christ's behalf therefore we come as ambassadors, God, as it were, making entreaty through our lips: we, on Christ's behalf, beseech men to be reconciled to God.
21 He has made Him who knew nothing of sin to be sin for us, in order that in Him we may be-come the righteousness of God.

Greetings, love and prayers for the new year,

Don Casselman

note: I did remove some of the personal stories with specific names of kids and grandkids from this posting.