Low-Cost Generator Design: RFPM (Radial-Flux Permanent Magnet)

[FullPowerInc]

This continues from my other post titled "Low-Cost Generator Design" to help the poor people in our country recover from the earthquake devastation here.

I need to design a low-cost generator that can produce about 80W/hour and 160W/hour. I've been looking at Radial-Flux Designs, but I don't know how to evaluate which are the best approaches. I wrote down questions that I'm trying to solve:

[ol]
[li]Which Radial-Flux design is most cost effective for a small design? (we can gear to most any rotor RPM use)[/li]

[li]Is there an advantage to individually rectify each coil? Would it reduce the cogging effect by doing this?[/li]

[li]Also, I was wondering if there would be an advantage to smoothing out the phases so that they were getting closer to DC current using a method like this:
In the picture below, I drew this design layout for a double rotor configuration with internal toroidally wound stator (L=left side stator; R=right side; A,B and C are the phases; N=North; S=South Magnetic Pole)

The first coil begins with Phase A starting with position R1 (right slot 1) and it is coiled into position L3. The next Phase A coil begins with R4 and is wound into L6. R7 and L9 are the next Phase A, and R10 and L12 completes the fourth coil for that phase; Phases B and C follow the same pattern. I was thinking that this would smooth out the current of the phases making it easier to convert them to DC.

So, can this work? And is there an advantage to smooth out the Phases into DC to charge up my DC batteries?[/li]
[li]As you can see from my design, I'm only making the width of the magnet as wide as one coil slot; so 1/4" slot width would have a magnet 2" x 2" x 1/4" with the magnetic poles being on the 1/4" sides (not through the face) to intensify the magnetic force in a thin location the width of the magnet and coil. I would have this same type of magnet on the inner and outer rotors. Would this design work?[/li]
[/ol]

 

[dpc]

I think it is unlikely you are going to be able to come up with new design that significantly improves on existing designs.

You need to decide if your main goal is low-cost or designing something new.

What country are you located in?

 

[electricpete]

Just a note on terminology: "80W/hour" is non-sensical. Watt is already a unit of power (energy per time).

Sorry I have nothing productive to contribute. I tend to agree with dpc - you're not going to be able to build it cheaper or better than you can buy it. There are already plenty of gadgets for producing power on bicylces etc.
For example, Google: people-powered electric generator

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(2B)+(2B)' ?

 

[sreid]

Think solar power.

 

[LionelHutz]

1. The cogging effect typically isn't caused by the coils. Usually, it's the permanent magnets passing and "grabbing" the steel stator poles that cause the cogging. The typical design is to build with an air stator to help.

2. Usually, a single coil doesn't produce enough voltage to be useful by itself.

3. You picture does not show.


I also suggest you do some Google searching on home made wind power. There are lots of designs you can look at.