What Does "Power Blanket" Mean?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=power+blanket

Thank you very much, lmgtfy is great. I googled it before posting the question here but didn't trust it as well since google wasn't quite accurate sometimes.

Thank you very much, now it makes sense. Indeed I shouldn't trust the article's translation, even though it comes from the academic environment.

"Academic environment", watch out, it could mean anything in their context! Sometimes I wonder if the professors have ever seen the inside of a breaker panel; a generator, very unlikely.

RamConsult,

Appreciate your imagination of covering an open alternator with blanket to conserve its heat inside.

The alternators you are talking of with open execution are large one Few MW and above - having diameter of 4 to 5 meter and more.

Covering such OPEN Electrical machine with a blanket or Tarpaulin - which is lying up to almost a year in one corner of Power Plant, I am sure it must be laden with dust and saturated with Humidity will be cumbersome causing damage that any good to the machine.

Further if someone has splashed oil on such a "Blanket", and the shutdown of Hydropower unit is for some mechanical repair (which requires welding in general), will set million $ worth of plant in inferno - a big fire risk.

A better way to protect such machines, which have minimum IP20 Degree of protection (NEMA class 1?) is:

1. Install manually operation louvers at Inlet and Outlets of cooling air of alternator.

2. Design louvers of Fail Safe design (Cooling air draft tends to open these louvers) and for further safety provide locking provision in open position.

3. Add anti-condensate heaters around periphery at lower end (these alternators are in general vertical).

4. When ever hydro-alternator is shut down, close dampers and switch on heaters (Heaters are generally switch on automatically).

I am sure Forum will agree that above is better and safe alternative than imaginary blanket.

Question arises then, what is "Power Blanket". The term is not just blanket but Power term attached to it. It is only my Guess as I also have not heard this term, is this have been used to define Reliable Standby Power for safe shutdown and start up of a Remote Hydropower Plant - which has sudden total shutdown. For such power plants one of critical item is hydraulic Oil pressure to keep the Thrush Bearings in Floating condition. Hence is that the Professor who translated the term meant a hybrid of DG Set and Storage Batteries etc. as POWER BLANKET?

Better way to get answer from Forum is that if Nikolay can copy and paste the sentence in original language on CR4, may be some of members on Forum who also either have that as native language or knowledge can give a better Term to it that "Power Blanket"

My due apology to RAMConsult, if above had heart him in anyway.

I tried posting earlier, seems it had failed - as I did not find same and so I am trying again.

Regards

Ramesh

Ramesh,

In the absence of any data regarding machine size I assumed that this is a small stream machine, it was the only size where such a thing would be possible. I'm aware that a utility would have much larger machines where the thought of such a device would be impractical.

Electric power engineering is not "one-size-fits-all", there are too many situations where generic advice fails miserably, this is one of them. If personnel or equipment safety were an issue, no opinion would have been offered without more info. Blind guesses often yield unseeable consequences.

Thanks for your comments.

Alan

The question was for small hydro generators, up to a couple MW.

The translation of power blanket that I found is quite stupid, saying "pătură de putere", written by some PhDs...